The Classing Server WebService is used to access our Classing Server service,
which provides USDA classing data via a WebService interface. The
WebService resides behind the secure.eCotton.com webserver which uses 128-bit
encryption (https) for all requests and responses.
Methods which access classing data require authentication with an eCotton Customer ID
and Password. Successfully retrived classing is billed at 5 cents per
bale -- the same as the USDA charges us to retrieve the classing the hard
way. This is a "pass-through" charge. Billing occurs monthly.
Below is a listing of each method available from the Classing Server WebService, along
with brief explanations:
Method GetClassingListUSDA
Returns classing data for a list of bales. The BaleListText parameter
should contain a string of bale requests, with each request terminated with a
line-feed character (LF). Bale request lines can either be in the USDA
classing request format (specified by setting the BaleListFormat parameter to blfUSDA)
or in the eCotton classing request format (specified by setting the BaleListFormat
parameter to blfECOTTON).
USDA classing request format (same as the NATDB file you would send to the USDA directly):
GinIDGinBaleGinBaleX
where the first GinBale is the low number of a bale range, and the second
GinBale is the high number of the bale range. X is C (current) or O
(old) to specify which crop year to search.
eCotton classing request format:
GinIDGinBaleYYYY
where YYYY specifies the crop year.
The return string is in the USDA classing data format (same as the AMS01 file you would get from the USDA directly), with each bale record terminated with a line-feed character (LF).
Method GetClassingListXML
Returns classing data for a list of bales. The BaleListText parameter
should contain a string of bale requests, with each request terminated with a
line-feed character (LF). Bale request lines can either be in the USDA
classing request format (specified by setting the BaleListFormat parameter to blfUSDA)
or in the eCotton classing request format (specified by setting the BaleListFormat
parameter to blfECOTTON). See the format descriptions described above, under
GetClassingListUSDA for detailed information.
The return string is in XML format using either the
eCottonClassingQuery XML schema
(set the XMLAuthor parameter to xmlECOTTON), or the
ACSA BaleList (including classing) XML
schema (set the XMLAuthor parameter to xmlACSA).
Method GetClassingBaleUSDA
Returns classing data for a single bale.
The return string is in the USDA classing data format (same as the AMS01 file you
would get from the USDA directly).
Method GetClassingBaleXML
Returns classing data for a single bale.
The return string is in XML format using either the
eCottonClassingQuery XML schema
(set the XMLAuthor parameter to xmlECOTTON), or the
ACSA BaleList (including classing) XML
schema (set the XMLAuthor parameter to xmlACSA).