For the Memphis vehicle inspection program, we designed, developed, and implemented a link between our Database Server System (implemented for the City of Memphis) and the system at the Shelby County Government Information Technology department.
Our database server system in Memphis is a Microsoft Windows platform operating on Compaq servers, with a Microsoft SQL Server database. The Shelby County system is an NEC/Bull mainframe with a Netblazer Lantronix server front-end. The systems are connected by a WAN. The communication protocol used is TCP/IP.
Our system initiates a TCP/IP session with the Shelby County mainframe. Once the session is established, our program sends a series of commands to the mainframe. These commands are required to establish the connection go the County’s transaction processor. Once connected, our system transmits the applicable vehicle inspection records to the County’s mainframe. While transmitting data, we apply a flow control mechanism to match the Shelby County front-end processor requirements. Each vehicle inspection record on our database server system includes a status field “SentToCounty”, which is changed from “Y” to “N” when the record is successfully sent.
We also implemented administrative support and reporting functions to our database server system for additional support of the data transfers. For example, users can query for reports of information such as: whether a particular vehicle has or has not been sent to the County system, or how many records were transferred in a given time range. Administratively, users can mark records to be resent if necessary.
