WECC EIDE Training Workshop Data Exchange Work Group

Goals Provide you with the information you need to implement EIDE Programming Integration Project management

Electric Industry Data Exchange XML communications protocol Created to replace non-realtime X.25 communications Used to exchange non-realtime data Meter data Schedule data Power system data Text messages String data

EIDE use examples Exchange of meters with adjacents Exchange and confirmation of net schedules with adjacents Transfer of data sets needed to implement various applications such as third party reserve supply Exchange of power system data used for inflow forecasting

XML eXtensible Markup Language XML is a markup language for documents containing structured information. A markup language is a mechanism to identify structures in a document. The XML specification defines a standard way to add markup to document. Structured information contains both content (words, pictures, etc.) and some indication of what role that content plays (e.g. content in a section heading has different meaning from content in a footnote, which means something different than content in a figure caption or content in a database table, etc.). Almost all documents have some structure.

HTML HyperText Markup Language Uses fixed tags and semantics to define how documents will be displayed. While powerful, is limited due to lack of flexibility. Changes to HTML are always rigidly confined by what the browser vendors have implemented and by the fact that backward compatibility is paramount. For people who want to disseminate information widely, features supported by only the latest release of Netscape and IE are not useful.

How Is HTML Different Than XML? HTML has pre-defined tags and semantics. XML allows the tags and semantics to be defined in the schema. In HTML, both the tag semantics and the tag set are fixed. An <h1> is always a first level heading and the tag <MWh> is meaningless. The W3C (world wide web consortium), in conjunction with browser vendors and the WWW community, is constantly working to extend the definition of HTML to allow new tags to keep pace with changing technology and to bring variations in presentation (style sheets) to the web.

XML Schema The W3C XML schema definition language is an XML language for describing and constraining the contents of XML documents. Allows fields to be defined Allows field contents to be constrained with both validation rules and enumerations Is generally used to ensure that the document is valid before your application receives it.

XML Document The document is the object. The specific instance of the schema, containing data. Basically just text, can be parsed like any other file. The word “document” refers not only to traditional documents, like an activity report, but also to the myriad of other XML “data formats”. These include vector graphics, e-commerce transactions, mathematical equations, object meta-data, server APIs, and thousands of other kinds of structured information.

SOAP Simple Object Access Protocol Used between sender/receiver pairs to exchange XML documents with implied/embedded processing information. Documents are “wrapped” in a SOAP Wrapper that provides information on which systems the document should be routed to and how the document should be handled and processed.

SMXP Simple Method eXchange Protocol Subset of SOAP Used for E-Tagging EIDE adopted this for consistency with existing technology Developed by Todd Kocheiser of BPA for the “how” group. SMXP document explains its rules.

XML Advantages XSD allows automation of tasks that were previously manual Creation of classes XML document validation inbound and outbound XML documents can be easily read and understood in web browser or text editor

XML and HTTP/S XML documents can be PUT using http or https XML documents can be sent in the synchronous reply

SOAP Send/Reply

EIDE Schema Brief look at the schema

EIDE Communications Protocol Document Brief look at the communications protocol document