Paul Fuller wrote:
> Jim,
> 
> I have experience with that sort of application.
> 
> In one case I have a C# program that downloads share data from a certain 
> site.  One file per day in CSV format.  The format of the file has 
> varied over time so the program does some cleansing.  The raw data is 
> then loaded to a database where the heavy duty work starts.
> 
> Doing something like day to day deltas and producing a report or data 
> extract to be distributed is easy from there.  My main product is a 
> database query and reporting tool that can work on pretty much all DBMSs 
> / data sources (including Excel (.XLS) and .CSV).  It includes a script 
> language suitable for automating exactly this sort of process.  Results 
> can be produced in various formats including Excel, CSV and PDF.  An 
> email script command can send results out.
> 
> Give me some sample data (say 3 days worth) and I'll mock something up. 
>  Don't know if a custom application or the general purpose tool is the 
> way to go without seeing some data.
> 
> I have done things like this in Excel using VBA.  C# or VB.Net are so 
> much richer that I wouldn't contemplate using VBA any more.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Paul
Wow Paul, thank you. I may take you up on that.

If you are interested in taking a peek, and as of right now I would need 
to confirm everything I am saying, but I believe the list is published 
on this page:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/current/current_licensees.shtml

The list in question is this one:
'TLC Licensees with NYS DMV Status Issues'

Column A appears to be the license number to match on.
In Column C we would filter for 'For-Hire-Vehicle Driver'
That's all that is needed.
Column B obviously just confirms the name and
Column D is presumably the revocation/suspension date.

So if I understand it correctly a 'hit' against this list would mean a 
driver could not be dispatched.  A 'miss' would mean he is okay.  'Hits' 
could then be printed out for further investigation, individually, on 
the separate system.  (Probably that CICS emulation thing I mentioned to 
Darren.)

So the basic problem is that these bases have many drivers, so a daily 
batched lookup from a list of their own drivers, which would print out 
revoked drivers, would be a convenience for them.  Checking even say 100 
numbers, individually, against the list every day would be cumbersome 
and a bit ridiculous in this day and age.  But paying $10,000 for a 
'program' to do it? Whoa.

-Jim

P.S.
(I have a little Python script I use to download the files on this page:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/html/courtadmin/court_hearing_calendar.shtml

I have to remember to run it manually every week or so, my code checks 
for any new files I haven't already gotten.  It is also quite messy 
because these are PDF files so it uses some code I found, but don't 
understand, to translate into plain text.  I then use string 
manipulation and pattern matching to extract what I need, the counts for 
the numbers of times different violations are scheduled for court 
hearings.  But this is just a little scripted tool I use myself with the 
Python interpreter installed. And there is no error catching or bullet 
proofing of any kind.  I wouldn't have the first clue about distributing 
a compiled version of such a thing.)

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