Platform independent rate data and method of calculating a rate for a carrier manager using platform independent rate data

A rate data structure for a carrier manager comprising:

• (a) a header describing the content of the rate data structure further comprising:
• (i) a length indicator indicating the length of the rate data structure;
• (ii) a signature indicating that the data area comprises the rate data structure;
• (iii) a table identifier identifying a the rate data structure;
• (iv) at least one flag for describing a number of subtables in the data structure;
• (v) offset value corresponding to each flag for identifying the location of a data area in the data structure;
• and
• (b) the data area for rate data comprising one or more subtables comprising data formats, the number of subtables corresponding to the flag in the header describing the number of subtables in the data structure;
• whereby the rate data structure is platform independent.

An method of calculating a rate for a carrier manager comprising the steps of:

• a) inputting a rate data structure name, a date of shipment and at least one input parameter into the carrier manager;
• b) retrieving from memory a rate data structure corresponding to the rate data structure name, the date of shipment, and at least one input parameter, the rate data structure comprising a rate data structure header and at least one rate data structure subtable;
• c) reading the rate data structure header, the rate data structure header comprising a number of subtables in the rate data structure, a number of expressions in the rate data structure, an expected input parameters indicator for the rate data structure, and a rounding instruction for rounding the input parameters;
• d) decoding the rate data structure;
• e) verifying whether each input parameter corresponds to the expected input parameter for the retrieved rate data structure;
• f) rounding each input parameter in accordance with instructions in the rate data structure header;
• g) reading the subtable header to obtain information regarding subtable format, decimal position, entry usage and entry of values in the rate data structure, comparison operator, minimum rate and maximum rate;
• h) decoding the subtable header;
• i) searching a subtable parameter control block comprising at least one segment, in order to find a segment containing a rate data structure parameter corresponding to an input parameter in a relationship defined by the subtable header comparison operator;
• j) calculating the increment number corresponding to the input parameter;
• k) searching a subtable value control block for a rate mantissa corresponding to the calculated increment number;
• and
• l) inserting a decimal into the rate mantissa to obtain a rate amount.

An method of calculating a rate for a carrier manager comprising the steps of:

• a) inputting a rate data structure name, a date of shipment and at least one input parameter into the carrier manager;
• b) retrieving from memory a rate data structure corresponding to the rate data structure name, the date of shipment and at least one input parameter, the rate data structure comprising a rate data structure header and at least one rate data structure subtable;
• c) reading the rate data structure header, the rate data structure header comprising a number of subtables in the rate data structure, a number of expressions in the rate data structure, an expected input parameters indicator for the rate data structure, and a rounding instruction for rounding the input parameters;
• d) decoding the rate data structure header;
• e) verifying whether each input parameter corresponds to the expected input parameter for the retrieved rate data structure;
• f) rounding each input parameter in accordance with instructions in the rate data structure header;
• g) reading the subtable header to obtain information regarding subtable format, decimal position, entry usage and entry of values in the rate data structure, comparison operator, minimum and maximum rate;
• h) decoding the subtable header;
• i) searching a subtable parameter control block comprising at least one segment, in order to find a segment containing a rate data structure parameter corresponding to the input parameter in a relationship defined by the subtable header comparison operator;
• j) calculating the increment number corresponding to the input parameter;
• k) searching a subtable value control block corresponding to another input parameter for a rate mantissa corresponding to the calculated increment number;
• l) inserting a decimal into the rate mantissa to obtain a rate amount.

A rate data structure containing information for calculating a rate in a carrier manager comprising:

• A) a rate data structure header comprising:
• a) a number of subtables indicator indicating that the rate data structure contains one subtable;
• b) a number of expressions indicator indicating that the rate data structure contains no expressions;
• c) information regarding number and type of expected input parameters corresponding to the rate data structure subtable;
• B) a subtable comprising:
• a) a subtable header comprising:
• i) a subtable format indicator indicating the format of the subtable;
• ii) a number of entries indicator;
• iii) information for decimal placement in a rate;
• iv) entry usage information;
• and
• v) entry size information;
• b) an entry representing a rate mantissa and corresponding to the entry usage and entry size information contained in the subtable header.

A rate data structure containing information for calculating a rate in a carrier manager comprising:

• A) a rate data structure header comprising:
• a) a number of subtables indicator indicating that the rate data structure contains one subtable;
• b) a number of expressions indicator indicating that the rate data structure contains one expression;
• c) information regarding number and type of expected input parameters corresponding to the rate data structure subtable;
• B) a subtable comprising:
• a) a subtable header comp rising:
• i) a subtable format indicator indicating the format of the subtable;
• ii) a number of entries indicator;
• iii) information for decimal placement in a rate;
• iv) entry usage information;
• and
• v) entry size information;
• and
• b) an entry representing a rate mantissa multiplier and other information corresponding to the entry.