Loren Data's SAM Daily™

FBO DAILY ISSUE OF APRIL 06, 2006 FBO #1592
SOLICITATION NOTICE

99 -- XML, to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF)

Notice Date

4/4/2006
 

Notice Type

Solicitation Notice
 

NAICS

423430 — Computer and Computer Peripheral Equipment and Software Merchant Wholesalers
 

Contracting Office

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Procurement and Property Management, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 1830, Washington, DC, 20212
 

ZIP Code

20212
 

Solicitation Number

BLS-06-17
 

Response Due

5/4/2006
 

Archive Date

5/19/2006
 

Description

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) is seeking information from industry relating to technologies and approaches for the automated conversion (to the highest degree practical) of BLS statistical information, represented in XML, to Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF). This notice is a Request for Information (RFI) from interested vendors who believe they are able to satisfy the requirements detailed in the description below. BLS does not intend to award a contract on the basis of this RFI or to otherwise pay for information received in response to this request. This RFI is being issued for information and planning purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation. The information contained in this RFI is based on the best and most current information available to date, is subject to change, and is not binding on the Government. Below is background information and description of the requirements for the XML to PDF conversion. Background The BLS is the principal fact-finding agency for the Federal Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics. The BLS is an independent national statistical agency that collects, processes, analyzes, and disseminates essential statistical data to the American public, the U.S. Congress, other Federal agencies, State and local governments, business, and labor. The BLS provides its data to the public in a variety of formats including digital formats (such as web pages on the Internet, e.g. http://stats.bls.gov) and printed formats (e.g. http://stats.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cpi.pdf ). BLS data, either in print or electronic form, is often presented as tables of statistical data. Formatting statistical data tables for print is more difficult than formatting them for presentation in, for example, HTML because printed output is constrained by the fixed size of a standard printed page. Currently, BLS requires substantial manual manipulation of tabular data for printed output to ensure that tables, and to a lesser degree, text and graphics are displayed in a sensible and readable fashion. (See Requirements and Constraints section below for more detail on issues related to displaying statistical tables in print). Currently, BLS extracts tabular data from a database in the form of an XML dataset, which is transformed into XHTML for display on the Bureau?s web site. This RFI is for investigation of the feasibility of transforming the XML dataset into PDF for use as a camera-ready output. The transformation should be accomplished with a minimum of manual intervention. Requirements and Constraints The goal is to convert XML data sets to camera ready PDF files for printed distribution. The source XML datasets specify content and structure. As such they do not, and should not, contain presentation information. Style sheets containing presentation information do not currently exist. The desired solution will be as highly automated, and will require as little manual intervention, as possible. It is highly desirable that the solution be implemented in Java in order to make it more compatible with the current environment. The camera ready copy (PDF) will be in black and white and contain statistical tables of varying length, text, graphics, header and footer information, footnotes and may contain multiple fonts. The layout of the statistical tables must support multiple levels of nested column headings, spanned across columns, and multiple levels of nested row headings, indicated through indentation. Statistical tables will vary in length, and some will extend over multiple pages. Long tables will need to be broken across page boundaries at appropriate places, with the position of page breaks to be automatically determined by the software. Column header information and footnotes should be repeated on new pages when tables span multiple pages. Statistical tables will have a varying number of columns. The default size of each column must be automatically determined by its contents, with the possibility of design-time overrides of the defaults. Columns containing numeric data must be wide enough to display the data and associated footnotes on one line (subject to the constraints of page width.) Columns and headers containing text should be hyphenated as needed to fit within the boundaries of the cell. Table layouts must support decimal-point alignment when specified for a particular column. Hardware Platform and operating system Requirements We seek a solution using Java that can easily be integrated into our current Java/Solaris environment. Other approaches will be considered if an acceptable Java and Solaris solution can not be identified. Other Requirements The vendors must provide a statement of how the applicable Federal 508 requirements are addressed. The solution must be capable of running in an IPv6 environment, or documented plans must exist for a timetable for implementation of any necessary enhancements required for proper functionality in an IPv6 environment. All software (and hardware if applicable) will be evaluated in a simulated BLS computing environment to determine that the solution meets the functional and system requirements set forth in this document as well as BLS security, networking, and usage guidelines applicable to software and hardware permitted to run in the BLS computing environment. Respondents are requested to offer comments regarding the requirements as stated above, level of detail, completeness, consistency with industry best practices, suitability for achieving stated objectives, any areas that have been left out and should be considered, potential cost of the system and whether or not the items are available for purchase off the GSA schedule. THERE IS NO SOLICITATION AT THIS TIME. BLS reserves the right to conduct oral capabilities demonstrations/discussions that may be scheduled at a later date. All information should be submitted to: The Bureau of Labor Statistics Attn: Michelle Govan/Joan Gantt 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE Room #1830 Washington, DC 20212 Phone: (202)691-6023 Fax: (202)691-6026 e-mail: govan.michelle@bls.gov or gantt.joan@bls.gov Request for information shall be submitted to BLS, ROOM 1830, 2 Mass Ave, NE, Washington, DC 20212 no later than 5:00pm EDT, May 4, 2006.
 

Place of Performance

Address: 2 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE NE, ROOM 1830, WASHINGTON, DC

Zip Code: 20212

Country: USA
 

Record

SN01020654-W 20060406/060404220442 (fbodaily.com)
 

Source

FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
(may not be valid after Archive Date)

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