| 摘要 |
A shipping system (20) having a server (22) with an application programming interface that allows XML formatted data to be used with the shipping server (22), so as to facilitate the retrieval and presentation of shipping information to a user (26), is disclosed. The shipping system server (22) is accessible to users (26) via the Internet (24), wherein package rating and shipping information is obtained by one or more information request queries that can be made by the user (26) using a client software program, such as, for example, a Web browser, and standard Internet protocol such as Hypertext Markup Language (HTTP). Responses to the queries are provided in a well defined XML format having beginning and ending tags, thereby allowing easy parsing of the information contained in the responses by the client software program for presentation to the user (26). |
