Users of EIA's Weekly Petroleum Status Report (WPSR) Data:
On November 23, some users of EIA’s WPSR data participated in a test of a "Gatekeeper" application that we will soon be implementing. This "Gatekeeper" denies customer access to the data area for a brief period before the 10:30 Wednesday release of the new week’s data while we upload those files. We sometimes have had contention issues where so many users are attempting to access the new data files that we can’t get them onto the server. As many of you know, we had a problem just last week which resulted in some people getting the files they use and others not being able to access wpsr.txt for several minutes.
We will be conducting a second test this Thursday, December 9 at 2:30 PM EST. We are asking all WPSR customers to participate, especially those who did not participate in the first test. This will be your FINAL opportunity to test this new functionality. We anticipate that we will put the "Gatekeeper" application into production in early January.
Following are the instructions:
1. Between 2:25 PM EST and 2:30 PM EST on Thursday, Dec 9, access one of the WPSR files at the following TEST url:
http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/current_test/txt/ + file name.
NOTE: Please be sure to add the name of the file you normally access to this test URL, then enter that into the address bar of your browser.
Below is the list of file names to add to the above test URL:
For example, your completed test URL should look something like this: http://www.eia.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/current_test/txt/wpsr.txt
2. Once you access this test URL between 2:25 PM and 2:30 PM, you will receive a customized “503 error - Page Temporarily Unavailable”.
3. Once you receive the 503 error page, DO NOTHING ELSE. The file you requested will be automatically delivered to you by the "Gatekeeper" when it is released at 2:30 PM.
We are confident that those of you who manually access the WPSR through the use of your browser software will have no problems. We generally prefer that EIA web site customers not use automated retrieval programs or robots against the site. However, those customers who feel they must use robots may need to make some configuration changes. This test should enable you to make that determination.
Following the test, please email the EIA Webmaster and let us know how the test worked at your location.
If you are not the individual who normally accesses the WPSR for your organization, please pass this information to the responsible person. If you have any questions prior to the test, please contact the EIA webmaster at: gatekeeper@eia.doe.gov .