Additional documents related to OFC, Microsoft Money and online financial services can be found on the Microsoft web site at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/bank/online.htm.
Chapter 1
Microsoft Money and OFC
The Microsoft Money 5.0 will support the OFC data format for its online home banking and online bill payment features.
Chapter overview -
Microsoft Money will use standard, Internet protocols to communicate with a bank’s server.
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Money will use Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to transfer data in the OFC format between Microsoft Money and a bank’s server.
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Money will use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Private Communications Protocol (PCT) to secure the communication channel between Microsoft Money and a bank’s server. A bank must choose one security protocol for their server.
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Microsoft Money can connect to a bank’s server using the Internet or using a private network. A bank must choose one connection method.
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Microsoft Money operates in a batch mode. This means that a Money user will queue up transaction requests, connect to a bank’s server, and Money will send all of the user’s transactions requests to the bank’s server. While the user is connected to the server, the server is expected to process all of these requests and send responses back to Microsoft Money.
HTTP
Microsoft Money will use the HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) protocol to transfer OFC files to an OFC server. HTTP is the same protocol that is used to run the Internet’s World Wide Web.
HTTP consists of requests and responses. Money will send an OFC request file in an HTTP POST request and will expect an HTTP response with an OFC response file.
HTTP POST
This section includes the HTTP headers that Money will be sending when it sends an HTTP POST command to the bank’s server.
POST URL HTTP/1.0
Connection: Keep-Alive
Pragma: no-cache
User-Agent: XSOFC Driver 1.0
Content-Type: application/x-ofc
Content-Length: length in bytes of OFC file
… data in the OFC file …
Implementation notes on HTTP POST: -
The first line of the HTTP request will contain POST, the URL of the server Money is sending OFC files, and HTTP/1.0. For example:
POST ofc.bank.com/ofcisa.dll HTTP 1.0
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Content-Length should include the size of data (in bytes) in the OFC format.
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Following Content-Length will be a carriage-return and line feed.
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Following the carriage return and line feed will be data in the OFC format. This will start with the tag and end with the tag. The value in Content-Length will specify the size of this data (in bytes.)
HTTP response
This section describes the HTTP headers that Microsoft Money will expect when receiving data from a bank’s server.
HTTP 1.0 statuscode statusstring
Content-Type: application/x-ofc
Content-Length: length in bytes of OFC file
…data in the OFC file…
Notes on HTTP response: -
The first line of the HTTP request will contain HTTP 1.0, the HTTP status code and a string describing the status code. For example:
HTTP 1.0 200 OK
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The following HTTP statuscodes and statusstrings are supported by Microsoft Money:
Statuscode
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Statusstring
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Explanation
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200
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OK
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The server should return 200 OK if it was able to process the OFC data sent to it in the HTTP POST and produce a response.
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500
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Server error
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The server should return a status of 500 when the server is unavailable.
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Content-Length should include the number of bytes in the OFC file. Money will read this number of bytes when processing the OFC response file.
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Following Content-Length will be a carriage-return and line feed.
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Following the carriage return and line feed will be data in the OFC format. This will start with the tag and end with the tag. The value in Content-Length will specify the size of this data (in bytes.)
Connectivity options
Microsoft Money supports two connectivity options between the client and a bank’s server: Internet and dial-up PPP. A bank must choose one connection method for its customers. Money will offer the same functionality with each connection option.
Internet
Microsoft Money can use the Internet to communicate with a bank’s server. Money will not supply Internet access for its users. A user must have an account with a Windows compatible Internet Service Provider (ISP). Money will use the user’s ISP to create an Internet connection and then use that connection to communicate with the bank’s server.
Implementing the Internet connection option
A bank should take the following steps when supporting an Internet connection:
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Purchase an HTTP server that supports the SSL or PCT security protocols. The server must support the HTTP 1.0 protocol. Microsoft Internet Information Server (included in Windows NT Server) and Netscape Commerce Server are examples of HTTP servers that have been tested with Microsoft Money.
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Connect the server to the Internet. This may entail use of an Internet firewall.
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Define how the HTTP server will send data to the back-end host system. Most HTTP servers support the ability to run applications (CGI and ISAPI are two common ways to write a server-side application) on the server. A server application can receive the OFC data in the HTTP POST from Micrososft Money and then send the data to the host system. The application can also receive responses from the host and send these responses back to Money in the OFC format.
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Define a URL for the server. The URL is the Internet address of the server. An example URL is: http://ofc.bank.com/isapi.dll. This URL specifies a computer called “ofc” on the bank.com domain. The URL also points to a program running on the server called “isapi.dll.”
Microsoft Money can connect to a bank’s server through a private dial-up network running the Point-to-Point protocol (PPP). In this case, the bank will provide the user with a telephone number to connect to their server.
A bank should take the following steps when supporting a private dial-up connection:
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Purchase a modem pool and PPP server. Money users will dial into a modem connected to the PPP server. Microsoft Money has been tested using the PPP server (called Remote Access Server) built into Windows NT Server.
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Get a telephone number for the modems and PPP server. When connecting to the server, Money will dial this telephone number.
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Perform all the steps listed in the section above called “Implementing the Internet connection option.”
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A PPP server should support the following PPP settings:
PPP setting
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Explanation
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IP header compression
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Money will use IP header compression.
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Network login
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Money will not support a general network login. Money users will connect to the PPP server and will not be allowed to connect to other computers connected to the bank’s network.
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Note: The URL for the HTTP server should include the server’s IP number rather than friendly name. For example “http://159.2.59.59/isapi.dll” refers to the server with IP number 159.2.59.59 on the network. The Internet uses a protcol called DNS to map IP numbers to friendly names. DNS is usually not available on private networks.
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