The Postal Service indexes each letter in the PDF file as follows:
- Label ID.
- Delivery date.
- Recipient’s name (provided regularly for Express Mail and Signature Confirmation items only).
With each Signature Extract File or CD-ROM (when the combined file delivery method is chosen), the Postal Service provides a separate Table of Contents file that lists the label ID, the delivery date, the recipient’s name (when available), and a CD-ROM/File Identifier. The Table of Contents file is a cumulative file that provides a way to determine where the letter facsimile is stored on the Signature Extract File or CD-ROM. The mailer can search the cumulative Table of Contents for individual records and then determine which Signature Extract File or CD-ROM contains the record.
The CD-ROM/File Identifier contains the acronym “pod” (which stands for “proof of delivery”) followed by the two-digit month, the two-digit day, and the last two digits of the year in which the Signature Extract File or CD-ROM was created. Additionally, for the Signature Extract File, a four-digit code is appended to denote which grouping of 1,000 records is being referenced. Records 1 through 1,000 are in a file ending with “0001,” records 1,001 through 2,000 are in a file ending with “0002,” etc. The file name content is “podmmddyyXXXX.pdf.” Actual file names would be “pod0605070001.pdf,” “pod0605070002.pdf,” etc. (However, as shown in Exhibit 3-2, the file name appearing in the “CD-ROM/File Identifier” column does not display the PDF extension.) The Table of Contents data is also in PDF format and has a similar naming convention — i.e., toc060607.pdf.
Exhibit 3-2 provides an example of a Table of Contents viewed using Acrobat Reader.
The file names for the proof of delivery and Table of Contents files will vary slightly depending on the type of delivery mechanism selected (Signature Extract File or CD-ROM; combined or individual) and the recipient of the data (the customer or its third-party designee). Note that the signature extract files are placed into the recipient’s six-digit directory (example, mmc001). More information about this directory is available through Publication 91, chapter 7 (“Communications”).
The following examples outline the naming conventions based on various combinations of delivery mechanism and recipient (with the proof of delivery file noted first and the Table of Contents file noted second).
Note: In these examples, the customer’s DUNS number is 123456789, the third-party designee’s DUNS number is 999999999, and the label ID is eb111111111us.
- Signature Extract Files received by customer with combined method:
- pod0515070001.pdf.
- toc051507.pdf.
- Signature Extract Files received by third-party designee with combined method:
- d123456789.pod0515070001.pdf.
- d123456789.toc051507.pdf.
- CD-ROM received by customer with combined method:
- d123456789.pod051507.pdf.
- d123456789.toc051507.pdf.
- CD-ROM received by third-party designee with combined method:
- t999999999.d123456789.pod051507.pdf.
- t999999999.d123456789.toc051507.pdf.
- Signature Extract Files received by customer with individual method:
- Signature Extract Files received by third-party designee with individual method:
- CD-ROM received by customer with individual method:
- CD-ROM received by third-party designee with individual method:
For Signature Extract Files (like the example files listed in item a above), the Postal Service places each file into the appropriate directory for retrieval. For CD-ROMs (like the example files listed in item c above), the Postal Service places both files on the CD-ROM that it mails to the mailer or the third-party designee.
All records received as individual files will be compressed. The following naming conventions will be used for the compressed file, where a maximum of 1,000 records are placed in each compressed file (the last four digits of the file name will increase by 1 with each 1,000 records):
- Signature Extract Files received by customer:
- Signature Extract Files received by third-party designee:
- CD-ROM received by customer:
- CD-ROM received by third-party designee:
The Table of Contents is a cumulative file that contains data for each calendar year. In January of each year, the Postal Service creates a new Table of Contents, regardless of the date that the mailer started participating in the program. The Postal Service recommends that mailers place a copy of the Table of Contents PDF file on a local PC or server to have unlimited access to the data.
Exhibit 3-2
Sample Table of Contents in PDF Format
