U.S.Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Data Feeds

The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives’ Office of the Federal Register (OFR) partnership is offering bulk data downloads of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) files to the general public via Data.gov and FDsys.

CFR Data Feeds is a configurable data feed that would allow customers to select and import parts of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) into the Authoritative Sources application in Archer.

On this page

Release history

Last updated: April 2021

Known issues

Component

Issue ID

Description

Data Feed

ARCHERSOL-15009

Feed immediately fails because special characters apart of this feed aren’t supported on AWS S3 file system anymore. Issue should be addressed in Archer Platform Release after 6.12.

Overview of CFR Data Feeds

Benefits

CFR Data Feeds integration with Archer enables organizations to:

  • Easily import sections they need

  • Faster import since they don't have to import the entire regulation

  • The CFR is extremely large and different sections apply to various verticals.  Offering the entire CFR is not feasible but giving customers the ability to bring in the parts they need would be very desirable.

Prerequisites (ODA and system requirements)

Components

Requirement

Archer Solution

Regulatory & Corporate Compliance Management

Archer Use Case(s)

The following use cases take advantage of the information provided by the CFR Data Feeds integration:

  • Archer Policy Program Management

Archer Applications

Leverages the following applications:

  • Authoritative Sources

Requires On-Demand License

No

Archer Requirements

Archer release 6.9 or later

Supported Platform Version

This offering has been developed for and validated on Archer Platform Release 6.9

Compatible use cases and applications

Related applications

Application

Use Case

Primary Purpose(s) of the Relationship

Authoritative Sources

Policy Program Management (Regulatory & Corporate Compliance)

The Authoritative Sources application allows you to centrally manage industry standards, regulations, laws and requirements and map them to the policies and control standards for rationalization purposes.

Impacted use case(s)

Archer Use Case(s)

Policy Program Management

Impacted fields

Archer Application

Archer Field

(Vendor Name) Field

Authoritative Sources: Source Level

Source Name

Title Num + Subject

 

Content Source

CFR

 

Source Links

https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/CFR

 

Source Version

Title Date

 

Source Description

This Title

Authoritative Sources: Topic Level

Topic Name

Chapter Name

Chapter Num + Subchapter Name

Subtitle Name

Subtitle Num + Chapter Name

Subtitle Num + Chapter Num + Subchapter Name

 

Topic ID

Chapter Num

 

Content Source

CFR

 

Topic Description

Chapter Name

Authoritative Sources: Section Level

Section Name

Part Name

Part Num + Subpart Name

 

Section ID

Part Num

 

Content Source

CFR

 

Section Description

Part Name

Authoritative Sources: Sub Section Level

Sub Section Name

Section Subject

 

Sub Section ID

Section Num

 

Content Source

CFR

 

Sub Section Description

Section details

Due to variations in the CFR xml structure there are multiple possibilities for how the data may be presented in Archer.

  1. Topic Name - depending on the available xml structure tags the following combinations of data are presented in Archer:

    • Chapter Name

    • Chapter Num + Subchapter Name

    • Subtitle Name

    • Subtitle Num + Chapter Name

    • Subtitle Num + Chapter Num + Subchapter Name

  2. Section Name - depending on the available xml structure tags the following combinations of data are presented in Archer:

    • Part Name

    • Part Num + Subpart Name

CFR xml structure

The TITLE, CHAPTER, PART and SUBPART tags are organized in an xml structure and contains logical divisions in the Code of Federal Regulations. For example, each title is divided into chapters, which usually bear the name of the issuing agency. Each chapter is further subdivided into parts that cover specific regulatory areas. Large parts may be subdivided into subparts. All parts are organized in sections, and most citations in the CFR are provided at the section level. 

The abbreviated example of the TITLE, CHAPTER, PART and SUBPART tags are shown below.

Note: CFR data files with XML structure in the below format are compatible with the existing CFR Data Feeds integration. Files having a different XML structure is not supported and may require modifications to XSLT in the data feeds.

Ex: CFR-2020-title3-vol1 contains xml tags which are not organized, and the structure is inconsistent with comparison to the regular structure of CFR files for each level (TITLE, CHAPTER, PART and SECTION). Hence, CFR Title 3file is not a valid XML structure to import data.

Additional resources

The following additional resources are available for this application:

CFR Data Feeds Integration components

Integration diagram

The integration process follows the following flow:

  1. The government website posts the most recent updates on regulatory information related to Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) on their website in XML.

  2. The CFR data feeds pulls the below mentioned data from the Source: government website (https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/CFR) XML and import the data into Target: Authoritative Sources application.

    • Title

    • Chapter

    • Part

    • Section

Installing and configuration of CFR Data Feeds

Before you begin 

This section provides instructions for configuring the CFR data with the Archer Platform.  This document is not intended to suggest optimum installations or configurations. 

It is assumed that the reader has both working knowledge of all products involved, and the ability to perform the tasks outlined in this section. Administrators should have access to the product documentation for all products to install the required components.

All CFR Content links must be working prior to the integration. Perform the necessary tests to confirm that this is true before proceeding. 

Important: The integration described in this guide is being provided as a reference implementation for evaluation and testing purposes.  It may or may not meet the needs and use cases for your organization.  If additional customizations or enhancements are needed, it is recommended that customers contact Archer Help for assistance.

Installation overview

Complete the following tasks to install the integration.

Task 1: Prepare for the installation

  1. Ensure that your Archer system meets the following requirements:

    • Archer Platform version 6.9 or later

  2. Download the integration package from the Archer Exchange on Link:https://community.rsa.com/t5/archer-exchange/ct-p/archer-exchange

Task 2: Configure application

You must configure the Authoritative Sources application. See Configuring Authoritative Sources Application for complete information.

Task 3: Set up data feeds

You must import and schedule each data feed that you want to use. See Setting Up Data Feeds for complete information.

Task 4: Test the installation

Test the integration according to your company standards and procedures, to ensure that the use case works with your existing processes.

Configure authoritative sources application

Task 1: Add fields to the layout

  1. Click Admin menu and navigate to Applications. Under the Application Builder dropdown, select Applications.

  2. Select the Authoritative Sources application and navigate to the Fields tab.

Level: Source

  1. Edit the Content Source Values List field and Add a new value “CFR”.

  2. In the Fields tab. Add the following fields:

    1. Create a new field. Source ID

      1. Type: Text

  3. Navigate to Layout > Designer tab > Add New Layout Object

  4. Place the above created field in the Authoritative Source section.

  5. Click Apply.

Level: Topic

  1. In the Fields tab.

    1. Edit the Topic ID field. Disable the Unique Field property in the options tab for the field.

      OR

      Create a new field. Topic Num

      Type: Text

    2. Create a new field. Topic Key

      Type: Text

  2. Click Apply.

Level: Section

  1. In the Fields tab.

    1. Edit the Section ID field. Disable the Unique Field property in the options tab for the field.

      OR

      Create a new field. Section Num

      Type: Text

    2. Create a new field. Section Key

      Type: Text

  1. Click Save.

Setting up data feeds

The following data feeds are used as part of the CFR Data Feeds Integration process:

CFR data feeds are HTTP transporter data feeds that retrieves data from the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) URL and creates and updates the records in the Archer Authoritative Sources application.

All data feeds must be configured. After setting up the data feeds, you can schedule them to run as needed per your organization’s requirements. For more information on Scheduling data feeds, see the Schedule a data feed section.

Task 1: Import a data feed

  1. Go to the Manage Data Feeds page.

    1. From the menu bar, click Admin menu.

    2. Under Integration, click Data Feeds.

  2. In the Manage Data Feeds section, click Import.

  3. Locate and select the CFR Data Feeds.dfx5 file for the data feed.

  4. From the General tab in the General Information section, in the Status field, select Active.

  5. Click the Transport tab. Complete the fields in the Data Request Properties section as follows:

    1. In the Data Request URI field, enter: https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/CFR/[year]/[title-no]/[title-filename].xml

      The following table describes the value for each placeholder in the URL, which can be varied to obtain the required Title of CFR.

      Placeholder

      Value

      [year]

      Valid CFR Year

      Ex: 2020, 2019, 2018 etc.

      [title-no]

      Valid CFR title number

      Ex: title-1, title-2

      [title-filename]

      Valid CFR title filename

      Ex: CFR-2020-title-1-vol1

    2. User can select which Title from CFR they want to bring in and provide the appropriate URL. Steps to obtain CFR URL:

      1. Navigate to the website: https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/CFR

      2. Select the year.

      3. Select the title.

      4. Select the title filename. Copy the entire URL from the browser.

        Ex: https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/CFR/2020/title-1/CFR-2020-title1-vol1.xml

  1. Click the Data Map tab.

  2. In the Field Map sub tab, configure all the source fields (new and modified) to the target Authoritative Sources fields.

    Level 1: Source

Source Field

Target Field (Source)

CONTENT_SOURCE

Content Source

SOURCE_LINK

Source Links

TITLE_DESCRIPTION

Source Description

TITLE_NAME

Source Name

TITLE_NUM

Source ID

VERSION

Source Version

The screen shows below provide examples of these field mappings.

Level 2: Topic

Source Field

Target Field (Topic)

CONTENT_SOURCE

Content Source

CHAPTER_DESCRIPTION

Topic Description

CHAPTER_NAME

Topic Name

CHAPTER_NUM

Topic ID

CHAPTER_KEY

TopicKey

The screen shows below provide examples of these field mappings.

Level 3: Section

Source Field

Target Field (Section)

CONTENT_SOURCE

Content Source

PART_DESCRIPTION

Section Description

PART_NAME

Section Name

PART_NUM

Section ID

PART_KEY

Section Key

The screen shows below provide examples of these field mappings.

Level 4: SubSection

Source Field

Target Field (Sub Section)

CONTENT_SOURCE

Content Source

SECTION_DESCRIPTION

Sub Section Description

SECTION _NAME

Sub Section Name

SECTION _NUM

Sub Section ID

The screen shows below provide examples of these field mappings.

  1. In the Key Field Definitions Sub tab, add the following as key field for Authoritative Sources application.

    1. Source: Source Name

    2. Topic References(s): Topic Key

    3. Section References(s): Section Key

    4. Sub Section References(s): Sub Section ID

  1. Click Save.

Task 2: Schedule a data feed

Important: A data feed must be active and valid to successfully run.

As you schedule your data feed, the Data Feed Manager validates the information. If any information is invalid, an error message is displayed. You can save the data feed and correct the errors later; but the data feed does not process until you make corrections.

  1. Go to the Schedule tab of the data feed that you want to modify.

    1. From the menu bar, click Admin menu.

    2. Under Integration, click Data Feeds.

    3. Select the data feed.

    4. Click the Schedule tab.

  2. Go to the Recurrences section and complete frequency, start, and stop times, and time zone.

  3. (Optional) To override the data feed schedule and immediately run your data feed, in the Run Data Feed Now section, click Start.

  4. Click Save.

Certification environment

Date tested: April 2021

Product Name

Version Information

Operating System

Archer Suite

6.9

Virtual Appliance