2.0 Software Summary
| 2.1 | Software Application |
| 2.2 | Software Organization and Overview of Operation |
| 2.3 | Contingencies, Alternate States, and Modes of Operation |
| 2.4 | Security and Privacy |
| NEFPT-SUM Main Page | |
2.0 Software Summary
2.1 Software Application
The NextEnergy Fleet Processing Tool (NEFPT) is intended to assist users in calculating a fleet's costs and emissions, allowing the managers to verify that their fleets produce a legal amount of emissions under state law. The information provided by this interactive web site can also assist managers making key decisions for creating, modifying or expanding a fleet. The site contains published vehicle information and can be used as a reference. Managers may also analyze how a group of vehicles within the fleet affect the entire fleet's emissions, and decisions can be based on that information as well.
2.2 Software Organization and Overview of Operation
The Fleet Processing Tool is an interactive web site spanning six pages. The following table describes the purpose of each page:
| Page | Purpose |
| Main | The Main page is the entry point to the Fleet Processing Tool. The user can access the Software User's Manual from this page to understand how the tool works. The user can start a new session by starting a new fleet or loading a previously saved fleet from this page. |
| Manage Fleet | The Manage Fleet page contains a list of vehicles in the current fleet. There are buttons to link to the Vehicle Selection page to add a vehicle, remove a vehicle, or update the vehicle details for the vehicles in the fleet. |
| Vehicle Selection | The Vehicle Selection page contains a list of the vehicles in the database. A user may search through all the vehicles by category, manufacturer or fuel type. The page also displays the selected vehicle's information. Finally, the user may add the selected vehicle to their fleet by entering vehicle details and clicking on the "Add Vehicle" button. |
| Fuel Costs | The Fuel Costs page allows the user to enter the current costs of different fuel types. The fuel types are Gas, Diesel, and Biodiesel (B20). |
| Load Fleet | The Load Fleet page allows the user to load previously saved fleets. |
| Fleet Metrics | The Fleet Metrics page displays the cost and emissions of the user's fleet. The user may also create a sub-fleet and analyze the percentages of emissions and costs contributed by that sub-fleet. |
Each page in the Fleet Processing Tool, except for the Main page, has a navigation bar at the left most part of the page. The links in the navigation bar are grouped into four sections. The Fleet section pertains to activities dealing with managing the fleet, the Fuel Costs section deals with setting the fuel costs, the Help section hyperlinks to the Software User's Manual, and the Exit section has exit point links. The following table describes the different actions each link has in the navigation bar:
| Link | Action |
| Fleet: Manage | Hyperlinks to the Manage Fleet page. |
| Fleet: Metrics | Hyperlinks to the Fleet Metrics page. |
| Fleet: New | Removes the current user fleet and creates a new 'blank' fleet. Caution: The current fleet will be lost if not saved. |
| Fleet: Load | Hyperlinks to the Load Fleet page. |
| Fleet: Save | Allows the user to save their current fleet locally. A save dialog is displayed and allows the user to specify the file that will hold the fleet information. |
| Fuel Costs | Hyperlinks to the Fuel Costs page. |
| Help | Hyperlinks to the Software User's Manual in a new window. |
| Exit: Restart | Hyperlinks to Main page. |
| Exit: Home | Hyperlinks to the NextEnergy.org homepage. |
2.3 Contingencies, Alternate States, and Modes of Operation
The Fleet Processing tool is an interactive web site and therefore the user's session may time out if there is no activity within 20 minutes. If after 20 minutes the user has not taken any action the fleet will be lost, some buttons will no longer work, and some links in the navigation bar will be disabled. It is good practice to save the fleet often, especially if the user knows they will be away. After timing out, it is recommended that the user click on the Restart hyperlink in the navigation bar to start all over (other alternatives are the New or Load hyperlinks).
2.4 Security and Privacy
The NEFPT was initially intended to be used by fleet managers. However, NextEnergy would like to provide this service of calculating vehicle emissions and cost to the general public, allowing anyone with internet access to visit the web site. Several precautions, including setting a maximum number of vehicles threshold and a maximum number of sessions threshold, have been taken to prevent malicious activity.