Elvis Blogs - Elvis McNeely

Shopping.com API Update

On May 14th, 2008 Shopping.com released the new version (version 3) of their API, the Shopping.com API, commonly called the SDC API. If you were a Shopping.com API version 2 user you will be very happy to see such changes as:

• Unified Schema - category, products, offers, reviews and hybrid results are all in one unified xml schema.
• Single Calls - in version 2 if you needed store offers on a category call you would have to make another call, per product sometimes, burning up lots of your 250,000 limit. Due to the unified schema and new filter options you just need to make one call.
• Sorting products, offers, and reviews is much more efficient now. No more multiple calls to get a sorted result.
• Version 2 was plaqued with parameters that didn't make sense when first read, like tp, befid, sam, np, nm and more. Version 3, the parameters are very easy to understand and you know what is happening in the query due to the renaming of the parameters. IE, showProductOffers, showProductSpecs, showProductReviews etc.
• Java developers have more help this time around with the SDK kit, a set of Java classes to develop a working product much quicker.
• There is good documentation, this time around, for the XML Schema, Use Cases, and REST Option Reference.

If you were a Shopping.com API version 2 developer or user you will welcome these changes, sooner or later. Shopping.com is going to give all partners 1 year to upgrade to the new version. At first, I thought this was too much to ask but after reviewing the lengthy white paper I changed my mind. A developer familiar with the old Shopping.com API will reconize right away the benefits from the new schema. A big thank you to the Shopping.com API engineers!

Drupal Shopping module

The module (never was released to the public) developed for Camera Prices in 2005 was built for version 2 of the Shopping.com API and coded for Drupal 4.3. Very outdated. A few months ago I began blogging about the Shopping.com API, releasing this Drupal Shopping module to the community, and what to expect from the module.

Upto a few weeks ago I was about 65% of the way through building this module, before version 3 of SDC API was announced. Since I am not finished with the SDC version 2 of the module I decided not to support Version 2 and work towards version 3 instead. Unfortunately the changes are significant and require a rewrite of the "request" and "response" parts of the module. The XML Schema has changed as well which requires all sorts of rule changes within the module code as well module settings.

Last week I began planning the module architecture. As of today I have finished the "request" part of the Shopping module. This weekend I look forward to testing it and getting the "response" code built up. I am finding developing this module for SDC Version 3 is going much quicker than I expected.

LinkedIn Group - You're Invited

I have started a LinkedIn Group for those interested in the Shopping.com API and this Drupal Shopping module. Feel free to join to network with others or just to receive updates. As of today there are 9 members in the group, which I hope a few will do beta tests once the module is available. :)

Shopping Module Website

In the coming months I will be launching a website to introduce the module, provide a demo, and show how to make mashups with the Shopping module and other great Drupal modules. Stay tuned!