SWHelp:StampWants API
From StampWantsWiki
StampWants API - In a Nutshell:
The StampWants (also CoinWants and all other flavors) API allows different programs and applications on any operating system, written in any programing language to work together with StampWants. Using the StampWants API your program or application can retrieve information from StampWants related to your listings, or ask StampWants to list new items, or perform various tasks on your existing items. All data is exchanged via HTTP or HTTPS posts, by way of Comma Separate Value (*.csv) files.
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Audience
This documentation is designed for people familiar with programming and sending and receiving messages via HTTP on a programmatic level (i.e. Not your browser [p.s. don't let the i.e. fool you, it just stands for "id est" in latin which translates to "that is", otherwise know as "example"]). You should also be familiar with StampWants.com from a seller's point of view, as well as our standard StampWants Bulk Uploader.
Feedback on the documentation is always welcome, and if you can always contact us using the "Contact US" link found at the very top left of any page on StampWants, above the header.
Developers Guide
The developers guide is broken down into three main section:
To receive or send any data to or from StampWants you will need to post data to the File Command URL via HTTP. This URL will include your username and password, as well as what type of information you want to send or receive, as well as any additional parameters available.
To request information from StampWants you need to call the File Command URL with the appropriate parameters set. StampWants will then immediately post back to you a csv file containing any applicable information. The format of this csv file varies depending on the type of information you request.
To send information to StampWants you need to post a csv file to the File Command URL with the appropriate parameters set. The csv file you post must follow the StampWants API File Command format. StampWants will then immediately post back to you a csv file containing the results of whether or not each of your commands results in SUCCESS, WARNING or FAILURE.
Example Code
The StampWants API can be used with any programming language where you can post data, including files via HTTP. Here is some sample code to get you started for the following programming languages:
Usage
Please do not call the StampWants API more than once per minute. Any actions which you need StampWants to process, such as listing items, ending items, updating items, etc. should be pooled together into one csv file, and then posted to the StampWants API. This helps keep the StampWants API running smoothly, and also allows us to better trace and debug any problems which may occur.
Programming Notes
The StampWants API can be used with any programming language where you can post data, including files via HTTP. All data exchanged between your program or application and StampWants must be in Comma Separated Value (*.csv) format. Most programming languages include tools to properly format and parse csv files (such as fgetcsv in PHP and fputcsv in PHP >= 5.0). If you are no completely familiar with csv files, please take the time to better understand the specifications for csv files:
Wikipedia Comma-Separated-Values
How To: The Comma Separated Value (CSV) File Format
Troubleshooting
The StampWants API is relatively new, and still in development. If you notice any problems please first check your code to ensure the error is not in your programming. If you do not think it is, or you are unsure, please contact us with a detailed report of the problem, and the (precise) time the problem occurred. We maintain a StampWants API log for the last 7 days of transactions between any program and the StampWants API to debug any problems which may occur.
