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Webshop API Interface Specification

Version 0.1

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
    1. Overview
    2. Audience
    3. Document Overview
    4. Getting Started
    5. How to Send Request
  2. Basic Concepts
    1. Message Transport
    2. Authentication
    3. Message Structure
  3. XML Message
    1. WS_AuthenticationRQ/RS
      1. Support Operations
      2. Business Rules
      3. WS_AuthenticationRQ
      4. Sample Message Request
      5. WS_AuthenticationRS
      6. Simple Message Response Success
    2. WS_CategroySetRQ/RS
      1. Support Operations
      2. Business Rules
      3. WS_CategroySetRQ
      4. Sample Message Request
      5. WS_CategroySetRS
      6. Simple Message Response Success
    3. WS_UpdateCategoryRQ/RS
      1. Support Operations
      2. Business Rules
      3. WS_UpdateCategoryRQ
      4. Sample Message Request
      5. WS_UpdateCategoryRS
      6. Simple Message Response Success
    4. WS_UpdateProductRQ/RS
      1. Support Operations
      2. Business Rules
      3. WS_UpdateProductRQ
      4. Sample Message Request
      5. WS_UpdateProductRS
      6. Simple Message Response Success
    5. WS API ‘Status’ Values List

1 Introduction

1.1 Overview

The use of this interface for communication with the exPub Service Providers using OTA compliant XML messaging over an HTTP protocol. The interface supports the exchange of:
  • Authentication
  • Get Category Set
  • Add/Update Category
  • Add/Update Product

The purpose of this interface is to facilitate dynamic data synchronization such as category name, product name, product variant name, description

1.2 Audience

This document is intended for technical staff at the webshop portal development company. The reader should be familiar with the underlying technologies used, including XML and HTTPS.

1.3 Document Overview

This document is divided into chapters covering background information, business rules, use cases, error and warning messages. The chapter detailing each of the messages describes some or all of the following:
  • An overview of the message format
  • The XML and business rules that apply to the message
  • A tabular listing of the elements and attributes in the message
  • Sample XML messages

1.4 Getting started

Our XML Web Service cannot be accessed by unauthorized requests. You will first need to contact us to get the Application Token before you can make requests. Your usage of our XML Web Service will be monitored by our staff: we reserve the right to close an XML account if its number of requests is huge.

1.5 How to send requests

The addresses to which to send requests are the following:

https://api.expubwebsites.net/WebshopApi/Authentication
https://api.expubwebsites.net/WebshopApi/GetCategorySet
https://api.expubwebsites.net/WebshopApi/UpdateCategory
https://api.expubwebsites.net/WebshopApi/UpdateProduct

You must send your XML with POST request. This can be achieved through various programming methods, which will vary according to the programming language you're using. For example, in PHP the simplest way to send this kind of requests is using the CURL extension.

2 Basic Concepts

2.1 Message Transport

All messages are transported via HTTP POST.

2.2 Authentication

The WebShopAPI provides the credentials necessary for consuming the WebServices being offered to the receiving system. Security credentials consist of: Token – A login for authentication that is provided by the WebShopAPI at the time of the order e.g. The requesting system should have the ability to connect to different URLs. Connections to the different servers may use the same account information

2.3 Message Structure

Version - This decimal value identifies the specific version of the WebShop API XML schema associated with an XML instance document. Our system does not block requests that are earlier or later than the version we are supporting, and will try to reply to them if possible.

Token - The value of this attribute is assigned by a requesting system and serves as a reference for messages that may follow an initial request. When a request message includes an echo token, the corresponding response message must include an echo token with an identical value. This makes it possible for two or more messages to be correlated together as part of a single transaction.

Message - This element indicates that the recipient of a message identified one or more warnings. A warning is a business-level error. The XML content might be syntactically valid, but the receiving application cannot fulfill the request.

Status - Message Code.

Request - This date and time value specifies the creation date and time of a message. This value is UTC format specified by ISO 8601—YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ—with time values using the 24-hour clock (e.g., 20 May 2014, 1:59:38 p.m. UTC becomes 2013-05- 20T13:59:38).