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Ebay auction manager for OSCOMMERCE


quicklyshop

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I am not sure why other than you want to make a profit....why cant you just include the API in the release and let individual sites handle the "individual ebay API". 

 

Thats like saying it would be too hard to setup a Credit  Card checkout for users so EVERYONE has to use you as CC processor.  As much as I want this contrib I would rather pay a coder a couple hundred to finish the code and then release it to users for free.

 

Thanks at least for getting it this far AuctionBlox but I think people like smitty and I have the right idea.  OPEN SOURCE

 

Exactly!

 

I think what he has in mind is a great idea...I just hope he also releases the code to us.  But I dont think he will.

 

I would hope he does....

 

All external solutions (contributions) discussed in the forums must be freely available under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and must also be freely available for download at the Contributions section on the osCommerce support site.

 

 

I have my eye on this - please contribute. Just as osCommerce is funded by donations, so must your effort - you *cannot* sell non-GPL licences for osCommerce - welcome to open source :D

 

 

Recertification is required when:

 

Your application will make new API calls. However, new call options (e.g., a new AddItem option) do not usually require certification.

Your Application will incorporate added functionality that makes API calls (even if these API calls were used previously).

Your Application has changed the frequency of a given API call.

 

So, how will this work with your plan? :blink:

 

Here is the Ebay Developer API FAQ

 

The *only* solution IMO is that individuals purchase their own developer licence from Ebay - there is no way around this - the development of the code, however, should remain a community effort

 

Matti

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Hello Everyone,

Few things....

I think I found a bug...

 

in my testing I emptied the auction_basket table and when I did an auction_update the info was populated into the tables BUT the all-auctions-list was empty...as a matter of fact all the auction lists were empty...this drove me crazy for about 45 minutes until I tried to manually enter in an auction and then suddenly everything is there...then I deleted my entered auction and all was fine. Not sure why it does this but I do consider this a bug since others may have to empty the auction_basket while testing/installing.

 

 

As I am testing this out I am getting really excited about it...this has great implecations for Ebayers.

 

How long before emails are auto-parsed? When you are the seller you are able to view email addresses of everyone who bid or won your auctions...this should be easy to parse just like the regular page. It may require a field for our ebay password though. Possible a cURL function will have to be used.

 

Well I am not sure why it did this. Did you set up the dummy item to map to? I know it won't work otherwise. As, far as the email address I have been stumped on this for a while. It is not easy to parse because you have to be logged in to get it and the auto ligin is cookie drivin. We need a good cookie hacker! This way we could manipulate the cookie to auto login and get the email. This is why I keep saying:

 

I am able to parse the ebay username. I use paypal to send out the email after the auction has ended and the winner could come to auction_finder.php put in their username and when they check out it could populate the email feild in auction_basket? This may be an alternative to the email problem.

 

Although I have been able to get the email address from an HTML parsing solution,

 

I would really like to know how you did this Auctionblox.

 

 

As far as the quote problem try this:

 

$Title = str_replace("'" , "\'" , $Title); //this gets rid of ' (single quote)

$Title = str_replace("." , "" , $Title); //this gets rif of . (period)

 

As far as the API, ebay has gotten quite greedy with it's API they kind of remind me of microsoft. Like they don't make billions of the auctions themselves. I am determined to prove them wrong by building an OPEN SOURCE solution.

 

Anyways... I have developed an admin inerface to phpjobscheduler.v1.0 that you can scedule php scrips to run. Just tell it where the file is and when to run it and presto. It requires an iframe enabled browser. Could this be a problem? Is there a php script that does the same thing as an iframe? Well I am going to write a install script and release it.

 

:D :D

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I'm sure someone a while back said, "I'm sick of Microsoft, lets make our own Open Source OS." And Linux was born. Yeah, it's nice, but no where near competing with Windows.

 

As for the GPL concern. He's not selling a license to a modded OSC or anything like that. He is charging for a subscription to a service to cover his own costs. That is okay. That service can be access in theory by any e-commerce software assuming it has been modded properly. He will of course give out the code needed to make OSC compatible for free.

 

A completely open source solution would be nice, and I see that it may work for some people, but unforunatly, I don't see it working for me :(

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ok I got this installed

I know Iam doing something wrong and I hate to bother you all but maybe someone can help me.

 

From your osc admin go to catalog > Catagories/Products and create a new catagorie (folder) with no name and a

product in that folder named something like "Auction item" with a price of 0.00. You will see a pid number

in the address box of your browser - write this number down.

 

http://elle.rainbowstop.com/catalog/admin/...22a244704f833cb

 

now in auction info

bay User Name  elle_richards   

Ebay E-Mail Address  [email protected] 

Ebay Time Zone  3 

Default Mapped Product  c4bce2970c51d5cad22a244704f833cb

 

did I put in the write numbers???

 

and I get this error when I hit update.

1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax near 's Thrift Classics *3*', NULL , '1', '0.0000', '2.49', '0.0000', '0.0000', '0.000' at line 1

 

INSERT INTO auction_basket ( `auction_basket_id` , `auction_house_id` , `auction_item_id` , `ext_id` , `auction_winner_id` , `listing_status` , `time_start` , `time_end` , `orders_id` , `ext_title` , `ext_desc` , `quantity` , `price_start` , `price_end` , `insurance` , `shipping` , `sales_tax` , `products_id` ) VALUES ('', '1', '0', '3561483943', '1', '2', '2003/10/24 3::', '2003/10/31 13:16:51', NULL , 'Dover Children's Thrift Classics *3*', NULL , '1', '0.0000', '2.49', '0.0000', '0.0000', '0.0000', 'c4bce2970c51d5cad22a244704f833cb')

 

[TEP STOP]

 

I know I did something wrong and I can't figure it out I went over everything.. and just don't know..

 

 

 

Catalog

Auction

Checked Out Auctions

Ended Auctions

Active Auctions

Pending Auctions

Completed Auctions

All Auctions

Product Mappings

BOX_AUCTION_INFO

Generate Button

Modules

Customers

Locations / Taxes

Localization

Reports

Tools

Paypal IPN

 

Auction Listings 

Title  Type  Email  Price  End Date  Status  Next Steps 

ENGLAND/ITALY/FRANCE SHIELD PATCHES PATCH NEW

3633930086  eBay  {unknown}  $3.99  10/27/2003 16:02:27  Active  n/a 

Amercian Handmade Peace Flag w/ sleeve 4 pole

3633926184  eBay  {unknown}  $39.99  10/27/2003 15:43:54  Active  n/a 

 

eBay  {unknown}  $0.00  10/24/2003 22:00:38  Not Listed  n/a 

Displaying 1 to 3 (of 3 auctions)  Page 1 of 1

 

[ERROR: Not set]    <==== i ALSO HAVE THIS ERROR

 

I don't know what I am suppose to set..

Thank you in advance.

naomi

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Maybe we should just build an open source auction site. It might be easier. Save all this API worrying.

 

Why build one there are plenty of open source ones out there.

No need to re-invent the wheel.

 

Like this one:

 

*edit* - please do not link to outside projects - Johnson

;)

Edited by Johnson
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noppie,

the link in your browser should look something like this:

http://smittys.pointclark.net/auctions/admin/categories.php?cPath=21&pID=1&action=new_product_preview&read=only

 

you want the "pID=1"

 

enter the "1" in that field.

 

That should work? :rolleyes:

Edited by smitty1
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Thank you Johnson for replying about the Open Source issue. Smitty..keep up the good work.

 

Someone mentioned about starting an auction site...well I posted a few days ago about a better idea.

 

The first (I think) peer-to-peer auction site using OSC as a base. We could use XML and a central server for connecting the auctions. Imagine being on oscsite1.com and searching auctions on either oscsite1.com or the entire osc auction www. It would be the napster of auctions. With all the OSC sites we could instantly have a solid alternative to Ebay. I would be willing to donate server space and bandwidth for a project like that. Sadly however I am NOT a programmer. Anyone think this is a viable idea? I know some programmers that think it is. The project is entirely possible. We just have to start.

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I'm sure someone a while back said, "I'm sick of Microsoft, lets make our own Open Source OS."  And Linux was born.  Yeah, it's nice, but no where near competing with Windows.
Nope. They said they were sick of paying for Unix. Linux does not and never has competed with MS products. Variants are beginning to think about doing this: LindowsOS, Lycoris, Gentoo, etc., but none have gotten serious about it.

 

MS Windows has much greater sales in desktops (about 95% of the market), but in truth, MS is a much weaker player in servers. Outside of a few niches (e.g. Media Servers), MS does not dominate server markets. They are not the dominant DB, Oracle is (followed by IBM). They are not the dominant web server, Apache is (both in number of servers and even more so in pages served, since Apache is more robust than IIS). As Groupware, Exchange is dominant, but sendmail and qmail are more used for email (heck, Cyrus IMAP is probably used more than Exchange).

 

MS is only a monopoly at the desktop level. At the more profitable server level, MS is just another player.

 

Back to the subject at hand: what does eBay offer?

 

1. Auction services. These are simple. If that was all, we could have a replacement running by Christmas (about 2 months from now for those with different holidays). Perhaps by Thanksgiving (1 month).

 

2. Search services. These are more complicated, but not impossible. Presumably would improve over time.

 

3. The eBay name and traffic. This is the hard part to beat. Like MS, they have an entrenched position. Chicken and egg problem. Need sellers to get buyers, but need buyers to get sellers. This is where an open source solution does not help other than to bring on developers (who presumably will bring sellers).

 

I hope this clarifies my position.

 

Cheers,

Matt

 

P.S. The potential problem with the auctionbox project is not really the GPL. He can sell the software under the GPL (there are compliance issues, but they are not hard). What people cannot do is post about it here. This is not a GPL issue. It is a forum terms of service issue. If people would like to discuss the solution in the forums, it must be contributed. Period. If not, the posts can be deleted and accounts terminated (if necessary).

 

P.P.S. People shouldn't have to buy their own developer license, the free license should be sufficient. People will have to buy the certification access to the production servers. A joint certification might be possible, but could not be advertised here. Note: even if auctionbox releases the complete code open source, it still won't have access to the production servers without certification. If joint certification is available, he (and others) could offer it at a price cheaper than eBay's.

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Ok it's done. You can get the Job Scheduler Here

 

It works great. I decided to post it as it's own contrib because it can be used for many things....check it out. I also included a extra text file on how to use it for the "Auto Update".

 

Let me know what you think?

 

Enough about the API, let's move forward shall we.

 

Although I have been able to get the email address from an HTML parsing solution,

 

Once again I would really like to know how you did this Auctionblox.

 

 

:unsure: :blink:

Edited by smitty1
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As for the GPL concern.  He's not selling a license to a modded OSC or anything like that.  He is charging for a subscription to a service to cover his own costs.  That is okay.  That service can be access in theory by any e-commerce software assuming it has been modded properly.  He will of course give out the code needed to make OSC compatible for free.

 

A completely open source solution would be nice, and I see that it may work for some people, but unforunatly, I don't see it working for me :(

 

 

So, when do we see the code?

 

This issue, as Matt has kindly reiterated, is that solutions discussed here must be freely available under the GPL and must also be available for download here - any further discussion of subscriptions will be deleted - if code will not be forthcoming, then I would ask that it not be discussed here.

 

I would also ask that offtopic discussions such as a collective auction site... the history of Linux etc etc. not be discussed here.. this is quite a lengthy thread as it is... :D

 

Solutions my friends.... B)

 

Matti

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Smitty - Did not realize that you had asked about the email solution. I was not able to do it via PHP because you need a client http library that supports cookies and redirects. Essentially, you need a library that is sophisticated enough to impersonate a web browser. I used a library available from Java.

 

The eBay API is fairly simple to use, and I could not contribute anything to this project that would be useful above what the samples provide. (I would discuss why, but don't want to violate the rules.) Just to re-iterate - I have nothing implemented in PHP; and therefore, nothing from an automation perspective to release via GPL to this project. If I released what I do have via Open Source, then I imagine it would be to a Java/J2EE project where I could find other developers with similar skills to continue the project. So, let's discuss it no longer.

 

Regarding a GPL solution built specifically for osCommerce:

 

I believe that the HTML parsing solution would be hard to get support for enough of the different types of auctions and definitely hard to maintain as often as eBay changes pages.

 

*edit* - did you manage to read my above post? - Matti

Edited by Johnson
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So...is this contrib gonna be dead in the water?

 

Does anyone have any new ideas on parsing the email addys? THere has to be a way to do it..Of course you need an Ebay account and be the seller and have your email address. I understand the cookie problem but its above me to think of a solution. Lots of time spent on this and it would be shame to see it die.

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Well, I not over until the fat lady sings. One step at a time. I would like to know a litte more about this:

 

Smitty - Did not realize that you had asked about the email solution. I was not able to do it via PHP because you need a client http library that supports cookies and redirects. Essentially, you need a library that is sophisticated enough to impersonate a web browser. I used a library available from Java.

 

Java and PHP run well togethor. Maybe an applet? Come on Auctionblox don't hold out on us. I have also been reading about the curl module for php. Curl seems to communicate pretty well with other servers. This may be a solution.

 

Has any one checked out the Job Scheduler yet?

What do you think?

If not you can find it here:

 

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,1612

 

 

I am also thinking of modding the product info page with no header no footer and then when I list my auction with ebay using a frame to display it directly from my site. How does that sound?

 

B)

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Smitty, your auction and job scheduler, do they play well with auctionblox's contrib? I didn't want to install it unless it does. I'm two days from my 'Live' date, and I don't want to mess things up too bad.

 

I really hoped to have a solution to my eBay before I went live, since it would save me many, many hours a week on processing, but from the sounds of it, it won't happen. I was involved in this thread when it started, about a year ago, and while things have slowly progressed, we are still a ways away from having a complete solution for everyone.

Edited by Johnson
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The reality is that this is an open-source project and its almost rude to come here to create a pay service...whether you think its a good idea or not.

 

 

 

Smitty...I mentioned cURL before but no one seemed to reply. We need to get some more developers involved in this thread. It appears we are stuck for the moment with the email parsing problem. The contrib actually works other than that. I have it installed on my MS1 and it works so-so.

 

I was thinking about making a test site for it with all my contribs installed and seeing if anyone wants to use my setup. Literally I have about 15-20 contribs installed and working. I also have custom add-ins too. Lots of work has gone into my site and maybe someone could use what I have done.

Edited by Johnson
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Here is a discussion I just had with a programmer friend.

 

ME: I have installed a contrib for OSC thats in development...it is an Auction Magager for Ebay where a buyer from ebay can come to my site and pay for the item.? It works pretty good but the developers and I are stuck with how to parse email addresses from Ebay.? We can get all other info just fine but to get email addys you have to be logged into your account and that requires a cookie...how can we parse this info?? Is it possible to use cURL or something...someone saiid java would work but the guy is trying to create a pay service and he wont share details.

PROGRAMMER: nope

PROGRAMMER: browser will not send out data to a domain that is not registered for that cookie

ME: so is it possible to parse info from a page that requirees a cookie

ME: cant you fake being a browser? with java or curl or anything?

PROGRAMMER: sure...

PROGRAMMER: you can fake a lot of things, like a typing monkey, but its unstable

ME: lol

PROGRAMMER: if ebay changes the page, your fucked

ME: well...of course each time ebay makes a change then code would have to also be changed...thats expected

ME: we are trying to get around using Ebay's API which costs money

PROGRAMMER: if they put up a dhtml add that messes up the timing, your fucked

PROGRAMMER: also, you'll be holding up forked sessions.

ME: this would be run hourly in a cron so it wouldnt have to be constant or real time

PROGRAMMER: hmm...

ME: its actually only one page that gets parsed..

ME: when you are logged in as a seller you can view all auctions, current, and past 30 days WITH email addresses.

ME: so esentially every hour (or whatever) you hit that page, parse the info, and update the DB

PROGRAMMER: as long as the page doesnt change.

ME: http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?View...1&since=30&rd=1

ME: well once it gets changed then the code of course would have to change too

PROGRAMMER: yup

ME: change the multimedia1 to YOUREBAYACCOUNT

ME: so is it cURL we can do this with?

PROGRAMMER: you dont need curl

PROGRAMMER: php fopen can do it

PROGRAMMER: $pointer=fopen (URL,"r")

PROGRAMMER: then do a read on the pointer

ME: well..thats the think you have to add a password

ME: want to take a peek at the current code?

PROGRAMMER: not really :P

ME: lol

ME: k

ME: but what about the login problem?? since the page wont parse until the user is logged in

PROGRAMMER: the best way is to write an expect script.

PROGRAMMER: do a man expect

ME: I really just wanted your opinion on how that can get done

PROGRAMMER: actually

PROGRAMMER: the best way is to use the http library with perl

PROGRAMMER: perl is built for this type of thing

ME: hmm...ok

PROGRAMMER: it problem with doing this in php is that it doesnt have a programming interface to http protocol

ME: so perl can log us in...read the page we want...parse the info and shove it into mysql

ME: if the update tool is perl then thats fine..

PROGRAMMER: you need to be able to send a request and get a http protocol responce back, like when the page finished loading

PROGRAMMER: that way you have perl as a typing monkey

ME: cool

PROGRAMMER: the problem is when you get a slow, or bad responcse.

ME: anything else you can add....I am gonna? cut and paste this into the forums at OSC

PROGRAMMER: then perl script is still held open. a fork of a retarded child

ME: I will change your name of course so you wont get bothers

PROGRAMMER: you need to run a cron job to kill the retards

ME: do you think its complicated?

PROGRAMMER: a little bit... not too bad

ME: how much would you charge me to write this?

PROGRAMMER: i dont really have the time...

Edited by defender39
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Sorry defender39 I tend to disagree with the programmer. The curl module for php has some pretty intesting functions. Check this page out:

 

http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.curl.php

 

it has the abillity to login on another server

 

libcurl currently supports the http, https, ftp, gopher, telnet, dict, file, and ldap protocols. libcurl also supports HTTPS certificates, HTTP POST, HTTP PUT, FTP uploading (this can also be done with PHP's ftp extension), HTTP form based upload, proxies, cookies, and user+password authentication.

 

What do you think? :huh:

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check this out from the ebay's general announcement board.

 

As part of eBay's ongoing effort to enhance security and safeguard your personal information, we have made some important changes to the sign-in requirements for the Sell Your Item process. These changes affect the way sellers will list items on eBay.

 

Members will now be required to sign in manually by typing in your User ID and password each time you open a new browser window to list items for sale. The "keep me signed in" option will no longer be available on the Sell Your Item sign-in page.

 

In requiring that you provide your User ID and password for each selling session, eBay will no longer use cookies to remember you from a previous selling session, making your selling experience safer, and significantly reducing the possibility of account takeover.

 

You will also need to provide your user name and password when first logging on to eBay's selling tools (Turbo Lister and Seller's Assistant).

 

We may be able to build our own php "Turbo Lister"

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The curl looks like it has some promise. Anyone know how to use it?

 

There is a mod to generate turbo lister auctions from OSC, integrate a php tubo lister with that and you'd be set :)

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I am getting reports that this error comes up when people first try to hit my site. If you hit refresh it goes away. I believe it has something to do with getting a new session id. Anyone help me out?

 

Fatal error: Cannot instantiate non-existent class: auctioncart in /var/www/html/osc/catalog/includes/application_top.php on line 273

 

  //+++AUCTIONBLOX.COM
 if (tep_session_is_registered('auctionCart') && is_object($auctionCart)) {
   if (PHP_VERSION < 4) {
     $broken_cart = $cart;
     $auctionCart = new auctionCart;
     $auctionCart->unserialize($broken_cart);
   }
 } else {
   tep_session_register('auctionCart');
   $auctionCart = new auctionCart;   <-- Line 273
 }
 //+++AUCTIONBLOX.COM

 

That's the bit of code that is doing it.

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I always thought cURL was the route but I aint a programmer...my friend is a great programmer but he aint perfect and I have taught him a thing or two, which aint good.

 

Anyways...we need an open source programmer how is familiar with cURL to get this project finished.

 

Anyone out there willing to work on this? I would be willing to donate some paypal dinero for the cause...

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