Table Of Content4339c00.qxd 5/25/04 5:10 PM Page i
(cid:1) Mining eBay Web Services:
Building Applications with the eBay API
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John Paul Mueller
(cid:1) Mining eBay®Web Services:
Building Applications with the eBay API
Sybex
San Francisco • London
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Associate Publisher: Joel Fugazzotto
Acquisitions and Developmental Editor: Tom Cirtin
Production Editor: Leslie E.H. Light
Technical Editor: Russ Mullen
Copyeditor: Cheryl Hauser
Compositor: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Graphic Illustrator: Happenstance Type-O-Rama
Proofreaders: Laurie O’Connell, Nancy Riddiough
Indexer: Lynnzee Elze
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This book is dedicated to Matt Wagner—a source
of encouragement in troubled times and a voice of
reason when things go wrong, a friend in
weather foul and fair.
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Acknowledgments
T
hanks to my wife, Rebecca, for working with me to get this book completed. I really don’t
know what I would have done without her help in researching and compiling some of the
information that appears in this book. She also did a fine job of proofreading my rough draft
and page proofing the result.
Russ Mullen deserves thanks for his technical edit of this book. He greatly added to the
accuracy and depth of the material you see here. Russ is always providing me with great URLs
for new products and ideas. I also appreciated his hard work in testing endless versions of
applications and providing input in my ideas. This book is technically challenging in that it
relies on a number of programming languages, new and evolving technology, and several new
products. Russ met the challenge with an efficiency that few other people could match.
eBay was very helpful in putting this book together. I don’t know everyone from eBay who
worked on this book, but I can thank those that I do know by name. Gary Downing made
many introductions and acted as eBay’s ambassador for the book. Michael Knopp provided a
great many helpful comments and personal insights into eBay. I know that the book is much
better for all of the help I received from these and other individuals from eBay.
A number of people read all or part of this book to help me refine the approach and to test
the examples on a number of systems. These unpaid volunteers helped in ways too numerous
to mention here. I especially appreciate the efforts of Eva Beattie who read the entire book
and selflessly devoted herself to this project. Mike and Jody Cummings of The Treasure Mill
provided me with training on using eBay in a real world business environment, helped me
understand some of the nuances of the bidding process, and generally provided their expertise
on a decidedly complex environment. Alessandro Vernet provided a variety of helpful tips
and hints. Osvaldo Téllez Almirall provided extensive input on international issues, making
the book much better suited to international needs as a result. David Clark helped with
accessibility, user interface, and PHP development issues.
Matt Wagner, my agent, deserves credit for helping me get the contract in the first place
and taking care of all the details that most authors don’t really consider. I always appreciate
his help. It’s good to know that someone wants to help.
Finally, I would like to thank Tom Cirtin, Leslie Light, Cheryl Hauser, and the rest of the
editorial and production staff at Sybex for their assistance in bringing this book to print. It’s
always nice to work with such a great group of professionals and I very much appreciate the
friendship we have built over the last three books.
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Contents at a Glance
Introduction xx
Part I Discovering eBay Web Services 1
Chapter 1: Learning about eBay Web Services 3
Chapter 2: Using eBay Web Services to Your Advantage 25
Chapter 3: Defining a Search 47
Chapter 4: Working with Web Service Data 63
Part II Writing eBay Web Services Programs 95
Chapter 5: Starting the Development Process 97
Chapter 6: Writing Browser-Based Applications 121
Chapter 7: Writing Applications Using VBA 143
Chapter 8: Writing Applications Using Visual Studio 171
Chapter 9: Writing Applications Using PHP 215
Chapter 10: Writing Applications Using Java 239
Chapter 11: Writing Applications for Mobile Devices 261
Part III Refining Your eBay Web Services Program 281
Chapter 12: Crafting Your Application 283
Chapter 13: Considering User Needs 297
Chapter 14: Other Refinements You Should Consider 313
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