WWW::Search::Ebay - backend for searching www.ebay.com
use WWW::Search;
my $oSearch = new WWW::Search('Ebay');
my $sQuery = WWW::Search::escape_query("C-10 carded Yakface");
$oSearch->native_query($sQuery);
while (my $oResult = $oSearch->next_result())
{ print $oResult->url, "\n"; }
This class is a Ebay specialization of the WWW::Search manpage.
It handles making and interpreting Ebay searches
http://www.ebay.com.
This class exports no public interface; all interaction should
be done through the WWW::Search manpage objects.
The search is done against CURRENT running AUCTIONS only.
(NOT completed auctions, NOT eBay Stores items, NOT Buy-It-Now only items.)
(If you want to search completed auctions, use the the WWW::Search::Ebay::Completed manpage module.)
(If you want to search eBay Stores, use the the WWW::Search::Ebay::Stores manpage module.)
The query is applied to TITLES only.
This module can return only the first 200 results matching your query.
In the resulting the WWW::Search::Result manpage objects, the description()
field consists of a human-readable combination (joined with
semicolon-space) of the Item Number; number of bids; and high bid
amount (or starting bid amount).
In the resulting the WWW::Search::Result manpage objects, the end_date() field
contains a human-readable DTG of when the auction is scheduled to end
(in the form ``YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM TZ''). If environment variable TZ is
set, the time will be converted to that timezone; otherwise the time
will be left in ebay.com's default timezone (US/Pacific).
In the resulting the WWW::Search::Result manpage objects, the bid_count() field
contains the number of bids as an integer.
In the resulting the WWW::Search::Result manpage objects, the bid_amount()
field is a string containing the high bid or starting bid as a
human-readable monetary value in seller-native units, e.g. ``$14.95'' or
``GBP 6.00''.
In the resulting the WWW::Search::Result manpage objects, the sold() field will
be non-zero if the item has already sold. (Only if you're using
WWW::Search::Ebay::Completed)
After a successful search, your search object will contain an element
named 'categories' which will be a reference to an array of hashes
containing names and IDs of categories and nested subcategories, and
the count of items matching your query in each category and
subcategory. (Special thanks to Nick Lokkju for this code!) For
example:
$oSearch->{categories} = [
{
'ID' => '1',
'Count' => 19,
'Name' => 'Collectibles',
'Subcategory' => [
{
'ID' => '13877',
'Count' => 11,
'Name' => 'Historical Memorabilia'
},
{
'ID' => '11450',
'Count' => 1,
'Name' => 'Clothing, Shoes & Accessories'
},
]
},
{
'ID' => '281',
'Count' => 1,
'Name' => 'Jewelry & Watches',
}
];
If your query string happens to be an eBay item number,
(i.e. if ebay.com redirects the query to an auction page),
you will get back one WWW::Search::Result without bid or price information.
- Limit search by price range
-
Contributed by Brian Wilson:
$oSearch->native_query($sQuery, {
_mPrRngCbx=>'1', _udlo=>$minPrice, _udhi=>$maxPrice,
} );
- user_agent_delay
-
Introduce a few-seconds delay to avoid overwhelming the server.
- need_to_delay
-
Controls whether we do the delay or not.
- preprocess_results_page
-
Grabs the eBay Official Time so that when we parse the DTG from the
HTML, we can convert / return exactly what eBay means for each one.
- result_as_HTML
-
Given a WWW::SearchResult object representing an auction, formats it
human-readably with HTML.
An optional second argument is the date format,
a string as specified for Date::Manip::UnixDate.
Default is '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S'
my $sHTML = $oSearch->result_as_HTML($oSearchResult, '%H:%M %b %E');
You only need to read about these if you are subclassing this module
(i.e. making a backend for another flavor of eBay search).
- _get_result_count_elements
-
Given an HTML::TreeBuilder object,
return a list of HTML::Element objects therein
which could possibly contain the approximate result count verbiage.
- _get_itemtitle_tds
-
Given an HTML::TreeBuilder object,
return a list of HTML::Element objects therein
representing <TD> elements
which could possibly contain the HTML for result title and hotlink.
- _parse_category_list
-
Parses the Category list from the left side of the results page.
So far,
this method can handle every type of eBay search currently implemented.
If you find that it doesn't suit your needs,
please contact the author because it's probably just a tiny tweak that's needed.
- _process_date_abbrevs
-
Given a date string,
converts common abbreviations to their full words
(so that the string can be unambiguously parsed by Date::Manip).
For example,
in the default English, 'd' becomes 'days'.
- _next_text
-
The text of the ``Next'' button, localized for a specific type of eBay backend.
- whitespace_pattern
-
Return a qr// pattern to match whitespace your webpage's language.
- _currency_pattern
-
Return a qr// pattern to match mentions of money in your webpage's language.
Include the digits in the pattern.
- _title_pattern
-
Return a qr// pattern to match the webpage title in your webpage's language.
Add grouping parenthesis so that
$1 becomes the auction title,
$2 becomes the eBay item number, and
$3 becomes the end date.
- _result_count_pattern
-
Return a qr// pattern to match the result count in your webpage's language.
Include parentheses so that $1 becomes the number (with commas is OK).
To make new back-ends, see the WWW::Search manpage.
Please tell the author if you find any!
Martin 'Kingpin' Thurn, mthurn at cpan.org, http://tinyurl.com/nn67z.
Some fixes along the way contributed by Troy Davis.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED ``AS IS'' AND WITHOUT ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED
WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Copyright (C) 1998-2009 Martin 'Kingpin' Thurn
This software is released under the same license as Perl itself.
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