Zend_Service_Amazon

Introduction

Zend_Service_Amazon is a simple API for using Amazon web services. Zend_Service_Amazon has two APIs: a more traditional one that follows Amazon's own API, and a simpler "Query API" for constructing even complex search queries easily.

Zend_Service_Amazon enables developers to retrieve information appearing throughout Amazon.com web sites directly through the Amazon Web Services API. Examples include:

Store item information, such as images, descriptions, pricing, and more
Customer and editorial reviews
Similar products and accessories
Amazon.com offers
ListMania lists

In order to use Zend_Service_Amazon, you should already have an Amazon developer API key aswell as a secret key. To get a key and for more information, please visit the » Amazon Web Services web site. As of August 15th, 2009 you can only use the Amazon Product Advertising API through Zend_Service_Amazon, when specifying the additional secret key.

Note: Attention
Your Amazon developer API and secret keys are linked to your Amazon identity, so take appropriate measures to keep them private.

Example #1 Search Amazon Using the Traditional API

In this example, we search for PHP books at Amazon and loop through the results, printing them.

$amazon = new Zend_Service_Amazon('AMAZON_API_KEY', 'US', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$results = $amazon->itemSearch(array('SearchIndex' => 'Books',
                                     'Keywords' => 'php'));
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result->Title . '<br />';
}

Example #2 Search Amazon Using the Query API

Here, we also search for PHP books at Amazon, but we instead use the Query API, which resembles the Fluent Interface design pattern.

$query = new Zend_Service_Amazon_Query('AMAZON_API_KEY',
                                       'US',
                                       'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$query->category('Books')->Keywords('PHP');
$results = $query->search();
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result->Title . '<br />';
}

Country Codes

By default, Zend_Service_Amazon connects to the United States ("US") Amazon web service. To connect from a different country, simply specify the appropriate country code string as the second parameter to the constructor:

Example #3 Choosing an Amazon Web Service Country

// Connect to Amazon in Japan
$amazon = new Zend_Service_Amazon('AMAZON_API_KEY', 'JP', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');

Note: Country codes
Valid country codes are: CA, DE, FR, JP, UK, and US.

Looking up a Specific Amazon Item by ASIN

The itemLookup() method provides the ability to fetch a particular Amazon item when the ASIN is known.

Example #4 Looking up a Specific Amazon Item by ASIN

$amazon = new Zend_Service_Amazon('AMAZON_API_KEY', 'US', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$item = $amazon->itemLookup('B0000A432X');

The itemLookup() method also accepts an optional second parameter for handling search options. For full details, including a list of available options, please see the » relevant Amazon documentation.

Note: Image information
To retrieve images information for your search results, you must set ResponseGroup option to Medium or Large.

Performing Amazon Item Searches

Searching for items based on any of various available criteria are made simple using the itemSearch() method, as in the following example:

Example #5 Performing Amazon Item Searches

$amazon = new Zend_Service_Amazon('AMAZON_API_KEY', 'US', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$results = $amazon->itemSearch(array('SearchIndex' => 'Books',
                                     'Keywords' => 'php'));
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result->Title . '<br />';
}

Example #6 Using the ResponseGroup Option

The ResponseGroup option is used to control the specific information that will be returned in the response.

$amazon = new Zend_Service_Amazon('AMAZON_API_KEY', 'US', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$results = $amazon->itemSearch(array(
    'SearchIndex'   => 'Books',
    'Keywords'      => 'php',
    'ResponseGroup' => 'Small,ItemAttributes,Images,SalesRank,Reviews,' .
                       'EditorialReview,Similarities,ListmaniaLists'
    ));
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result->Title . '<br />';
}

The itemSearch() method accepts a single array parameter for handling search options. For full details, including a list of available options, please see the » relevant Amazon documentation

Tip

The Zend_Service_Amazon_Query class is an easy to use wrapper around this method.

Using the Alternative Query API

Introduction

Zend_Service_Amazon_Query provides an alternative API for using the Amazon Web Service. The alternative API uses the Fluent Interface pattern. That is, all calls can be made using chained method calls. (e.g., $obj->method()->method2($arg))

The Zend_Service_Amazon_Query API uses overloading to easily set up an item search and then allows you to search based upon the criteria specified. Each of the options is provided as a method call, and each method's argument corresponds to the named option's value:

Example #7 Search Amazon Using the Alternative Query API

In this example, the alternative query API is used as a fluent interface to specify options and their respective values:

$query = new Zend_Service_Amazon_Query('MY_API_KEY', 'US', 'AMAZON_SECRET_KEY');
$query->Category('Books')->Keywords('PHP');
$results = $query->search();
foreach ($results as $result) {
    echo $result->Title . '<br />';
}

This sets the option Category to "Books" and Keywords to "PHP".

For more information on the available options, please refer to the » relevant Amazon documentation.

Zend_Service_Amazon Classes

The following classes are all returned by Zend_Service_Amazon::itemLookup() and Zend_Service_Amazon::itemSearch():

Zend_Service_Amazon_Item

Zend_Service_Amazon_Item is the class type used to represent an Amazon item returned by the web service. It encompasses all of the items attributes, including title, description, reviews, etc.

Zend_Service_Amazon_Item::asXML()

string asXML ( void

Return the original XML for the item

Properties

Zend_Service_Amazon_Item has a number of properties directly related to their standard Amazon API counterparts.

**Zend_Service_Amazon_Item Properties**
Name	Type	Description
ASIN	string	Amazon Item ID
DetailPageURL	string	URL to the Items Details Page
SalesRank	int	Sales Rank for the Item
SmallImage	Zend_Service_Amazon_Image	Small Image of the Item
MediumImage	Zend_Service_Amazon_Image	Medium Image of the Item
LargeImage	Zend_Service_Amazon_Image	Large Image of the Item
Subjects	array	Item Subjects
Offers	`Zend_Service_Amazon_OfferSet`	Offer Summary and Offers for the Item
CustomerReviews	array	Customer reviews represented as an array of `Zend_Service_Amazon_CustomerReview` objects
EditorialReviews	array	Editorial reviews represented as an array of `Zend_Service_Amazon_EditorialReview` objects
SimilarProducts	array	Similar Products represented as an array of `Zend_Service_Amazon_SimilarProduct` objects
Accessories	array	Accessories for the item represented as an array of `Zend_Service_Amazon_Accessories` objects
Tracks	array	An array of track numbers and names for Music CDs and `DVD`s
ListmaniaLists	array	Item related Listmania Lists as an array of `Zend_Service_Amazon_ListmainList` objects
PromotionalTag	string	Item Promotional Tag

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Zend_Service_Amazon_Image

Zend_Service_Amazon_Image represents a remote Image for a product.

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_Image Properties**
Name	Type	Description
Url	Zend_Uri	Remote URL for the Image
Height	int	The Height of the image in pixels
Width	int	The Width of the image in pixels

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Zend_Service_Amazon_ResultSet

Zend_Service_Amazon_ResultSet objects are returned by Zend_Service_Amazon::itemSearch() and allow you to easily handle the multiple results returned.

Note: SeekableIterator
Implements the SeekableIterator for easy iteration (e.g. using foreach), as well as direct access to a specific result using seek().

Zend_Service_Amazon_ResultSet::totalResults()

int totalResults ( void

Returns the total number of results returned by the search

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Zend_Service_Amazon_OfferSet

Each result returned by Zend_Service_Amazon::itemSearch() and Zend_Service_Amazon::itemLookup() contains a Zend_Service_Amazon_OfferSet object through which pricing information for the item can be retrieved.

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_OfferSet Properties**
Name	Type	Description
LowestNewPrice	int	Lowest Price for the item in "New" condition
LowestNewPriceCurrency	string	The currency for the `LowestNewPrice`
LowestOldPrice	int	Lowest Price for the item in "Used" condition
LowestOldPriceCurrency	string	The currency for the `LowestOldPrice`
TotalNew	int	Total number of "new" condition available for the item
TotalUsed	int	Total number of "used" condition available for the item
TotalCollectible	int	Total number of "collectible" condition available for the item
TotalRefurbished	int	Total number of "refurbished" condition available for the item
Offers	array	An array of Zend_Service_Amazon_Offer objects.

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Zend_Service_Amazon_Offer

Each offer for an item is returned as an Zend_Service_Amazon_Offer object.

Zend_Service_Amazon_Offer Properties

**Properties**
Name	Type	Description
MerchantId	string	Merchants Amazon ID
MerchantName	string	Merchants Amazon Name. Requires setting the `ResponseGroup` option to `OfferFull` to retrieve.
GlancePage	string	URL for a page with a summary of the Merchant
Condition	string	Condition of the item
OfferListingId	string	ID of the Offer Listing
Price	int	Price for the item
CurrencyCode	string	Currency Code for the price of the item
Availability	string	Availability of the item
IsEligibleForSuperSaverShipping	boolean	Whether the item is eligible for Super Saver Shipping or not

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Zend_Service_Amazon_SimilarProduct

When searching for items, Amazon also returns a list of similar products that the searcher may find to their liking. Each of these is returned as a Zend_Service_Amazon_SimilarProduct object.

Each object contains the information to allow you to make sub-sequent requests to get the full information on the item.

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_SimilarProduct Properties**
Name	Type	Description
ASIN	string	Products Amazon Unique ID (ASIN)
Title	string	Products Title

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Zend_Service_Amazon_Accessories

Accessories for the returned item are represented as Zend_Service_Amazon_Accessories objects

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_Accessories Properties**
Name	Type	Description
ASIN	string	Products Amazon Unique ID (ASIN)
Title	string	Products Title

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Zend_Service_Amazon_CustomerReview

Each Customer Review is returned as a Zend_Service_Amazon_CustomerReview object.

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_CustomerReview Properties**
Name	Type	Description
Rating	string	Item Rating
HelpfulVotes	string	Votes on how helpful the review is
CustomerId	string	Customer ID
TotalVotes	string	Total Votes
Date	string	Date of the Review
Summary	string	Review Summary
Content	string	Review Content

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Zend_Service_Amazon_EditorialReview

Each items Editorial Reviews are returned as a Zend_Service_Amazon_EditorialReview object

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_EditorialReview Properties**
Name	Type	Description
Source	string	Source of the Editorial Review
Content	string	Review Content

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Zend_Service_Amazon_Listmania

Each results List Mania List items are returned as Zend_Service_Amazon_Listmania objects.

Properties

**Zend_Service_Amazon_Listmania Properties**
Name	Type	Description
ListId	string	List ID
ListName	string	List Name

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