User Manual

Chapter 1: Using the REST API 5
Basic REST Input Parameters
Version 3.7
Error Information
The REST API returns error information if a call is invalid. Error information is returned within an
Errors field. The Errors field includes a ShortMessage field and a LongMessage field. The
ShortMessage field indicates why the error occurred. The LongMessage field provides a more
verbose message, if applicable. For additional information, see the unified schema documentation,
on which the REST API is based:
http://developer.ebay.com/support/docs/
Affiliate Parameters
If you use affiliate parameters, it is possible to obtain affiliate commissions based on calls made by
your Web page, application, or script. Affiliate parameters enable the tracking of user activity. For
more information about the eBay Affiliate Program, please see
http://affiliates.ebay.com. For
individual descriptions of the affiliate parameters, see “Affiliate Parameter Descriptions” on page 6.
Commissions are generated when users submit bids or do other qualifying actions. For example, if a
user bids on an item after clicking a search result, a commission is generated.
Version Specifies the API version you are using for the call. If the
data returned is different from expected, test your call
using a higher version, such as the minimum of 475 for
GetSearchResultsExpress.
The Version parameter replaces the CompatibilityLevel
parameter; the CompatibilityLevel parameter is
deprecated.
If you do not use a Version parameter (or, for
GetSearchResults legacy REST input, a CompatibilityLevel
parameter), various problems can occur. Recent API
versions have more features than older versions, and
version thresholds are periodically set as the minimum
supported version. More information is in the unified
schema documentation accessible from http://
developer.ebay.com/support/docs/.
Schema The Schema parameter only applies to GetSearchResults.
For GetSearchResults, if you do not include the
UnifiedInput parameter (and set it to 1), you must include
the Schema parameter and set it to 1.
Thus, the Schema parameter is required only in the
following case: In GetSearchResults, you are not using the
UnifiedInput parameter. In such a case, the Schema=1
parameter returns data in the unified schema format. (If
omitted in this case, or if you set it to 0, the results are
returned in the legacy XML API format, which is not
supported as of June 1, 2006.) For additional information,
see “Find Items with GetSearchResults” on page 9.
Table 1-1 Required REST Input Parameters
Parameter Description