2012
Table Of Contents
- Name-Value Pair API Developer Guide
- Contents
- What’s New
- Preface
- PayPal Name-Value Pair API Basics
- AddressVerify API Operation
- Authorization and Capture API Operation Reference
- DoDirectPayment API Operation
- DoNonReferencedCredit API Operation
- ExpressCheckout API Operations
- GetBalance API Operation
- GetPalDetails API Operation
- GetTransactionDetails API Operation
- ManagePendingTransactionStatus API Operation
- MassPay API Operation
- Recurring Payments and Reference Transactions API Operations
- CreateRecurringPaymentsProfile API Operation
- GetRecurringPaymentsProfileDetails API Operation
- ManageRecurringPaymentsProfileStatus API Operation
- BillOutstandingAmount API Operation
- UpdateRecurringPaymentsProfile API Operation
- CreateBillingAgreement API Operation
- SetCustomerBillingAgreement API Operation
- GetBillingAgreementCustomerDetails API Operation
- BAUpdate API Operation
- DoReferenceTransaction API Operation
- RefundTransaction API Operation
- TransactionSearch API Operation
- API Error Codes
- General API Errors
- Validation Errors
- DirectPayment API Errors
- SetExpressCheckout API Errors
- GetExpressCheckoutDetails API Errors
- DoExpressCheckoutPayment API Errors
- Authorization and Capture API Errors
- GetTransactionDetails API Errors
- TransactionSearch API Errors
- RefundTransaction API Errors
- MassPay API Errors
- Recurring Payments Errors
- SetCustomerBillingAgreement Errors
- GetBillingAgreementCustomerDetails Errors
- CreateBillingAgreement Errors
- UpdateBillingAgreement Errors
- DoReferenceTransaction Errors
- AddressVerify API Errors
- ManagePendingTransactionStatus API Errors
- Countries and Regions Supported by PayPal
- State and Province Codes
- Currency Codes
- AVS and CVV2 Response Codes
- About Previous Versions of the API
- Revision History
- Index
Name-Value Pair API Developer Guide August 2012 15
1
PayPal Name-Value Pair API
Basics
The Name-Value Pair (NVP) API provides parameter-based association between request and
response fields of a message and their values. The request message is sent from your website
by the API, and a response message is returned by PayPal using a client-server model in which
your site is a client of the PayPal server.
NOTE: The PayFlow API also uses name-value pairs to provide parameter-based association
between request and response fields of a message and their values; however, the
PayFlow API is not the same as the NVP API; for more information about the
PayFlow API, see
Gateway Developer Guide and Reference.
PayPal API Client-Server Architecture
The PayPal API uses a client-server model in which your website is a client of the PayPal
server.
A page on your website initiates an action on a PayPal API server by sending a request to the
server. The PayPal server responds with a confirmation that the requested action was taken or
indicates that an error occurred. The response might also contain additional information
related to the request. The following diagram shows the basic request-response mechanism.
For example, you might want to obtain the buyer’s shipping address from PayPal. You can
initiate a request specifying an API operation to obtain buyer details. The response from the
PayPal API server contains information about whether the request was successful. If the
operation succeeds, the response contains the requested information. In this case, the response
contains the buyer’s shipping address. If the operation fails, the response contains one or more
error messages.
Related information:
Creating an NVP Request
Responding to an NVP Response