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Checklist

To allow for faster lead times when creating a new interface with a site, Hexon has prepared a checklist with the most common operational and technical decision points. Sites should make sure to have a clear understanding of these items and be able to supply Hexon with the necessary information before the actual creation of the interface commences.

Please note that:

  • not all items are applicable in all circumstances;
  • most items might already be properly documented in the API description of the site;
  • when using the basic interface, most items have a default option. Sites are welcome to change these.
Code Item Possible options / examples Reference When using the basic interface
General information
GE01 What is the exact name (incl. casing) of the site?
GE02 What is the URL of the site?
GE03 Is the API documentation available online?
  • Yes, at ...
  • No, the documentation will be sent by email
GE04 What is the test procedure?
  • There is a test environment available at ...
  • The interface can be tested with a dummy client
Registration process
RP01 Will Hexon need explicit permission before sending advertisements for an advertiser?
  • Yes (for example, the site will need to check for an active subscription)
  • No (all new advertisers are allowed to advertise by default)
 III.6.1. New advertiser Yes
RP02 Will the site supply Hexon with the necessary account identifiers? Or will Hexon generate these?
  • Site will supply the account identifiers
  • Hexon will generate account identifiers
 III.3.1. Account identifier Hexon will generate account identifiers
RP03 In what way will the permissions and account identifiers be exchanged?
  • Using the API
  • Hexon can send permission requests to info@my-portal.com
 III.6.1. New advertiser
RP04 How will Hexon inform the site if an advertiser stops advertising? Inform us by email
Data transfer
DT01 What method of data transfer will be used? III.2. Data transfer Incremental updates
DT02 What data format will be used?
  • XML
  • JSON
  • CSV
  • etc.
 III.2.1. Receiving data in bulk, III.2.2. Receiving incremental updates JSON
DT03 What character encoding will be used?
  • UTF-8
  • ISO-8859-1
  • ISO-8859-15
  • Windows-1252
  • ASCII
 III.2.1. Receiving data in bulk, III.2.2. Receiving incremental updates UTF-8
DT04 What delivery protocol will be used?
  • FTP (DV uploads batches to FTP server of site)
  • FTP (site downloads batches from FTP server of DV)
  • REST
  • HTTP POST
  • SOAP
  • etc.
 III.2.1. Receiving data in bulk, III.2.2. Receiving incremental updates HTTP POST
DT05 One batch with all ads or separate batches per advertiser?
(only applicable when using bulk files)
  • One batch with all ads
  • Separate batches per advertiser
 III.2.1. Receiving data in bulk n/a
DT06 What is the URL of the endpoint, the URL of the WSDL or the hostname of the FTP server?
DT07 What are the necessary credentials?
DT08 At what times does a batch need to be available for processing?
(only applicable when using bulk files)
  • Processing starts at 09:00, 12:00 and 15:00, so the batch files should have been uploaded before these times.
  • Batch files can be uploaded at any given time, but no more than five times a day. They will be automatically processed after the upload has finished.
 n/a
DT09 How many requests can be sent in parallel?
(only applicable when using incremental updates)		 1-40 III.2.2. Receiving incremental updates 1
DT10 Is it okay to skip batches if there are no changes?
(only applicable when using bulk files)		 Yes, but be sure to send at least one batch file per week III.2.1. Receiving data in bulk n/a
DT11 Is it possible to retrieve a list of current advertisements for an advertiser? No
Data fields and requirements
DF01 What are all the possible data fields for an advertisement? Account identifier, advertisement identifier, action, category, description, price, media, etc. III.3. Data fields See create_update_request.json
DF02 What are the specific requirements of each field? (data type, required yes/no, max. length, etc.) See create_update_request.json
DF03 Where can the possible values for the fields that allow only specific values be found? http://www.my-portal.com/xml/list-of-allowed-makes-and-models.xml See create_update_request.json
DF04 Are there any other requirements for advertisements? Only passenger cars allowed
DF05 Which field(s) will be used for the advertisement identifier? ad_id III.3.2. Advertisement identifier listing_id
DF06 Should DV generate (unique) advertisement identifiers or will the site create a new identifier upon adding new advertisements?
(when using bulk files, DV will always generate the identifiers)
  • DV should generate (unique) advertisement identifiers
  • The site will create new identifiers and return them to DV after the advertisement has been added
 III.3.2. Advertisement identifier DV should generate advertisement identifiers
DF07 Will the advertisement identifier need to be unique for all advertisements, or just the advertisements of a single account?
  • The advertisement identifier should be unique for all advertisements
  • The advertisement identifier should be unique for all advertisements of a single account
 III.3.2. Advertisement identifier Unique for all advertisements
DF08 Will the advertisement identifier be shown as part of the advertisement?
(not applicable if the site will generate the identifiers)
  • Yes, the advertisement identifier generated by DV will be shown as the reference number of object in the advertisement. DV should make sure this identifier has meaning for the advertiser;
  • No, the advertisement identifier is only used to communicate between DV and the site and will not be shown.
 III.3.2. Advertisement identifier No
DF09 Is it possible to use rich text formatting in the advertisement description?
  • Yes, these basic HTML tags are supported: <br>, <p>, <strong>, <ul>, <li>;
  • No, only newlines (\n) are supported;
  • No.
 III.3.5. Description No
Media
MD01 What transfer method will be used for the media?
  • DV will need to send new or changed files; media files that have not changed should not be sent again;
  • DV will need to send references
 III.3.7. Media As references
MD02 What are the requirements and recommendations regarding advertisement images? Min. 1 image; max 25 images; only JPEG
Min. width of an image should be 640px. Recommended width is 1024px.
Aspect ratio should be 4:3 or 3:2		 III.3.7. Media Max. 10 images; always use 640x480
MD03 What is the correct way of removing media for an existing advertisement? References to media no longer supplied with an update action are automatically removed. III.3.7. Media References to media no longer supplied with an update action are automatically removed.
Feedback
FB01 In what way will the site give feedback to DV?
  • The site will respond with "OK" or an error message when DV sends a mutation
  • The site will upload an upload report after a batch has been processed
  • etc.
 III.4. Feedback See create_response.json
FB02 Besides the current state of an advertisement, what other information will be supplied?
  • The direct link to the advertisement
  • The number of times the advertisement has been viewed
  • etc.
 III.4. Feedback The direct link to the advertisement
FB03 In what way will leads be sent to DV? III.4. Feedback