Unusable ISBN field

[LiFo]

Hi
I am using the v3 api in C#

it seams to me tha we again have a poorly designed api or at least wsdl
or lastly porly data returned

first i cant find any information on the ISBN field returned
if it is ISBN10 or ISBN13

if you do a getProduct on a product from a merchant that returns an isbn 10
and that isbn10 has 10 as checksum (represented as x according to the isbn standard) you get isbn with the checksum missing altogether
in the api isbn is defined as an integer and you cant send x as an integer
if it always was an isbn13 returned then it is ok ot have the isbn as an integer

the same goes for the DataFeed
there an isbn is represented as 13 characters
and when we talk about pickabook the isbn is isbn10 padded with 0 infront

one example
in the datafeed
the isbn is 0000074953625
it should be 000074953625X
or still bettet returned ISBN13 9780749536251


this makes the isbn field usles in the datafeed and in the api
at least for merchant 48 Pickabook

[GeorgeGaz]

Hello LiFo,

ShopWindow will only ever be as good as the data that it receives.

That data comes directly from our merchants and whilst we have guidelines in place, we have no control over exactly what they wish (or do not wish) to put into their datafeed.

This can sometimes, as you are experiencing, cause problems and it is a great shame because merchants have some fantastic data available but more often than not they do not make use of it.

We appreciate that this can be a problem and we do try to maintain the integrity of the data that we receive and our Technical Department do contact merchants with the aim of getting better data from them.

As we move forward the data does improve and we hope that as the relationships grow closer that the merchants will see the value of adding extra data.

When we develop vertical channels the data can be funneled to fit a particular specification, this makes the vertical channels much more powerful and we do have further verticals in the pipeline.

Regards

[Andy]

Seeing as we're not allowed to smack children anymore, parents need to employ Reward and Punishment techniques to not only get a child to behave itself, but also to ensure it grows into a decent human being and brings value to this world that we live in.

For instance:

Little Johnny is expected to do his homework each night, keep his bedroom tidy and do his chores. If his bedroom is tidy, his homework is done and he washes up, he is allowed to watch TV/ play playstation etc. He might even get a raise in his Pocket money if he is especially helpful around the house and gets good reports from School.

If not, his Pocket Money is cut (or stopped), No TV, No Playstation, Grounded for a month and if the offence is bad enough for long enough, he is kicked off the network for wasting everybody's time.

;)

[authcode]

George mentioned something in another thread which hadn't occured to me before and which I've been mulling over ever since.

The affiliate channel might only contribute a small fraction towards a merchant's total revenue, in which case they might consider that contributing all of their data in pristine condition to the SW platform might actually be damaging (i.e. competitive) to their other revenue streams (i.e. their main website). Now this is only my interpretation of what George said, but it sounds more than plausible, which leaves me wondering whether we will ever see the kind of data quality we are all hoping for.

It's basically a chicken and egg scenario: until affiliates innovate merchants don't want to risk aiding "the competition", but unless affiliates are supplied with complete, accurate and timely data there's very little we can do to innovate.