Does a Website Have API

[M_k]

Hi

I have a question. I want to collect some data from this website, below. I would like to know if it has API capabilities and/or if I could do web scraping, either by Goggle Sheets IMPORTXLM or a written script for MacBook. I have a lot of new records, which requires postsge stamp data to be inputted and I would like to use Integromat to automatically integrate this into my Airtable base, with data from the website below:

https://www.arpinphilately.com

If anyone can help with my question, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thank you
Mary

[W_Vann_Hall]

I don’t see any indication there’s a published API — which isn’t too surprising, as such a catalog represents a significant investment in IP, one the owner would probably be hesitant to provide free to its competition. (Indeed, the only philately-related site I could find with a published API is colnect.com — whose collectible catalogs are crowd-sourced. There also seems to be no publicly available information about the API; seemingly, you tell them what you’d like to do with it, and if they approve, they’ll send you a key and. presumably, documentation.)

As to the question of screen-scraping — and ignoring all questions of legality — I’ll have to defer to someone else. The last screen-scraping code I tried to write was in Perl and pre-CSS2, so what little I remember about it, if not completely wrong, is certainly out-of-date…

[M_k]

Hi @W_Vann_Hall

You are very clever! :grinning:

Thank you for this website. I did not know anything about it.

I did a quick search for some of the stamps and it had the information that I require, although, I just checked a few stamps, so here’s hoping.

I will contact them and see if they can help with the API aspect.

Thank you,
Mary

[M_k]

Hi @W_Vann_Hall

I just wanted to give an update regarding the website—Colnect, that you were able to find for me.

I have been using it quite a bit lately and it is a great website. I have been able to find all the stamps that I have been searching on the site, especially my International stamps. I wasn’t quite sure what I was going to do with them, in terms of organizing the stamps. As it turns out, I can export the stamp information, as a CSV file and I have a scenario setup with Integromat, so that I can have all the data placed into GS. Then from there I want to create an Airtable base. I will be posting on Airtable for suggestions on what is the easiest and simplistic way to do this setup, since it doesn’t take much to confuse me, especially when it comes to linking records. :grinning:

In terms of the API, I applied for some keys, but I was told that they only give API access to those that will make the data public. I only wanted to use the data for my personal database.

Thank you again for your help.

Mary

[W_Vann_Hall]

That’s great you’ve found a way to make use of the site. It was an interesting [brief] trip down the rabbit hole, looking for open philately sites. it’s worth the occasional diversion just to learn what is out there, either for potential use later or just to learn about something new. :winking_face:

I’ll watch for your later post to see if I have anything to contribute. So far, my integration work has tended to be very purpose-driven — usually tying into existing systems, rather than having the luxury to design both sides for best practices — so I’ll also be interested in seeing what others suggest.

[upgradeyard]

Yes, a website can have an API (Application Programming Interface). An API allows different software applications to communicate and interact with each other. It defines a set of rules and protocols that determine how different software components should interact.

Websites often provide APIs to allow developers to access and utilize their data or functionality in their own applications. For example, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook offer APIs that developers can use to integrate their services into their own applications.

APIs provide a way for developers to interact with a website's backend services without needing to understand or directly access the underlying code. This allows for the creation of third-party applications, integrations, and services that can enhance or extend the functionality of a website.

For more detail check this yardgearsguide.com