Page mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01/index.htm not found.

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RussB

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Aug 17, 2012, 8:29:11 PM8/17/12
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Dear Sowa CS:
 
I have been using your product for a long time and thank you for providing it. Unfortunately Amazon has seen fit to change the system.
 
I am trying to reprogam my Access database to use the Marketplace Web Service Products API as the current service is being discontinued as of August 31, 2012.
 
I use the following code fragment to create my URL:
 
XmlUrl = "http://sowacs.appspot.com/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01" & _
 "?AWSAccessKeyId = " & AmazonAWSAccessKeyID & _
 "&Action=GetMatchingProduct" & _
 "&SellerId=" & AmazonAWSMerchantID & _
 "&SignatureVersion=2" & _
 "&Timestamp=" & _
"&Version=2011-10-01" & _
"&Signature=" & _
"&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256" & _
"&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER" & _
"&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536"
 
and when I pasted the resulting string - Xmlurl into my browser I got the following response: Page mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01/index.htm not found.
 
Can your system be modified to work with mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01 
 
 
If so can you give any direction on creating the string to pass to Sowacs? 
 
Thanks for you time.
 
Sincerely,
 
Russ B
 
 

C Sowa

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Aug 18, 2012, 1:05:28 AM8/18/12
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I think all that you're missing is part of the initial URL - the /AWS after sowacs.appsppot.com:
 

 "?AWSAccessKeyId = " & AmazonAWSAccessKeyID & _
 "&Action=GetMatchingProduct" & _
 "&SellerId=" & AmazonAWSMerchantID & _
 "&SignatureVersion=2" & _
 "&Timestamp=" & _
"&Version=2011-10-01" & _
"&Signature=" & _
"&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256" & _
"&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER" & _
"&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536"
 
A couple of years ago there was a question about using the AWSQS service with other Amazon Web Services.  There's a little more detail there:
 
Good luck, let me know how things turn out.
 
---Chris
 

RussB

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Aug 18, 2012, 6:40:57 PM8/18/12
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Chris:
 
I added the AWS as you show, but still no luck. Posting to sowacs returns an http: string that results in the response:
 
 "Oops! Internet Explorer could not connect to mws.amazonservices.com"

If I change the http: to https: as current Amazon examples show, I get:
 
"The webpage cannot be found"
 
Any ideas on how to proceed? 
 
Russ

C Sowa

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Aug 19, 2012, 2:22:46 PM8/19/12
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Russ:
 
I managed to get the following to work.  I have included the key ID so that this may be verified.
 
 
You're correct, if I use http and not https, I get the first message that you listed.  As for the second message, I didn't esperience that.
 
Please note that I'll only be leaving the associated seller account up for a few days, since MWS insisted that I have a paid account in order to use the API.  After that I wouldn't expect the test link above to operate.
 
Let me know if the test link works for you or not.
 
Thanks,
Chris
 

Booksbyruss

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Aug 21, 2012, 12:12:49 PM8/21/12
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Chris:

 

Your link works and I successfully connected with my own newly constructed request just a few minutes ago.  Strangely, last night, 12 hours ago it did not work.

 

Thank you so much.  I think will be able to proceed as needed from this point.

 

I’m going to devote the rest of August listing books with my existing system while it still works and begin reprogramming after September 1 to work with Amazon’s new paradigm.

 

Oh how I wish they had not enforced this change.

 

Thanks,

 

Russ Bohlin

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Booksbyruss

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Aug 21, 2012, 12:12:56 PM8/21/12
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The webpage cannot be found

HTTP 400

“

 

I can’t see any difference in the structure of my link and yours. 

 

Can you spot any error?

 

Thanks,

 

Russ Bohlin

 

From: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com [mailto:sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of C Sowa
Sent: Sunday, August 19, 2012 2:23 PM
To: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [SowaCS Consulting] Re: Page mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01/index.htm not found.

 

Russ:

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C Sowa

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Aug 21, 2012, 9:48:53 PM8/21/12
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Russ - I clicked on the link that you posted, and it worked.  Your last two posts arrived only seconds apart, so I'm not sure whether you resolved this or not.
 
Do you know which site returned the 400 error (sowacs.appspot.com or mws.amazonservices.com) ?  I'm not showing any logged errors on my end.
 
---Chris
 

Your example link works, but mine pasted below doesn’t:

<snip/>

Russ Bohlin

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Aug 21, 2012, 10:07:44 PM8/21/12
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Chris. 
My Outlook email was nonfunctional for a day or so and I had to do a lot to fix it.  That's why when the emails finally got sent they were out of sequence. I believe the 400 error came from amazon. 

My link didn't work Sunday night but it did Monday morning. 

Thanks so much. I'll start reprogramming after 8/31. Till them I'm trying to list as many books as I can with my system as it has worked for the last several years. 

Going forward, what I am going to hate is only being able to extract the "lowest" price and the "competitive" price. Up till now I've been able to extract all the prices for a title and analyze them to calculate my price, which is rarely the lowest price. 

Best regards,
Russ Bohlin

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Booksbyruss

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Sep 18, 2012, 4:25:17 PM9/18/12
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Hello Chris:

 

Amazon finally shut down their old service so I just began the reprogramming required.  I ran into the following problem.

 

Sending Sowacs a URL for  their operation “GetMatchingProduct”:

 

https://sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetMatchingProduct&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureVersion=2&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536

 

 

Translates by your site into the valid URL:

 

https://mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetMatchingProduct&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&SignatureVersion=2&Timestamp=2012-09-18T20%3A15%3A02.000Z&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=d4J2a%2BHgDlIwpVTHvBh38yLT4uxKprs%2Fgh8dVfVPp6Q%3D

 

which returns the expected XML .

 

 

However, when I change the operation to “GetCompetitivePricingForAsin”

 

I send Sowacs the URL:

 

https://sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetCompetitivePricingForAsin&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureVersion=2&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536

 

it doesn’t get “translated”: my IE Explorer address bar still shows:

 

https://sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetCompetitivePricingForAsin&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureVersion=2&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536

 

and Internet Explorer shows me:

 

The webpage cannot be found

HTTP 404

 

 

Can your code be “generalized” to do the signature computation for all possible variations of Operation Requests?  It works with “GetMatchingProduct” but not “GetCompetitivePricingForAsin”, for me, and their several other Operation Requests spelled out In their API documentation that I will  need to use.

 

Thanks,

 

Russ Bohlin

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C Sowa

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Sep 19, 2012, 11:21:34 AM9/19/12
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Russ:

It should work for any "Action". I tried the GetCompetitivePricingForAsin link that you sent, and it appears to be signed correctly. Amazon returned the following:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ErrorResponse xmlns="http://mws.amazonservices.com/schema/Products/2011-10-01">
<Error>
<Type>Sender</Type>
<Code>InvalidAddress</Code>
<Message>Operation GetCompetitivePricingForAsin is not available for section Products/2011-10-01</Message>
</Error>
<RequestID>46d198e0-9fff-47b2-b981-c6945464d3c0</RequestID>
</ErrorResponse>

I'm not sure what you're encountering. It doesn't appear to be occurring at sowacs.appspot.com.

---Chris

 

Booksbyruss

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Sep 19, 2012, 1:11:50 PM9/19/12
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Chris,

 

When I sent you the link that worked,

 

https://sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetMatchingProduct&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureVersion=2&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536

 

what you do when you add the timestamp and signature changes the address that appears in my Explorer address bar to

 

https://mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetMatchingProduct&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&SignatureVersion=2&Timestamp=2012-09-18T20%3A15%3A02.000Z&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=d4J2a%2BHgDlIwpVTHvBh38yLT4uxKprs%2Fgh8dVfVPp6Q%3D

 

The first part of the hyperlink, sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/ disappears.

 

 

 

 

On the link that doesn’t work,

https://sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetCompetitivePricingForAsin&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureVersion=2&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536

 

the string , sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/  remains and the timestamp and signature are not added and I get the error HTTP 400 Bad Request

 

 

I tried changing the https to http and I get a different result: the sowacs.appspot.com/AWS/ disappears and you calculate the timestamp and signature but the resulting link doesn’t work and I get the message

 

Oops! Internet Explorer could not connect to mws.amazonservices.com Suggestions: Go to

 

http://mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01?ASINList.ASIN.1=0515100536&AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJ5ZKN5ZD3J4VLJWA&Action=GetMatchingProduct&MarketplaceId=ATVPDKIKX0DER&SellerId=A3N7CTJ9VDNNTE&SignatureMethod=HmacSHA256&SignatureVersion=2&Timestamp=2012-09-18T20%3A15%3A02.000Z&Version=2011-10-01&Signature=d4J2a%2BHgDlIwpVTHvBh38yLT4uxKprs%2Fgh8dVfVPp6Q%3D

 

 

Can you see the pattern here and figure out what to do?

 

 

Thanks,

 

Russ Bohlin

 

From: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com [mailto:sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of C Sowa
Sent: Wednesday, September 19, 2012 11:22 AM
To: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SowaCS Consulting] Re: Page mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01/index.htm not found.

 

Russ:

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C Sowa

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Sep 20, 2012, 1:28:03 AM9/20/12
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Russ:
 
The links that you posted all work, with the exception of "http", since Amazon only responds on https.  Even in the http case, the requests are signed correctly, it's just that there's nothing at Amazon listening on that port (80).
 
I checked the logs, and none of these requests have generated errors before being redirected to Amazon.
 
The XML error response that Amazon returns for the GetCompetitivePricingForAsin link is accompanied by a 404 error.  Depending on your browser and settings, what appears in the addresss bar may not reflect the ultimate destination.  I've been using IE9.  Also, browser search plug-ins, and even DNS services, may intercept 404 responses and show things like an "oops" page, in an attempt to be helpful.
 
You could use your browser's development tools to see what's happening behind the scenes, and verify the actual request / response pattern for yourself.  Or download http://fiddler2.com/fiddler2/ for even more capabilities.
 
I think once you start looking at the actual traffic, you'll be able to see what's happening where.
 
Good luck!
 
---Chris

Booksbyruss

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Sep 21, 2012, 2:23:47 PM9/21/12
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Chris:

 

Thanks so much.

 

I found my mistake after spinning my wheels for a ridiculous time.  My operation was misspelled as GetCompetitivePricingForAsin instead  of GetCompetitivePricingForASIN.  Do you see?  Asin instead of ASIN.  What a pain in the neck.

 

Reminds me of my early days as a trainee COBOL programmer back in 1974.  After two days of trying to get a program to work, my boss looked over my shoulder and pointed out a missing period.

 

I did download Fiddler as you suggested and in a few minutes of cursory perusal it gave me the insight I needed.

 

I made a $50.00 donation to you through Paypal.

 

Russ Bohlin

 

From: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com [mailto:sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of C Sowa
Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 1:28 AM
To: sowacs-c...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [SowaCS Consulting] Re: Page mws.amazonservices.com/Products/2011-10-01/index.htm not found.

 

Russ:

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C Sowa

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Sep 22, 2012, 1:17:53 AM9/22/12
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Russ - I'm glad you found the issue. It's always something simple that trips us up. Also good to hear that you've found Fiddler to be helpful.  It's one of the "must haves" for a web developer's toolbox. 
 
Thanks for the donation as well!  It will help with the costs of keeping the service going, which are minor, but still... 
 
---Chris
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