Home | Index

SearchMonkey Guide

Prev — Data Service Best Practices
Step 2: URLs — Next

Data Service Screens (Page)

This section provides detailed descriptions of all screens in the flow for creating a custom data service that extracts data from pages. For general information about custom data services, refer to “Creating Custom Data Services”.

The outline of the procedure is as follows:

  1. Enter the data service's basic info, such as its name and description.

  2. Add the data service's trigger and test URLs.

  3. Specify the data service's XSLT page extraction rules.

  4. Confirm the data service.

To create a new custom data service, go to the Application Dashboard and click Create a new data service. The Basic Info screen appears.

Step 1: Basic Info

The first step of creating any custom data service is to agree to the Terms of Service and specify the data service's name, type, and description. The name and description are displayed to other developers, while the type determines how your service attempts to extract data.

Figure 2.2. Basic Info Screen

Basic Info Screen

  • Name — Specifies the name of your data service. This is the name that SearchMonkey displays in your Application Dashboard and in the public Data Services Library.

  • Type — Selects whether you are creating a "Page" style data service or a "Web Service" style data service.

    • Page indicates that the data service extracts one or more data components from an (X)HTML page, placing those components into a valid DataRSS feed.

    • Web Service indicates that the data service makes a call to a web service, passing parameters to the web service endpoint and receiving a response in return. The data service then transforms the response into valid DataRSS.

    [Note] Note

    Any web service you use falls under certain limitations. The web service must be a REST style service, and only the GET method is supported. The web service must return its results in XML. You can make calls using HTTPS, but the web service cannot require authentication.

    [Caution] Caution

    You can change the Type later, but you will lose some of your work.

  • Description — (Optional) Provides a short description of what your data service does for developers who might use your data service. Ideally, you should describe the scope of your service and the type of data it provides. For example, "Extracts user-supplied contact information from pages in the FooSocialNetwork.com social networking site, including IM, Twitter, and Skype info."

  • Terms of Service — Indicates that you have read and agreed to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. You must agree to both policies in order to continue.

  • Next Step — Saves your changes and continues to the next step. Depending on the Type you selected, SearchMonkey directs you to a different sequence of screens:

  • Cancel — Returns to the Application Dashboard.