Posted: 9/5/2014 5:46:22 PM EDT
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I haven't messed with it in a while but I fired up a couple of the programs that i cooked up a while back that make use of the APIs that access the FCC database and they don't return any results.
I type the API call into a browser with known good search values and it comes back with zero results. The example call on the API page (the VZW search) comes back with an error. Anyone know what gives? Are the APIs done for, is something broken, a temporary outage, or what? |
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Uh, API, isn't that one of those Commie news outfits?
Have you tried doin' your www's? Try this: http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/index.htm?job=home |
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Quoted:
Uh, API, isn't that one of those Commie news outfits? Have you tried doin' your www's? Try this: http://wireless.fcc.gov/uls/index.htm?job=home An API (short for Application Programming Interface) exposes methods to enable third-party application developers to access data hosted by the FCC. Linking to the ULS, in this case, is not a helpful response. As for the OP's question, never used them and haven't seen any notices regarding them. |
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This is the API example they give: VZW search
Which gives an error. Querying, for instance, Art Bell's call sign would give the call http://data.fcc.gov/api/license-view/basicSearch/getLicenses?searchValue=W6OBB. This one at least returns XML data, but it says no matches found 
I haven't played with my software in a long time and I was hoping to show it at the hamfest this weekend. It won't make much of a demo now! Someone must have tripped over a cable in the FCC server room. |
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Quoted:
This is the API example they give: VZW search Which gives an error. Querying, for instance, Art Bell's call sign would give the call http://data.fcc.gov/api/license-view/basicSearch/getLicenses?searchValue=W6OBB. This one at least returns XML data, but it says no matches found
I haven't played with my software in a long time and I was hoping to show it at the hamfest this weekend. It won't make much of a demo now! Someone must have tripped over a cable in the FCC server room. I would send them an email, they have quite a large presence on their site informing that they have the APIs so I doubt they purposefully took them down. |
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QRZ lookup is slow, poorly organized, largely incomplete, lacking a number of good features and involves trying to stay logged in or logging in each time. Also involves opening a browser, navigating, etc. Ain't nobody got time for that. HRD Logbook 
I've played around with their web services. Looks as they aren't working. You could always screen scrape. 
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I got the last free version HRD but never used it much. That may change soon.
Screen scraping is a pain, but I guess I haven't looked at the regular ULS search to see if it uses GET or POST arguments. Having the nicely formatted XML data sure makes things easy. Plus I already have several pieces of software written this way 
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I'm looking for the Commission's products to work as advertised, mainly.
I'm sure that if I opened a browser, navigated to QRZ or the ULS search page, typed in some stuff, clicked the button, etc., I could find all the same data and read the screen and/or copy and paste or retype the data shown there. That does squat for automated or semi-auto software that is based on the APIs working as advertised. That is why the APIs exist in the first place. That's what an API is. I reread my OP and I don't see how it is vague. The APIs provided by the FCC used to work as advertised and everyone's software based on those APIs worked fine. Now the APIs are down and software based on them does not work. I also explain the exact problem that the APIs are yielding. |
| One is a net logger with lookup to auto populate participant info. Another is a straight lookup that, IMO, gives better/faster info than web-based lookups. Working on integration in a couple others that I haven't figured out where they are going yet. I'm right in the middle of a busy season and don't get much time to play with this stuff right now. |