Using the GOSO Web API

The GOSO Web API is a full-featured API that allows full access to the data on millions of vehicles and entire dealer inventories all across the country. The API allows you to retrieve as little or as much data as you would like!

Accessing the GOSO Web API
Getting the Dealer's inventory
Vehicle Attributes
Features
Getting thumbnails and images
Accessing CARFAX® and other awards data
Viewing GOSO objects
Example GOSO Inventory Object
Example GOSO Vehicle Object
Troubleshooting
Help or Questions

Accessing the GOSO Web API

The easiest way to access the GOSO Web API is to create a CURL object and pull into a SimpleXMLElement.

$user = '***';
$password = '***';
$vin = '1G1YY12S135125783';
$slug = 'sethwadleyford';

$url = "http://api.goso.com/api/getvehicle?vin=$vin&slug=$slug&user=$user&password=$password&page=1&pagenum=10";
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_URL, $url );
curl_setopt( $ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1 );
$data = curl_exec( $ch );
curl_close( $ch );
$GosoWebAPI = new SimpleXMLElement($data);

You will now have access to the particular vehicle or inventory's attributes through the $GosoWebAPI object. You may also access GOSO Web API data through our web submission form.

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Getting the Dealer's inventory

You can grab the dealer's entire inventory very easily through the GOSO Web API. The API command is sent as follows:

http://api.goso.com/api/getinventory?user=$user&password=$password&slug=$slug&page=1&pagenum=10

The code to extract the key and value of each car would be as follows:

foreach($GosoWebAPI as $vehicle){
	foreach($vehicle as $key => $value){
		print "$key => $value";
	}
}

Looping through the $vehicle array will give you the individual attributes of each vehicle within the dealer's inventory (such as the make, model, city/hwy MPG, main image, etc.).

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Vehicle Attributes

The GOSO API gives you access to dozens of vehicle attributes. Here are a few examples:

To obtain the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), you access the vin attribute:
```
echo $GosoWebAPI->attributes->vin
```
To obtain the vehicle's year, you access the year attribute:
```
echo $GosoWebAPI->attributes->year
```
To obtain the vehicle's make, you access the make attribute:
```
echo $GosoWebAPI->attributes->make
```
To obtain the vehicle's model, you access the model attribute:
```
echo $GosoWebAPI->attributes->model
```
To obtain the vehicle's trim, you access the trim attribute:
```
echo $GosoWebAPI->attributes->trim
```

and so on...

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Features

The GOSO Web API gives you access to five (5) categories of features:

"Feature" (feature)
"Entertainment & Extras" (entertainment_extras)
"Performance" (performance)
"Safety" (safety)
"Space & Capacity" (space_capacity)

To loop through the "performance" featurelist, you would do the following:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->featurelist->performance->feature as $feature){
   echo "$feature";
}

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Getting thumbnails and images

The GOSO Web API provides access to graphics hosted through Amazon.com's reliable Content Delivery Network (CDN), "CloudFront" - this improves performance, minimizes latency, and provides a host of additional benefits. Amazon CloudFront uses 14 edge locations in major markets worldwide. Eight are in the United States (Ashburn, VA; Dallas/Fort Worth, TX; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; Newark, NJ; Palo Alto, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO). Four are in Europe (Amsterdam; Dublin; Frankfurt; London). Two are in Asia (Hong Kong, Tokyo).

You have four (4) sizes available to you: small, medium, large, and original. To access the images, do the following:

small: cycle through the small object within your loop:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->images->small->image as $img){
   echo "$img";
}

medium: cycle through the medium object within your loop:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->images->medium->image as $img){
   echo "$img";
}

large: cycle through the large object within your loop:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->images->large->image as $img){
   echo "$img";
}

Additionally, you have access to stock images if there are none available for the vehicle's particular make and model. To access the stock images for your vehicle, do the following:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->stockimages->large->image as $stockimg){
   echo "$stockimg";
}

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Accessing CARFAX® and other awards data

The GOSO Web API has numerous awards and special data available. For example, to grab CARFAX® data, do the following:

foreach($GosoWebAPI->attributes->carfax->buyback_guarantee as $buyback){
   echo "$buyback";
}

You have access to whether the vehicle has been in an accident, has suffered a total loss, frame damage and more.

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Viewing GOSO objects

You can view the data within a GOSO Vehicle or Inventory object anytime by entering the following code:

print_r( $GosoWebAPI );

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Example GOSO Inventory Object

Array
(
    [0] => Array
        (
            [id] => 704
            [year] => 2006
            [make] => Toyota
            [model] => Sienna
            [body] => XLE Limited Minivan
            [trim] => XLE Limited Minivan
            [engine] => V6 3.3 Liter
            [drivetrain] => FWD
            [transmission] => automatic
            [color_exterior] => Silver
            [color_interior] => Gray
            [mileage] => 36166
            [mpg_city] => 19
            [mpg_hw] => 26
            [web_price] => 23,241
            [asking_price] => 23241
            [wholesale_price] => 21150
            [vin] => 5TDZA22C96S522610
            [sold] => 0
            [sold_date] => 
            [imported] => 10/19/09
            [viewed] => 1
            [num_features] => 70
            [photo_url] => http://static.goso.com/s/vandergriffhonda/5TDZA22C96S522610/2006-toyota-sienna-00
        )

    [1] => Array
        (
            [id] => 698
            [year] => 2000
            [make] => Acura
            [model] => RL
            [body] => 3.5 Sedan 4D
            [trim] => 3.5 Sedan 4D
            [engine] => V6 3.5 Liter
            [drivetrain] => FWD
            [transmission] => automatic
            [color_exterior] => White
            [color_interior] => Black
            [mileage] => 82898
            [mpg_city] => 18
            [mpg_hw] => 24
            [web_price] => 10,876
            [asking_price] => 10876
            [wholesale_price] => 6850
            [vin] => JH4KA9656YC010375
            [sold] => 0
            [sold_date] => 
            [imported] => 10/19/09
            [viewed] => 1
            [num_features] => 34
            [photo_url] => http://static.goso.com/s/vandergriffhonda/JH4KA9656YC010375/2000-acura-rl-00
        )
.
.
.
)

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Example GOSO Vehicle Object

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Troubleshooting

If your code doesn't seem to be working, here are some approaches that might help you solve your problems:

Make sure your username and password is valid.
Make sure your slug is valid.
Look for typos. Remember that JavaScript is a case-sensitive language.
Use a JavaScript debugger. In Firefox, you can use the JavaScript console, the Venkman Debugger, or the Firebug add-on. In IE, you can use the Microsoft Script Debugger.

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Help or Questions

If you have any questions, please contact herb@goso.com for assistance.

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