Help! needed with Opodo xml datafeed?

[Miles]

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Hi All,

I currently require your help to understand the Opodo xml datafeed in more detail, I have all the documents that have been given to me by opodo.

What I lack is where to start, I know the process roughly to extract the xml feed but i would be very grateful if someone here could help me with detailed instructions, on how to create the search box for the query request to be sent with the flight parameters.

Also i would be grateful in knowing once the query has been sent the return xml datafeed, how to extract the information into html into readable format? question how do i do that, what software could i use?

Once that has been done how would i integrate more feeds via other affiliate networks and group them accordingly? i.e. Price, times , month etc etc.

Any help would be very much appreciated as i am very stuck at the moment.


Miles

[D-Mac]

I haven't worked with the Opodo feed, but a typical way to work with XML feeds is to import them into your MySQL database then keep the database updated nightly. This way you can be sure that the site will always respond to users queries, as you are storing a copy of the data yourself.

Integrating more feeds into the system becomes quite tricky due to the completely different ways in which different feeds are presented. You'll need to create you own standardised data structure, and manipulate the data in each feed to match this structure. Before you start working, take a really good look at the feeds you plan to work with, as there is nothing worse than realising something is not as you expected when you are half way through the job. Check them really thoroughly for inaccurate data, dead links, etc, as well as making sure all the fields you plan to use are present.

If you've not worked with feeds before, a good way to start would be to import one XML feed into your database, then try writing a few queries so see how easily you can manipulate the data.