Business Coder:Request

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A request consists of a protocol to make a call to the service, detailing desired elements. Your Customer ID is required.

Business Coder supports the REST protocol to access the service.

Field Names

This is a list of the request field names and their protocol naming conventions.

Field Name	Level	REST Abbreviation	JSON
Transmission Reference	Request	t	"t"
Customer ID		id	id
Column		cols	cols
Options		opt	opt
Record ID	Record	rec	rec
Company Name		comp	comp
Phone Number		phone	phone
Address1		a1	a1
Address2		a2	a2
City		city	city
State		state	state
Postal		postal	postal
Country		ctry	ctry
Melissa Address Key (MAK)		mak	mak
Stock Ticker		stock	stock
Web Address		web	web

Minimum Inputs

The following are the possible minimum input requirements.

1. Address and Company
2. MAK and Company
3. Address Only
4. MAK Only
5. Phone Number
6. Stock Ticker
7. Web Address

Request Elements

The following elements set the basic options for each request. These apply to the entire request, not the individual records.

Transmission Reference

Optional.

This is a string value that serves as a unique identifier for this set of records. It is returned as sent.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	?t = {string}
JSON	"t":"{string}"

Customer ID

Required.

This is a string value containing the customer ID issued to the customer by Melissa Data for the Business Coder.

If this element is absent, the Web Service will return an error. To receive a customer ID, please contact your Melissa Data sales representative at 1-800-MELISSA.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&id = {string}
JSON	"id":"{string}"

Column

Optional.

This string value specifies which column(s) to be output as a comma delimited string.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&cols = {string}
JSON	"cols":"{string}"

Options

Optional.

This is a string value containing the options set by the user.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&opt = {string}
JSON	"opt":"{string}"

List options in the following format.

<OptionName>:<Parameter>

ReturnDominantBusiness

This option handles the returning of the dominant business name and demographics for a particular site when the company information is missing or does not match.

Option Name	Parameter	Description
ReturnDominantBusiness	yes	Default. Return the dominant business name when the company information is missing or does not match.
	no	Do not return the dominant business name when the company information is missing or does not match.

Request Record Elements

REST will only contain the Records element.

Protocol	Definition
REST	The REST interface only allows a single record per request.
JSON	Each record will be contained within [{}] under the Records element.

Record ID

Optional.

This is a string value containing a unique identifier for the current record. Use this to match the record submitted with the record returned. It will return what is inputted.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&rec = {string}
JSON	"rec":"{string}"

Company Name

Optional.

The name of the business.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&comp = {string}
JSON	"comp":"{string}"

Phone Number

Optional.

The phone number of the business.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&phone = {string}
JSON	"phone":"{string}"

Address1

Optional.

The first address line of the business.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&a1 = {string}
JSON	"a1":"{string}"

Address2

Optional.

The second address line (suite) of the business.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&a2 = {string}
JSON	"a2":"{string}"

City

Optional.

The city (locality).

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&city = {string}
JSON	"city":"{string}"

State

Optional.

The state (Administrative Area).

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&state = {string}
JSON	"state":"{string}"

Postal

Optional.

The postal code.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&postal = {string}
JSON	"postal":"{string}"

Country

Optional.

The country.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&ctry = {string}
JSON	"ctry":"{string}"

Melissa Address Key (MAK)

Optional.

A propietary unique key identifier for an address. This is derived from Address Checking.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&mak = {string}
JSON	"mak":"{string}"

Stock Ticker

Optional.

A unique abbreviation/symbol assigned by the stock exchange for listed companies.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&stock = {string}
JSON	"stock":"{string}"

Web Address

Optional.

The web address/domain for a company.

Protocol	Syntax
REST	&web = {string}
JSON	"web":"{string}"