setting query params to API with getURL in RCurl

Question

I am trying to use R with Hotwire Hotels API: Below is the original request:

getURL(http://api.hotwire.com/v1/deal/hotel?dest=chicago&apikey=##############&format=JSON&limit=50&startdate=08/27/2015&enddate=08/28/2015)

However, when I try to pass the ‘startdateand ‘enddate as parameters (see below), it does not seem to pick the date.

getURL ("http://api.hotwire.com/v1/deal/hotel?dest=chicago&apikey=##############&format=JSON&limit=50",     
 httpheader=list(startdate=c_in,enddate=c_out))

Would appreciate any help on this.

Subra

What are c_in and c_out? Are they variables defined in your global environment? — Rich Scriven
– Rich Scriven, Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 5:04
Couldn't you just use paste0() to build the URL for the call to getURL() with the dates based on c_in and c_out, like getURL(paste0("http://api.hotwire.com/v1/deal/hotel?dest=chicago&apikey=##############&format=JSON&limit=50&startdate=", c_in, "&enddate=", c_out))? — ulfelder
– ulfelder, Commented Aug 2, 2015 at 10:34

hrbrmstr · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-02 11:44:31Z

You should really try to switch to httr as it makes all the web calls much cleaner (and the API docs say the date params go in the query part):

library(httr)

c_in <- '08/02/2015'
c_out <- '08/05/2015'

hotwire_api_url <- "http://api.hotwire.com/v1/deal/hotel"

res <- GET(hotwire_api_url,
           query=list(dest="chicago",
                      apikey="########",
                      format="JSON",
                      limit=50,
                      startdate=c_in,
                      enddate=c_out))

# since return val is "text/x-json"

recs <- jsonlite::fromJSON(content(res, as="text"))

head(recs$Result)
##                   FoundDate CurrencyCode NightDuration    EndDate
## 1 2015-08-01T23:38:48-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
## 2 2015-08-01T23:38:04-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
## 3 2015-08-01T23:38:47-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
## 4 2015-08-01T23:38:48-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
## 5 2015-08-01T23:38:36-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
## 6 2015-08-01T23:38:18-07:00          USD           3.0 08/05/2015
##                                 Headline IsWeekendStay Price  StartDate
## 1    Naperville 5 Star Hotel, $143/night         false 143.0 08/02/2015
## 2     Northbrook 4 Star Hotel, $67/night         false  67.0 08/02/2015
## 3     Chicago 4.5 Star Hotel, $208/night         false 208.0 08/02/2015
## 4 Schiller Park 4 Star Hotel, $140/night         false 140.0 08/02/2015
## 5     Chicago 4.5 Star Hotel, $142/night         false 142.0 08/02/2015
## 6     Naperville 4 Star Hotel, $98/night         false  98.0 08/02/2015
##                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Url
## 1     http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjE4NTAzOjE0MDUwOjUuMDoxNDMuMDpZOlk6WQ--&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
## 2         http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjM1MTEwOjg3NTQ3OjQuMDo2Ny4wOlk6WTpZ&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
## 3 http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjQ4Njk6ODc1NDU6NC41OjIwOC4wMDAwMjpZOlk6WQ--&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
## 4     http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjM1MTI3Ojg5ODg5OjQuMDoxNDAuMDpZOlk6WQ--&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
## 5         http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjQ4Njk6ODc5NTE6NC41OjE0Mi4wOlk6WTpZ&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
## 6         http://www.hotwire.com/hotel/superPage.jsp?encDealHash=MTAwOjE4NTAzOjE0MDUwOjQuMDo5OC4wOlk6WTpZ&rs=20500&xid=x-103&wid=w-3&rid=r-69820702248&startDate=08/02/2015&endDate=08/05/2015&bid=B311402&sid=S298
##            City CountryCode NeighborhoodLatitude NeighborhoodLongitude
## 1    Naperville          US              41.8008              -88.1328
## 2    Northbrook          US              42.1138              -87.8601
## 3       Chicago          US              41.8989              -87.6243
## 4 Schiller Park          US              41.9334              -87.9029
## 5       Chicago          US              41.8549              -87.6221
## 6    Naperville          US              41.8008              -88.1328
##                                   Neighborhood StarRating StateCode
## 1                           Lisle - Naperville        5.0        IL
## 2         Northbrook - Glenview - Mt. Prospect        4.0        IL
## 3         Magnificent Mile North - Water Tower        4.5        IL
## 4                O'Hare Intl Airport ORD South        4.0        IL
## 5 McCormick Place - South Loop - Soldier Field        4.5        IL
## 6                           Lisle - Naperville        4.0        IL

sckott · Accepted Answer · 2015-08-02 05:16:26Z

2

httpheader param is for passing headers, not query params

using RCurl::getForm

getForm("http://httpbin.org/get", .params = c(q = "ham"))

Or using httr::GET

GET("http://httpbin.org/get", query = list(q = "ham"))

answered Aug 2, 2015 at 5:16

sckott

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1 Comment

subra Over a year ago

It still does not pick the dates. I am starting to think that it has to do something with how the parameters are passed in the original query. ** "api.hotwire.com/v1/deal/… &startdate=08/24/2015 & enddate=08/25/2015".**

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