Program AWS with Perl
A lightweight XML parser is all you need to work with Amazon’s data in Perl scripts.
Even without wrapper functions, retrieving data directly from Amazon with XML/HTTP is straightforward. You just need the ability to grab a file from the Web and parse the results.
What You Need
This hack requires two common Perl modules: one to handle the HTTP
request and another to parse the XML. Once the Amazon request URL is
built, LWP::Simple handles sending the request and receiving the XML
with a get( ) function. You can find out more
about LWP::Simple at CPAN (http://search.cpan.org/dist/libwww-perl/lib/LWP/Simple.pm).
XML::Simple (http://search.cpan.org/author/GRANTM/XML-Simple-2.04/lib/XML/Simple.pm) is a lightweight XML parser. It provides a quick, simple interface for working with XML.
Many ISPs have both of these modules installed already. If not, you can install them with CPAN:
perl -MCPAN -e shellcpan>install XML::Simple
If you have a Win32 system, you can install them from the command line with the package manager like this:
ppm install XML::SimpleThe Code
This code accepts a command-line argument and builds an Amazon URL with the argument as the keyword. Create the file amazon_http.pl with the following code:
#!/usr/bin/perl # amazon_http.pl # A typical Amazon Web API Perl script using the XML/HTTP interface # Usage: amazon_http.pl <keyword> #Your Amazon developer's token my $dev_key='insert developer token'; #Your Amazon affiliate code my $af_tag='insert associate ...