Amazon Hacks

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 shell
cpan> 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::Simple

The 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 ...