Archive for May, 2008

Accessing the UKARA Database – An API

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

Before we start let me make it clear that this article does not pertain to the player database!

For those of you involved in the Web and more specifically Web 2.0 the idea of an API and Mashups is almost natural and with the Web 2.0 influences in Airbana I got to thinking about the UKARA database.

Assuming the UKARA datbase is normalised and designed properly imagine if there was an external API allowing us to pull up information about a site?

This information should be available through the Freedom of Information act (and if you are registered then I guess the Data Protection Act applies as well) so why not make it easier to access and see what people do with it?

We can make some basic assumptions about what the API should offer:

  • Search for site based on Post Code or GPS (Airbana will have this soon)
        $API->FindSiteByPostCode(RG1 2NN)
  • Return the UID / Primary Key of this site (i.e Site ABC = 12)
  • Pull single lines information from the database based on the UID
        $API->GetName(12);
        $API->GetInsuranceExpireDate(12);
  • Return an entire sites details in a Serialized Array



    • From looking at the Application form we can get a good idea of the sort of data that could be available:

  • SiteName
  • Names of Site Owners
  • Registered Postal Address
  • Company Number
  • Website URL
  • Contact Email
  • Contact Phone
  • Site Prefix
  • Application date
  • An image / pdf of the insurance certificate



    • In order to maintain your membership the sites have to keep a record of member visits so there is another opportunity for data mining:

  • View amount of members
        $API->GetMemberCount(12);
  • Get Number of Registered Members who gamed on Date or Date Range
        $API->GetMemberCountOnDate(12,20-03-2008);
        $API->GetMemberCountDateRange(12,20-01-2008,20-03-2008);
  • Get the Number of unregistered vistiors who gamed on a Date / Date Range
        $API->GetUnRegisteredVistorCount(12,20-01-2008);


    • When you start considering the player database (and as I mentioned before I am NOT suggesting the Player database be opened) you could start putting these numbers into context, imagine a graph that shows the uptake of registered players on a National scale, or evaluate the impact of Open Days / freebies have on your future player count.

    An API would allow websites like AirBana and potentially even the sites in question to pull the contact details such as the Site mobile phone number from a single source. No longer would a Site Operator have to worry about trawling all the websites / forum posts / contact us pages etc to find the old phone number and update it. Simply update it on the UKARA database and its instantly available to all the sites that use the API.

    The Retail side of UKARA also offers us some other intriging opportunities. Using a combination of the functions listed earlier a user could query the API to find out if the Retail site in question has had any complaints in the past [UKARA already publishes an Annual Report to 'Monitor Performance'].

    We could utilise AirBana’s XMLRPC files / internal Price Database and the UKARA API to centralise a price list for an all manner of things.

    It can be assumed that retailers keep tracks of who buys what, but I doubt that makes it back to UKARA but if it did that would be another opportunity for stats gathering. You’d be able to correlate sales vs player counts at a nearby site without having to brandish a clipboard and get your feet muddy [with that said if you're reading this / care about sales vs player counts you're probably there to get your feet muddy!]

    Its only an idea, don’t get too offended if you have any criticisms, opinions or suggestions feel free to put them in the comments or email me at gareth[at]airbana.co.uk

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