• Registered: 2010-01-22
  • Posts: 17

Re: Package Tracker Widget

freiheit,

You are correct. The PHP script doesn't use the APIs .  I didn't create the script (although I did contribute to one version), but I suspect it is because they often require a user account with the carrier to get a key and there are annoying terms of service.  Unfortunately this screen scrapper model is brittle. The carriers change their web sites and then the script brakes. While I host one of the scripts, I haven't used the tracker in a long time.

  • Registered: 2008-02-21
  • Posts: 526

Re: Package Tracker Widget

Would be interesting if there were a flash app that just accessed Packagetrakr.com
Wonder if theyd be interested in supporting the chumby as a display device... Lot easier than having to have PHP and run a server...

  • Registered: 2011-03-21
  • Posts: 7

Re: Package Tracker Widget

I nosed around in some of the APIs and they are irritating. Most seem to expect that you're accessing the API from some central server (essentially a proxy for package tracking) and not from many devices. It may work for a bit, but eventually you'd have to have an API key for each chumby. Very uncool.

The problem with sites like Boxoh or packagetrackr is similar to that of the carriers. You could screen scrape, which is a little rude and prone to breakage. Or you sign up for their API, which will come with onerous requirements to reshow their ads or not support accessing the API from many devices.

Instead of using the screen scraping in PHP from an external script could you port the screen scraping logic directly to Flash and have it run natively in the app? I assume Chumby apps have some ability to make HTTP requests.

Finally, to make screen scraping easier has any attempt been made to change the user agent in the scripts? Request a site for IE 6 or an older mobile browser that may be in more basic HTML and less likely to be changed during site redesigns.

For those folks that are hosting the PHP scripts, what kind of traffic are you seeing? A few thousand hits a day?