Using Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services (AWS) A set of tools for providing remote access to Amazon product information to third- party applications A set of tools for providing remote access to Amazon product information to third- party applications Includes ecommerce, cloud computing, application hosting, and many other features. Includes ecommerce, cloud computing, application hosting, and many other features. We will be using the Product Advertising API for getting Amazon product information We will be using the Product Advertising API for getting Amazon product information

Getting an Amazon AWS Account Go to Go to Click the button to Sign up for a free Amazon Web Services Account Click the button to Sign up for a free Amazon Web Services Account Follow the directions Follow the directions At this point you have an account At this point you have an account

Obtaining your AWS Access Keys Sign in to your AWS account Sign in to your AWS account Go to the Account page: Go to the Account page: Click the Security Credentials link Click the Security Credentials link Here you can see your Access Key and your Secret Access Key. You will need both of these Here you can see your Access Key and your Secret Access Key. You will need both of these

Obtaining Your Associate Tag In addition to Access Keys, you also need to sign up as an Amazon Associate. In addition to Access Keys, you also need to sign up as an Amazon Associate. Go to this site and follow the instructinos: Go to this site and follow the instructinos: At this point you are ready to start using the Product API!

Amazon.Com’s Product Advertising API merceService/latest/DG/Welcome.html merceService/latest/DG/Welcome.html merceService/latest/DG/Welcome.html merceService/latest/DG/Welcome.html In particular, look at: In particular, look at: Programming Guide (especially Visual Introduction and Requests – REST) Programming Guide (especially Visual Introduction and Requests – REST) API Reference API Reference Pay special attention to these two operations: Pay special attention to these two operations: ItemSearch – retrieve a list of products matching a keyword search ItemSearch – retrieve a list of products matching a keyword search ItemLookup – retrieve the details for a selected product ItemLookup – retrieve the details for a selected product

Using Amazon’s Signed Request Helper Page to Generate Requests You can go to this site to see how your public and private keys are used to turn UNSIGNED requests into SIGNED requests: You can go to this site to see how your public and private keys are used to turn UNSIGNED requests into SIGNED requests: amazon.s3.amazonaws.com/signed- requests/helper/index.html amazon.s3.amazonaws.com/signed- requests/helper/index.html amazon.s3.amazonaws.com/signed- requests/helper/index.html amazon.s3.amazonaws.com/signed- requests/helper/index.html

How Signed Request Helper Works You enter your public and private keys in the fields at the top You enter your public and private keys in the fields at the top You enter an unsigned URL into the textbox. Be sure to include your AssociateTag. Also, make sure there are no spaces. You enter an unsigned URL into the textbox. Be sure to include your AssociateTag. Also, make sure there are no spaces. It will produce a signed URL (a REST query) by applying the HMAC algorithm for creating a signature and authenticating the request. It will produce a signed URL (a REST query) by applying the HMAC algorithm for creating a signature and authenticating the request. Note: this will also be time-stamped, so has a limited valid lifetime Note: this will also be time-stamped, so has a limited valid lifetime At this point you can copy and paste the request into your browser and obtain the XML-formatted response. At this point you can copy and paste the request into your browser and obtain the XML-formatted response.

HMAC This figure comes from Wikipedia’s article on HMAC: This figure comes from Wikipedia’s article on HMAC: AuthenticationArticle.html Here’s how authentication happens in Amazon Web Services

Your Exercise 1. Perform a REST query to Amazon’s Web Services in order do an item search for books that match a set of keywords relevant to your term paper assignment. 2. Get the resulting XML document and paste it into the XPath validator. 3. Perform the necessary XPath query to obtain just the ASINs from this XML document 4. Select one of the ASINs and perform the REST query for an Item Lookup on that book from Amazon Web Services 5. Get the resulting XML document and paste it into the XPath validator (this will be a document for a single book). 6. Perform the necessary XPath query to show all URLs associated with your selected book. Your deliverables for this exercise (to be turned in with your assignment): A Word document showing the REST and XPath queries themselves, along with screen images of the results for each of these. Your deliverables for this exercise (to be turned in with your assignment): A Word document showing the REST and XPath queries themselves, along with screen images of the results for each of these.