asked on

How to connect to RETS MLS Data with ColdFusion?

A client's MLS company offers realty listing information in the form of RETS xml data.

I've done several xml-based sites, usually reading the xml data into a mySQL database, but from what I am seeing, RETS is a bit different than a usual RSS feed, or visible XML file.

I am looking for sample code, or a UDF / CFC... or a decent tutorial... on connecting to RETS with ColdFusion.

Ideally I could read the data into a mySQL database once per day, and run my own searches and display templates against my familiar cf/db format.

So.. what I'd *really* like, is the code - or an explanation of building same - to read from the RETS server into a SQL insert query. From there I'd be home free.

digicidal

Well, I've never done anything with RETS, however I would definitely start with going over the documentation and definitions for the protocol revision your client is going to be using.

http://www.rets.org/documentation

After that, there are some other sites that have some articles that might provide a good documentation path for your research:

http://coldfusion.sys-con.com/read/40704.htm

http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/thread5795.html <-- PHP Version here... could be tweaked perhaps.

http://www.realestatewebmasters.com/showthread.php?t=14661&page=2

^^ Read post #17 and #21 on page 3 of the forum... - sadly the PHP Nazi's on this site banned him for calling the guy that said CF was dead and worthless an 'idiot'... which I certainly agree he was... however, he was also a moderator... :D

splendorx

What version of RETS are you trying to access?

MichaelEvangelista

ASKER

They told me it was 1.5, but the 'metadata version' is 2.01 (see below)

I have a url and a username/pw - if I go to the url and log in, I see a short XML file like this:

<RETS ReplyCode="0" ReplyText="Success">

<RETS-RESPONSE>

MemberName=xxxxxxxxxxx
User=xxxxxxxxxxxx
Broker=xxxxxxxxxx
MetadataVersion=02.01.44653
MinMetadataVersion=02.01.44653
Login=/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Search=/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
GetMetadata=/prod_150r10/GetMetadata
GetObject=/prod_150r10/GetObject
Logout=/prod_150r10/Logout
</RETS-RESPONSE>
</RETS>

Beyond that, I am not sure what to do!

I found a free RETS client called VieleRETS (php)
It is easy to set up, and everything seems to be functioning as expected ...
except I am not pulling any listings!
Using the Viele interface, I can see the available columns for the data, and if I choose "Office" as
the resource, I can see that there are a few hundred entries,
but if I choose "Property", and then "Residential" or "Commercial" as the
listing 'class', I get no listings found.

I am obviously well-connected because I am seeing the available fields and
getting success messages for the general connection.
However, both the auto-detect and the debug show some of the responses as
"unauthorized".

I have a feeling I am so close to success, yet something must be wrong
Any help you can give at this point is greatly appreciated!

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splendorx

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MichaelEvangelista

ASKER

Thanks for the info - I may have more questions to get this working but will assign points now, best answer I got - thanks again