Business Coder

Introduction

Business Coder can:

• Search for businesses using the phone number, stock ticker, and web address.

• Discover business SIC codes, sales volumes, employee sizes, phone numbers, etc.

Click here to learn more about the Business Coder Cloud API.

Licensing

The License Key is a software key required to use the web service. You will receive your license key from your Melissa representative. If you don’t have a license key, contact the Melissa sales team at Sales@Melissa.com or 800-MELISSA ext. 3 (800-635-4772 ext. 3). Without a license key, Business Coder will not function.

Initialization

There are two different constructors that you can utilize when initializing Business Coder.

BusinessCoder(string license)

Initialize the Cloud API object with a license key

Note

MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY is replaced with your license.

Get your license key here

• C#
• Python

BusinessCoder businessCoder = new BusinessCoder(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY);

business_coder = BusinessCoder(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY)

BusinessCoder()

Initialize the Cloud API object, which will read the license key from the environment variable MD_LICENSE or configured using a set method

Click here to learn more about setting up the environment variable.

• C#
• Python

BusinessCoder businessCoder = new BusinessCoder()

business_coder = BusinessCoder()

Configuration

Business Coder supports both GET and POST requests.

• (GET) Using one of three ways to configure each respective parameter

• (POST) Using the Set Post Body Method to pass a BusinessCoderPostRequest object as the pre-constructed post body containing all parameters and records to process

• (POST) Using Set Methods to configure base parameters and the Add Records Method to pass records to process

Requests

GET

To send a GET request, there are three ways you can configure the parameters to make a request.

• Method 1: Using the Set Value Method to specify the parameter and value you want to set it to

• Method 2: Using direct property access to set parameter values

• Method 3: Using specialized Set Methods to set parameter values

Method 1: Using Set Value Method

This function allows you to specify input parameters and the values you went to set them to.

Format

Note

Replace COMPANY, ADDRESS_LINE_1, CITY, STATE, POSTAL_CODE, and COUNTRY with variables or values.

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetValue("Company", COMPANY);
businessCoder.SetValue("AddressLine1", ADDRESS_LINE_1);
businessCoder.SetValue("City", CITY);
businessCoder.SetValue("State", STATE);
businessCoder.SetValue("Postal", POSTAL_CODE);
businessCoder.SetValue("Country", COUNTRY);

business_coder.set_value("company", COMPANY)
business_coder.set_value("address_line_1", ADDRESS_LINE_1)
business_coder.set_value("city", CITY)
business_coder.set_value("state", STATE)
business_coder.set_value("postal", POSTAL_CODE)
business_coder.set_value("country", COUNTRY)

Example

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetValue("Company", "Melissa");
businessCoder.SetValue("AddressLine1", "22382 Avenida Empresa");
businessCoder.SetValue("City", "Rancho Santa Margarita");
businessCoder.SetValue("State", "CA");
businessCoder.SetValue("Postal", "92688");
businessCoder.SetValue("Country", "United States");

business_coder.set_value("company", "Melissa")
business_coder.set_value("address_line_1", "22382 Avenida Empresa")
business_coder.set_value("city", "Rancho Santa Margarita")
business_coder.set_value("state", "CA")
business_coder.set_value("postal", "92688")
business_coder.set_value("country", "United States")

Method 2: Using Direct Property Access

This allows you to set values directly using the Cloud API’s parameter names.

Format

Note

Replace COMPANY, ADDRESS_LINE_1, CITY, STATE, POSTAL_CODE, and COUNTRY with variables or values.

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.Company = COMPANY;
businessCoder.AddressLine1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1;
businessCoder.City = CITY;
businessCoder.State = STATE;
businessCoder.Postal = POSTAL_CODE;
businessCoder.Country = COUNTRY;

business_coder.company = COMPANY
business_coder.address_line_1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1
business_coder.city = CITY
business_coder.state = STATE
business_coder.postal = POSTAL_CODE
business_coder.country = COUNTRY

Example

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.Company = "Melissa";
businessCoder.AddressLine1 = "22382 Avenida Empresa";
businessCoder.City = "Rancho Santa Margarita";
businessCoder.State = "CA";
businessCoder.Postal = "92688";
businessCoder.Country = "United States";

business_coder.company = "Melissa";
business_coder.address_line_1 = "22382 Avenida Empresa";
business_coder.city = "Rancho Santa Margarita";
business_coder.state = "CA";
business_coder.postal = "92688";
business_coder.country = "United States";

Method 3: Using Specialized Methods

These functions allow you to set the input parameters for the Cloud API.

See Set Methods for a list of available parameters.

Format

Note

Replace COMPANY, ADDRESS_LINE_1, CITY, STATE, POSTAL_CODE, and COUNTRY with variables or values.

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetCompany(COMPANY);
businessCoder.SetAddressLine1(ADDRESS_LINE_1);
businessCoder.SetCity(CITY);
businessCoder.SetState(STATE);
businessCoder.SetPostal(POSTAL_CODE);
businessCoder.SetCountry(COUNTRY);

business_coder.set_company(COMPANY)
business_coder.set_address_line_1(ADDRESS_LINE_1)
business_coder.set_city(CITY)
business_coder.set_state(STATE)
business_coder.set_postal(POSTAL_CODE)
business_coder.set_country(COUNTRY)

Example

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetCompany("Melissa");
businessCoder.SetAddressLine1("22382 Avenida Empresa");
businessCoder.SetCity("Rancho Santa Margarita");
businessCoder.SetState("CA");
businessCoder.SetPostal("92688");
businessCoder.SetCountry("United States");

business_coder.set_company("Melissa")
business_coder.set_address_line_1("22382 Avenida Empresa")
business_coder.set_city("Rancho Santa Margarita")
business_coder.set_state("CA")
business_coder.set_postal("92688")
business_coder.set_country("United States")

POST

To send a POST request, there are two ways you can configure the parameters to make a request.

• Method 1: Using the Set Post Body Method to pass a BusinessCoderPostRequest object as the pre-constructed post body containing all parameters and records to process

• Method 2: Using Set Methods to configure base parameters and the Add Records Method to pass records to process

A maximum of 100 records can be sent per request.

Method 1: Set Post Body

This function allows you to pass a pre-constructed post body with all parameters and records for POST requests.

Format

Note

Replace MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY, ADDRESS_LINE_1, CITY, POSTAL_CODE, and STATE with variables or values.

Get your license key here

• C#
• Python

  businessCoder.SetPostBody(new BusinessCoderPostRequest
  {
    Id = MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY,
    Records = new List<BusinessCoderRecordRequest>
    {
      new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
      {
        A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
        City = CITY,
        Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
        State = STATE
      },
      new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
      {
        A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
        City = CITY,
        Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
        State = STATE
      },
    }
  });

  business_coder.set_post_body(BusinessCoderPostRequest(
    id=MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY,
    records=[
      BusinessCoderRecordRequest(
        a1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
        city = CITY,
        postal = POSTAL_CODE,
        state = STATE
      ),
      BusinessCoderRecordRequest(
        a1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
        city = CITY,
        postal = POSTAL_CODE,
        state = STATE
      )
    ]
  ))

Example

Note

MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY is replaced with your license.

Get your license key here

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetPostBody(new BusinessCoderPostRequest
{
  Id = MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY,
  Records = new List<BusinessCoderRecordRequest>
  {
    new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
    {
      A1 = "22382 Avenida Empresa",
      City = "Rancho Santa Margarita",
      Postal = "92688",
      State = "California"
    },
    new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
    {
      A1 = "1 Microsoft Way",
      City = "Redmond",
      Postal = "98052",
      State = "Washington"
    },
  }
});

  business_coder.set_post_body(BusinessCoderPostRequest(
      id=MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY,
      records=[
          BusinessCoderRecordRequest(
              a1="22382 Avenida Empresa",
              city="Rancho Santa Margarita",
              postal="92688",
              state="California"
          ),
          BusinessCoderRecordRequest(
              a1="1 Microsoft Way",
              city="Redmond",
              postal="98052",
              state="Washington"
          )
      ]
  ))

Method 2: Set Input Parameters and Add Records

You will use set methods to configure the base parameters (license, options, transmission reference), and use the function below to add records for POST requests.

See Set Methods for a list of available parameters.

Format

Note

Replace MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY, RECORD_ID, ADDRESS_LINE_1, LOCALITY, ADMINISTRATIVE_AREA, POSTAL_CODE, and COUNTRY with variables or values.

Get your license key here

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetLicense(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY);

businessCoder.AddRecord(
  new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
  {
      A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
      City = CITY,
      Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
      State = STATE
  }
);

businessCoder.AddRecord(
  new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
  {
      A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
      City = CITY,
      Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
      State = STATE
  }
);

business_coder.set_license(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY)

business_coder.add_record(BuinessCoderRecordRequest(
    A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
    City = CITY,
    Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
    State = STATE
))

business_coder.add_record(BuinessCoderRecordRequest(
    A1 = ADDRESS_LINE_1,
    City = CITY,
    Postal = POSTAL_CODE,
    State = STATE
))

Example

Note

MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY is replaced with your license.

Get your license key here

• C#
• Python

businessCoder.SetLicense(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY);

businessCoder.AddRecord(
  new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
  {
    A1 = "22382 Avenida Empresa",
    City = "Rancho Santa Margarita",
    Postal = "92688",
    State = "California"
  }
);

businessCoder.AddRecord(
  new BusinessCoderRecordRequest
  {
    A1 = "1 Microsoft Way",
    City = "Redmond",
    Postal = "98052",
    State = "Washington"
  }
);

business_coder.set_license(MELISSA_LICENSE_KEY)

business_coder.add_record(BuinessCoderRecordRequest(
    A1 = "22382 Avenida Empresa",
    City = "Rancho Santa Margarita",
    Postal = "92688",
    State = "California"
))

business_coder.add_record(BuinessCoderRecordRequest(
    A1 = "1 Microsoft Way",
    City = "Redmond",
    Postal = "98052",
    State = "Washington"
))

Response

When submitting a request, you have the option to either get the response as a string or encapsulate the response into the respective Cloud API response object.

As a String

Submit a GET or POST request and get the response as a string.

• C#
• Python

string response = businessCoder.Get<string>();

response = business_coder.get(str)

• C#
• Python

string response = businessCoder.Post<string>();

response = business_coder.post(str)

As a Response Object

Submit a GET or POST request and encapsulate the response into the Cloud API response object.

• C#
• Python

BusinessCoderResponse responseObject = businessCoder.Get<BusinessCoderResponse>();

response_object =  business_coder.get(BusinessCoderResponse)

• C#
• Python

BusinessCoderResponse responseObject = businessCoder.Post<BusinessCoderResponse>();

response_object =  business_coder.post(BusinessCoderResponse)

Accessing Values

When encapsulating the response into the Cloud API’s respective response object, there are three ways to access values. The response object structure matches the respective Cloud API’s response format.

Click here to learn more about the Business Coder response format.

The record responses are typically stored in a list. In the examples below, record represents an individual record at an arbitrary position within this list.

1. Using the Get Value Method:

Pass the field name as a string to the Get Value Method, and it will return the corresponding field value.

• C#
• Python

record.GetValue("RecordID");
record.GetValue("Results");

record.get_value("RecordID")
record.get_value("Results")

2. Accessing Properties directly

Values can be accessed directly using the response object’s field names.

• C#
• Python

record.RecordID;
record.Results;

record.record_id
record.results

3. Use Specialized Methods

Use get methods corresponding to field name to get the field value.

• C#
• Python

record.GetRecordID();
record.GetResults();

record.get_record_id()
record.get_results()

Methods

The methods listed below pertain to the Business Coder Cloud API object.

For methods related to the respective Cloud API’s response object click here.

Constructors

These methods initialize and configure instances of the Cloud API object. Use these methods to create a new object, optionally providing initial values such as a license string to customize the instance during its creation.

• C#
• Python

Method	Description
BusinessCoder()	Constructor to initialize the Business Coder object.
BusinessCoder(string license)	Constructor to initialize the Business Coder object with a license string.

Method	Description
BusinessCoder()	Constructor to initialize the Business Coder object.
BusinessCoder(license)	Constructor to initialize the Business Coder object with a license string.

Set Methods

These methods configure or modify parameters at the record level for the Cloud API object. Use these methods to make adjustments to the parameters during the execution of the Cloud API, ensuring flexibility in customizing API requests.

• C#
• Python

Method	Description
void SetBaseUrl(string baseUrl)	Set the base URL for the API.
void SetLicense(string license)	Set the license string.
void SetEndpoint(string endpoint)	Set the endpoint.
void SetFormat(string format)	Set the format.
void SetRecordID(string recordId)	Set the record ID.
void SetCompany(string company)	Set the company name.
void SetPhone(string phone)	Set the phone number.
void SetAddressLine1(string addressLine1)	Set the address line 1.
void SetAddressLine2(string addressLine2)	Set the address line 2.
void SetSuite(string suite)	Set the suite.
void SetCity(string city)	Set the city.
void SetState(string state)	Set the state.
void SetPostal(string postal)	Set the postal code.
void SetCountry(string country)	Set the country.
void SetMAK(string mak)	Set the MAK number.
void SetStockTicker(string ticker)	Set the stock ticker.
void SetWebAddress(string url)	Set the web URL.
void SetMEK(string mek)	Set the MEK number.
void SetFreeForm(string ff)	Set the free form text.
void SetTransmissionReference(string transmissionReference)	Set the transmission reference.
void SetOpt(string opt)	Set the options.
void SetCols(string cols)	Set the columns to be returned in the response.
void SetValue(string parameter, string value)	Set the input parameter to a specified value.
void SetPostBody(BusinessCoderBatchRequest postBody)	Set the post body for batch requests.

Method	Description
set_base_url(base_url)	Set the base URL for the API.
set_license(license)	Set the license string.
set_endpoint(endpoint)	Set the endpoint.
set_format(format)	Set the format.
set_record_id(record_id)	Set the record ID.
set_company(company)	Set the company name.
set_phone(phone)	Set the phone number.
set_address_line_1(address_line_1)	Set the address line 1.
set_address_line2(address_line2)	Set the address line 2.
set_suite(suite)	Set the suite.
set_city(city)	Set the city.
set_state(state)	Set the state.
set_postal(postal)	Set the postal code.
set_country(country)	Set the country.
set_mak(mak)	Set the MAK number.
set_stock_ticker(ticker)	Set the stock ticker.
set_web_address(url)	Set the web URL.
set_mek(mek)	Set the MEK number.
set_free_form(ff)	Set the free form text.
set_transmission_reference(transmission_reference)	Set the transmission reference.
set_opt(opt)	Set the options.
set_cols(cols)	Set the columns to be returned in the response.
set_value(parameter, value)	Set the input parameter to a specified value.
set_post_body(post_body)	Set the post body for batch requests.

Get Methods

These methods perform service-level operations, handling the core processing and interactions for the Cloud API object. Use these methods to execute primary functionalities such as assembling records, clearing records, and making API requests.

• C#
• Python

Method	Description
string GetBaseUrl()	Get the base URL for the API.
string GetLicense()	Get the license string.
string GetEndpoint()	Get the endpoint.
string GetFormat()	Get the format.
string GetRecordID()	Get the record ID.
string GetCompany()	Get the company name.
string GetPhone()	Get the phone number.
string GetAddressLine1()	Get the address line 1.
string GetAddressLine2()	Get the address line 2.
string GetSuite()	Get the suite.
string GetCity()	Get the city.
string GetState()	Get the state.
string GetPostal()	Get the postal code.
string GetCountry()	Get the country.
string GetMAK()	Get the MAK number.
string GetStockTicker()	Get the stock ticker.
string GetWebAddress()	Get the web URL.
string GetMEK()	Get the MEK number.
string GetFreeForm()	Get the free form text.
string GetTransmissionReference()	Get the transmission reference.
string GetOpt()	Get the options.
string GetCols()	Get the columns to be returned in the response.
string GetValue(string parameter)	Get the value of an input parameter.
BusinessCoderBatchRequest GetPostBody()	Get the post body for batch requests.

Method	Description
get_base_url()	Get the base URL for the API.
get_license()	Get the license string.
get_endpoint()	Get the endpoint.
get_format()	Get the format.
get_record_id()	Get the record ID.
get_company()	Get the company name.
get_phone()	Get the phone number.
get_address_line_1()	Get the address line 1.
get_address_line2()	Get the address line 2.
get_suite()	Get the suite.
get_city()	Get the city.
get_state()	Get the state.
get_postal()	Get the postal code.
get_country()	Get the country.
get_mak()	Get the MAK number.
get_stock_ticker()	Get the stock ticker.
get_web_address()	Get the web URL.
get_mek()	Get the MEK number.
get_free_form()	Get the free form text.
get_transmission_reference()	Get the transmission reference.
get_opt()	Get the options.
get_cols()	Get the columns to be returned in the response.
get_value(parameter)	Get the value of an input parameter.
get_post_body()	Get the post body for batch requests.

Class Methods

These methods perform service-level operations, handling the core processing and interactions for the Cloud API object. Use these methods to execute primary functionalities such as assembling records, clearing records, and making API requests.

• C#
• Python

Method	Description
void AddRecord(BusinessCoderRecordRequest record)	Add a record to the internal list for batch post body assembly.
void ClearRecords()	Clear the internal list of records.
T Get<T>()	Makes a synchronous GET request to the CloudAPI and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
async Task<T> GetAsync<T>()	Makes an asynchronous GET request to the CloudAPI and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
T Post<T>()	Makes a synchronous POST request to the CloudAPI using the post body and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
async Task<T> PostAsync<T>()	Makes an asynchronous POST request to the CloudAPI using the post body and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
string GetApiVersion()	Makes a synchronous getversion request and returns the parsed Cloud API version.
async Task<string> GetApiVersionAsync()	Makes an asynchronous getversion request and returns the parsed Cloud API version.

Method	Description
add_record(record)	Add a record to the internal list for batch post body assembly.
clear_records()	Clear the internal list of records.
get(response_type)	Makes a synchronous GET request to the CloudAPI and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
get_async(response_type)	Makes an asynchronous GET request to the CloudAPI and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
post(response_type)	Makes a synchronous POST request to the CloudAPI using the post body and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
post_async(response_type)	Makes an asynchronous POST request to the CloudAPI using the post body and returns the response (string or deserialized response object).
get_api_version()	Makes a synchronous getversion request and returns the parsed Cloud API version.
get_api_version_async()	Makes an asynchronous getversion request and returns the parsed Cloud API version.