NLPG Web Service
What is a web service
A Web service is an open standard software system designed to support interoperable machine-to-machine interaction over a network (such as the internet). Software applications written in various programming languages and running on various platforms can use web services to exchange data over computer networks like the Internet in a manner similar to inter-process communication on a single computer. Web services have interfaces that are described in a machine-processable format such as WSDL (Web Services Description Language). Systems interact with the Web service in a manner prescribed by the WSDL using messages, often enclosed in a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) wrapper or similar protocol, these messages are typically conveyed using HTTP and normally comprise XML in conjunction with other Web-related standards.
Where to find our web services
We have a collection of webservices available providing the same output in a variety of formats. You can access our webservices from the following locations:
NLPG search results returned as a dataset, formatted to BS7666 standard
NLPG search results returned as XML, formatted to BS7666 standard
NLPG search results returned as a dataset in raw format
NLPG search results returned as XML in raw format
Restrictions
The search methods in the above web services are all subject to a few simple restrictions.
- Limited to 30 results: you will receive an error if the number of results exceeds 30 records. This is usually due to the search criteria not being specific.
- Provide at least two search terms: further to the above restriction you should provide at least two search terms when searching for an address.
- Minimum search term length: finally, the input submitted to the street, town and postcode parameters should be at least three characters in length.
These restrictions are in place for performance issues and to encourage reasonable use.
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