Network Programming in .NET

Estonia  Car Registration API

Today we’ve just launched our Estonian Car registration lookup API on sõiduki.com – meaning “Vehicle” in Estonian. So far, it only returns just the make and model of the car being searched, but if we get more interest in the country, then we can expand this.

Car registration plates in Estonia use the /CheckEstonia endpoint and return the following information:

• Make  &  Model

Sample Json:

{“Description”:”MITSUBISHI PAJERO”,”CarMake”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”MITSUBISHI”},”CarModel”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”PAJERO”},”MakeDescription”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”MITSUBISHI”},”ModelDescription”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”PAJERO”}}

The UK electoral roll is a database of millions of UK citizens, which comprises the name, address and phone number of every person registered to vote in the UK.

This API, at http://www.electoralrollapi.com integrates with data held by the UK government, and can be used for purposes such as direct mail marketing, debtor searches, and demographic data.

Access to the API costs as little as 1p per request, and you can get a free account with 10 requests free, by emailing info@electoralrollapi.com

The API is an XML / SOAP based web service, that integrates easily into C#, ASP.NET, PHP and Java applications.

Now on our sixteenth country, and our first African nation, we now support car registration lookups via our API in South Africa at http://za.carregistrationapi.com/

Car registration plates in South Africa use the /CheckSouthAfrica endpoint and return the following information:

• Make, Model & Variant
• Registration date
• Engine Number
• HPI asset number
• Introduction date
• Mead & McGrouther code
• Number of Axles
• Engine CC
• Engine Cylinders
• Number of Doors
• Gross Combination Mass
• Gross Vehicle Mass
• Engine Power in Kilowatts
• Tare
• Tyre size (Front & Rear)
• Wheel base
• Vehicle identification number

Sample Json:

{“Description”:”TOYOTA CONDOR”,”RegistrationYear”:”2005″,”CarMake”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”TOYOTA”},”CarModel”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”CONDOR”},”MakeDescription”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”CONDOR”},”ModelDescription”:{“CurrentTextValue”:”CONDOR”},”Extended”:{“DiscDate”:”\/Date(1125525600000)\/”,”EngineNo”:”2RZ3256364″,”HpiAssetNo”:38571175,”IntroDate”:”\/Date(1057010400000)\/”,”MMCode”:”60051365″,”Make”:”TOYOTA”,”Model”:”CONDOR”,”RegNo”:”NU44128″,”Specs”:[{“Code”:”1″,”Name”:”Axle”,”Value”:”4X2″},{“Code”:”2″,”Name”:”Body Type”,”Value”:”MPV”},{“Code”:”4″,”Name”:”CC”,”Value”:”2438″},{“Code”:”35″,”Name”:”Cyl”,”Value”:”4″},{“Code”:”7″,”Name”:”Doors”,”Value”:”5″},{“Code”:”11″,”Name”:”GCM”,”Value”:”3305″},{“Code”:”14″,”Name”:”GVM”,”Value”:”2030″},{“Code”:”16″,”Name”:”kW”,”Value”:”85″},{“Code”:”15″,”Name”:”Tare”,”Value”:”1462″},{“Code”:”9″,”Name”:”Tyre Size (Front)”,”Value”:”195/70 R14″},{“Code”:”48″,”Name”:”Tyre Size (Rear)”,”Value”:”195/70 R14″},{“Code”:”13″,”Name”:”Use”,”Value”:”GEN”},{“Code”:”85″,”Name”:”Wheel base”,”Value”:”2650″}],”Type”:”Auto”,”TypeCode”:”A”,”VIN”:”AHT12UF8000010135″,”Variant”:”CONDOR 2400i ESTATE TX (2003 – 2005)”}}

Data is also returned in XML format.

I wanted to install wordpress on a new azure webserver, that hadn’t been used for much before hand, I tried the Web Platform Installer, typed WordPress, and the installation seemed to go well, installing PHP, MySQL etc., but then it failed at the very last step with a 500 error message when I tried to load the domain.

There was no more detail to the error message, and I could see that IIS seemed to be set up correctly with a FastCGI module handler for *.php pointing to php-cgi.exe.

I then tried to run php from the command line, by navigating to C:\Program Files (x86)\PHP\v5.5 and typing php, and I got an error message saying that MSCVR110.dll missing from computer.

I then went to download it from Microsoft here:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/download/details.aspx?id=30679

Installing both the 64  and x86 versions, just to be sure, and it worked, without even a reboot or iisreset.

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/company-check/id866565534?mt=8

Our Company Check App, version 1.8 for iOS just got a cool new feature (which is currently pending app store review), you can now click on a companies’ filings, and get PDF downloads for documents that they have filed with the Companies House in the UK. These include Annual returns, shareholder agreements, and so forth.

This was thanks to the Companies’ house opening up their document API as a beta. Which is a REST based JSON service. You need to register with them, provide some fixed IPs, and you get an authentication token back. This is passed bia basic authentication over HTTPS to their service.

I used c# to integrate with them, using the following code:

Response.ContentType = strMime;
var wc = new WebClient();
const string un = “**Token goes here***”;
var credentials = Convert.ToBase64String(Encoding.ASCII.GetBytes(un + “:”));
wc.Headers[HttpRequestHeader.Authorization] = “Basic ” + credentials;
var bData = wc.DownloadData(strUrl);
Response.BinaryWrite(bData);

When the mime type is set to application/pdf, then the page will display a PDF, relayed from the Companies House.