How do I get a session key?

[Jolly Roger]

I'm just getting started on this and just want to have a play around before getting into writing code. I've downloaded the Java sample code. According to the readme, I need to provide these arguments:

<YOUR APP KEY> <YOUR SESSION TOKEN> <METHOD>

So, according to Getting Started with API-NG I can get an application key by going to the Accounts API Visualiser.

So, I tried to create an application on there and I got the error "Session token is required for this operation". So back to Getting Started with API-NG, to get a session key I need to either an Interactive login or a Bot Login, the first is obviously what I need.

So, the Interactive Login is telling me I should open this URL:

https://identitysso.betfair.com/view/login?product=<theProductDescriptor>&url=<theRedir ectUrl>

According to the notes at the bottom, <theProductDescription> should be my application key. But hang on, don't I need a session key before I can make one of these? Have I missed something obvious because it seems like this page is sending me round in circles.

[Jolly Roger]

OK, seems like a quick "hack" is to view my browser's cookies and there's one called ssoid which the visualiser accepted. I'm still confused about what the proper way to get an SSOID is... seems like a chicken and egg situation at the moment

[MrChameleon]

1. You get the session token once only from your browser's cookies when you are logged on to Betfair.

2. You use that session token to create developer app key here

3. You use the developer app key(s) to do non-interactive (bot) logins, from which you will get a new session token for each session. You will need to go through the process of generatingg SSL certs and keys as explained here

I went through this a week ago - it does work if you follow the instructions to the letter. I confess to having had a little difficulty