SelectionID Vs RunnerID

[jbarker]

Hello,

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I have been reading through the API documentation but I wanted to know if either the SelectionID or RunnerID of a horse as returned in the runnerCatalog or associated metadata is unique to that horse across races/markets or just for a single race/market

[JayBee]

I am unaware of a runnerId, only selectionID. Where have you seen this?

A horse keeps its selectionId for its entire career so you will see the same selectionId across markets for a single race and in all future races where that horse competes.

Also, better to call it a MarketCatalogue otherwise that will cause confusion if you ask any future questions. Stick to API definitions.

I have just read that there is a runnerId in the meta data but it is not for use for things like placing bets, which rely on selectionId. Maybe runnerId will have some future use but I see no need for it in current usage.

Hello,

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I have been reading through the API documentation but I wanted to know if either the SelectionID or RunnerID of a horse as returned in the runnerCatalog or associated metadata is unique to that horse across races/markets or just for a single race/market

[jbarker]

Thanks for your reply, good to know.

The runnerID is inside the Runners metadata ( I thought i was referring to it correctly as the API document states the runners value is a RunnersCatalog.

https://api.developer.betfair.com/se...-RunnerCatalog

Appreciate your help

[JayBee]

I thought i was referring to it correctly as the API document states the runners value is a RunnersCatalog

I see. I thought you were referring to the ListMarketCatalogue operation.

Actually, the only reference I see to runnerId on that page contains a definition but does not say in which operation it is returned in a response. I have never seen a runnerCatalogue mentioned in any of operations that I have used.

Either the API has been updated since I coded my base code or this is spurious information that never made it into the official API.

Maybe someone else knows better. What code I have works fine so I have no need to add extra complexity.

There is a lot of double-speak in the documentation with two definitions for the same thing, which can be confusing at first. For example, an operation in the visualiser and some of the documentation is a method elsewhere and in the API.

Talking of addtional Ids, I wouldn't mind a raceId with which to grab all markets for a particular race. There is an eventId that will grab all markets for a meeting but I just want to get all the marketIds associated with a single race rather than having to go through a load of logic to get them.

[Nick JD]

Can we safely make the assumption that selection ids are (will always be) unique? Will they go to the glue factory with the horse?

[Merlin]

Nick,

Can we safely make the assumption that selection ids are (will always be) unique? Will they go to the glue factory with the horse?

I think it's reasonably safe to assume that a particular selectionId will always refer to the same horse; even though this isn't documented anywhere, I haven't come across an exception in UK and Irish horseracing Win and Place markets any time in the last six years.

However, it is NOT the case that a horse will always have the same selectionID throughout it's career. Although it will be generally true, there have been numerous examples over the years of the same horse changing selectionID, notably when betfair changed the way it capitalised french names and every horse with a 'de', 'du' or 'des' in it's name got a new selectionId.

cheers,

Merlin

[Nick JD]

Nick,



I think it's reasonably safe to assume that a particular selectionId will always refer to the same horse; even though this isn't documented anywhere, I haven't come across an exception in UK and Irish horseracing Win and Place markets any time in the last six years.

However, it is NOT the case that a horse will always have the same selectionID throughout it's career. Although it will be generally true, there have been numerous examples over the years of the same horse changing selectionID, notably when betfair changed the way it capitalised french names and every horse with a 'de', 'du' or 'des' in it's name got a new selectionId.

cheers,

Merlin

Thanks, mate.

I have my "id" formatted as 1.120822078_3885422 just in case my bots run for longer than the age of the Universe. Or Betfair decides to do something unusual (like using strings of integers that look like floats).