Using VB2008 to acccess the Betfair API: A tutorial

[Ferbar11]

I think your problem is here:

        With Req
            .header = oHeaderGL
        End With

GetAccountFunds is on the exchange server(s), you are calling the global server

If you check the code you quoted from Mumbles it is:

        With Req
            .header = oHeaderUK()
        End With


          or simply:

Req.header = oHeaderUK()

cheers

No, isn't work.. This show me 0€ but i got more.

Dim BetfairGL As New BFGlobal.BFGlobalService
Dim oHeaderUK As New BFUK.APIRequestHeader
Dim BetFairUK As New BFUK.BFExchangeService


....


Dim Req As New BFUK.GetAccountFundsReq
Dim Resp As BFUK.GetAccountFundsResp

Req.header = oHeaderUK

Resp = BetFairUK.getAccountFunds(Req)

lShowUser.Text = Login.tbUser.Text
lShowSaldo.Text = Resp.availBalance


what is wrong? :s

[BigSprout]

MM,
I don't understand why you are calling for individual prices for a horse in a market??? - each call registers as one access, hence the exceeded throttle exception you are receiving.

You can get all of the prices for the full field in one call (takes less than one second) and make several calls in a minute and not receive "Exceeded Throttle" error:

GetMarketPrices.....10 times per minute (get the full market prices for a race 10 times)
GetMarketPricesCompressed.....60/minute
GetCompleteMarketPricesCompressed.....60/minute

each of the above have been fully documented with coding by Mumbles in this thread

Post #443 on this page, lists all the different types of procedures to access the free APi
http://forum.bdp.betfair.com/showthr...?t=112&page=45


If you use one or all of the above, you will be able to "get around" using the web service and the bot, in fact, you could get the bot to do both by:
one market using GetMarketPricesCompressed
the other calling GetCompleteMarketPricesCompressed

The API has a much faster reaction time

Cheers

Edit:
Err, just noticed you are not coding in VB2008/10 - the link will help in the layout of the calls and a short note on how they work

[monkeymagix]

A problem with the Throttle limit

Hi Mumbles

I am wondering if you or anyone else can help me with the error that sometimes arises usually when collecting runner prices.

The error is caused when I call your CheckHeader method and receive the EXCEEDED_THROTTLE error code. This means I have reached the Betfair API request limit.

This error usually comes up when I try to call a method that collects all the current prices for a market. I thought that rather than get a single horse at one time I would just loop through all the selections in the market and return a list object of a custom struct (bet selection) that could then be saved to the DB.

However I keep running into these errors > EXCEEDED_THROTTLE

so I came up with a little function to wait until the next minute before carrying on e.g

private void BeatThrottleLimit()
{
    DateTime now = DateTime.UtcNow;

    // add 1 minute to the current time
    DateTime almostNextUpdateTime = now.AddMinutes(1);

    // get new datetime based on almostNextUpdateTime and set the seconds to 0
    DateTime nextUpdateTime = new DateTime(almostNextUpdateTime.Year, almostNextUpdateTime.Month, almostNextUpdateTime.Day, almostNextUpdateTime.Hour, almostNextUpdateTime.Minute, 0);

    // sleep for the difference between now and nextUpdateTime
    Thread.Sleep(nextUpdateTime.Subtract(now));

}

However when I come back from this function I seem to have lost all references to the relevant API object as subsequent function calls raise errors such as NULL object reference exceptions or in the example code provided which returns prices for all selections in a market I get Index was outside the bounds of the array error. This error only happens when I have to make a call to the BeatThrottleLimit function.

I suspect it might be something to do with the Thread.Sleep command but I am not totally sure and I am wondering if anyone else has had similar problems or issues when using the free API and working around the request limit.

Is there some function I could call after doing a "wait" / "beat throttle" method call so that I don't lose all my references.

It is a bit hard to debug due to it being a windows service and not being able to throw the throttle error on demand. However thoughts would be appreciated.

The relevant code is below

private void BeatThrottleLimit()
{
    DateTime now = DateTime.UtcNow;

    // add 1 minute to the current time
    DateTime almostNextUpdateTime = now.AddMinutes(1);

    // get new datetime based on almostNextUpdateTime and set the seconds to 0
    DateTime nextUpdateTime = new DateTime(almostNextUpdateTime.Year, almostNextUpdateTime.Month, almostNextUpdateTime.Day, almostNextUpdateTime.Hour, almostNextUpdateTime.Minute, 0);

    // sleep for the difference between now and nextUpdateTime
    Thread.Sleep(nextUpdateTime.Subtract(now));

}

// similar overriden method exists for the BFGlobal.APIResponseHeader Header
private void CheckHeader(BFUK.APIResponseHeader Header)
{
    APIHeaderGL.sessionToken = Header.sessionToken;

    // set flag so other calls know if we had an issue
    ThrottleLimitError = false;

    // if we have broken the API request limit wait until the next minute when it gets reset
    if (Header.errorCode.ToString() == "EXCEEDED_THROTTLE")
    {
	BeatThrottleLimit();

	ThrottleLimitError = true;
	
    }
}


// my function will return a list of SelectionPrice objects
public struct SelectionPrice
{
	public int SelectionID;

	public double BackPrice;

	public double LayPrice;
}

// example of function that will fail due to this error
public List<SelectionPrice> SaveAllSelectionPrices(int marketID, string betType)
{

    List<SelectionPrice> runnerPrice = new List<SelectionPrice>();
    
    BFUK.GetMarketPricesResp MpriceResp = BetfairUK.getMarketPrices(MpricesReq(marketID));

    // Error might get raised here!
    CheckHeader(MpriceResp.header);


    if (MpriceResp.errorCode == BFUK.GetMarketPricesErrorEnum.INVALID_MARKET)
    {
	// save market is invalid

	return runnerPrice.ToList();

    }
    else if (MpriceResp.errorCode == BFUK.GetMarketPricesErrorEnum.OK)
    {
      
	if (MpriceResp.marketPrices.marketStatus == BFUK.MarketStatusEnum.CLOSED)
	{

	    // save market closed

	    return runnerPrice.ToList();

	}
	else
	{

	    double backPrice, layPrice;
	    int selectionID;


	    // loop through all selections and save their best price in turn
	    for (int i = 0; i <= MpriceResp.marketPrices.runnerPrices.Length - 1; i++)
	    {

		backPrice = layPrice = 0;
		selectionID = MpriceResp.marketPrices.runnerPrices[i].selectionId;

		try
		{

		    // get both back and lay
		   backPrice = MpriceResp.marketPrices.runnerPrices[i].bestPricesToBack[0].price;

		   layPrice = MpriceResp.marketPrices.runnerPrices[i].bestPricesToLay[0].price;
		}
		catch (Exception e)
		{
		    // log message 
		    // after a call to CheckHeader and then BeatThrottleLimit the error is usually >>  Error getting selection Price: Index was outside the bounds of the array.
		    HelperLib.LogMsg("Error getting selection Price: " + e.Message.ToString());

		}


		if (backPrice > 0 || layPrice > 0)
		{
		    // add an item to my list which is a collection of stucts (my BetPrice object)                            
		    runnerPrice.Add(new SelectionPrice { SelectionID = selectionID, BackPrice = backPrice, LayPrice = layPrice });

		}

	    }
	}
    }

    return runnerPrice.ToList();

}

I am also wondering whether this problem is happening because I am running two different BOTs on different machines. One is my local PC and one is a webserver. One BOT just places BETS the other just gets prices.

Is the API Request Limit linked to the Betfair account that is used to make the request or is it linked to the IP address of the PC making it? If I used different Betfair accounts but ran the BOT from the same PC would this get round the problem or would running multiple BOTS with the same account from different IP's get round it?

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thanks

[BigSprout]

I think your problem is here:

        With Req
            .header = oHeaderGL
        End With

GetAccountFunds is on the exchange server(s), you are calling the global server

If you check the code you quoted from Mumbles it is:

        With Req
            .header = oHeaderUK()
        End With


          or simply:

Req.header = oHeaderUK()

cheers

[Ferbar11]

The line where you call the API is wrong.

Dim Req As New betfair.UK.exchange.GetAccountFundsReq()
Dim Resp As New betfair.UK.exchange.GetAccountFundsResp()
With Req
  .header = oHeaderUK()
End With

'-------------------------------------------------------------
'Resp = betfair.UK.exchange.GetAccountFunds(Req)   <<  Incorrect!
'GetAccountFunds is not avaiable

Resp = BetFairUK.getAccountFunds(Req)       '<<< Should be this

'-----------------------------------------------------------
With Resp
  CheckHeader(.header)
  If .errorCode = betfair.UK.exchange.GetAccountFundsErrorEnum.OK Then
    lbl.Text = .availBalance
  End If
End With

I think you are confusing the namespace (betfair.UK.exchange) with the service object (BetFairUK). Elsewhere in your project you should have something like:

Private BetFairUK As New betfair.UK.exchange.BFExchangeService

I try it but dint work here.

Dim Req As New BFUK.GetAccountFundsReq
        Dim Resp As New BFUK.GetAccountFundsResp
        With Req
            .header = oHeaderGL
        End With

        Resp = BetFairUK.getAccountFunds(Req)

        lShowUser.Text = Login.tbUser.Text
        lShowSaldo.Text = Resp.availBalance.ToString

[1nner]

Connection closed exception

Hey,

I'm having a problem with an exception being thrown that I do not understand. I'm calling getMarketPricesCompressedAsync once per second (for different markets) and it's been working fine up until today.

This morning however, my program made 15 calls in a row with no response and then an error was thrown with the message "The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a receive."

Has anyone encountered anything similar to this before?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Andrew

[Mumbles0]

Place markets

Waldjunge,

For a horse race the "Place" market is a separate market.

If you call getAllMarkets and look at the marketId, menuPath and marketName parameters in the marketData array you might have, for example:

102596266 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 1m Hcap
102596267 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596268 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 5f Claim Stks
102596269 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596270 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 6f Hcap
102596271 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596272 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 7f Hcap
102596273 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596274 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 1m Mdn Stks
102596275 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596276 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 1m1f Claim Stks
102596277 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed
102596278 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr 6f Hcap
102596279 \Horse Racing\GB\Wolv 11th Apr To Be Placed

Every second market is, in fact, a "Place" market. So 10259266 is the "Win" market for Wolv 11th Apr 1m Hcp, while 10259267 is the "Place" market for the same race, and so on. The "Place" market allows you to bet a horse to run 1st, 2nd or 3rd.

[waldjunge]

There are Place, Lay, Back bets on betfair.

I can place Lay and Back bets with the API with no problem. How to place "Place" bets where the horse has place 1,2 or 3 with the free API?

[Mumbles0]

It's a good idea.

If the marketId property is given in the response object then it's OK to use this, but there may be times when it doesn't return, for example if an error occurs.

[1nner]

Thanks for the replies, very helpful. Regarding the posts you linked to mumbles - does this mean I should pass the marketId with every Async call and never rely on the marketId property that is returned in the response object?

[Mumbles0]

UserState parameter

1nner,

Using the userState parameter in the async call is the way to do it. You can plug the marketId directly into the call like this:

BetFairUK.getMarketTradedVolumeAsync(Req, Req.marketId)

then get the marketId from the response like this:

marketId = e.UserState

But the problem here is that you cannot have any outstanding async requests (i.e. requests that are waiting for a response). So it’s better to use a userState object containing the marketId:

BetFairUK.getMarketTradedVolumeAsync(Req, New UserState(Req.marketId))

then extract the marketId from the response:

marketId = e.UserState.Param

where UserState is this simple class:

Class UserState  'A class for userState objects
    Property Param As Object
    Sub New(ByVal Value As Object)
      Param = Value
    End Sub
  End Class

You could add another property to this class to hold the selectionId if you wanted to.

Tagorac has suggested including a random number in the object as well as the marketId. This certainly would work OK, but I don’t think it’s necessary. The objects created from class UserState should be unique enough.

This topic has been discussed previously. Refer here & here.

[tagorac]

[...]

ie does the e.UserState property always contain the right value?

[...]

It does, but i don't think the marketId alone is unique enough for (potentially) multiple/concurrent asynchronous calls. I'm sending a custom object containing the marketId + a random number.

Stephan

[Monairda]

Good morning
I know how to solve the problem. As simple as removing the following:

Dim buttonBack As New DataGridViewButtonColumn()
            With buttonBack
                .Name = butback
                [B][COLOR="Red"].UseColumnTextForButtonValue = True[/COLOR][/B]
                .AutoSizeMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnMode.DisplayedCells
                .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat
                .CellTemplate.Style.BackColor = Color.Blue
                .DisplayIndex = 0
            End With
            Columns.Add(buttonBack)

If we take to next line
.UseColumnTextForButtonValue = True
everything works fine

Now the question I have is like the button to display the two values. The value of the odd and the amount available

Greetings

[1nner]

getMarketTradedVolumeAsync

Hi,

I have a question regarding that getMarketTradedVolumeAsync call. I am supplying a marketId and selectionId, and getting the response as expected. The problem I'm having is that the response does not contain the marketId paramater, and because I'm making many of these async calls I cannot tell which reponse is which.

The only way I can think of to solve this is to use the userState parameter to pass the marketId, which I can then examine later but I'm not sure if this is the best way of doing things (ie does the e.UserState property always contain the right value)?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Regards,

Andrew

[Monairda]

Insert a datagridviewButtonColumn

Good morning

I'm trying to insert a button in a DataGridView cell.

Use the code provided by Mumbles0 and following the advice of BigSprout:

Public Class RunnerGrid   'A customised DataGridView

    Inherits DataGridView

    Public Const colRunner = "Runner"  'Runner names column
    Public Const colSelId = "SelId"    'SelectionId column
    Public Const colBack = "Back"      'Back price column
    Public Const colLay = "Lay"        'Lay price column
    Public Const butback = "BBack"    'Back price button column


    Sub New(ByVal Runners As BFUK.Runner())

        RowHeadersVisible = False  'Turn off row headers
        Dock = DockStyle.Fill       'The grid fills the Tab
        If Runners.Length > 0 Then   'Runner data exists

            Dim NameColumn As New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn  'Add column   for runner names 
            With NameColumn
                .Name = colRunner
                .ReadOnly = True
                .AutoSizeMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnMode.AllCells  'Column width is automatic
            End With
            Columns.Add(NameColumn)  'Add to columns collection

            Dim SelIdColumn As New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn  'Add column for selectionId
            With SelIdColumn
                .Name = colSelId
                .Width = 70       'Column width is fixed
                .ReadOnly = True
            End With

            Columns.Add(SelIdColumn)  'Add to columns collection

            RowCount = Runners.Length  'A row for each runner 
            For i = 0 To RowCount - 1
                With Runners(i)
                    Item(colRunner, i).Value = .name  'Add the runner name
                    Item(colSelId, i).Value = .selectionId  'Add the selectionId
                End With
            Next

            Dim BackColumn As New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn  'Add column for Back prices
            With BackColumn
                .Name = colBack
                .Width = 50
                .DefaultCellStyle.Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight
                .DefaultCellStyle.Format = "f2"
                .ReadOnly = True
            End With
            Columns.Add(BackColumn)

            Dim LayColumn As New DataGridViewTextBoxColumn  'Add column for Lay prices
            With LayColumn
                .Name = colLay
                .Width = 50
                .DefaultCellStyle.Alignment = DataGridViewContentAlignment.MiddleRight
                .DefaultCellStyle.Format = "f2"
                .ReadOnly = True
            End With
            Columns.Add(LayColumn)

            Dim buttonBack As New DataGridViewButtonColumn()
            With buttonBack
                .Name = butback
                .UseColumnTextForButtonValue = True
                .AutoSizeMode = DataGridViewAutoSizeColumnMode.DisplayedCells
                .FlatStyle = FlatStyle.Flat
                .CellTemplate.Style.BackColor = Color.Blue
                .DisplayIndex = 0
            End With
            Columns.Add(buttonBack)

        End If
    End Sub

    Sub UpdatePrices(ByVal RunnerPrices As BFUK.RunnerPrices())  'Method to update the Prices
        Dim i, j, SelectionId As Integer

        For i = 0 To RowCount - 1  'For each row in grid
            SelectionId = Item(colSelId, i).Value
            j = Array.FindIndex(RunnerPrices, Function(x As BFUK.RunnerPrices) x.selectionId = SelectionId) 'Array index for this runner
            If j >= 0 Then 'Prices exist for this runner
                With RunnerPrices(j)
                    If .bestPricesToBack.Length > 0 Then
                        Item(colBack, i).Value = .bestPricesToBack(0).price
                        Item(butback, i).Value = .bestPricesToBack(0).price
                    Else
                        Item(colBack, i).Value = ""
                        Item(butback, i).Value =""
                    End If
                    If .bestPricesToLay.Length > 0 Then
                        Item(colLay, i).Value = .bestPricesToLay(0).price
                    Else
                        Item(colLay, i).Value = ""
                    End If
                    'Item(colBack, i).Value = If(.bestPricesToBack.Length > 0, .bestPricesToBack(0).price, "")   'Update best Back price
                    'Item(colLay, i).Value = If(.bestPricesToLay.Length > 0, .bestPricesToLay(0).price, "")      'Update best Lay price
                End With
            End If
        Next

    End Sub
    
End Class

But when I run it does not fill the price value on the button

Can you help me? Thanks