Using VB2008 to acccess the Betfair API: A tutorial

**Mumbles0** · 16-09-2009, 06:51 AM

Free API is fine.

But you can only call getMarketPricesCompressedAsync not more than 60 times per minute.

This means that your refresh timer interval should not be less than 1000 (milliseconds). I think this is what causes yor problem.

**supunsilva.** · 16-09-2009, 06:53 AM

Hi Mumbles,
Thanks for your reply. Are you using Yahoo IM or Skype??
Can you show me how to place a 0.01 stake when I only have less thank 2.00

**supunsilva.** · 16-09-2009, 06:54 AM

Reply to Mumbles

Hi Mumbles,
Thanks for your reply. Are you using Yahoo IM or Skype??
Can you show me how to place a 0.01 stake when I only have less thank 2.00

**Mumbles0** · 16-09-2009, 07:41 AM

No I'm not.

The �2 minimum bet is a limit you will have to come to terms with yourself. I can't tell you what to do about this.

**Mumbles0** · 16-09-2009, 07:52 AM

Step 20. Monitoring Bet Status

Having placed a bet you will no doubt be keen to know if and when the bet is matched. This can be done by calling getMUBets at regular time intervals (e.g. 1 sec) .

If you look in the API Guide you will see that many of the request parameters are used to control the way that data is returned if you have a large number of bets on a market. To keep things simple we won�t worry about these for the time being. We simply set .marketId to return all bets on the current market.

Add this sub to the Testform class:

Code:

Private Sub GetBetStatus(ByVal YourMarket As Integer)
  Dim Req As New BFUK.GetMUBetsReq
  With Req
    .header = oHeaderUK()       'The standard header
    .marketId = YourMarket        'The market of interest
    .betStatus = BFUK.BetStatusEnum.MU  'Return status of matched and unmatched bets
    .recordCount = 100    'Max 100 bets
  End With
  StateCount += 1
  BetFairUK.getMUBetsAsync(Req, StateCount)    'Send the request to the API
End Sub

Because a typical application will call getMUBets frequently, we make this an async call to maintain efficiency (as discussed in Step 10). The additional request parameters are unassigned and will default to appropriate values, except for .recordCount which we set to a number greater than the maximum number of bets we are likely to have on a market.

Also add the code for the response event handler:

Code:

Private Sub BetFairUK_getMUBetsCompleted(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As BFUK.getMUBetsCompletedEventArgs) Handles BetFairUK.getMUBetsCompleted
  Try
    If Not e.Cancelled Then
      With e.Result
        CheckHeader(.header)
        Print("ErrorCode = " & .errorCode.ToString)
        If .errorCode = BFUK.GetMUBetsErrorEnum.OK Then
          For i = 0 To .bets.Length - 1   'For all bets on the market
            With .bets(i)
              Print("BetId = " & .betId & " " & .betStatus.ToString & " Price = " & .price & " Size = " & .size)
            End With
          Next
        End If
      End With
    End If

  Catch ex As Exception
    Print(ex.Message)   'If problem
  End Try
End Sub

To test this add a �BetStatus� button to the TestForm. Name it bBetStatus and add this code for its Click event handler:

Code:

Private Sub bBetStatus_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles bBetStatus.Click
  Print("*** GetBetStatus ***")
  GetBetStatus(Market)         'Call getMUBets
End Sub

Market is the variable we added in Step 19.

Now log onto the website and go to your market of interest. Set up another test bet as described in Step 19 and run the project. When you click the �BetStatus� button you will get the NO_RESULTS message (assuming you have no bets on the market). Now click the �PlaceBet� button to place the test bet. This bet should appear on the �My Bets� tab on the website.

Now click the �BetStatus� button again. The parameters for this bet (.betId, .betStatus, .price and .size) will now be printed and should agree with the website. Several other parameters of interest are returned too (see the API Guide).

You can experiment with this by changing the odds and the stake on the website and observing what is printed when you click �BetStatus�. If you wish, cancel or match the bet.

A practical application will probably won�t have a �BetStatus� button. Instead getMUbets could be called from the Tick event of a �refresh� timer or similar.

A partially-matched bet will be returned as 2 bets with the same betId. The data for each part (.status, .size, .price, etc.) will be given in a separate element in the .bets array

As an alternative, you can call getBet to return data for a single bet in more detail. However, for a quick look at all your bets on a market, a call to getMUbets should suffice.

**supunsilva.** · 16-09-2009, 07:36 PM

Hi Mumbles...
Could you kindly tell me how we can call account available balance?
I am waiting for Cancel bet cording also....
Very big thanks 4 you...........

Regards,
Supun Silva

**Mumbles0** · 17-09-2009, 06:36 AM

Supunsilva,

Please realize that this forum is only a part-time activity for me - I have other things to do also. I will post a step on cancelBets (also updateBets) when time permits. You don�t have to nag me.

Account balance.

The purpose of this tutorial thread is for you to learn about accessing the API with VB. The examples show code and ideas for readers to adapt into their own projects. You should practice writing the code for yourself. Getting the account balance is a good exercise for you. I�ll give you some tips:

The call you require is getAccountFunds on the UK server. This a very easy call to make because there are no request parameters (except for the standard header). The response object contains the .availBalance parameter. This is what you want.

Your English is quite good. I�m sure you can read the chapter on getAccountFunds in the API Guide.

**supunsilva.** · 17-09-2009, 09:40 AM

Hi Mumbles, I apologize for bothering you.

Regards,
Supun Silva

**Mumbles0** · 18-09-2009, 07:34 AM

Step 21. Cancelling a Bet

To cancel unmatched bets you can call cancelBets. With cancelBets you can cancel several bets at once. To keep things simple the following example cancels a single bet only.

Add this sub to Class TestForm:

Code:

Sub CancelBet(ByVal betId As Long)

  Dim oCancelBetsReq As New BFUK.CancelBetsReq   'Create the request object
  Dim oCancelBetsResp As BFUK.CancelBetsResp     'A variable to hold the response object
  With oCancelBetsReq
    .header = oHeaderUK()      'The standard request header
    ReDim .bets(0)                    'Single element array
    .bets(0) = New BFUK.CancelBets    'Create an object of type CancelBets
    .bets(0).betId = betId          'The BetId to be cancelled
  End With

  oCancelBetsResp = BetFairUK.cancelBets(oCancelBetsReq)  'Call API to cancel the bet

  With oCancelBetsResp     'The response
    CheckHeader(.header)
    Print("ErrorCode = " & .errorCode.ToString)
    If .errorCode = BFUK.CancelBetsErrorEnum.OK Then  'The call succeeded
      For i = 0 To .betResults.Length - 1   'In this case there should only be one result
        With .betResults(i)
          Print(.resultCode.ToString)   'The result of the cancellation
          If .success Then Print("BetId " & .betId & " cancelled")
        End With
      Next
    End If
  End With

End Sub

This is a sync call which follows the normal calling procedure. Note that an object of type BFUK.CancelBets is required to hold the betId in the first element of the .bets array. Do not confuse the BFUK.CancelBets class with the service object method BetfairUK.cancelBets. They are different things even though they have the same name.

To cancel a bet you simply call Sub CancelBet with the betId. To test this add a �CancelBet� button to the TestForm. Name it bCancelBet and add this code:

Code:

Private Sub bCancelBet_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles bCancelBet.Click
  Print("*** CancelBet ***")
  CancelBet(TheBetId)             'TheBetId is saved by Sub PlaceBet
End Sub

Now set up the parameters for a test bet (as in step 19) and run the project. Observe this market on the website. As previously, the bet will be appear on �My Bets� after you click the �PlaceBet� button. Now click �CancelBet� and observe what happens.

There is a similar service called cancelBetsByMarket. Use this if you require bulk cancellation of unmatched bets across one or more markets.

**supunsilva.** · 18-09-2009, 08:25 AM

Thank you very much mumbles...

**Monairda** · 19-09-2009, 10:20 PM

Thank you very much mumbles

**nYury** · 20-09-2009, 06:06 PM

[QUOTE=Mumbles0;251]

Code:

Private Sub bLogin_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles bLogin.Click
  Print("*** Login ***")
  Dim oLoginReq As New BFGlobal.LoginReq
  Dim oLoginResp As BFGlobal.LoginResp
  With oLoginReq
    .username = "[i]YourUsername[/i]"
    .password = "[i]YourPassword[/i]"
    .productId = 82           'For free API
  End With
  oLoginResp = BetfairGL.login(oLoginReq)     'Call the API
  With oLoginResp
    CheckHeader(.header)
    Print("ErrorCode = " & .errorCode.ToString)
  End With
End Sub[FONT="Courier New"][/FONT]

Why the program displays an error message CSharpAPI6.betfair.api.global.APIErrorEnum.PRODUCT _REQUIRES_FUNDED_ACCOUNT? I there is money.

**supunsilva.** · 20-09-2009, 06:47 PM

Your account shound have at least before 3 months transactions. If you have money in your account, first you have to do a at least one transaction[bet on market]. After that your Api will work fine!!!!

Thanks & Regards,
Supun Silva

**supunsilva.** · 20-09-2009, 06:49 PM

Reply;

Your account should have at least before 3 months transactions. If you have money in your account, first you have to do a at least one transaction[bet on market]. After that your Api will work fine!!!!

Thanks & Regards,
Supun Silva

**Drifter** · 21-09-2009, 07:52 AM

GetMUBets - bets array null?

Mumbles,

I'm having a bit of an issue with GetMUBets(Resp).

I'm trying to return the value mylocalobjectofGetMUBetsResp.bets.selectionId

The value in 'bets' is being returned as null. I can see why this might be, simply because the market I am testing for, I have no bets on. How then do I compile for a value which is not defined at compile time because the 'bet object' is not yet instantiated(if that is what is happening) in the API?

What I am looking to do is to (re)generate a betting profile to recover my bet state after a crash. Here in Thailand, internet outages are so common, that I have to expect a disconnect during an event - say soccer game - as part of life.

To recover my bet state, I want to poll GetMUBets with the marketId that I know I will (perhaps) have bet on. What I have been trying to do is build an array of MarketId:SelectionId, to do a sanity check on re-start. However, there will be no guarantee that I have, at that point, made a bet. Am I approaching this the right way?

Regards
G

Using VB2008 to acccess the Betfair API: A tutorial

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