AddToItemDescription

AddToItemDescription adds text to the end of the description section of an item listing. You can append text to a description if you are the item's seller and if there are 12 or more hours remaining in the auction. Text added to a description must abide by all the rules for item descriptions (for example, JavaScript is not allowed). In general, your application should not use AddToItemDescription as part of its standard listing process.

AddToItemDescription appends text to the listing's description--it does not modify the exisitng description. To change the description text in its entirety, use ReviseItem.

Request Details

When calling AddToItemDescription, specify the item ID for the currently-active listing you want to modify, as well as the text that that you want to append to the listing's description. The response consists only of the standard values defined in the abstract response object; there are no call-specific values returned.

You cannot use AddToItemDescription to modify the description of an eBay Giving Works listing (for more on eBay Giving Works, see Identifying Listings that Benefit Nonprofits).

Testing AddToItemDescription

Test AddToItemDescription in the Sandbox:

Use AddItem to list an item on the My eBay Sandbox page (http://sandbox.ebay.com) and get the ItemID value.
Test adding data to a listing's description multiple times, both to ensure the application can accommodate this use case and to see the effects of multiple description changes.
Use an item retrieving call (such as GetSellerList) to view the modified listing both before and after you make changes with AddToItemDescription.

Related Information

See Changing Item Descriptions.

See also the reference documentation for these calls:

AddItem - Defines a single new item and lists it on a specified eBay site. Returns the item ID for the new listing, and returns fees the seller will incur for the listing (not including the Final Value Fee, which cannot be calculated until the item is sold).
ReviseItem - Enables a seller to change the properties of a currently active listing.

AddToItemDescription Input

The box below lists all fields that could be included in the call request. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also Samples.

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are (or soon will be) non-operational.

The XML prototype does not include requester credentials. This is a documentation limitation only (see Standard Requester Credentials for Making Calls).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AddToItemDescriptionRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <!-- Standard Input Fields -->
  <ErrorLanguage> string </ErrorLanguage>
  <InvocationID> UUIDType (string) </InvocationID>
  <MessageID> string </MessageID>
  <Version> string </Version>
  <WarningLevel> WarningLevelCodeType </WarningLevel>
  <!-- Call-specific Input Fields -->
  <Description> string </Description>
  <ItemID> ItemIDType (string) </ItemID>
</AddToItemDescriptionRequest>

Argument	Type	Occurrence	Meaning

Standard Input Fields [Jump to call-specific fields]

ErrorLanguage	string	Optional	Use ErrorLanguage to return error strings for the call in a different language from the language commonly associated with the site that the requesting user is registered with. Specify the standard RFC 3066 language identification tag (e.g., en_US). ID--- country ----- ----- de_AT Austria de_CH Switzerland de_DE Germany en_AU Australia en_CA Canada en_GB United Kingdom en_SG Singapore en_US United States es_ES Spain fr_BE Belgium (French) fr_CA Canada (French) fr_FR France it_IT Italy nl_BE Belgium (Dutch) nl_NL Netherlands zh_CN China en_IN India en_IE Ireland zh_HK Hong Kong See Tags for the Identification of Languages.
InvocationID	UUIDType (string)	Optional	A unique identifer for a particular call. If the same InvocationID is passed in after it has been passed in once on a call that succeeded for a particular application and user, then an error will be returned. The identifier can only contain digits from 0-9 and letters from A-F. The identifier must be 32 characters long. For example, 1FB02B2-9D27-3acb-ABA2-9D539C374228. Max length: 32.
MessageID	string	Optional	In most cases, all calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass a message ID in a request, we will return the same value in CorrelationID in the response. You can use this for tracking that a response is returned for every request and to match particular responses to particular requests. If you do not pass MessageID in the request, CorrelationID is not returned. Note: GetCategories, GetAttributesCS, GetCategory2CS, GetAttributesXSL, GetProductFinder, GetProductFinderXSL, and GetProductSearchPage are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.
Version	string	Conditional	The version number of the API code that you are programming against (e.g., 549). The version you specify for a call has these basic effects: - It indicates the version of the code lists and other data that eBay should use to process your request. - It indicates the schema version you are using. You need to use a version that is greater than or equal to the lowest supported version. For the SOAP API: If you are using the SOAP API, this field is required. Specify the version of the WSDL your application is using. For the XML API: If you are using the XML API, this field has no effect. Instead, specify the version in the X-EBAY-API-COMPATIBILITY-LEVEL HTTP header. (If you specify Version in the body of an XML API request and it is different from the value in the HTTP header, eBay returns an informational warning that the value in the HTTP header was used instead.) See: HTTP Headers (XML API Only) eBay Schema Versioning Strategy Lowest Supported Version
WarningLevel	WarningLevelCodeType	Optional	Controls whether or not to return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request. An unrecognized element is one that is not defined in any supported version of the schema. Schema element names are case-sensitive, so using WarningLevel can also help you remove any potential hidden bugs within your application due to incorrect case or spelling in field names before you put your application into the Production environment. WarningLevel only validates elements; it doesn't validate XML attributes. It also doesn't control warnings related to user-entered strings or numbers, or warnings for logical errors. We recommend that you only use this during development and debugging. Do not use this in requests in your production code. Applicable values: • High (in) Return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request. • Low (in) Do not return warnings when the application passes unrecognized or deprecated elements in a request. This is the default value if WarningLevel is not specified. See Warning Level.

Call-specific Input Fields
Description	string	Required	Specifies the text to append to the end of the listings description. Text appended to a listing's description must abide by the rules applicable to this data (such as no JavaScript) as is the case when first listing the item.
ItemID	ItemIDType (string)	Required	Unique item ID that identifies the target item listing, the description of which is appended with the text specified in Description. Max length: 19 (Note: The eBay database specifies 38. Item IDs are usually 9 to 12 digits).

AddToItemDescription Output

The box below lists all fields that might be returned in the response. To learn more about an individual field or its type, click its name in the box (or scroll down to find it in the table below the box).

See also Samples.

See also the Deprecated Objects link above. Fields presented in this color are deprecated, and fields presented in this color are not returned (or soon will not be returned) or are not operational (or soon will be non-operational).

The XML prototype does not include requester credentials. This is a documentation limitation only (see Standard Requester Credentials for Making Calls).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AddToItemDescriptionResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <!-- Standard Output Fields -->
  <Ack> AckCodeType </Ack>
  <Build> string </Build>
  <CorrelationID> string </CorrelationID>
  <DuplicateInvocationDetails> DuplicateInvocationDetailsType 
    <DuplicateInvocationID> UUIDType (string) </DuplicateInvocationID>
    <InvocationTrackingID> string </InvocationTrackingID>
    <Status> InvocationStatusType </Status>
  </DuplicateInvocationDetails>
  <Errors> ErrorType 
    <ErrorClassification> ErrorClassificationCodeType </ErrorClassification>
    <ErrorCode> token </ErrorCode>
    <ErrorParameters ParamID="string"> ErrorParameterType 
      <Value> string </Value>
    </ErrorParameters>
    <!-- ... more ErrorParameters nodes here ... -->
    <LongMessage> string </LongMessage>
    <SeverityCode> SeverityCodeType </SeverityCode>
    <ShortMessage> string </ShortMessage>
  </Errors>
  <!-- ... more Errors nodes here ... -->
  <HardExpirationWarning> string </HardExpirationWarning>
  <Message> string </Message>
  <Timestamp> dateTime </Timestamp>
  <Version> string </Version>
</AddToItemDescriptionResponse>

Return Value	Type	Occurrence	Meaning

Standard Output Fields

Ack	AckCodeType	Always	A token representing the application-level acknowledgement code that indicates the response status (e.g., success). The AckCodeType list specifies the possible values for Ack. Applicable values: • CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use. • Failure (out) Request processing failed • Success (out) Request processing succeeded • Warning (out) Request processing completed with warning information being included in the response message (Not all values in AckCodeType apply to this field.)
Build	string	Always	This refers to the specific software build that eBay used when processing the request and generating the response. This includes the version number plus additional information. eBay Developer Support may request the build information when helping you resolve technical issues.
CorrelationID	string	Conditionally	In most cases, all calls support a MessageID element in the request and a CorrelationID element in the response. If you pass a message ID in a request, we will return the same value in CorrelationID in the response. You can use this for tracking that a response is returned for every request and to match particular responses to particular requests. If you do not pass MessageID in the request, CorrelationID is not returned. Note: GetCategories, GetAttributesCS, GetCategory2CS, GetAttributesXSL, GetProductFinder, GetProductFinderXSL, and GetProductSearchPage are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, the MessageID and CorrelationID fields aren't applicable. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, MessageID and CorrelationID are applicable.
DuplicateInvocationDetails	DuplicateInvocationDetailsType	Conditionally	Information that explains a failure due to a duplicate InvocationID being passed in.
DuplicateInvocationDetails .DuplicateInvocationID	UUIDType (string)	Conditionally	The duplicate InvocationID.
DuplicateInvocationDetails .InvocationTrackingID	string	Conditionally	The id that identifies the business item the previous API invocation created. For example, the ItemID of the item created by an AddItem call.
DuplicateInvocationDetails .Status	InvocationStatusType	Conditionally	The status of the previous call that used the InvocationID. Applicable values: • CustomCode • Failure (out) • InProgress (out) • Success (out)
Errors	ErrorType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	A list of application-level errors (if any) that occurred when eBay processed the request. See Error Handling.
Errors.ErrorClassification	ErrorClassificationCodeType	Conditionally	API errors are divided between two classes: system errors and request errors. Applicable values: • CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use. • RequestError (out) An error has occurred either as a result of a problem in the sending application or because the application's end-user has attempted to submit invalid data (or missing data). In these cases, do not retry the request. The problem must be corrected before the request can be made again. If the problem is due to something in the application (such as a missing required field), the application must be changed. If the problem is a result of end-user data, the application must alert the end-user to the problem and provide the means for the end-user to correct the data. Once the problem in the application or data is resolved, resend the request to eBay with the corrected data. • SystemError (out) Indicates that an error has occurred on the eBay system side, such as a database or server down. An application can retry the request as-is a reasonable number of times (eBay recommends twice). If the error persists, contact Developer Technical Support. Once the problem has been resolved, the request may be resent in its original form.
Errors.ErrorCode	token	Conditionally	A unique code that identifies the particular error condition that occurred. Your application can use error codes as identifiers in your customized error-handling algorithms. See the "Errors by Number" document.
Errors.ErrorParameters	ErrorParameterType	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	This optional element carries a list of context-specific error variables that indicate details about the error condition. These are useful when multiple instances of ErrorType are returned.
Errors.ErrorParameters [ attribute ParamID ]	string	Conditionally	The index of the parameter in the list of parameter types returned within the error type.
Errors.ErrorParameters.Value	string	Conditionally	The value of the variable (e.g., the attribute set ID)
Errors.LongMessage	string	Conditionally	A more detailed description of the condition that raised the error.
Errors.SeverityCode	SeverityCodeType	Conditionally	Indicates whether the error is a severe error (causing the request to fail) or an informational error (a warning) that should be communicated to the user. Applicable values: • CustomCode (out) Reserved for internal or future use • Error (out) Application-level error • Warning (out) Warning or informational error
Errors.ShortMessage	string	Conditionally	A brief description of the condition that raised the error.
HardExpirationWarning	string	Conditionally	Expiration date of the user's authentication token. Only returned within the 7-day period prior to a token's expiration. To ensure that user authentication tokens are secure and to help avoid a user's token being compromised, tokens have a limited life span. A token is only valid for a period of time (set by eBay). After this amount of time has passed, the token expires and must be replaced with a new token.
Message	string	Conditionally	Supplemental information from eBay, if applicable. May elaborate on errors (such as how a listing violates eBay policies) or provide useful hints that may help a seller increase sales. This data can accompany the call's normal data result set or a result set that contains only errors. Applications must recognize when the Message field is returned and provide a means to display the listing hints and error message explanations to the user. The string can return HTML, including TABLE, IMG, and HREF elements. In this case, an HTML-based application should be able to include the HTML as-is in the HTML page that displays the results. A non-HTML application would need to parse the HTML and convert the table elements and image references into UI elements particular to the programming language used. As usual for string data types, the HTML markup elements are escaped with character entity references (e.g.,<table><tr>...). See Message.
Timestamp	dateTime	Always	This value represents the date and time when eBay processed the request. The time zone of this value is GMT and the format is the ISO 8601 date and time format (YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SS.SSSZ). See Time Values in the eBay Web Services guide for information about this time format and converting to and from the GMT time zone. Note: GetCategories, GetAttributesCS, GetCategory2CS, GetAttributesXSL, GetProductFinder, GetProductFinderXSL, and GetProductSearchPage are designed to retrieve very large sets of metadata that change once a day or less often. To improve performance, these calls return cached responses when you request all available data (with no filters). When this occurs, this time value reflects the time the cached response was created. Thus, this value is not necessarily when the request was processed. However, if you specify an input filter to reduce the amount of data returned, the calls retrieve the latest data (not cached). When this occurs, this time value does reflect when the request was processed.
Version	string	Always	The version of the response payload schema. Indicates the version of the schema that eBay used to process the request. See "Standard Data for All Calls" in the eBay Web Services Guide for information on using the response version when troubleshooting "CustomCode" values that appear in the response.

AddToItemDescription Detail Controls

Detail Control: DetailLevel

This call does not support varying Detail Levels. You do not need to pass DetailLevel in the request.

AddToItemDescription Samples

New to making API calls? Please see Routing the Request.

Note: Some item IDs, user IDs, or other data in these samples might no longer be active on eBay. If necessary, you can substitute current eBay data in your requests.

Sample: Basic Call

Append text to the bottom of an item's description.

Input

Magical Bookseller wants to update the listing for her Harry Potter book. AddToItemDescription makes use of two call-specific input fields, both of which must be supplied in the call: ItemID and Description. In addition, the caller must be the same as the one who originally listed the item.

XML format (HTTP POST). Also available is the .txt version of this XML.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<AddToItemDescriptionRequest xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <RequesterCredentials>
    <eBayAuthToken>ABC...123</eBayAuthToken>
  </RequesterCredentials>
  <ItemID>110041518161</ItemID>
  <Description>
    Hard Cover with a perfect dust jacket!
    This item will also ship with a colorful Harry Potter bookmark.
  </Description>
</AddToItemDescriptionRequest>

Output

An error message is returned if a problem is encountered during the processing of the call. Here, the call succeeds.

XML format. Also available is the .txt version of this XML.

<AddToItemDescriptionResponse xmlns="urn:ebay:apis:eBLBaseComponents">
  <Timestamp>2009-10-12T18:33:07.384Z</Timestamp>
  <Ack>Success</Ack>
  <Version>635</Version>
  <Build>E635_CORE_BUNDLED_10077500_R1</Build>
</AddToItemDescriptionResponse>

AddToItemDescription Change History

Version	Description
409 2005-5-18	InvocationID (added): Call now supports this input parameter.

This document was generated with a customized version of the apireferencedocs tool.

eBay Trading API Call Reference Version 643

Request Details

Testing AddToItemDescription

Related Information

eBay Trading API
Call Reference Version 643