DiamondRemote¶ ↑

Diamond Comics is the primary comic book distributor in North America.

This Ruby / Rails library helps a retailer with a Diamond Comics account interact with the Diamond website.

The API lets you:

• download datafiles of upcoming comics & current Diamond inventory

• download ISBNs, UPCs, cover images

• place reorders and monthly initial orders.

Installation¶ ↑

1. add this to your Gemfile

   gem "diamond_remote", :git =>"http://github.com/TJamesCorcoran/diamond_remote"
   

2. at the command line type

   bundle install
   

3. get a username, password, and customer number from Diamond Comics.

4. Using credentials from previous step, add this to your config/application.rb

   DiamondRemote.configure do |config|
     config.username                      = 'tru<x>'   
     config.password                      = '<y>'
     config.custnumber                    = '<x>'
     config.firm_name_at_diamond          = /FIRM NAME AS REGEXP/
     config.download_dir                  = "#{Rails.root}/lib/datafiles/"
   end
   

5. That’s it. You can now begin interacting with the Diamond website programatically.

Use: Download Data Files¶ ↑

Diamond supplied three data files.

• preview - updated once per month; lists items available next month

• master - updated once per month; contains same items as previews, but w different fields

• truall - updated nightly; shows everything that is orderable or reorderable

Here’s how to download them:

# download a "master" and a "preview" datafile from Diamond
#
DiamondRemote.get_master(  "2015", "02")
=> #<File:/home/xxx/src/yyy/lib/datafiles/lib/datafiles/201502/master.csv> 

DiamondRemote.get_previews("2015", "02")
=> #<File:/home/xxx/src/yyy/lib/datafiles/lib/datafiles/201502/previews.csv> 

# or get both at once
#
DiamondRemote.get_both("2015", "02")
=> [ #<File...> , #<File..> ]

# or get both for current month
DiamondRemote.get_current()
=> [ #<File...> , #<File..> ]

# get and parse truall file
DiamondRemote.get_truall()
=>    [  {:code       =>"APR962656",
        :title      =>"CRIME SUSPENSTORIES #17",
        :price      =>"0000002.5000",
        :type       =>"1",
        :date       =>"09/13/96",
        :base_price =>"0000002.5000 ",
        :vendor     =>"WILLIAM M GAINES, VIA GEMSTONE ",
        :discount   =>"E"},
       {:code       =>"STAR06965",
        :title      =>"LOVE & ROCKETS SC VOL 15 HERNANDEZ SATYRICON (MR) (O/A)",
        :price      =>"0000018.9500 ",
        :type       =>"3",
        :date       =>"09/30/97",
        :base_price =>"0000018.9500 ",
        :vendor     =>"FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS",
        :discount   =>"E"},
     ...
     ]

# download your invoices
#
DiamondRemote.invoices_download_all
 => { <Date-1> => <invoice-as-text>,
    <Date-2> => <invoice-as-text>,
    <Date-3> => <invoice-as-text>
    ...
   }

Use: Get Release Dates, ISBNs, UPCs, and Cover Images ¶ ↑

# find Diamond's release date for items, specifying them by their itemcodes
#
DiamondRemote.get_diamond_release_dates(["JAN152628", "JAN152627"] )
=> {"JAN152628"=>Wed, 04 Mar 2015, 
   "JAN152627"=>Wed, 04 Mar 2015} 

# get an image 
#
DiamondRemote.get_diamond_image("JAN152628", "/tmp/JAN152628.jpg") 
=> "/tmp/JAN152628.jpg" 

# get ISBNs for graphic novels
#    (works via block)
#
DiamondRemote.get_GN_ISBNs(["AUG080052" , "JAN152628" ]) do |code, isbn| 
  puts "#{code} #{isbn}" 
end

# get UPCs for a comic books
#    (works via block)
#
DiamondRemote.get_IC_UPCS(["JAN152621", "JAN151887"] ) do |code, upc| 
  puts "#{code} #{upc}" 
end

Use: Place Initial Orders and Reorders¶ ↑

# find deadline for initial order
#
DiamondRemote.get_order_deadline()
=> ["FEB15", Mon, 02 Mar 2015] 

# submit an initial order
#
DiamondRemote.submit_initial!( { "JAN152628" => 1, "JAN152627" => 10 } )
=> true

# submit a reorder
#
DiamondRemote.submit_reorder!( { "JAN152628" => 1, "JAN152627" => 10 } )
=> true

Support¶ ↑

If you have features you need, or want other help building or maintaining your comics-based ecommerce site, please contact me a [email protected]