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getHistograms returns category and/or aspect histogram information for the eBay category ID you specify. Histograms are item counts for the associated category or aspect value. Input category ID numbers in the request using the categoryId field.

Category histograms return histogram information for the specified eBay category, as well as for the immediate children categories of the specified category. Category histograms are returned for non-leaf categories only. Category histograms aren't returned for leaf catetgories, because they have no children categories.

Aspects are well-known, standardized characteristics of an item. For example, "Screen Size," "Processor Type," and "Processor Speed" could be aspects of Laptop PCs. Aspects can vary for different kinds of items. For example, the aspects of Laptop PCs are different from those of Women's Dresses (aspects for Women's Dresses might include "Sleeve Style," "Dress Length," and "Size"). Aspect histograms are returned for categories that map to domains. Typically, leaf categories are mapped to domains, but not all leaf categories have been mapped. In some cases, non-leaf categories, such as Binoculars & Telescopes (category ID 28179), may be mapped to domains.

You can retrieve the eBay category ID numbers from the response of this call and from the eBay web site. You can also obtain a complete list of eBay categories with the Trading API GetCategories call.

Related calls:

• findItemsByCategory - Finds items in a specific category. Results can be filtered and sorted.
• findItemsAdvanced - Finds items by a keyword query and/or category and allows searching within item descriptions.
• findItemsByKeywords - Finds items on eBay based upon a keyword query and returns details for matching items.

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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.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<getHistogramsRequest xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
  <categoryId> string </categoryId>
</getHistogramsRequest>

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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.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<getHistogramsResponse xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
  <!-- Standard Output Fields -->
  <ack> AckValue </ack>
  <errorMessage> ErrorMessage 
    <error> ErrorData 
      <category> ErrorCategory </category>
      <domain> string </domain>
      <errorId> long </errorId>
      <exceptionId> token </exceptionId>
      <message> string </message>
      <parameter name="string"> ErrorParameter (string) </parameter>
      <!-- ... more parameter nodes here ... -->
      <severity> ErrorSeverity </severity>
      <subdomain> string </subdomain>
    </error>
    <!-- ... more error nodes here ... -->
  </errorMessage>
  <timestamp> dateTime </timestamp>
  <version> string </version>
  <!-- Call-specific Output Fields -->
  <aspectHistogramContainer> AspectHistogramContainer 
    <aspect name="string"> Aspect 
      <valueHistogram valueName="string"> AspectValueHistogram 
        <count> long </count>
      </valueHistogram>
      <!-- ... more valueHistogram nodes here ... -->
    </aspect>
    <!-- ... more aspect nodes here ... -->
    <domainDisplayName> token </domainDisplayName>
    <domainName> string </domainName>
  </aspectHistogramContainer>
  <categoryHistogramContainer> CategoryHistogramContainer 
    <categoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram 
      <categoryId> string </categoryId>
      <categoryName> string </categoryName>
      <childCategoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram 
        <categoryId> string </categoryId>
        <categoryName> string </categoryName>
      </childCategoryHistogram>
      <!-- ... more childCategoryHistogram nodes here ... -->
      <count> long </count>
    </categoryHistogram>
    <!-- ... more categoryHistogram nodes here ... -->
  </categoryHistogramContainer>
</getHistogramsResponse>

Call-specific Output Fields
aspectHistogramContainer	AspectHistogramContainer	Conditionally	Response container for aspect histograms. Aspect histograms are returned for categories that have been mapped to domains only. In most cases, just leaf categories are mapped to domains, but there are exceptions.
aspectHistogramContainer   .aspect	Aspect	Conditionally, repeatable: [1..*]	A characteristic of an item in a domain. For example, "Optical Zoom", "Brand", and "Megapixels" could be aspects of the Digital Cameras domain. Aspects are well-known, standardized characteristics of a domain, and they vary from domain to domain (the aspects of "Men's Shoes" are different from those of "Digital Cameras"). A search request on the eBay site will often display aspects and their respective aspect values on the left-had side of a query response. Aspects are extracted from item listing properties (such as item titles and subtitles), and represent the characteristics of active items. Values returned in the Aspect container can be used as inputs to the aspectFilter fields in a query to distill the items returned by the query. eBay generates aspects dynamically from the items currently listed; aspects provide a view into what is currently available on eBay. Because of this, aspect values returned one day cannot be guaranteed to be valid the next day. The following graphic shows how eBay might return a set of aspects for the Digital Cameras domain. In this graphic, "Product Type", "Brand", and "Megapixels" are aspects, and "Point & Shoot", "Canon", and "12.0 to 12.9 MP" are aspect values. Histogram values (item counts) are shown for each aspect value.
aspectHistogramContainer   .aspect   [ attribute name ]	string	Conditionally	Name of an aspect that is part of a domain. For example, "Optical Zoom" or "Megapixels" could be aspects of the Digital Cameras domain. For the current aspect names associated with a specific item, refer to the aspectHistogramContainer returned for the respective item. This value is not returned if there are no matching aspects for the associated domain.
aspectHistogramContainer   .aspect.valueHistogram	AspectValueHistogram	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Container that returns the name of the respective aspect value and the histogram (the number of available items) that share that item characteristic. This value is not returned if there are no matching aspects for the associated domain.
aspectHistogramContainer   .aspect.valueHistogram   [ attribute valueName ]	string	Conditionally	Name of an aspect value. For example, "Short Sleeve" could be an aspect value of the Sleeve Style aspect in the Women's Dresses domain, or "Athletic" could be an aspect value of the Style aspect in the Men's Shoes domain.
aspectHistogramContainer   .aspect.valueHistogram.count	long	Conditionally	Number of items that share the characteristic the respective aspect value.
aspectHistogramContainer   .domainDisplayName	token	Conditionally	A buy-side group of items, for example "Shoes." Domains are extracted from item listing properties, such as the title, descriptions, and so on.
aspectHistogramContainer   .domainName	string	Conditionally	A buy-side group of items that share aspects, but not necessarily an eBay category. For example "Women's Dresses" or "Digital Cameras" could be domains. You can use a domainName to label a set of aspects that you display. Domains are extracted from item listing properties (such as item titles and subtitles).
categoryHistogramContainer	CategoryHistogramContainer	Conditionally	Response container for category histograms. This container is returned only when the specified category has children categories. Note: Category histograms may not be available for some parent categories on the eBay Motors site.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram	CategoryHistogram	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Statistical (item count) information on the categories that contain items that match the search criteria or specified category or categories. A category histogram contains information for up to 10 child categories. Search result total entries may not necessarily match the sum of category histogram item counts. For search calls, the item count shows the distribution of matching items across each of the returned categories. A category histogram is not returned if there are no matching items or if the search is restricted to a single leaf category. For getHistograms, the category histogram contains the total item count for the specified category and item counts for the child categories containing the most item listings. A category histogram is not returned if the specified category is a leaf category. For categories associated with specific items, review the individual item containers returned in the search result.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram.categoryId	string	Conditionally	The unique ID of a category on the specified eBay site. Max length: 10.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram   .categoryName	string	Conditionally	Display name of a category as it appears on the eBay Web site. Max length: 30.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram   .childCategoryHistogram	CategoryHistogram	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..10]	Container for histogram information pertaining to a child of the category specified in the request. Histograms return data on up to 10 children. Histograms are only a single level deep. That is, a given category histogram contains only immediate children.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram   .childCategoryHistogram   .categoryId	string	Conditionally	The unique ID of a category on the specified eBay site. Max length: 10.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram   .childCategoryHistogram   .categoryName	string	Conditionally	Display name of a category as it appears on the eBay Web site. Max length: 30.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram.count	long	Conditionally	The total number of items in the associated category that match the search criteria.

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This call does not use a detail control mechanism.

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New to making API calls? Please see Making an API Call.

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.

Retrieves a set of category and aspect histograms for a specified category.

Description

The user is interested in music and wants to see the distribution of the type of music media and accessories available on eBay. Category histograms display items counts for the specified category.

The response contains histogram information (item counts) for the specified category, Music (category ID 11233), as well as a list of the immediate sub- categories (child categories) with their associated item counts. In addition to category histograms, the response also contains aspect histogram information that can be used to refine the result sets in subsequent find calls. Usually, aspect histograms are returned for leaf categories only, but there are a few exceptions, such as the Music category.

You can retrieve the eBay categoryId numbers from the response of this call and from the eBay web site. You can also obtain a complete list of eBay categories with the getCategories call in the Trading API.

Input

The categoryId field specifies the category for which the histograms are returned.

Note: URL samples have been wrapped for readability. To run the samples, undo the line wrapping and insert your own SECURITY-APPNAME.

URL format (HTTP GET). See also the non-wrapped version of this URL. For results in a format other than XML, 
specify a different value for responseencoding.

http://svcs.ebay.com/services/search/FindingService/v1?OPERATION-NAME=getHistograms
   &SERVICE-VERSION=1.0.0
   &SECURITY-APPNAME=YourAppID
   &RESPONSE-DATA-FORMAT=XML
   &REST-PAYLOAD
   &categoryId=11233

   Here is the same input in XML format (HTTP POST). Note that this does not include standard values.

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

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<getHistogramsRequest xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
  <categoryId>11233</categoryId>
</getHistogramsRequest>

Output

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

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<getHistogramsResponse xmlns:ms="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/services"
xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
   <ack>Success</ack>
   <version>1.0.0</version>
   <timestamp>2009-07-31T00:33:12.891Z</timestamp>
    <categoryHistogramContainer>
      <categoryHistogram>
         <categoryId>11233</categoryId>
         <categoryName>Music</categoryName>
         <count>1807588</count>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>307</categoryId>
            <categoryName>CDs</categoryName>
            <count>1448859</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>306</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Records</categoryName>
            <count>261008</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>31608</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Wholesale Lots</categoryName>
            <count>20875</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>1600</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Cassettes</categoryName>
            <count>18448</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>618</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Other Formats</categoryName>
            <count>17942</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>52473</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Accessories</categoryName>
            <count>4878</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>46353</categoryId>
            <categoryName>DVD Audio</categoryName>
            <count>1572</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
         <childCategoryHistogram>
            <categoryId>46354</categoryId>
            <categoryName>Super Audio CDs</categoryName>
            <count>1205</count>
         </childCategoryHistogram>
      </categoryHistogram>
   </categoryHistogramContainer>
   <aspectHistogramContainer>
      <domainName>Music_CDs</domainName>
      <domainDisplayName>Music CDs</domainDisplayName>
      <aspect name="Genre">
         <valueHistogram valueName="Blues">
            <count>30383</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Children's">
            <count>9782</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Christian & Gospel">
            <count>33357</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Classical">
            <count>172756</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Comedy">
            <count>6206</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Country">
            <count>62644</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Dance, DJ & Electronic">
            <count>44756</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Easy Listening">
            <count>12081</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Folk">
            <count>17440</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Holiday">
            <count>8843</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Jazz">
            <count>115272</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Karaoke">
            <count>5122</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Latin">
            <count>43218</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Metal">
            <count>57697</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="New Age">
            <count>15291</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Pop">
            <count>66613</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="R&B & Soul">
            <count>81852</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Rap & Hip Hop">
            <count>22742</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Reggae & Ska">
            <count>13967</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Rock">
            <count>370884</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Soundtrack & Theater">
            <count>41259</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Spoken Word & Interviews">
            <count>2573</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="World Music">
            <count>61575</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Not Specified">
            <count>143597</count>
         </valueHistogram>
      </aspect>
      <aspect name="Duration">
         <valueHistogram valueName="Album or EP">
            <count>910263</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Single">
            <count>28557</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Box Set">
            <count>19462</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Not Specified">
            <count>482163</count>
         </valueHistogram>
      </aspect>
      <aspect name="Condition">
         <valueHistogram valueName="Brand New">
            <count>1097853</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Like New">
            <count>169018</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Very Good">
            <count>106884</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Good">
            <count>30592</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Acceptable">
            <count>35559</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Not Specified">
            <count>28</count>
         </valueHistogram>
      </aspect>
      <aspect name="Special Attributes">
         <valueHistogram valueName="Import">
            <count>37337</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Remastered">
            <count>15264</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Special Edition">
            <count>12506</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Promo">
            <count>11828</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Digipak">
            <count>10916</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Enhanced CD">
            <count>5771</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Compilation">
            <count>1225</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="24k Gold Disc">
            <count>899</count>
         </valueHistogram>
         <valueHistogram valueName="Not Specified">
            <count>1351543</count>
         </valueHistogram>
      </aspect>
   </aspectHistogramContainer>
</getHistogramsResponse>

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© 2009 eBay, Inc. All rights reserved. This documentation and the API may only be used in accordance with the eBay Developers Program and API License Agreement.