We strongly discourage 3^rd party developers accessing the Rentman data directly; Rentman is constantly being updated and the underlying table structure is likely to change from version to version without warning. The XML described here allows a level of abstraction that protects from these changes.

We also discourage inward bound API calls from external servers because of the security risk and the possible lack of expertise and infrastructure at the customer site.

It is recommended instead that Rentman pushes (via FTP) the XML to the developer’s server (where a script then imports that XML into their own database).

FTP is recommended because of the low security risk, the ease with which it can be configured and because it requires no additional software.

To avoid databases getting out of step it is further recommended that the server’s database is completely overwritten with each upload; Rentman will never send an incremental upload with properties to add, delete or modify - each upload is the complete list of properties to be advertised and overwrites and undoes everything that has gone before.

The appendices to this document show how the user is able to send the data easily from within Rentman - either on request or as a background scheduled event. They probably already do this for uploads to Rightmove, Zoopla and other property sites. This XML upload will be queued with the very same mouse-click.

If there are any questions about this document or requirements not being met by the XML please contact nigel@rentmansoftware.com.

XML Structure

<Rentorbuy>see notes below

<Refnumber>Unique property reference

<Number>Street Number

<Street>Street

<Address3>Town/Borough

<Address4>County/City

<Postcode>Postcode

<Area>Name by which area is known (see note below)

<Tube> Nearest tube or railway station

<Beds>Number of bedrooms (see note below)

<Type>Type of property (see note below)

<Baths>Number of bathrooms

<Receps>Number of receptions

<Furnished> Numeric. See note below

<Garage> True or false

<Parking> True or false

<Garden> True or false

<Balcony> True or False

<Shower> True or False

<Sep_wc> True or False

<Washmachine>True or False

<Dishwasher>True or False

<Burglaralarm>True or False

<Floor> For flats, indicates which floor this unit is on

<Heating> Type of heating

<Available> Date when property becomes available for renting

<Status LetByUs=”” SoldByUs=””> (see notes below)

<Servicecharges> free format text

<Leaselength> for leasehold sales properties - in years

<ShortLet>True or false

<LongLet>True or False

<Sharedcomm>free form text with commission for 3^rd party agents

<Dssallowed> True or False if DSS tenants are allowed.

<Condition>Condition of property (See below)

<Age>Age of property (See below)

<BulletPoint>List of important items</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>To be displayed as bullet points</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Up to 12 BulletPoint nodes</BulletPoint>

</Bulletpoints>

<Other> see below </Other>

<Price Per=”” Qualifier=”” >Deprecated (see note below)

<Rent Period=”” Qualifier=””> Rent (see notes below)

<Saleprice Qualifier=”” Ownership=””> Price (see notes below)

<Description>Short (<200 chars) description (see note below)

<Comments>Fuller description upto 2048 chars

<Strapline> Very short headline comment (see below)

<Rooms>

<Room>

<Title>name of room

<Location>see note below

<Imperial1>dimensions in feet

<Imperial2>dimensions in feet

<Metric1>dimensions in metric

<Metric2>dimensions in metric

</Room>

</Rooms>

<Map> name of image file

<Movie> name of media file

<Floorplan> name of image file

<Url>url where more property details can be found

<Created>Date property first entered onto Rentman

<Managed>True or False

<Epc>name of image file

<Branch>branch to which this property belongs

<Branchtel>telephone of branch to which this property belongs

<Media>

<Item>photograph or media file

</Media

<EVT> url of online tour

<Featured> True or False.

<Brochure>pdf filename</Brochure>

<Gloc>latitude, longitude</Gloc>

<id>id of amenity</id>

<Distance Unit=””>See notes below

</Amenity>

</Nearbyamenities>

<Categoryid> Sales only. Numeric. See notes below.

</Property>

</Properties>

<Areas>

<Area>

<Name> List of all areas used within Rentman by this customer.

</Area>

<Areas>

<id> the primary key for this amenity</id>

<Address> postal address</Address>

<Telephone> telephone number</Telephone>

<Email> email address</Email>

<WWW> website address</WWW>

<Gloc> latitude and longitude</Gloc>

<Types>

<Type> user defined list of types</Type>

<Type> e.g. Pub, School, Restaurant</Type>

</Types>

</Amenity>

</Amenities>

<id> primary key referenced by categoryid above

<Name> Name of category

</Category>

</Categories>

</Rentman>

Notes.

Each xml file contains the complete list of properties to be advertised for this agent. Before importing, the portal must always delete all properties known for this agent. There will never be an incremental file with properties to Add, Update or Delete.
Version attribute of <Rentman> node gives version of Rentman XML format
Agent attribute of <Rentman> node is the unique agent id given by portal (see Appendix 1 : Step 1 – Setup the portal/website details.).
Password attribute of <Rentman> node gives any additional password associated with this agent id (not to be confused with FTP password)
Date attribute of <Rentman> gives creation date of this data file in the format yyyymmdd.
Rentman may not enforce that options are set… so import scripts should expect and allow blank fields and attributes – applying their own default values where necessary.
<Rentorbuy> Numeric; options are

To Let
For Sale
For Sale and To Let

<Area> node is often the same as <Address3> but allows for greater flexibility where well known areas span postal addresses. (e.g. “Docklands”, “Yorkshire Dales”). The <Areas> collection at the end of the upload file gives all such areas used by this customer – not just those referenced by properties in this upload.
A <Beds> value of 0 indicates a Studio apartment.
<Furnished> Numeric; options are

Unknown
Furnished
Unfurnished
Part Furnished
Available as either Furnished or Unfurnished

Type node values can be added by Rentman customers. Typical predefined values are

o Conversion

o P.Built

o Terrace

o Semi

o Detached

o Mansion Block

<Status> node possible values are

Available
Under Offer
Unavailable
Withdrawn
Valuation
For Sale
ForSale&ToLet
Sold

The LetByUs attribute of the Status node indicates if an unavailable property was let by this agent. Used to indicate that a website should display a Let By banner on the property. True or False.
The SoldByUs attribute of the Status node indicates if a Sold or SSTC property was sold by this agent. Used to indicate that a website should display a Sold By banner on the property. True or False.
<Short Let> node indicates if property is available for tenancies < 6 months.
<Long Let> node indicates if property is available for tenancies => 6 months.

<Condition> Condition of the property. Numeric;

0. Unknown

1. Poor

2. Fair

3. Good

4. Very Good

5. Excellent

<Age> node values can be added by Rentman customers. Typical predefined values are

Pre War
Post War
Brand New
Period

<Price> node is deprecated in favour of <Rent> and <Saleprice> nodes.
Period attribute of <Rent> node will be either “Week” or “Month”.
Ownership attribute of <Saleprice> node will be “Freehold”, “Leasehold” or “ShareFreehold”.
Qualifier attribute of <Rent> and <Saleprice> nodes is numeric;

1. Asking

2. Price on application

3. Guide Price

4. Offers in excess of

5. Offers in region of

6. Fixed

<Description> node will not have any embedded formatting.
<Comments> node may contain formatting (e.g. <BR>).
<Strapline> is an even shorter headline caption for a property (e.g. “charming 3 bed cottage”)
If no short description has been entered into Rentman for a property the first 200 chars of comments will be sent. So <Description> and <Comments> may be the same.
<Location> node in <Rooms> collection is free format and may be used to group the rooms e.g. “1^st Floor” or “East Wing”.
<Other> node may contain a collection of unspecified nodes. Within Rentman it is possible to redefine some of the other nodes above for particular property types. For instance “Balcony” in a detached house may be renamed as “Porch”. In this case the Balcony node will show false and a new <Porch> node will appear in this <Other> collection. Similarly “Garden” may be relabeled as “Roof Terrace” for flats – in which case the <Garden> node will show false and a new <Roof Terrace> node will appear in this collection. The node name will have any spaces removed – a “caption” attribute will show the original value with any spaces.
At the current version of Rentman the <Map> node will always be empty. The stored image is often scraped from Mapquest or Google or some other mapping service and copyright may apply. It is recommended that websites link directly to a mapping service such as Mapquest from within their site. See http://www.mapquest.co.uk/mq/static/LinktoMapquest_main_en.do
The <Media> nodes list all photographs and other media for each property. The format of the name will be “agentid_Refnumber_nn.jpg” where

o agentid is the same as the Agent attribute of the <ToLet> node

o RefNumber is the unique property reference number given in the <Refnum> node

o nn is the image index number 01 – 99

The <Featured> node indicates that the property has been selected by the user to be featured. Each website will interpret that in their own way.
Nearbyamenities. Amenities are entered into Rentman and an effective radius is chosen for each. That may be 2 miles for a school or pub; perhaps 20 miles for a golf club. This collection shows those amenities within their radius and the distance between the property and the amenity. The id refers to the primary key and the distance unit attribute will be either “Miles” or “Km” according to the user’s preference. A complete list of amenities is included at the end of the XML.
Categoryid. Numeric. References a user definable <Categories> collection at the end of the XML. Typical predefined values are

· Residential

· Commercial

· Holiday Apartments

· Buy to Let

· Development

· Other Investment.

File Transfer

The xml filename when sent to the FTP site will be “agentid.xml” where agentid is the same as the Agent attribute of the <Rentman> node.

The xml data file and the image files will be FTP’d using the address, username, password and optional folder given by the Web Site’s administrator (see Appendix 1).

There will never be an incremental file with properties to Add or Delete.

Each xml file will contain the complete list of properties to be advertised for this agent. Before importing, the portal should always delete all properties known for this agent.

Appendix 1

Sending the XML and associated media.

Rentman has its own built in push mechanism which will FTP selected property details and photographs to internet portals and custom websites.

Step 1 – Setup the portal/website details.

Initially the user sets up the FTP details of the portal or custom website.

The FTP address, username, password and optional folder are given by the Portal/Site’s administrator.

The Agent ID is also given by the portal/site administrator. It is used as the stem of the uploaded filenames and distinguishes files from multiple Rentman users sending to the same ftp address. It is also used, together with the Agent password field, by some portals to uniquely identify and authorize the customer’s data.

Step 2 – Select properties for upload.

Then (on a daily basis?) the user is able to use the 'advertise properties' screen (under the “Property” menu item) to select the properties he or she wants to upload.

Step 3 – Select the portals/websites to upload to.

Click the internet button and you are given the opportunity to select the portals you wish to send to.

Click ‘Send’ and the uploader will begin creating the upload files and FTPing them to their respective sites.

Standalone (unattended) mode.

The uploader can be run in standalone (unattended) mode simply by including it (uploader.exe) in the windows scheduler - in which case the default property selections (see Appendix 2) will be sent to all portals with the “upload to this portal” checkbox ticked (see screenshot in step 1).

Appendix 2

Default Properties

The properties initially marked for upload in the 'advertise properties' screen are there because of a combination of two fields on the property screen; status and internet

(the query is... (( status="Available" or status=”For Sale” " or status=”Under Offer”) and internet = true) but this can be overridden by ticking the ‘advertise’ column in the Advertise Properties screen (see step 2 screenshot in Appendix 1 above).

Note. The "advertise on internet" checkbox is ticked by default when a customer adds a property to Rentman. It is there because some customers wanted the ability NOT to advertise a property on the internet as that was a chargeable option to the landlord.

It is also possible to always upload all known properties to a specific portal by ticking the “upload all properties” checkbox on the portals screen (see screenshot in Appendix 1 - Step 1 above)

Appendix 3

Warning.

Do not use the XML produced by Rentman’s export function to upload to a website. It is not the same format as described in this document, represents raw Rentman data and may change from Rentman version to Rentman version without notice.

The same is true if you save the list of properties to be advertised as XML. You get raw Rentman data.

Appendix 4

Example Data.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>

<Street>Hampstead Hill Gardens</Street>

<Address3>Hampstead</Address3>

<Area>Hampstead</Area>

<Type>Conversion</Type>

<Garage>False</Garage>

<Parking>False</Parking>

<Garden>False</Garden>

<Balcony>False</Balcony>

<Shower>False</Shower>

<Sep_wc>False</Sep_wc>

<Washmachine>False</Washmachine>

<Dishwasher>False</Dishwasher>

<Burglaralarm>False</Burglaralarm>

<Status LetByUs="True" SoldByUs="False">Unavailable</Status>

<Shortlet>False</Shortlet>

<Longlet>False</Longlet>

<Studentyear>False</Studentyear>

<Dssallowed>False</Dssallowed>

<BulletPoint>Studio Flat</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Gas Central Heating</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Conversion</BulletPoint>

</Bulletpoints>

<Other>

</Other>

<Strapline>Studio</Strapline>

<Rooms>

</Rooms>

<Url>www.dotgomm.ca?5266</Url>

<Managed>False</Managed>

<Branch>Head Office</Branch>

</Media>

<Featured>False</Featured>

</Amenity>

</Nearbyamenities>

</Property>

<Street>Dennington Park Road</Street>

<Address4>London</Address4>

<Area>Hampstead</Area>

<Type>Conversion</Type>

<Garage>False</Garage>

<Parking>False</Parking>

<Garden>False</Garden>

<Balcony>False</Balcony>

<Shower>False</Shower>

<Sep_wc>False</Sep_wc>

<Washmachine>False</Washmachine>

<Dishwasher>False</Dishwasher>

<Burglaralarm>False</Burglaralarm>

<Status LetByUs="True" SoldByUs="False">Unavailable</Status>

<Shortlet>False</Shortlet>

<Longlet>False</Longlet>

<Studentyear>False</Studentyear>

<Dssallowed>False</Dssallowed>

<BulletPoint>Studio Flat</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Gas Central Heating</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Conversion</BulletPoint>

</Bulletpoints>

<Other>

</Other>

<Description>summary</Description>

<Comments>test description</Comments>

<Strapline>Studio</Strapline>

<Rooms>

</Rooms>

<Url>www.dotgomm.ca?5267</Url>

<Managed>False</Managed>

<Branch>Head Office</Branch>

<Featured>False</Featured>

</Amenity>

</Nearbyamenities>

</Property>

<Street>Stoneylands Road</Street>

<Address3>Egham</Address3>

<Area>Egham</Area>

<Type>Detached</Type>

<Garage>False</Garage>

<Balcony>False</Balcony>

<Sep_wc>False</Sep_wc>

<Burglaralarm>False</Burglaralarm>

<Status LetByUs="True" SoldByUs="False">Unavailable</Status>

<Shortlet>False</Shortlet>

<Longlet>False</Longlet>

<Studentyear>False</Studentyear>

<Dssallowed>False</Dssallowed>

<BulletPoint>3 Receptions</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>1 Bathroom</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Unfurnished</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Shower</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Separate WC</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Parking</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Washing Machine</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Dishwasher</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Gas Central Heating</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Conversion</BulletPoint>

</Bulletpoints>

<Other>

</Other>

<Description>It's been an enthusiastic start to the Felix Magath era at Fulham, best demonstrated by Scott Parker scrapping for the ball while on the floor and winning a free-kick which led to some decent early pressure and that Johnny Heitinga chance.</Description>

<Comments>It's been an enthusiastic start to the Felix Magath era at Fulham, best demonstrated by Scott Parker scrapping for the ball while on the floor and winning a free-kick which led to some decent early pressure and that Johnny Heitinga chance. The travelling Cottagers fans are making a lot of noise too, currently directing their chants at their new hero Lewis Holtby. Rousing stuff, but not for Magath, who is still sitting in his seat.</Comments>

<Strapline>5 Bed Unfurnished Detached</Strapline>

<Rooms>

<Room>

<Title>Kitchen</Title>

<Description>Ukrainian president's election promise may not be enough to satisfy protesters after violence leaves dozens dead</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Living Room</Title>

<Description>Brooks detailed three periods of 'physical intimacy' with Andy Coulson as she described her relationships with men</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Dining Room</Title>

<Description>British speed skater fails to progress in semi-finals of 1,000m in Sochi after torrid fortnight including vicious online abuse</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Library</Title>

<Description>Canada emulate their women in beating USA, booking a final spot with Sweden</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Study</Title>

<Description>Branson says SpaceShipTwo will enter service this year – with him and his children aboard – despite unproven technology</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bedroom 1</Title>

<Description>WikiLeaks founder a mercurial character who could not bear his own secrets, according to writer Andrew O'Hagan</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bedroom 2</Title>

<Description>Former BBC Radio 1 DJ apologises after tribunal judge rules he avoided £1m in tax scheme</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bedroom 3</Title>

<Description>Beijing says White House meeting is 'gross interference in Chinese politics' and will damage China-US relations</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bedroom 4</Title>

<Description>Open letter from 15 professional bodies warns PM that reversing dredging policy may cause other problems</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bedroom 5</Title>

<Description>Sports minister also suggests ballet and gymnastics for those who feel major disciplines are 'too unfeminine'</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Bathroom</Title>

<Description>Ukip chief agrees to Lib Dem leader's proposal to debate Britain's EU membership head to head</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Separate WC</Title>

<Description>Nine gunmen and two government officials die in al-Shabaab assault on Mogadishu residence of president and prime minister</Description>

</Room>

<Room>

<Title>Garden</Title>

<Description>Worcestershire coroner calls on police after inquest into deaths of three elderly patients operated on by NHS consultant</Description>

</Room>

</Rooms>

<Url>www.dotgomm.ca?5264</Url>

<Branch>Head Office</Branch>

<Featured>False</Featured>

</Amenity>

</Amenity>

</Nearbyamenities>

</Property>

<Street>Westwood Gardens</Street>

<Address3>Thornbury</Address3>

<Address4>Devon</Address4>

<Area>Belsize Park</Area>

<Garage>False</Garage>

<Parking>False</Parking>

<Garden>False</Garden>

<Balcony>False</Balcony>

<Shower>False</Shower>

<Sep_wc>False</Sep_wc>

<Washmachine>False</Washmachine>

<Dishwasher>False</Dishwasher>

<Burglaralarm>False</Burglaralarm>

<Shortlet>False</Shortlet>

<Longlet>False</Longlet>

<Studentyear>False</Studentyear>

<Dssallowed>False</Dssallowed>

<BulletPoint>1200 Square Ft</BulletPoint>

<BulletPoint>Gas Central Heating</BulletPoint>

</Bulletpoints>

<Other>

<Act1954 Caption="Act1954">False</Act1954>

<Rearaccess Caption="Rear Access">False</Rearaccess>

</Other>

<Description>test & test again..........</Description>

<Comments>test & test again</Comments>

<Strapline>Studio</Strapline>

<Rooms>

</Rooms>

<Url>www.dotgomm.ca?5265</Url>

<Managed>False</Managed>

<Branch>Head Office</Branch>

<Featured>False</Featured>

</Nearbyamenities>

</Property>

</Properties>

<Areas>

<Area>

<Name>Egham</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Hampstead</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Dartmouth Park</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Belsize Park</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Bounds Green</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Chalk Farm</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Park Place</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>GOLDERS GREEN</Name>

</Area>

<Area>

<Name>Kilburn</Name>

</Area>

</Areas>

<Name>testing</Name>

<Address>4 stoneylands road, egham, surrey, tw20 9qr</Address>

<Telephone>hometel</Telephone>

<Email>someone@somewhere.com</Email>

<Types>

<Type>Lettings Agent</Type>

<Type>Sign Erector</Type>

<Type>Developer</Type>

</Types>

</Amenity>

<Address>4 Stoneylands Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 9QR</Address>

<Email>someone@somewhere.com</Email>

<Types>

<Type>Developer</Type>

</Types>

</Amenity>

</Amenities>

<Name>Residential</Name>

</Category>

<Name>Commercial</Name>

</Category>

<Name>Holiday Apartments</Name>

</Category>

</Category>

<Name>Development</Name>

</Category>

<Name>Other Investment</Name>

</Category>

<Name>Industrial</Name>

</Category>

</Category>

<Name>Office</Name>

</Category>

</Categories>

</Rentman>

Appendix 5

Note to web site developers.

Rentman will include a URL in emails sent to applicants. That url is derived by adding the property reference to a known stem entered on the company preferences screen (internet tab).

So, if the customer’s website is www.mysite.co.uk and you, as website designers, have built it so that their customers can link directly to property reference 123 with the URL www.mysite.co.uk?ref=123

enter

www.mysite.co.uk?ref=

Wherever Rentman then wants to specify a url (uploads, emails, tweets etc) it will use this construct. The Lettings Agent can override this for a specific property using the property url field on the advertising tab of the property screen.