getHistograms

Note: All calls in the Finding API have been deprecated and will be decommissioned on February 5, 2025. An alternative to this API is the Browse API, which also has advanced search capabilities.

This call retrieves category and/or aspect histogram information for the eBay category you specify using the categoryId field.

Usage Details

Histograms are item counts for the associated category or aspect value. 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 categories, 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.

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 Shopping API GetCategoryInfo call.

Related Information

See also the reference documentation for these 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.

Input

See also Samples.

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).

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

Output

See also Samples.

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).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<getHistogramsResponse xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
  <!-- Call-specific Output Fields -->
  <aspectHistogramContainer> AspectHistogramContainer
    <aspect name="string"> Aspect
      <valueHistogram valueName="string"> AspectValueHistogram
        <count> long </count>
      </valueHistogram>
      <!-- ... more valueHistogram nodes allowed here ... -->
    </aspect>
    <!-- ... more aspect nodes allowed here ... -->
    <domainDisplayName> token </domainDisplayName>
    <domainName> string </domainName>
  </aspectHistogramContainer>
  <categoryHistogramContainer> CategoryHistogramContainer
    <categoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram (Category)
      <categoryId> string </categoryId>
      <categoryName> string </categoryName>
      <childCategoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram (Category)
        <categoryId> string </categoryId>
        <categoryName> string </categoryName>
        <childCategoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram (Category)
          <categoryId> string </categoryId>
          <categoryName> string </categoryName>
          <childCategoryHistogram> CategoryHistogram (Category) </childCategoryHistogram>
            <!-- >>> childCategoryHistogram can be nested within itself an unlimited number of times >>> -->
          <!-- ... more childCategoryHistogram values allowed here ... -->
          <count> long </count>
        </childCategoryHistogram>
        <!-- ... more childCategoryHistogram values allowed here ... -->
        <count> long </count>
      </childCategoryHistogram>
      <!-- ... more childCategoryHistogram values allowed here ... -->
      <count> long </count>
    </categoryHistogram>
    <!-- ... more categoryHistogram values allowed here ... -->
  </categoryHistogramContainer>
  <conditionHistogramContainer> ConditionHistogramContainer
    <conditionHistogram> ConditionHistogram
      <condition> Condition
        <conditionDisplayName> string </conditionDisplayName>
        <conditionId> int </conditionId>
      </condition>
      <count> int </count>
    </conditionHistogram>
    <!-- ... more conditionHistogram nodes allowed here ... -->
  </conditionHistogramContainer>
  <!-- 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 values allowed here ... -->
      <severity> ErrorSeverity </severity>
      <subdomain> string </subdomain>
    </error>
    <!-- ... more error nodes allowed here ... -->
  </errorMessage>
  <timestamp> dateTime </timestamp>
  <version> string </version>
</getHistogramsResponse>

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	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.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	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.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 (Category)	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 (Category)	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   .childCategoryHistogram   .childCategoryHistogram	CategoryHistogram (Category)	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. Recursion: Whatever the depth of data returned, the deepest level does not include childCategoryHistogram.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram   .childCategoryHistogram.count	long	Conditionally	The total number of items in the associated category that match the search criteria.
categoryHistogramContainer   .categoryHistogram.count	long	Conditionally	The total number of items in the associated category that match the search criteria.
conditionHistogramContainer	ConditionHistogramContainer	Conditionally	Response container for condition histograms. Returned for leaf and parent categories. Only returned when you search the eBay US site (as of February 2011). International items in US search results are included in the histogram counts.
conditionHistogramContainer   .conditionHistogram	ConditionHistogram	Conditionally, repeatable: [0..*]	Statistical (item count) information on the condition of items that match the search criteria (or specified category). For example, the number of brand new items that match the query. Each conditionHistogram specifies one condition and the number of matching items found. The list of all conditionHistogram containers returned represents the union of all conditions that were found in the item results. For example, if items were found in different categories, and if those categories support different sets of item conditions, then all those conditions are returned in the list, regardless of category. If multiple items use the same condition ID, but some items use different display names for that condition, the histogram shows the site's default display name for that condition. This means that the condition name in a histogram may not always exactly match the condition names on the counted items.
conditionHistogramContainer   .conditionHistogram.condition	Condition	Conditionally	The name and unique ID of the item condition for which the count is being displayed.
conditionHistogramContainer   .conditionHistogram.condition   .conditionDisplayName	string	Conditionally	The human-readable label for the item condition. Display names are localized for the site on which they're listed (not necessarily the site on which they're viewed). In item results, this is only returned when the seller specified the item's condition using a structured format eBay recognizes. When conditionId is also present: Most categories use the same display name for the same condition ID. Some categories may override the display name based on buyer expectations for items in the category. For example, condition ID 1000 could be called "New" in one category and "New with tags" in another. If an item is listed in two categories, the primary category controls the display name. Behind the scenes, eBay's search engine uses the ID (not the display name) to determine whether items are new, used, or refurbished. So, if you need to normalize the conditions across categories (such as to group items by condition), it may be easier to use the ID and then show the varying display names for reference. In condition histograms: If you search against a specific category and some items match based on their secondary category, the histogram only shows the display name if the secondary category supports the condition. (Condition IDs and names are dependent on the primary category.) However, the histogram shows the condition ID and item counts. This should only occur in a very small percent of results. As a workaround, you can fill in the missing name based on the "Item Condition IDs and Names" (link below) or based on the condition from an applicable item in the results. For example, suppose a seller lists a concert T-shirt in a clothing category with the condition "New without tags" (1500), and also in a music accessories secondary category (where "New without tags" isn't a recognized condition). If you specify the music accessories category in your request, the condition ID (1500) is shown in the histogram, but not the display name. However, the display name is shown within the items. See Item Condition IDs and Names for a list of display names and the typical meaning of each condition.
conditionHistogramContainer   .conditionHistogram.condition   .conditionId	int	Conditionally	The numeric ID (e.g., 1000) for the item condition. In item results, this is only returned when the seller listed the item with a condition ID. Some categories don't support or require condition IDs (e.g., most Antiques categories don't). If you Condition as a itemFilter, the response returns items with the correctly matching condition(s), even if conditionId is not returned. See Item Condition IDs and Names for a list of display names and the typical meaning of each condition.
conditionHistogramContainer   .conditionHistogram.count	int	Conditionally	The number of items found that match the condition. Only counts items where the seller specified the condition by using item.conditionId.

Detail Controls

DetailLevel

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

Samples

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, aspect, and condition 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.

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.

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 GetCategoryInfo call in the Shopping API or 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. See also the non-wrapped version of this URL. For results in a format other than XML, 
specify a different value for responseencoding.

https://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. Note that this does not include standard values.

XML format. Also available is the JSON equivalent.

<?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 JSON equivalent.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<getHistogramsResponse xmlns:ms="https://www.ebay.com/marketplace/services"
xmlns="http://www.ebay.com/marketplace/search/v1/services">
   <ack>Success</ack>
   <version>1.12.0</version>
   <timestamp>2016-07-31T00:33:12.891Z</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>

Change History