Like all good things in life, the API has been shutdown. Well, I could say it was good while it lasted. But, let's be honest: it was a major pain. And even in the end you couldn't actually book anything; you had to finish the transaction manually. But whatever. Sweet sleep, Redbox API. Sweet sleep.

I got access to the Redbox API the other day, and I'm currently working on integrating it into a semi-automatic movie rental program. But, while no one can fault it for being in-complete, it seems that it's not developer-friendly. For example, it takes three, three, API calls to lookup a DVD and find where it is. So before I start heavy development on it, I decided to write a helper class. Now, instead of having ~70 lines of code, I can have four.

Here's the class:

<?php

$redbox = new Redbox("abc123");
$redbox->SetFilmName("The Butler");
$redbox->SetLocation("31.3299504", "-89.3364833");
$storeData = $redbox->DoLookup();

class Redbox
{
    private $apikey;
    private $filmName;
    private $latlong;

    private $productID;
    private $productName;
    private $storesHoldingProduct = null;

    public function __construct($apikey)
    {
        $this->apikey = $apikey;
    }

    public function SetFilmName($filmName)
    {
        $this->filmName = $filmName;

        $opts = array("http"=>array("header"=>"Accept: application/json\r\n"));
        $context = stream_context_create($opts);
        $json = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.redbox.com/v3/products?apiKey=".$this->apikey."&q=".urlencode($filmName), false, $context));

        $this->productID = $json->Products->Movie[0]->{'@productId'};
        $this->productName = $json->Products->Movie[0]->Title;
    }

    public function SetLocation($lat, $long)
    {
        $this->latlong = "$lat,$long";
    }

    public function DoLookup()
    {
        $opts = array("http"=>array("header"=>"Accept: application/json\r\n"));
        $context = stream_context_create($opts);
        $json = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.redbox.com/v3/inventory/stores/latlong/".$this->latlong."?apiKey=".$this->apikey."&products=".$this->productID, false, $context));

        if (property_exists($json->Inventory, "StoreInventory"))
        {
            foreach ($json->Inventory->StoreInventory as $store)
            {
                if ($store->ProductInventory->{'@inventoryStatus'} == "InStock")
                    $goodStores[] = $store->{'@storeId'};
            }
            if (!empty($goodStores))
            {
                $json = json_decode(file_get_contents("https://api.redbox.com/v3/stores?apiKey=".$this->apikey."&storeList=".implode(",", $goodStores), false, $context));

                if (count($json->StoreBulkList->Store) > 1)
                    foreach ($json->StoreBulkList->Store as $store)
                        $stores[$store->{'@storeId'}] = $store;
                else
                    $stores[$json->StoreBulkList->Store->{'@storeId'}] = $json->StoreBulkList->Store;

                $this->storesHoldingProduct = $stores;
            }
        }

        $return = new stdClass();
        $return->ProductName = $this->productName;
        $return->Location = $this->latlong;
        $return->Stores = $this->StoreData();

        return $return;
    }

    private function StoreData()
    {
        if (!$this->storesHoldingProduct)
            return null;
        foreach ($this->storesHoldingProduct as $storeID => $store)
        {
            $redbox = new stdClass();
            $redbox->StoreName = $store->Retailer;
            if (property_exists($store, "Label"))
                $redbox->WhereAtStore = $store->Channel." - Kiosk ".$store->Label;
            else
                $redbox->WhereAtStore = $store->Channel;
            $redbox->Location = $store->Location;
            $redbox->Url = $store->WebUrl;
            $redbox->ReserveUrl = "http://www.redbox.com/externalcart?titleID=".strtolower($this->productID)."&StoreGUID=".strtolower($storeID);

            $redboxes[] = $redbox;
        }

        return $redboxes;
    }
}

And it gives you data like:

stdClass Object
(
    [ProductName] => Lee Daniels' The Butler
    [Location] => 31.3299504,-89.3364833
    [Stores] => Array
        (
            [0] => stdClass Object
                (
                    [StoreName] => Corner Market
                    [WhereAtStore] => Outdoor
                    [Location] => stdClass Object
                        (
                            [@lat] => 31.324853
                            [@long] => -89.343855
                            [@locationId] => 5014313
                            [Address] => 3706 Hardy St
                            [City] => Hattiesburg
                            [State] => MS
                            [Zipcode] => 39402-1537
                        )

                    [Url] => http://www.redbox.com/locations/MS/Hattiesburg/39402/54436
                    [ReserveURL] => http://www.redbox.com/externalcart?titleID=d68ee589-dc33-4d14-ba1e-5b4f9b066e07&StoreGUID=12492966-1ec0-4eb8-9a5b-48c8822a9b1a
                )

            [1] => stdClass Object
                (
                    [StoreName] => CVS/Pharmacy
                    [WhereAtStore] => Outdoor - Kiosk B
                    [Location] => stdClass Object
                        (
                            [@lat] => 31.324903
                            [@long] => -89.34672
                            [@locationId] => 5022204
                            [Address] => 3910 Hardy St
                            [City] => Hattiesburg
                            [State] => MS
                            [Zipcode] => 39402-1500
                        )

                    [Url] => http://www.redbox.com/locations/MS/Hattiesburg/39402/56565
                    [ReserveURL] => http://www.redbox.com/externalcart?titleID=d68ee589-dc33-4d14-ba1e-5b4f9b066e07&StoreGUID=d5516458-aff9-4eb7-81f6-0f7ca53e3c16
                )

        )

)

Which makes Redbox's API much, much easier to work with.