I'm reviewing some of the information I've retrieved from two different queries to the hapi, and am a little confused about the data retrieved from the different methods. I'm writing my program in VB.Net2008, using the service as referenced in the example.
To set the stage -- lets's say this program is searching for all the Joe's Pizza shops in Florida. So, I do an AdvancedCompanySearch with a few criteria, including Industry.NAICS code, location.State, and specialtyCriteria.CompanyKeyword. I'm saving the results I get back. Let's say I find 25. Then, for each of those, I do a GetCompanyDetail query to get more information.
In the AdvancedCompanySearch, for each item in results.hit, I look at item.RECNAME, and item.HQPHONE.
Then, in order to get more detail, like the address, I do a GetCompanyDetail on the duns number that was returned for each of the 25 locations.
From the GetCompanyDetail, I look at itemdetail.NAME, itemdetail.DBA, itemdetail.PhoneNumber.
Here's the part that confuses me.
1. There are records where the item.RECNAME <> itemdetail.NAME.
(I'm ignoring itemdetail.DBA, because that makes some sense)
2. and, there are records where item.HQPHONE <> itemdetail.PhoneNumber.
In the documentation, there's very little explanation as to what these fields mean. Both item.RECNAME and itemdetail.NAME say "Company Name".
And, finally, I'll get to my question. :)
What are these name and number fields? Why are they different? A little more detail, probably in the documentation would be very much appreciated.
I've been storing DUNS numbers - hope that's useful for you to look into. I have a fairly long list of differences. Below are a few examples. Btw - this is in the dev database.
Inconsistency with 827296997: normal search has name=Arby's, Inc., detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 933196081: normal search has name=Rtm, Inc, detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 006001881: normal search has phone=813-920-8586, detailed search has 813-926-8586
Inconsistency with 796946304: normal search has name=A&W Restaurant, detailed search has name=A&W Restaurant
Inconsistency with 164545027: normal search has name=L&S Exxon, detailed search has name=L&S Exxon
Inconsistency with 960294304: normal search has name=Pizza Hut Of America Inc, detailed search has name=Pizza Hut, Inc.
Inconsistency with 876424230: normal search has name=Popeyes Fried Chicken, detailed search has name=Michael Jackson
Inconsistency with 938835311: normal search has phone=352-591-1976, detailed search has 352-591-5301
Inconsistency with 785080388: normal search has phone=, detailed search has 904-288-8363
Inconsistency with 098114270: normal search has phone=850-907-0007, detailed search has 850-668-0250
Inconsistency with 800122355: normal search has name=Carrabba's Italian Grill, detailed search has name=Carrabba's Italian Grill Inc
Inconsistency with 621624381: normal search has name=Atlanta Bread Company International Inc, detailed search has name=Atlanta Bread
Inconsistency with 141951462: normal search has name=Arby's Llc, detailed search has name=Arby's, Inc.
Inconsistency with 808410448: normal search has phone=, detailed search has 561-495-0597
Inconsistency with 962720256: normal search has name=Rtm, Inc, detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 869569434: normal search has name=Sybra, Inc, detailed search has name=Sybra, Llc
Inconsistency with 793203303: normal search has name=Wendy's International Inc, detailed search has name=Raymond Gonzalez
Brad, I appreciate the detailed feedback. I do see these inconsistencies in dev, but they are most likely due to stale data in that environment. I checked the company ids in production and didn't come across of these discrepancies there: Both search and detail return the same phone number or name.
Hmm. Not entirely sure I understand that. I thought dev data was just old - does it follow a different set of rules?
I guess my main question is still valid. What do the three name fields mean?
1) Name in AdvancedCompanySearch, 2) Name in GetCompanyDetail , and 3) DBA in GetCompanyDetail.
They actually follow the same rules. We do have old data in our development environment, but also the search index data can sometimes get a bit out of sync in the development environment. Although both AdvancedCompanySearch and GetCompanyDetail data ultimately come from the same source, AdvancedCompanySearch goes through a search index. It can get out of sync, resulting in the discrepancy you are seeing. You should not see this issue in production.
To answer your original question: (1) AdvancedCompanySearch's recname should be the same as (2) GetCompanyDetail's name. (3) GetCompanyDetail's DBA is simply the Doing Business As name, which may be different.
Ok, so I've started to do some work in production, and I agree, the names seem to fit, based on the data I've seen so far. However, I've found a couple of phone numbers that don't match. Is there a difference between the phone numbers, between the searches? Here are some examples:
Inconsistency with 051832785: normal search has=850-907-0834, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 044991441: normal search has=561-736-6263, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 024243600: normal search has=239-597-1570, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 075556451: normal search has=352-694-1109, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 032835014: normal search has=561-929-0549, detailed search has: ""
Hi Brad. Thanks again for the detailed feedback. It looks like this occurs when location is missing for the given company. I will forward a request to our content department to update the underlying data accordingly.
It turns out that GetCompanyDetail currently does not return phone numbers if there is no location associated with the company. One quick workaround would be to make a GetCompanyDetailSimple which does not require location information to return phone numbers.
If you happen to have location information for some of the companies, you can send them to our update team by filling out this form http://premium.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=16772 or emailing update@hoovers.com.
I'm reviewing some of the information I've retrieved from two different queries to the hapi, and am a little confused about the data retrieved from the different methods. I'm writing my program in VB.Net2008, using the service as referenced in the example.
To set the stage -- lets's say this program is searching for all the Joe's Pizza shops in Florida. So, I do an AdvancedCompanySearch with a few criteria, including Industry.NAICS code, location.State, and specialtyCriteria.CompanyKeyword. I'm saving the results I get back. Let's say I find 25. Then, for each of those, I do a GetCompanyDetail query to get more information.
In the AdvancedCompanySearch, for each item in results.hit, I look at item.RECNAME, and item.HQPHONE.
Then, in order to get more detail, like the address, I do a GetCompanyDetail on the duns number that was returned for each of the 25 locations.
From the GetCompanyDetail, I look at itemdetail.NAME, itemdetail.DBA, itemdetail.PhoneNumber.
Here's the part that confuses me.
1. There are records where the item.RECNAME <> itemdetail.NAME.
(I'm ignoring itemdetail.DBA, because that makes some sense)
2. and, there are records where item.HQPHONE <> itemdetail.PhoneNumber.
In the documentation, there's very little explanation as to what these fields mean. Both item.RECNAME and itemdetail.NAME say "Company Name".
And, finally, I'll get to my question. :)
What are these name and number fields? Why are they different? A little more detail, probably in the documentation would be very much appreciated.
Thank you.
- Brad Larsen
ojas – 5 months ago
Hi Brad,
Do you have example records that exhibit #1 and #2 handy? If so, please send me the companyid so I can investigate. Thanks.
Woolbright – 5 months ago
I've been storing DUNS numbers - hope that's useful for you to look into. I have a fairly long list of differences. Below are a few examples. Btw - this is in the dev database.
Inconsistency with 827296997: normal search has name=Arby's, Inc., detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 933196081: normal search has name=Rtm, Inc, detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 006001881: normal search has phone=813-920-8586, detailed search has 813-926-8586
Inconsistency with 796946304: normal search has name=A&W Restaurant, detailed search has name=A&W Restaurant
Inconsistency with 164545027: normal search has name=L&S Exxon, detailed search has name=L&S Exxon
Inconsistency with 960294304: normal search has name=Pizza Hut Of America Inc, detailed search has name=Pizza Hut, Inc.
Inconsistency with 876424230: normal search has name=Popeyes Fried Chicken, detailed search has name=Michael Jackson
Inconsistency with 938835311: normal search has phone=352-591-1976, detailed search has 352-591-5301
Inconsistency with 785080388: normal search has phone=, detailed search has 904-288-8363
Inconsistency with 098114270: normal search has phone=850-907-0007, detailed search has 850-668-0250
Inconsistency with 800122355: normal search has name=Carrabba's Italian Grill, detailed search has name=Carrabba's Italian Grill Inc
Inconsistency with 621624381: normal search has name=Atlanta Bread Company International Inc, detailed search has name=Atlanta Bread
Inconsistency with 141951462: normal search has name=Arby's Llc, detailed search has name=Arby's, Inc.
Inconsistency with 808410448: normal search has phone=, detailed search has 561-495-0597
Inconsistency with 962720256: normal search has name=Rtm, Inc, detailed search has name=Rtm Operating Company, Llc
Inconsistency with 869569434: normal search has name=Sybra, Inc, detailed search has name=Sybra, Llc
Inconsistency with 793203303: normal search has name=Wendy's International Inc, detailed search has name=Raymond Gonzalez
ojas – 5 months ago
Brad, I appreciate the detailed feedback. I do see these inconsistencies in dev, but they are most likely due to stale data in that environment. I checked the company ids in production and didn't come across of these discrepancies there: Both search and detail return the same phone number or name.
Woolbright – 5 months ago
Hmm. Not entirely sure I understand that. I thought dev data was just old - does it follow a different set of rules?
I guess my main question is still valid. What do the three name fields mean?
1) Name in AdvancedCompanySearch, 2) Name in GetCompanyDetail , and 3) DBA in GetCompanyDetail.
ojas – 5 months ago
They actually follow the same rules. We do have old data in our development environment, but also the search index data can sometimes get a bit out of sync in the development environment. Although both AdvancedCompanySearch and GetCompanyDetail data ultimately come from the same source, AdvancedCompanySearch goes through a search index. It can get out of sync, resulting in the discrepancy you are seeing. You should not see this issue in production.
To answer your original question: (1) AdvancedCompanySearch's recname should be the same as (2) GetCompanyDetail's name. (3) GetCompanyDetail's DBA is simply the Doing Business As name, which may be different.
I hope this helps.
Woolbright – 4 months ago
Ok, so I've started to do some work in production, and I agree, the names seem to fit, based on the data I've seen so far. However, I've found a couple of phone numbers that don't match. Is there a difference between the phone numbers, between the searches? Here are some examples:
Inconsistency with 051832785: normal search has=850-907-0834, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 044991441: normal search has=561-736-6263, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 024243600: normal search has=239-597-1570, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 075556451: normal search has=352-694-1109, detailed search has: ""
Inconsistency with 032835014: normal search has=561-929-0549, detailed search has: ""
ojas – 4 months ago
Hi Brad. Thanks again for the detailed feedback. It looks like this occurs when location is missing for the given company. I will forward a request to our content department to update the underlying data accordingly.
Woolbright – 3 months ago
Could you let me know the results of this issue, please?
Also, when we have more data inconsistencies, should we post them here?
Thanks -- Brad
ojas – 3 months ago
Hi Brad,
It turns out that GetCompanyDetail currently does not return phone numbers if there is no location associated with the company. One quick workaround would be to make a GetCompanyDetailSimple which does not require location information to return phone numbers.
If you happen to have location information for some of the companies, you can send them to our update team by filling out this form http://premium.hoovers.com/global/hoov/index.xhtml?pageid=16772 or emailing update@hoovers.com.
I hope this helps,
Ojas