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Frequently Asked Questions

Service Availability

Due to the location and accessibility of different addresses that City Link deliver to, not all delivery services are available for every address. Similarly, there are variations in when collections from different addresses can be made.

City Link Account holders can view the information for a specific location by logging in to our website and then going to the Service Availabilty page (under the services menu).

This information is also available in XML format

To request the information in XML format you must provide the following parameters:

Parameter	Value
postcode	The postcode you wish to find information about. There should be a space between the district and sector parts of the postcode. More details about postcodes can be found by searching on the Royal Mail website.
custno	Your City Link account number
x1	Your City Link internet account password in an encrypted form
xml	This should be a 'Y' character, to indicate that the responce should be in XML format. If this is not set to 'Y' the information will be returned in HTML format.

It is also possible to use a short version of the URI to return the information

http://www.city-link.co.uk/availableservices.php

An actual request might look like

http://www.city-link.co.uk/availableservices.php?postcode=TW16+7AH& custno=1234567&x1=AAA11AAA077654321AAAAAAAAAAAA&xml=Y

(For security purposes this is not a valid account number or password)

If incorrect login parameters are passed, the following XML will be returned

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE services_error [
<!ELEMENT error (#PCDATA)>
]>
<services_error>
<error>INVALID LOGIN</error>
</services_error>

A successful request would return something similar to this

<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE services [
<!ELEMENT pcode (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT found (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT details (by0730,by0900,by1030,by1200,inpm,nday,coloffset,deloffset, colwindow,lastcoll)?>
<!ELEMENT by0730 (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT by0900 (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT by1030 (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT by1200 (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT inpm (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT nday (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT coloffset (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT deloffset (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT colwindow (#PCDATA)>
<!ELEMENT lastcoll (#PCDATA)>
]>
<services>
<pcode>TW16 7AH</pcode>
<found>Y</found>
<details>
<by0730>Y</by0730>
<by0900>Y</by0900>
<by1030>Y</by1030>
<by1200>Y</by1200>
<inpm>Y</inpm>
<nday>Y</nday>
<coloffset>0</coloffset>
<deloffset>0</deloffset>
<colwindow>2</colwindow>
<lastcoll>17:00</lastcoll>
</details>
</services>

XML Output Elements
pcode	This is the postcode value that was submitted
found	If the postcode exists in the City Link routing system this will return 'Y' and the details elements will be returned. If the postcode is unknown this will return 'N' and the details elements will not be returned.
by0730	If it is possible to use 07:30 delivery services (P, K & E) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'.
by0900	If it is possible to use 09:00 delivery services (R, Q & T) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'. If this value is 'Y', the earliest possible collection time for this address is 09:00.
by1030	If it is possible to use 10:30 delivery services (L, X & M) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'. If this value is 'Y', the earliest possible collection time for this address is 10:30.
by1200	If it is possible to use 12:00 delivery services (O, Y & N) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'.
inpm	If it is possible to use Afternoon delivery services (B, F & A) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'.
nday	If it is possible to use Next Day delivery services (C, Z & D) for delivery to this destination then this will return 'Y'. If these services are not available this will return 'N'. These services should be used even if the location doesn't support Next Day deliveries (There is a delivery offset).
coloffset	This is the Collection Offset in days. This is the number of days after today before collections can be made. For example. If the Collection Offset is 0, collections can be made today (subject to other time constraints). If the Collection Offset is 1, the earliest a collection can be booked is the next week day. If the Collection Offset is 2, the earliest a collection can be booked is in two week days time.
deloffset	This is the Delivery Offset in days. This is the number of days that must be added to the next possible delivery date to determine the next available delivery date. For example. If the Delivery Offset is 0, delivery will be available on the next week day (or Saturday, if specified and serivce is available). If the Delivery Offset is 1, then delivery will be in two week days time.
colwindow	This is the minimum size of the collection window in hours. The difference between earliest and latest collection times must be at least as many hours as is specified here.
lastcoll	The latest collection time available for this location.

If you have any queries about any of the above or if it unclear please contact the person who pointed you to this documentation or email webmaster@city-link.co.uk