Hotels – Job Setup

A job is a collection of inputs Data Scout uses to retrieve data from a target website. Data Scout searches a website much like a consumer does. If a target site requires a consumer to enter stay dates or hotel city to search for available rooms, Data Scout must submit the same fields. This section teaches you how to create a job and add inputs to the job. After creating jobs, they can be edited and re-used.

The Jobs tab houses your library of jobs in a table. The table gives you insight into the number of inputs the job has, when the job was created when the job was last executed, and the quality of the last run. The Jobs tab also has filters you can use to narrow your jobs by keywords, job type, or dates of when the job was created, last run, finished, or updated.

Creating a Job

How to Create a New Job:

1. Select the Jobs tab.
2. Click New Search in the top left corner of the page.
3. Enter the name of your job.
   • Be descriptive with job names. This helps when contacting QL2 Support. Do not use special characters.
4. Choose your vertical.
5. Click Configure.
6. If you would like to add inputs to the job now, add them in the form that pops up. If not, you can click the X in the corner and add the inputs later.
   • For help on adding inputs to a job, click here.
7. Click Submit.

 
Once the job is created, you can access the information on your job. There are three sections on the Job Details page: Inputs, Schedule, and Results. Inputs are where you will build your job.

There are two methods for building jobs:

1. Wizard – Add single entries via a form directly in the platform.
2. Upload – Use CSV-formatted spreadsheets to upload several input line items at once.

 

Wizard

Wizard is a convenient way to add inputs to a job. The platform contains a form that formats your inputs automatically. Using Wizard to add inputs to a job is useful when you have a small number of edits. Each input is added individually, therefore, large jobs should be built using the Upload Method.

NOTE: Wizard is currently only available for Travel clients.
 
How to Add Inputs to the Job Using Wizard:

1. In the Jobs tab, select a job.
2. In the Inputs section of the page, click Add Inputs.
3. Fill out the form that pop-ups with the inputs you would like to add to the job.
   • For help with a field, hover your mouse over the question mark next to the field name. This will give you a description of the field and sample inputs. You can also use the Spreadsheet Input Format table at the bottom of the page for help.
4. Click Submit.

 
How to Add Inputs to the Job Using Wizard (Legacy):

1. In the data action menu, click the Add Data icon to add inputs to the search.
2. Open the picker icon next to the Sites field and select one or more sites to search.
3. Adjust the default Star and Occupancy fields or enter a Brand if necessary for the search. The Dates section of the add form allows you to enter dates for your search in a variety of ways.
   • TIP: If you search several sites and do not know the QL2 designated site codes, use the scroll bar in the picker to see the Sites by Full Name.
4. Choose one or both of the date options and enter the dates of interest to target data in the search.
   • The Property section of the add form prompts you to add information about the properties you want to search. The details you add must be the same as they are on the target site. Use this field for market-level searches.
   • If your organization supplies property IDs for QL2 mapping, you should use the Property IDs section. For more information about mapping property ids, contact your QL2 Account Executive.
5. Enter the property information to specify the data retrieved on the target site or choose the Property IDs section to enter the property.
   • The Property IDs section enables you to search using your own mapped property ids. You must set this functionality with QL2 prior to use.
   • You may populate the Property IDs field two ways. Either add your mapped ids to the field or use the search function to look up properties with QL2 designated ids. The Search picker expands to perform a database search on the basis of the property name, address, city, state, zip, or country.xIf you work with QL2 to map your property ids, you may enter those ids into the text box labelled List Property IDs. Add one id per line by copying and pasting or typing the ids in the field. QL2 maps the ids to the database for use in future searching.
   • You may also use the Search function to locate hotels in the database. Use the search picker to enter one or more of the available fields. After the window refreshes and populates with the available properties, you can select the QL2 designated id or the source id. The QL2 designated id is the number to the left of the property address and populates the text box in the required format. E.g. – QL^property number. If you choose to use the source id, expand the property field and select the id from the desired source. E. g. – source code^property number.
6. To search using property ids, enter your mapped property ids or the QL2 or source designated property ids.
   • Advanced Options exist to help refine or expand the search parameters. Some advanced options have default values. You may request to have these values altered permanently by contacting QL2 Support or your QL2 Account Executive.
7. Click View Advanced Options.
8. Change the advanced options to target the results of your search.
9. Click Submit.

 

Upload Method

Uploading a spreadsheet allows you to add a number of inputs to a job at one time. As well, after creating spreadsheets, they can be saved and reused or edited. For more information on editing a spreadsheet, click here.

The first step is to perform the tasks for building a spreadsheet. Each cell of the spreadsheet must contain a specific type of data to successfully perform a job.

How to Add Inputs to the Job with the Upload Method:

1. Open a spreadsheet application.
2. Using the Spreadsheet Input Format table as a reference, enter the parameters for the keywords, product numbers, or paths you wish to add to the job into the spreadsheet you opened.
3. Save the spreadsheet as a CSV file.
4. Return to the Jobs tab of Data Scout to incorporate the spreadsheet into the job.
5. In the Inputs section of the page, click Upload.
6. Click Browse to locate the CSV spreadsheet you saved.
7. Click Upload.

 

Search Properties

You may modify select properties for a job. These properties include the search name, the length of time a search is allowed to execute, the number or times to attempt reruns, and the result file upload URL.

TIP: Change the properties to a search before executing it. If it is executed, the changes will not take effect until the next execution.

How to Modify Search Properties:

1. In the Jobs tab, click on the name of the job you would like to modify the search properties for.
2. Click on the More drop-down menu in the top right of the page.
3. Select Search Properties.
   • For more information, view the Search Properties table.
4. Edit the desired properties.
5. Click Update.

NOTE: The default search properties are set up at the time your QL2 account is created according to the type of searching your organization chooses.
 

Search Property	Default Value	Field Contents
Search Name	Name	Type a new name to change the search name.
Stop Search At	Never	Never – Allows the search to run until finished. Abort at – Designate a particular time to stop the search. Abort after – Stop the search after a certain amount of time.* There are two choices for aborting a search – after the scheduled run start time or after the actual start time. Often, a search does not start on time if another search is executing. If a search is set to abort three hours into execution and is not able to begin due to another search, the search will execute only for the amount of time from the scheduled start. For example, a search is scheduled to begin at 8:00 but does not begin until 11:00 due to another search execution. If the search is set to execute for three hours from the scheduled start time, it never executes. If the search is set to execute for three hours after the actual start time, it begins at 11:00 and aborts at 14:00
Desired currency type of retrieved rates.	None	Enter a currency code or leave it empty if you want to have the currency returned as the site displays it.
Send email alerts to	None	Enter email addresses separated by commas.
Filter Out Special Rates	No	No – Keep special rates, such as AARP, AAA, and Senior, in search. Yes – Filter out special rates such as AARP, AAA, Senior, etc.
Return as much hotel data as possible without confirming the room availability	No	This field does not work with many sites. If a target site allows you to search it and retrieve data without confirming the itinerary, then you may select Yes here to retrieve data for properties that possibly have no availability on the dates requested.
Return The Total Stay Price For The Property	Yes	No – Do not return the total stay price for the property in the output files. Yes – Return the total stay price for the property in the output files.

 
Spreadsheet Input Format

Column	Field	Description
A	Site	Short identifier of the site from which to extract data (between two and five letters).
B	Location	City name or airport code. * If you have location mapping with QL2, you may use a location name with an asterisk (e.g. *Cancun). For more information about location mapping, please contact your QL2 Account Executive.
C	State/Prov.	The state for US properties or province for Canada properties. Required if in US or Canada.
D	Country	The country of the property. Required only if outside US and Canada.
E	Check-In	Check-in date, either the number of days in the future or an absolute date in the form “DD-MM-YY”, “MM/DD/YY” or “YYYYMMDD”.
F	Check Out	Check out the date, either the number of days in the future or an absolute date in the form “DD-MM-YY”, “MM/DD/YY” or “YYYYMMDD”.
G	Brand (optional)	The brand name of the hotel, enter exactly as it appears on the target site.
H	Name (optional)	Property name, enter exactly as it appears on the target site.
I	Address (optional)	Property street address.
J	Zip (optional)	Property zip code.
K	Proximity	Find valid properties within X miles from the location (Default is 15 miles).
L	Stars	Star level (Default is 1+). Syntax: 1+ to 4+ or 1 to 5. (e.g. 2+ for star level 2 and higher or 2 for star level of 2 only)
M	Max Properties	The maximum number of properties to return (Default is 25). If you want all properties returned, enter 999.
N	Rate Type	Specify what rates you would like to retrieve (Default is A). Syntax: “A” – all rates “L” – the lowest rate “R” – lowest per room type
O	Reference (optional)	This is a free field that does not get submitted to the target site. but passes through to your output file.
P	Rooms	The number of rooms (Default is 1). * If you enter “5” and five rooms are not available for a property, the property data is not retrieved.
Q	Zone ID	Custom field for sorting and filtering the data retrieved from Hotwire. * If you are interested in Zone ID, please contact QL2 Support or your QL2 Account Executive.
R	Zone Name	Custom field for specifying a geographic zone for Hotwire. * If you are interested in Zone Name, please contact QL2 Support or your QL2 Account Executive.
S	Airport Code	Enter “1” if the location is an airport code (Default is 0).
T	Occupancy	The number of adults (Default is 2).
U	DOW filter in (optional)	Limit query to check-ins on the given days of the week. Syntax: MO,TU,WE,TH,FR,SA,SU
V	DOW filter out (optional)	Limit query to check-outs on the given days of the week. Syntax: MO,TU,WE,TH,FR,SA,SU
W	Sort By (optional)	Sort results on the website before selecting properties. Empty = site default; P = sort by price.
X	POS (optional)	two-letter country code and three-letter currency code space delimited.
Y	Custom (optional)	Site-specific field
Z	Geo	An optional identifier for two-character country code.