Invalid timestamp

  • Invalid timestamps occur when a review or merchant contains an invalid create_timestamp or last_update_timestamp, or when create_timestamp is after last_update_timestamp.

  • To fix invalid timestamps, ensure that both create_timestamp and last_update_timestamp are valid and that create_timestamp is not after last_update_timestamp within your review or merchant data.

  • An example of an invalid timestamp is when a merchant entry has a create_timestamp of "2017-02-25T03:02:23Z" and a last_update_timestamp of "2017-02-25T03:01:32Z", as the creation timestamp is after the update timestamp.

  • Resolving this issue requires correcting the timestamps, for instance, by setting both create_timestamp and last_update_timestamp to "2017-02-25T03:02:23Z" to ensure they are valid and chronologically consistent.

Description

An invalid timestamp issue occurs when a review or merchant contains a create_timestamp or last_update_timestamp that is invalid or when create_timestamp is after last_update_timestamp.

How to fix

Deliver the review or merchant ensuring that create_timestamp and last_update_timestamp are valid.

Example

On March 1st, you upload the feed file "2017_03_01.xml" to your endpoint. The file contains the following contents:

<merchant id="2739">
  <name>Google Store</name>
  <merchant_url>http://store.google.com</merchant_url>
  <rating_url>http://www.example-reviews.com/m2739.html</rating_url>
  <create_timestamp>2017-02-25T03:02:23Z</create_timestamp>
  <last_update_timestamp>2017-02-25T03:01:32Z</last_update_timestamp>
</merchant>

The above file contains a merchant entry whose create_timestamp is after last_update_timestamp. After processing your feed, the support team notifies you that a data issue, invalid timestamp, has occurred.

A few days later, after reviewing the documentation, you upload the file "2017_03_04-fix.xml" to your endpoint to resolve the invalid rating issue:

<merchant id="2739">
  <name>Google Store</name>
  <merchant_url>http://store.google.com</merchant_url>
  <rating_url>http://www.example-reviews.com/m2739.html</rating_url>
  <create_timestamp>2017-02-25T03:02:23Z</create_timestamp>
  <last_update_timestamp>2017-02-25T03:02:23Z</last_update_timestamp>
</merchant>