Getting Started for Developers
| What is RETS? |
The Real Estate Transaction Standard is a common language spoken by systems that handle real estate information, such as multiple listing services. A common language enables computers to exchange information about real estate transactions without being specially "trained" to understand the information from each.
You can think of RETS a Web Service for real estate: a presentation language and protocol for real estate information access.
Similarly, servers that implement RETS, available from a number of different vendors, can talk to clients that also implement RETS. If you're building a real estate solution that needs to access MLS or other real estate data, building it with RETS is the way to get the widest possible customer base.
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| Getting Started |
The best way to get started with RETS is to read the RETS documents, and then get access to a RETS Server and RETS Client. You may be able to get access to a RETS Server from your MLS. Your MLS may also provide access to a RETS Client.
Or, you can visit the Resources page for running demos of RETS 1.x and 2.x Reference Implementation clients and servers.
You may want to download RETS Servers, clients, and other RETS tools. These, which include reference implementations for RETS 1.5, 1.7 and RETS2, are available from the Resources page. The available code is in Java (client and server), Visual Basic (client), PHP (client), and several other languages. You can also find many other projects using a Google search for RETS "open-source". Almost all of these tools have code that you can use freely in your own applications.
Use these code examples in concert with the RETS documents: the specification itself, the XML DTDs, and the associated data dictionary. These documents govern what it means to be RETS-compliant.
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| RETS Certification |
Once your product is built and working, you can become RETS-certified. Certification allows you to use the RETS logo on your product and in your marketing materials, and places your product in the list of compliant products on the RETS web site. Complete instructions for becoming certified as RETS-compliant, including the necessary license agreement and other documents, are on the Compliance web page.
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| Community Support |
| There is an active RETS developer community mailing list. Feel free to ask questions at any level; the list's subscribers range from those just getting started to some of those who authored the specification, so no question is too simple or too technical. There are also vendors who can help you with actual coding tasks, providing anything from libraries to full product development. |
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