Import and Update Single Contact using Constant Contact Email Marketing API in ASP.NET (C# and VB.NET)

I will be showing you how to import and update a single contact from your third party system to Constant Contact using the Constant Contact API. Here is the API description for the POST (Create) call and PUT (Update) call.

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First of all, I should note that I created this as a Console Application, however the same concept should work for a web app.

You need to have your API Key and Access Token in handy, you will need them to connect to the Constant Contact API. Once you have them I would suggest to add them to your web.config or app.config, this way you don’t have to hard code them in your app.

In the code snippet below I am getting my data from a Database Access Layer class and passing it to the methods in a DataTable. The rest of the code should be pretty self explanatory.

C# Code

namespace ConstantContact {
	class Program {
		private static string _apiKey = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["APIKey"].ToString();
		private static string _accessToken = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings["AccessToken"].ToString();
		private static DatabaseAccessLayer _dal = new DatabaseAccessLayer();
		private static IUserServiceContext _userServiceContext = new UserServiceContext(_accessToken, _apiKey);
		private static ConstantContactFactory _constantContactFactory = new ConstantContactFactory(_userServiceContext);

		static void Main(string[] args) {
			List<string> lists = new List<string> () {
				"1479986508"
			};

			DataTable dt = _dal.GetSingleContact("contact@company.com");
			createContact(dt, lists);

			//third value is the ID from a specific contact, it is required to update a specific contact
			updateContact(dt, lists, "1239676744");
		}

		private static void createContact(DataTable dt, List<string> lists) {
			if (dt.Rows.Count >= 1) {
				var contactService = _constantContactFactory.CreateContactService();

				Address address = new Address() {
					Line1 = toString(dt.Rows[0]["address"]),
					City = toString(dt.Rows[0]["city"]),
					AddressType = "PERSONAL",
					StateCode = toString(dt.Rows[0]["state"]),
					PostalCode = toString(dt.Rows[0]["zip"])
				};

				List<ContactList> contactLists = new List<ContactList> ();
				foreach(string list in lists) {
					ContactList contactList = new ContactList() {
						Id = list
					};

					contactLists.Add(contactList);
				}

				CustomField cfield = new CustomField() {
					Name = "custom_field_1",
					Value = toString(dt.Rows[0]["schoolname"])
				};

				Contact contact = new Contact() {
					EmailAddresses = new List<EmailAddress> {
						new EmailAddress(toString(dt.Rows[0]["primaryemail"]))
					},
					FirstName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["firstname"]),
					LastName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["lastname"]),
					JobTitle = toString(dt.Rows[0]["job_role_name"]),
					CompanyName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["districtname"]),
					HomePhone = toString(dt.Rows[0]["primaryphone"]),
					Addresses = new List<Address> {
						address
					},
					Status = "ACTIVE",
					Lists = contactLists,
					CustomFields = new List<CustomField> { cfield }
				};

				contactService.AddContact(contact, false);
			}
		}

		private static void updateContact(DataTable dt, List<string> lists, string id) {
			if (dt.Rows.Count >= 1) {
				var contactService = _constantContactFactory.CreateContactService();

				Address address = new Address() {
					Line1 = toString(dt.Rows[0]["address"]),
					City = toString(dt.Rows[0]["city"]),
					AddressType = "PERSONAL",
					StateCode = toString(dt.Rows[0]["state"]),
					PostalCode = toString(dt.Rows[0]["zip"])
				};

				List<ContactList> contactLists = new List<ContactList> ();
				foreach(string list in lists) {
					ContactList contactList = new ContactList() {
						Id = list
					};

					contactLists.Add(contactList);
				}

				CustomField cfield = new CustomField() {
					Name = "custom_field_1",
					Value = toString(dt.Rows[0]["schoolname"])
				};

				Contact contact = new Contact() {
					Id = id,
					EmailAddresses = new Lis < EmailAddress > {
						new EmailAddress(toString(dt.Rows[0]["primaryemail"]))
					},
					FirstName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["firstname"]),
					LastName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["lastname"]),
					JobTitle = toString(dt.Rows[0]["job_role_name"]),
					CompanyName = toString(dt.Rows[0]["districtname"]),
					HomePhone = toString(dt.Rows[0]["primaryphone"]),
					Addresses = new List<Address> { address },
					Status = "ACTIVE",
					Lists = contactLists,
					CustomFields = new List<CustomField> { cfield }
				};

				contactService.UpdateContact(contact, false);
			}
		}

		#region Helper Methods
		private static string toString(Object obj) {
			return Convert.ToString(obj).Trim();
		}#endregion
	}
}

VB.NET Code

Namespace ConstantContact
  Class Program
    Private Shared _apiKey As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("APIKey").ToString()
    Private Shared _accessToken As String = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings("AccessToken").ToString()
    Private Shared _dal As New DatabaseAccessLayer()
    Private Shared _userServiceContext As IUserServiceContext = New UserServiceContext(_accessToken, _apiKey)
    Private Shared _constantContactFactory As New ConstantContactFactory(_userServiceContext)

    Private Shared Sub Main(args As String())
      Dim lists As New List(Of String)() From { _
        "1479986508" _
      }

      Dim dt As DataTable = _dal.GetSingleContact("contact@company.com")
      createContact(dt, lists)

      'third value is the ID from a specific contact, it is required to update a specific contact
      updateContact(dt, lists, "1239676744")
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub createContact(dt As DataTable, lists As List(Of String))
      If dt.Rows.Count >= 1 Then
        Dim contactService = _constantContactFactory.CreateContactService()

        Dim address As New Address() With { _
          Key .Line1 = toString(dt.Rows(0)("address")), _
          Key .City = toString(dt.Rows(0)("city")), _
          Key .AddressType = "PERSONAL", _
          Key .StateCode = toString(dt.Rows(0)("state")), _
          Key .PostalCode = toString(dt.Rows(0)("zip")) _
        }

        Dim contactLists As New List(Of ContactList)()
        For Each list As String In lists
          Dim contactList As New ContactList() With { _
            Key .Id = list _
          }

          contactLists.Add(contactList)
        Next

        Dim cfield As New CustomField() With { _
          Key .Name = "custom_field_1", _
          Key .Value = toString(dt.Rows(0)("schoolname")) _
        }

        Dim contact As New Contact() With { _
          Key .EmailAddresses = New List(Of EmailAddress)() From { _
            New EmailAddress(toString(dt.Rows(0)("primaryemail"))) _
          }, _
          Key .FirstName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("firstname")), _
          Key .LastName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("lastname")), _
          Key .JobTitle = toString(dt.Rows(0)("job_role_name")), _
          Key .CompanyName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("districtname")), _
          Key .HomePhone = toString(dt.Rows(0)("primaryphone")), _
          Key .Addresses = New List(Of Address)() From { _
            address _
          }, _
          Key .Status = "ACTIVE", _
          Key .Lists = contactLists, _
          Key .CustomFields = New List(Of CustomField)() From { _
            cfield _
          } _
        }

        contactService.AddContact(contact, False)
      End If
    End Sub

    Private Shared Sub updateContact(dt As DataTable, lists As List(Of String), id As String)
      If dt.Rows.Count >= 1 Then
        Dim contactService = _constantContactFactory.CreateContactService()

        Dim address As New Address() With { _
          Key .Line1 = toString(dt.Rows(0)("address")), _
          Key .City = toString(dt.Rows(0)("city")), _
          Key .AddressType = "PERSONAL", _
          Key .StateCode = toString(dt.Rows(0)("state")), _
          Key .PostalCode = toString(dt.Rows(0)("zip")) _
        }

        Dim contactLists As New List(Of ContactList)()
        For Each list As String In lists
          Dim contactList As New ContactList() With { _
            Key .Id = list _
          }

          contactLists.Add(contactList)
        Next

        Dim cfield As New CustomField() With { _
          Key .Name = "custom_field_1", _
          Key .Value = toString(dt.Rows(0)("schoolname")) _
        }

        Dim contact As New Contact() With { _
          Key .Id = id, _
          Key .EmailAddresses = New List(Of EmailAddress)() From { _
            New EmailAddress(toString(dt.Rows(0)("primaryemail"))) _
          }, _
          Key .FirstName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("firstname")), _
          Key .LastName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("lastname")), _
          Key .JobTitle = toString(dt.Rows(0)("job_role_name")), _
          Key .CompanyName = toString(dt.Rows(0)("districtname")), _
          Key .HomePhone = toString(dt.Rows(0)("primaryphone")), _
          Key .Addresses = New List(Of Address)() From { _
            address _
          }, _
          Key .Status = "ACTIVE", _
          Key .Lists = contactLists, _
          Key .CustomFields = New List(Of CustomField)() From { _
            cfield _
          } _
        }

        contactService.UpdateContact(contact, False)
      End If
    End Sub

    #Region "Helper Methods"
    Private Shared Overloads Function toString(obj As [Object]) As String
      Return Convert.ToString(obj).Trim()
    End Function
    #End Region
  End Class
End Namespace

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6 thoughts on “Import and Update Single Contact using Constant Contact Email Marketing API in ASP.NET (C# and VB.NET)”

  1. CHASTITY RED says:
    October 23, 2015 at 2:48 pm

    Excellent blog post , I Appreciate the analysis ! Does anyone know if my business could get ahold of a blank 2002 CAA Form 2.7 document to complete ?

    Reply
  2. David A says:
    May 13, 2016 at 11:02 am

    Do you have a complete vb.net project I could get or download

    Reply
    • jgezau says:
      May 13, 2016 at 7:19 pm

      I did the project in C# and just translated that portion in an online C# to VB.NET translator, sorry.

      Reply

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