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Tech Data (http://www.techdata.com/) is one of the few places smaller consultants and resellers can get name brand computer hardware and software. My only complaint is their Microsoft-centric view of the world.
The Perl Script
I have put together a Perl script which will download, unzip, convert and import the inventory and pricing data available from download from TechData. You must have a valid TechData website account to utilize this script! The script can be run regularly to keep the database up to date.
The PHP Application
After you get the database loaded, place the php files in the 'web' directory and modify the db.inc to reflect your database settings. The PHP application will allow you to browse and search the product database by product catagory or by vendor. It is screaming fast compared to their site and the lack of ads alone is worth the effort of getting this working.
Conclusion
I am not really planning on doing any further development of these scripts and the PHP application. They do everything I want, but you might want to use this skeleton to set up your own version of an ecommerce site like Buy.Com. I'd like to know what people are doing with the code, so if you do something cool, be a pal and drop me an email about it. And if you find any bugs, please drop me a note so I can update the version I am handing out.
The software is available in the file area.