In This Chapter
- Creating test user accounts
- Adding funds to your testing account
- Sending payment from a test account
- Requesting a payment from a test account
- Testing payments with Buy Now buttons and IPN (Instant Payment Notification)
- Requesting an API Certificate
Unless you have access to unlimited funds, you want a way to test the functionality of your applications as you begin developing with PayPal Web Services. Luckily, PayPal Developer Central provides a safe, self-contained testing environment, called the Sandbox, which is similar to the real PayPal world (except for the fact that you won't be paying with real money!).
You can use the Sandbox to test your applications and to learn more about how to work with PayPal APIs. Specifically, the Sandbox can test the following:
- Website payments
- Shopping Cart purchases
- Subscriptions
- Refunds
- IPNs (Instant Payment Notifications)
Setting Up Testing Accounts
Before you can get access to the PayPal API Sandbox, you need to sign up for a PayPal Developer Central account. This gives you access to
- Code samples and reference guides for PayPal APIs
- Access to PayPal Developer Forums
- Access to the Sandbox test environment, which I cover in this chapter
- Information on how to test your PayPal applications
- Testing for Instant Payment Notification (IPN)
To sign up for a Developer Central account, go to PayPal Developer Central (https://developer.paypal.com) and click the Sign Up Now link. The Sign Up page ...
