Royal Mail Basic UK Shipping Modules

[Rizla]

Thanks for the info Chuck

It certainly is a headache.

[welshop.com]

Hi
This is a really good plugin and I'm thinking of using it on a test site and would like to adapted it for RM PPI which has 24 & 48, 24 & 48 Signed for and Special Del by 1.

I am thinking of tweaking 1st & 2nd, 1st & 2nd rec & next day to resolve this - has anyone else done this and is there anything I need to be wary of?

[Chuckl]

Hi Welshop,

As the module name implies, the add-on was created to provide a Basic module for UK shipping using the 'Over the Counter' Royal Mail rates, so that people could hopefully get a quick and easy solution to UK shipping.
As a result the modules often make assumptions automatically regarding added insurance or which services to use which may not be appropriate in a business oriented module.

I'm assuming you want to clone some of the modules to supply your required functionality rather than simply editing the rates etc, so I'm assuming you have some programming knowledge or experience?

To get shipping for a shopping cart of products, the Zen Cart core modules essentially call all enabled shipping modules in turn with a request for a quote for the current cart. The individual modules each decide whether they are able to give a quote, based on their coded criteria - price, weight, size, shipping destination etc - and if so, return the quote. Otherwise they set themselves to disabled and return nothing.
The core modules then obviously display any returned quote numbers to the customer.

For this to work, there are a couple of requirements. For example, each shipping class module name must be unique. For example, you can't have 3 or 4 modules all called rm_ppi, one doing standard, one doing 24, one 48 etc etc. This affects the class name and the constructor for the class, and of course the file name for the code should match.
There are also a LOT of constants for each module, some defined in the languages-english folders, others stored in the config table of the database,and these also have to be unique, or you get very unpredictable results.
The config table entries are defined in the module install routine embedded in the code.
All these constants are referenced all over the module code, so some careful editing is required. There is also a cryptic 'keys' routine at the bottom of the module code, which defines what is displayed in the Admin-Modules-Shipping display for the module. Lets just say that the config thereof is a tad unintuitive.

You also have to be aware of, and look out for some modules which attempt to use multiple boxes if max. weights are exceeded, and things like the valid destinations and insurance which can suddenly kick in and block the quote from being issued. There are some furtive constants you can set, such as the 'Hide invalid shipping' constant which will give a quote regardless when set to false, and which can be quite useful for debugging.
You'd have to set and use that yourself, as I don't think I implemented it anywhere.

Hope that helps, and good luck with your endeavours,

Regards,

Chuck

[welshop.com]

Hi Chuck

Thanks for the incredibly detailed response - it made me realise that I need to keep away from any major code changes and possibly just try to adapt your work to fit by working with what's already there.
My plan now is to simply rename the different shipping alternatives so they show 24, 48 & signed for in the relevant english file (estimate shipping, invoices & checkout) but not change anything underneath other than the shipping rates for each to match PPI and since we dont use Insurance that can stay turned off.

I'll let you know how I get on

Cheers
Brinley

[welshop.com]

Hi again Chuck
I thought I had a handle on shipping but your plugin has made me realise that I am still a long ways off.

I am just busy tweaking all the modules and just getting to know the ins and outs of it and I noticed an issue with Airmail not showing delivery time.
Initially i figured I had made an error amending the language file or that I had not turned "Display Delivery time" on however everything looked fine there.

So I tested variations of turning the other options insurance/weight on and found delivery time turmns on when weight is on but does not show when this is turned off.

I did find the amended zip file you earlier posted for airmail but when I installed it the result was still the same showing - Royal Mail Airmail ()

This is no biggy but just something I thought I would flag for you

Cheers
Brinley

[Chuckl]

Well spotted there Brinley, it is indeed a misplaced bracket. There was also some legacy insurance code floating round in the module from previous RM tinkering which I've removed.
The attached zip file hopefully fixes that, if not revert to the old one and let me know.

Regards,

Chuck

[welshop.com]

Glad to have been of help - and the update you provided worked a treat so its all looking fab.

Now all I have to do is start working on the rates which is a mare but hey ho!

Really brilliant mod Chuck - well impressive.

[welshop.com]

I'm going a bit loopy in the process but nearly have all the rates sorted and have finally moved onto Parcelforce and have got a bit confused with the options.
I have never dealt with parcelforce before so i'm a serious noob so can someone tell me what the difference is between Parcelforce 48 & Parcelforce UK 48.
Much appreciated
Brinley

[welshop.com]

I feel like a spammer with all the questions I'm asking but this is the last one............. I hope.

On the checkout page I have the shipping estimator showing and I would like to get rid of the double brackets that show up in the options.
I have searched everywhere and come up blank and assume they relate to the delivery weight but even when this is turned off in admin the brackets still show.

I have tweaked the wording for Royal Mailspecial delivery but its essentially the same mod and here's what it shows

Royal Mail Special Delivery ( (Nextday - Tracked))

Cheers
Brinley

[Chuckl]

Hi Brinley,

Sorry about the delay in replying, the week has been devoured by locusts and #Realworld.

As noted in the 'update_notes' that I think I included with the release, the original Basic Mail ParcelForce module included only UK rates. With the 48b module I included it simply because I'd started it, and it may of use to someone, as it was the beginnings of my efforts to include ALL the Parcelforce zones.
It's very much E&OE standard, with VAT possibly missing in places and rate errors, but a bit of work would probably make it usable, and it may indeed be usable, as-is. I don't use Parcelforce at all, so it was an academic exercise at best.
All the modules, are I think covered by sheets in the Excel spreadsheet in the Misc folder, but the above may not be, I really don't remember.

On the rogue bracket side, which modules, and are you perhaps referring to the delivery times brackets, which are inserted in the code, rather than in the language text strings?


e.g. in rmairmail.php the code is as follows -

                        // Display delivery times?
                        if (constant('MODULE_SHIPPING_RMAIRMAIL_DISPLAY_TIME') == 'True') {
                            // Ships within 3 to 5 days
                            $shipping_method = $shipping_method . ' (';
                            $shipping_method = $shipping_method . ucfirst(MODULE_SHIPPING_RMAIRMAIL_DELIVERY_SHIPPING_TIME) . ')';
                        }

The ' (' and ')' above are the brackets being inserted, with the . being the PHP string concatenate/join.
If you've removed the 3-5 days and similar, only the brackets will show.
Some of the other modules like rmspecial are a bit more complicated, but a search for ')' will find all occurrences.
To stress again you do NOT need to insert the brackets in the language strings, they are inserted by the code in the modules themselves. (On the other hand, if you're getting them from the code, it's an 'undocumneted feature' :)

Hope that helps,


Chuck