Auspost Shipping Module with new AusPost API

[Whiterabbizt]

Hi All,

For those who are not aware AusPost are killing the old drc.edeliver.com.au/ratecalc.asp rate calculator and have introduced a new API.

No one at Auspost can tell me when this new API will be the only avenue to obtain Auspost shipping quotes.

I have been using the free auspost contribution for a few years. It works well.

Recently Auspost made a DNS change and the old api stopped reporting delivery times. By point directly at the old IP address this as a workaround has worked well. IP = 155.144.24.22

The new API from Auspost is a bit more complex and requires a personal ID Key to be embeded in the URL Via CURL. After working this out it does seem to work with a few glitches.

No shipping days are returned, and the US $9 tax on items over .5kg is not being calculated.


Documentation available here: http://auspost.com.au/devcentre/asse...3-20110929.pdf

Finally to my question:

Has anyone integrated the new auspost API into the free auspost shipping module.

While it is not rocket science i would hate to re-invent the wheel.

To use the api you must register and get a personal id.

Then Simple PHP to access the site is:

<?php
function get_auspost_api($url)
{
$crl = curl_init();
$timeout = 5;
curl_setopt ($crl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('AUTH-KEY:<PUT YOUR KEY HERE>'));
curl_setopt ($crl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_setopt ($crl, CURLOPT_URL, $url);
curl_setopt ($crl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, 1);
curl_setopt ($crl, CURLOPT_CONNECTTIMEOUT, $timeout);
$ret = curl_exec($crl);
curl_close($crl);
return $ret;
}

//International Air parcel postage calculation example)
$auspost_xml = get_auspost_api(
"https://auspost.com.au/api/postage/parcel/international/calculate.xml?&country_code=US&weight=.49&service_code=INTL_SERVICE_AIR_MAIL&ext ra_cover=");

//Do XML stuff

$xml = simplexml_load_string($auspost_xml);

echo $xml->getName() . "<br />";

foreach($xml->children() as $child)
{
echo $child->getName() . ": " . $child . "<br />";
}
echo $xml->service . "\n";



?>

[etrader]

Did you ever implement this into your Auspost shipping module? I was about to do this myself when I found your thread.

[RodG]

Hi All,
For those who are not aware AusPost are killing the old drc.edeliver.com.au/ratecalc.asp rate calculator and have introduced a new API.

Also for those that are not aware, these changes will have no effect on the ozpost module. The ozpost servers already make use of the new API (and have done since last september).

The new API from Auspost is a bit more complex and requires a personal ID Key to be embeded in the URL Via CURL. After working this out it does seem to work with a few glitches.

No shipping days are returned, and the US $9 tax on items over .5kg is not being calculated.

The ozpost modules continue to supply both the estimated shipping days (and/or date), as well as including the $9.00 USA Security surcharge (not a tax) when applicable. Merchants with many shipments to USA should take note of this. It'll only take a dozen orders being underquoted by this $9.00 surcharge to pay for a full year subscription to the ozpost servers. Your support will also ensure the continuing survival of the ozpost.net project. Something that can't be said for the alternative offering (which is just a hack of my code anyway).

While it is not rocket science i would hate to re-invent the wheel.

This would be the 3rd time this particular 'wheel' has needed to be re-invented. The first was a port from the oScommerce module (done before my time). Due to AustPost changes this was broken for almost six months before I re-invented it as "AustPost - Improved", and now just few years later it needs to be reinvented once again. Will you be around to 're-invent' it yet again in another few more years?

Anyway, before you start working to on this new wheel, you should probably discuss things with "Avant Marketing". They are the people that hacked my code the last time so as to circumvent the ozpost subscription servers, and after checking our daily logs I see that they are already looking at some of my latest code, assumedly to do the same thing.

Whilst I have no objection to this (After all, I DO release the ozpost client modules under the GPL licence) I would also urge people to look towards the longer term benefits of supporting the ozpost servers (and the client modules that I've developed for it). Australia is a VERY SMALL market, with just a couple of hundred *active* merchants at any given time. Only a fraction of those support the ozpost.net project, which is still commercially non viable (after 2 years), and is the reason why I've had to resort to creating client modules for other shopping carts, rather than spending time adding more carriers to the existing offereings, which is what I'd rather be doing. (For those that are not aware, the ozpost servers supply real time quotes from not only Australia Post, but also TNT, FastWay, Trandirect and e-Go couriers).

Anyway, sorry if this sounds like an advert. I don't/didn't intend it to be that way. I just like it to be known that ozpost has/was made compatible with the new Australia Post API six months ago, and I for one am not at all surprised that it has taken until now (when things have started to break) before *anyone* has shown the slightest bit of interest in updating the 'free' module. Is this the situation that you really want to find yourselves in, again, and again, and again?

To the few dozen Zenners that are currently supporting the ozpost project, I thank you.

Cheers
Rod.

[ozprodesign]

Hello All,
The paid version works very well and has the enhanced features of TNT, Fastway and eGo
Hence why we support Rod with our own and our customers sites we look after.
Thanks Rod.
Dave