Need help with Canpar...

[breck]

If the mark up part was working, you could add a percentage to the retrieved amount to come more in line with the actual price you would pay at the canpar outlet.

Just to do a test, I selected an item on my site shipping from CAN to USA and canpar module gives me a quote of $12.69.

If I go to canpar.ca for a quote on the same item, I get a quote of $22.26


The same item from CAN to CAN on my site quotes $7.59.

On canpar.ca it quotes $8.04

A bit closer, but still a loss.


I am going to contact canpar and ask them if they are providing counter rates or rates for people with accounts. And I will ask them about the difference in the quotes.


Some things that may help anyone inquiring into this mod:

http://www.canpar.com/XML/BaseRateXM...t=null&xc=null

http://www.canpar.com/XML/base_rate.xsd

[Luxifer]

yes, I could modify that, but the problem I have is, for small orders it's too high, but for big orders it's way too low. If I just add $30 to every order to match the big ones, then the guy that orders 1 item with $5 shipping will have to pay $35.
The real problem is, my quote matches up with just doing a live quote on the canpar site. but somewhere in the guts of Zencart, it's changing that. Where? so I can fix it.

[breck]

I figured out what is wrong.

The xml as it is returns quote for weights in pounds.
If you use KG on your site, then you get a drastic difference in prices the heavier the parcel.

Also, the xml returns quotes without the 9.05% fuel surcharge.

I am not a coder, so I can't provide a fix, but I can supply the how to for the way this should work.

If your site uses pounds for weight

totalquote=xmlquote(with weight as pounds)+(xmlquote(with weight as pounds)*0.0905)

Elseif

totalquote=xmlquote(with weight as kg/2.2)+(xmlquote(with weight as kg/2.2)*0.0905)

Hope it's not too confusing.

Basically, you would have to use an if / endif to determine if your sites weights are pounds or kilograms.
If in kilograms, you have to convert to pounds in the module before requesting the quote.
Once you retrieve the quote, you have to add the 9.05%(0.0905) fuel surcharge to get the correct quote that will match canpar.ca

[breck]

lol

Wasn't sure if my post went up.

My ip got banned on this site for a couple hours.

[Luxifer]

I figured out what is wrong.

The xml as it is returns quote for weights in pounds.
If you use KG on your site, then you get a drastic difference in prices the heavier the parcel.

No, I'm quoting in Kg and getting a reply in Kg. There is a key in the URL for format, either L for pounds or K for kilos. I wish it were that easy.

Also, the xml returns quotes without the 9.05% fuel surcharge.

I don't need the fuel surcharge.
I'm saying that if I submit the url by hand (the same url that the page will send), I get back the correct answer in the XML. But somewhere after that, the page nerfs the data.

I could just add a calculation to the canpar form that would give me something close to the right answer in all cases, but that's a lot of work and JUST WRONG. I'd rather have a solution than a workaround. Why doesn't it work as it should?

I guess I'll have to go into the files and find out. If I do solve it, I'll provide some answers here.

[breck]

Thanks for the lb to kg fix.

I see the issue too. I tested with 100kg weight, and canpar.ca and using the link come back correct, but the module comes up with a price almost half the correct price.

[Luxifer]

Here's some info on the canpar API:

Parameters:

service: 1=Ground, 2=U.S.A., 3=Select Letter, 4=Select Pak, Select Parcel
quantity: Number of pieces in the shipment
unit: Weight unit of measure L=lbs, K=kgs
weight: Weight of the shipment
origin: Origin postal code
dest: Destination postal code
cod (cash on delivery): Value of the COD; 0 if not a COD shipment
dec (declared value): Value in Canadian dollars
put (Pickup Tag): 1=Pickup Tag Shipment, 0=Not a Pickup Tag Shipment
xc (Extra Care): Number of Extra Care pieces in the shipment


This is a sample http request to get a rate

http://www.canpar.com/XML/BaseRateXML.jsp?service=1&quantity=1&unit=L&weight=10&origin=M4X1W7 &dest=L4Y2N9&cod=100&dec=200&put=0&xc=1

Sorry, I had to wrap that in <code> tags so it would display.

Sample XML data returned:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252"?>
<CanparRate xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.canpar.com/XML/base_rate.xsd">
<CanparShipment>
<COD>100.00</COD>
<Declared>200.00</Declared>
<Origin>M4X1W7</Origin>
<Destination>L4Y2N9</Destination>
<ExtraCare>1.00</ExtraCare>
<PUT>No</PUT>
<Quantity>1</Quantity>
<ServiceType>1</ServiceType>
<Weight>10</Weight>
<Unit>L</Unit>
</CanparShipment>
<CanparCharges>
<BaseRate>8.65</BaseRate>
</CanparCharges>
</CanparRate>


So if you want to ship in Kilos, just use the 'unit=K' in your string.
Note, check your URL, there are several URLs and I've gotten different results from different ones. This is the one Canpar just gave me, so I assume it's the one we should be using.

Just out of curiosity, if someone else would try the experiment, make the URL as above and paste it in your browser, and tell me if you get the same results as when you submit with Zencart. I don't, but I would like to see someone else try.

[breck]

One issue I saw is "K" must be in caps. If lower case, it reverts back to "L"


I tested your above url and get a different quote.
Also Firefix and Explorer are same quote, but look a little different.

Firefox:

<CanparRate xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.canpar.com/XML/base_rate.xsd">
−
<CanparShipment>
<COD>100.00</COD>
<Declared>200.00</Declared>
<Origin>M4X1W7</Origin>
<Destination>L4Y2N9</Destination>
<ExtraCare>1.00</ExtraCare>
<PUT>No</PUT>
<Quantity>1</Quantity>
<ServiceType>1</ServiceType>
<Weight>10</Weight>
<Unit>L</Unit>
</CanparShipment>
−
<CanparCharges>
<BaseRate>9.25</BaseRate>
<ExtraCareCharge>10.00</ExtraCareCharge>
<CODCharge>4.50</CODCharge>
</CanparCharges>
<TransitTime>1</TransitTime>
</CanparRate>


Explorer:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="windows-1252" ?>
- <CanparRate xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://www.canpar.com/XML/base_rate.xsd">
- <CanparShipment>
<COD>100.00</COD>
<Declared>200.00</Declared>
<Origin>M4X1W7</Origin>
<Destination>L4Y2N9</Destination>
<ExtraCare>1.00</ExtraCare>
<PUT>No</PUT>
<Quantity>1</Quantity>
<ServiceType>1</ServiceType>
<Weight>10</Weight>
<Unit>L</Unit>
</CanparShipment>
- <CanparCharges>
<BaseRate>9.25</BaseRate>
<ExtraCareCharge>10.00</ExtraCareCharge>
<CODCharge>4.50</CODCharge>
</CanparCharges>
<TransitTime>1</TransitTime>
</CanparRate>


I get a quote of $9.25

I don't know a great deal about coding, but learning a lot in the past 2 nights doing a little reading on php. Gonna be a wiz in time lol.

[breck]

Seems it is getting the incorrect info to use.

I did another test by adding the line

$body = file_get_contents('http://www.canpar.com/XML/BaseRateXML.jsp?' . $request);
echo $body;

I used an item that was 5.3kg from Can to USA

I get returned:

0.00
0.00
K2P2N2
08854
0.00
No
1
2
8
K
23.15

NOTE: 5.3kg is now 8kg.

I then changed the item to 100kg to test it and it returned:

0.00
0.00
K2P2N2
08854
0.00
No
3
2
36
K
80.39

NOTE: Service=3 and quantity=3 but I only have 1 item in my cart.

I looked at my UPS module, and it shows the same. Seems to be an issue with zencart and not the module.

I am going to post this as a bug and see what they say.

[breck]

Fixed it.

Go to Configuration>Shipping/Packaging menu.

Change:

Enter the Maximum Package Weight you will ship
Change to 500 or 1000 or whatever you choose.
If you have it set to max 50, and your order weight is 110, it changes it to 3 pieces and averages out the weight. This will cause under estimated prices.

Package Tare Small to Medium - added percentage:weight
Leave it blank or if you change it, it adds to weight which increases price.

Larger packages - added packaging percentage:weight
Same as line above.