Can Authorize.net CIM and AIM work together?

[chrismarie]

Hi,
I've been trying to set up Authorize.net CIM API using the AIM module as a guide for the php, and I keep hitting a wall with it.

I've googled this a couple of times and haven't found a definitive answer, and I was hoping maybe someone here had tried to use AIM and CIM together - AIM to process the payments and CIM to capture and retrieve the customer info.

Any help or information would be much appreciated. I'm trying to set up this payment option the right way without butchering the code, but the zencart functions still confuse me a bit. I've attached a zip of the authorize.net php class that I'm using in case anyone is curious.
Thanks!!

[DrByte]

AIM is essentially for processing payments interactively while the customer is present and online placing an order.
CIM is essentially for managing customer recurring billing profiles, etc.

Since your Zen Cart (v1.x.x) site has no built-in recurring-billing capability, CIM is irrelevant, and unrelated to the way Zen Cart uses AIM.

If you wish to add your own custom functionality to extend the existing features of your Zen Cart store, you're certainly welcome. Whether you choose to tie functionality together between the two separate systems (AIM and CIM), is entirely up to you. Most merchants are unlikely to require the use of CIM, so your needs are somewhat specialized.

[chrismarie]

Thanks for the reply, Dr. Byte,
Sorry I forgot to mention I'm using 1.3.8a.

I definitely see what you're saying about CIM as I personally don't think that the service is a necessity, but the person I'm building the site for is very insistent that the customer not have to fill in their credit card information every time they use the store. They don't have any desire to use it for recurring billing, it's simply a way to store and retrieve CC information without having to run their own secure server setup.

I'm just having a hard time getting CIM to fit the mold of other payment modules and was hoping that someone who's been in the same boat could offer some insight. I can see that is unlikely due to the highly specialized nature of my issue, but if I get it sorted out, I'll post my findings in case someone else could use a little help.