Shipping Estimator entries not passed to checkout

[split63]

Is there a way to get the shipping estimator entries to be passed to the checkout page so the customer does not need to enter his State and Zip code a second time?

Perhaps some code needs to be added that stores these entries when the "update" button of the shipping estimator is pressed?
Is this likely given that the customer has yet to create an account.
Using only USPS priority mail and Zen-Cart = v1.3.9c

Thanks,

[schoolboy]

If the customer is logged in, the shipping estimator will default to their PRIMARY shipping address anyway.

All the while the customer is NOT logged in, the shipping estimator is just that... an estimator... allowing the viewer to choose their intended shipping destination.

Once they log in, it will behave as stated above.

If they have to register first, then a key aspect of the registration is the provision of their address...

So, either way, your "problem" solves itself.

[split63]

I found that the Country, State and ZIP were already being stored as Session variables by the estimator. So I added code to insert them into the check-out/login form page.

A customer that logs in, never sees the checkout form, so the form is only for new customers. It just makes sense to bring those variables forward and not force the customer to re-enter them.

Seems to be working great....so far

[schoolboy]

Possibly... but remember there is an important difference between SHIPPING address and BILLING address.

If the (as yet unregistered) customer is UK based, but is looking to ship to "grandma" in the USA, they will use the shipping estimator to do lookups on USA shipping charges.

However... their BILLING address is UK.

What will happen with your "solution" is that the USA address will be set as PRIMARY, resulting either in failed transactions at the payment gateway, or a requirement to not only add a proper billing address, but also to make it the Primary address (as this is what is parsed to payment gateways.)

To avoid this problem, you would need to restrict addresses to ONE address, and also state quite clearly that the registered address must be the billing address.

[split63]

Yep, I handle that too. I just populate both shipping and billing with the data entered into the estimator. Yet, still retain the ability to set them uniquely for both bill to and ship to fields.

Other than the auto-populate from the estimator, the account creation form functions as it always did.