USPS RateV4, IntlRateV2 support and etc..

[Marco B]

Hello ZenCart fans,

I am customizing a USPS shipping module for a client and realized that the current USPS module for ZenCart 1.3.9h is getting outdated so I decided to contribute to the community.

The primary goal is add 'RateV4' and 'IntlRateV2' support to the shipping module.
If I have spare time I might also add some module config options that allow some customization over how orders are split into multiple packages based on a product attributes or meta data. I could even use that data to restrict the usps shipping methods.

I will release the updated USPS module without my clients modifications.

Just want to make sure i'm not treading on anyones toes here or doing the same job twice..

My thoughts are to also implement some ajax in the 'checkout_shipping' page. The step where customers can change their shipping address or add address book entries. I see no reason to send a new page to do that or to retrieve a fresh quote once a different address is selected.
I was considering making the ajax optional and configurable in the back end.

Why isn't there already a global config option like 'Use ajax requests' in the admin's 'My Store' section?

Do the lead developers here have something against ajax? Personally I think that if someone turns off JavaScript in their browser they have just cut themselves off from over 90% of the internet. Though I could code it such that JS is optional if it really matters that much. Most Zencart stores I've seen already use modules reliant on heavy JavaScript like 'Image Handler 2', and 'LightBox' so i don't think it will be an issue.

What is the ZenCart development teams stance on this stuff? (with or without the ajax stuff.) I see no reason to put in that extra effort if it's not going to be used! All I would want in return would be a little bit of credit/recognition for my efforts in the code comments.

Let me know.

[kobra]

You might want to start with the latest release of about Jan 2, 2011

Post #11
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=171314

It must conform to the GNU licensing, but you can add your name to the comments

[Marco B]

I just spent a couple hours and got IntlRateV2 going and i'm working on RateV4 now.

I should have a rough version going in a couple days.

The new API has more parameters which are required.
I will hard code most of them to get something going for all the people looking to upgrade soon.

Allot of the values don't change the shipping prices but affect some of the additional features like insurance quoting etc which I will ignore for the first rough version...

Does anyone want to help me with testing?

[Marco B]

Ok I got a basic version going but not as an easy to install package.

So far there are a couple config value changes and only usps.php has been modified in /includes/modules/shipping.

Do most people in the US use pounds as the unit for weight? Should create a simple unit conversion option?
Then product weights can be stored in Oz, Lb, Kg, g or whatever. I'm not fussed. In Australia metric is the way to go. This is easy enough to implement.

I found that with local US shipping there are a bunch of new rules that are applied to the shipping services. There are also a heap of new options that weren't available in RateV3. Should I include all of them?

FIRST CLASS, FIRST CLASS HFP COMMERCIAL, PRIORITY, PRIORITY COMMERCIAL, PRIORITY HFP COMMERCIAL, EXPRESS, EXPRESS COMMERCIAL, EXPRESS SH, EXPRESS SH COMMERCIAL, EXPRESS HFP, EXPRESS HFP COMMERCIAL, PARCEL, MEDIA, LIBRARY, ONLINE
Really? Why so many!

[Marco B]

Just a quick update - yes I am still working on the USPS Module. I haven't got one yet that I deem good enough for public release.

International is done and I'm working on the local US shipping (RateV4). There are quite a few shipping methods I've added, part of the process was reading through the USPS API documentation and finding out how the shipping services work, whether size has any bearing on price etc.. I just want it tested it properly from beginning to end before I post it here for people to apply to their store.

I noticed the Express International Shipping price is altered by dimensions of the package. In this case I am providing config options in the shipping module to define a fixed size for the package LxWxH in inches(temporary solution)


First Class International shipping rates depend on shape (Envelope/Flat/Package) so this is also an option in the module config.

Currently it's just me doing the testing and it's all taken a bit longer than expected with my limited free time. I know it currently works with all the older options using RateV4 so i'm thinking why not add the full RateV4 functionality with all it's new shipping options!

BTW if someone is willing to step up and help me test let me know.

- Marco

[Marco B]

Have a version going. I'm hoping to hear back from someone soon and if all is good I'll upload it here in the next 10hrs.

This version supports domestic commercial rates. International commercial rates is coming soon.

Insurance and other extra services are not currently implemented that will be coming soon.

You can now intelligently configure multiple package sizes based on weight. Thanks to Ajeh for the giving me this idea.

I implemented it by providing a textarea field in the admin section.
The attached screenshots will help explain it better.


This is still early days. I haven't tested it on php4 though I was careful to use functions that php4 supports.

[Marco B]

I added the module here, there install instructions are included.

You can start using this now or you can hold off till USPS disable the old rates system.

I will be posting more updates soon. I am also waiting for my submission in the downloads section to be approved. Shouldn't be long now..

[swguy]

This module is now available here:

http://www.zen-cart.com/index.php?ma...oducts_id=1914

Thank you, Marco and Ajeh, for straightening this up.

[Marco B]

For support issues please go to: USPS Module Support Thread