/ 
Business-Shipping-1.53
River stage one • 1 direct dependent • 1 total dependent
/ Business::Shipping

NAME

Business::Shipping - Rates and tracking for UPS and USPS

VERSION

Version 1.53

SYNOPSIS

Rate request example

use Business::Shipping;

my $rate_request = Business::Shipping->rate_request(
    shipper   => 'Offline::UPS',
    service   => 'GNDRES',
    from_zip  => '98682',
    to_zip    => '98270',
    weight    =>  5.00,
);    

$rate_request->go() or die $rate_request->user_error();

print $rate_request->total_charges();

FEATURES

Business::Shipping currently supports three shippers:

UPS_Online: United Parcel Service

  • Shipment rate estimation using UPS Online WebTools.

  • Shipment tracking.

UPS_Offline: United Parcel Service

  • Shipment rate estimation using offline tables.

USPS_Online: United States Postal Service

  • Shipment rate estimation using USPS Online WebTools.

  • Shipment tracking.

INSTALLATION

perl -MCPAN -e 'install Bundle::Business::Shipping'

See the INSTALL file for more details.

REQUIRED MODULES

Some of these modules are not required to use only one shipper. See the INSTALL file for more information.

Bundle::DBD::CSV (any)
Business::Shipping::DataFiles (any)
Cache::FileCache (any)
Class::MethodMaker::Engine (any)
Clone (any)
Config::IniFiles (any)
Crypt::SSLeay (any)
Log::Log4perl (any)
LWP::UserAgent (any)
Math::BaseCnv (any)
Scalar::Util (1.10)
XML::DOM (any)
XML::Simple (2.05)

ERROR/DEBUG HANDLING

Log4perl is used for logging error, debug, etc. messages. See config/log4perl.conf. For simple manipulation of the current log level, use the Business::Shipping->log_level( $log_level ) class method (below).

GETTING STARTED

Be careful to read, understand, and comply with the terms of use for the provider that you will use.

UPS_Offline: For United Parcel Service (UPS) offline rate requests

No signup required. Business::Shipping::DataFiles has all of rate tables.

UPS_Online: For United Parcel Service (UPS) Online XML: Free signup

USPS_Online: For United States Postal Service (USPS): Free signup

  • http://www.uspswebtools.com/registration/

  • (More info at http://www.uspswebtools.com)

  • The online signup will result in a testing-only account (only a small sample of queries will work).

  • To activate the "production" use of your USPS account, you must follow the USPS documentation. As of Sept 16 2004, that means contacting the USPS Internet Customer Care Center by e-mail (icustomercare@usps.com) or phone: 1-800-344-7779.

Use of this software

It is appreciated when users mention their use of Business::Shipping to the author and/or on their website or in their application.

WEBSITE

The website carries the most recent version.

http://www.kavod.com/Business-Shipping

Preloading Modules

To preload all modules, call Business::Shipping with this syntax:

use Business::Shipping { preload => 'All' };

To preload the modules for just one shipper:

use Business::Shipping { preload => 'USPS_Online' };

Without preloading, some modules will be loaded at runtime. Normally, runtime loading is the best mode of operation. However, there are some circumstances when preloading is advantagous. For example:

  • For mod_perl, to load the modules only once at startup instead of at startup and then additional modules later on. (Thanks to Chris Ochs <chris@paymentonline.com> for contributing to this information).

  • For compatibilty with some security modules (e.g. Safe).

  • To move the delay that would normally occur with the first request into startup time. That way, it takes longer to start up, but the first user will not experience any delay.

METHODS

$obj->init( %args )

Generic attribute setter.

$obj->user_error( "Error message" )

Log and store errors that should be visibile to the user.

$obj->validate()

Confirms that the object is valid. Checks that required attributes are set.

$obj->rate_request()

This method is used to request shipping rate information from online providers or offline tables. A hash is accepted as input. The acceptable values are determined by the shipper class, but the following are common to all:

  • shipper

    The name of the shipper to use. Must correspond to a module by the name of: Business::Shipping::SHIPPER. For example, UPS_Online.

  • service

    A valid service name for the provider. See the corresponding module documentation for a list of services compatible with the shipper.

  • from_zip

    The origin zipcode.

  • from_state

    The origin state in two-letter code format or full-name format. Required for Offline::UPS.

  • to_zip

    The destination zipcode.

  • to_country

    The destination country. Required for international shipments only.

  • weight

    Weight of the shipment, in pounds, as a decimal number.

There are some additional common values:

  • user_id

    A user_id, if required by the provider. Online::USPS and Online::UPS require this, while Offline::UPS does not.

  • password

    A password, if required by the provider. Online::USPS and Online::UPS require this, while Offline::UPS does not.

Business::Shipping->log_level( $log_level )

Sets the log level for all Business::Shipping objects.

$log_level can be 'debug', 'info', 'warn', 'error', or 'fatal'.

Business::Shipping->_new_subclass( "Subclass::Name", %opt )

Private Method.

Generates an object of a given subclass dynamically. Will dynamically 'use' the corresponding module, unless runtime module loading has been disabled via the 'preload' option.

SEE ALSO

Important modules that are related to Business::Shipping:

  • Business::Shipping::DataFiles - Required for offline cost estimation

  • Business::Shipping::DataTools - Tools that generating DataFiles (optional)

Other CPAN modules that are simliar to Business::Shipping:

  • Business::Shipping::UPS_XML - Online cost estimation module that has very few prerequisites. Supports shipments that originate in USA and Canada.

  • Business::UPS - Online cost estimation module that uses the UPS web form instead of the UPS Online Tools. For shipments that originate in the USA only.

SUPPORT

This module is supported by the author. Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-business-shipping@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org. The author will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as the author makes changes.

KNOWN BUGS

See the TODO file for a comprehensive list of known bugs.

CREDITS

See CREDITS file.

AUTHOR

Dan Browning <db@kavod.com>, Kavod Technologies, http://www.kavod.com.

COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE

Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Kavod Technologies, Dan Browning. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See LICENSE for more info.