NAME
Business::Shipping - Rates and tracking for UPS and USPS
VERSION
Version 1.90
SYNOPSIS
Rate request example
use Business::Shipping;
my $rate_request = Business::Shipping->rate_request(
shipper => 'UPS_Offline',
service => 'Ground Residential',
from_zip => '98683',
to_zip => '98270',
weight => 5.00,
);
$rate_request->execute() or die $rate_request->user_error();
print $rate_request->rate();FEATURES
Business::Shipping currently supports three shippers:
UPS_Offline: United Parcel Service
Shipment rate estimation using offline tables.
UPS_Online: United Parcel Service using UPS OnLine Tools (disabled)
Disabled as of version 1.90, see doc/UPS_Online_disabled.txt.
Shipment rate estimation
Shipment tracking.
Rate Shopping.
Gets rates for all the services in one request:
my $rr_shop = Business::Shipping->rate_request( service => 'shop', shipper => 'UPS_Online', from_zip => '98682', to_zip => '98270', weight => 5.00, user_id => '', password => '', access_key => '', ); $rr_shop->execute() or die $rr_shop->user_error(); foreach my $shipper ( @$results ) { print "Shipper: $shipper->{name}\n\n"; foreach my $rate ( @{ $shipper->{ rates } } ) { print " Service: $rate->{name}\n"; print " Charges: $rate->{charges_formatted}\n"; print " Delivery: $rate->{deliv_date_formatted}\n" if $rate->{ deliv_date_formatted }; print "\n"; } }C.O.D. (Cash On Delivery)
Add these options to your rate request for C.O.D.:
cod: enable C.O.D.
cod_funds_code: The code that indicates the type of funds that will be used for the COD payment. Required if CODCode is 1, 2, or 3. Valid Values: 0 = All Funds Allowed. 8 = cashier's check or money order, no cash allowed.
cod_value: The COD value for the package. Required if COD option is present. Valid values: 0.01 - 50000.00
cod_code: The code associated with the type of COD. Values: 1 = Regular COD, 2 = Express COD, 3 = Tagless COD
For example:
cod => 1, cod_value => 400.00, cod_funds_code => 0,
USPS_Online: United States Postal Service
Shipment rate estimation using USPS Online WebTools.
Shipment tracking
INSTALLATION
perl -MCPAN -e 'install Bundle::Business::Shipping'See doc/INSTALL.
REQUIRED MODULES
The following modules are required for offline UPS rate estimation. See doc/INSTALL.
Business::Shipping::DataFiles (any)
Class::MethodMaker::Engine (any)
Config::IniFiles (any)
Log::Log4perl (any)OPTIONAL MODULES
The following modules are used by online rate estimation and tracking. See doc/INSTALL.
Cache::FileCache (any)
Clone (any)
Crypt::SSLeay (any)
LWP::UserAgent (any)
XML::DOM (any)
XML::Simple (2.05)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, which are usually updated only once per year.
We recommend that you run the following program to update your fuel surcharge every first monday of the month.
Business-Shipping-UPS_Offline-update-fuel-surcharge.plSee bin/Business-Shipping-UPS_Offline-update-fuel-surcharge.pl
UPS_Online: For United Parcel Service (UPS) Online XML: Free signup
Read the legal terms and conditions: http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/resources/service/terms/index.html
After receiving a User Id and Password from UPS, login, then select "Get Access Key", then "Get XML Access Key".
Read more about UPS Online Tools at http://www.ec.ups.com
USPS_Online: For United States Postal Service (USPS): Free signup
(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.
ERROR/DEBUG HANDLING
Log4perl is used for logging error, debug, etc. messages. For simple manipulation of the current log level, use the Business::Shipping->log_level( $log_level ) class method (below). For more advanced logging/debugging options, see config/log4perl.conf.
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()
Generic attribute setter.
$obj->user_error()
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 UPS_Offline.
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. USPS_Online and UPS_Online require this, while UPS_Offline does not.
password
A password, if required by the provider. USPS_Online and UPS_Online require this, while UPS_Offline does not.
Business::Shipping->log_level()
Simple alternative to editing the config/log4perl.conf file. Sets the log level for all Business::Shipping objects.
Takes a scalar that can be 'debug', 'info', 'warn', 'error', or 'fatal'.
SEE ALSO
Important modules that are related to Business::Shipping:
Business::Shipping::DataFiles - Required for offline cost estimation
Business::Shipping::DataTools - Tools that generate DataFiles (optional)
Other Perl 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.
http://www.halofree.com/lib/public/code/Ship/UPS.pm
http://www.halofree.com/lib/public/code/Ship/USPS.pm
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.
Interchange e-commerce system ( http://www.icdevgroup.org ). See
UserTag/business-shipping.tag.Many E-Commerce websites, such as Phatmotorsports.com.
PaymentOnline.com software.
The "Shopping Cart" Wobject for the WebGUI project, by Andy Grundman http://www.plainblack.com/shopping_cart_wobject
Mentioned in YAPC 2004 Presentation: "Writing web applications with perl ..."
WEBSITE
http://www.kavod.com/Business-Shipping
Also see http://search.cpan.org/~dbrowning/Business-Shipping
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 doc/Todo file for a comprehensive list of known bugs.
CREDITS
Many people have contributed to this module, please see the doc/Credits file.
AUTHOR
Daniel Browning <db@kavod.com>, Kavod Technologies, http://www.kavod.com.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENCE
Copyright (c) 2003-2005 Daniel Browning <db@kavod.com>. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself. See doc/License for more info.