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Confused about FedEx module uc_fedex

Submitted by TR on Thu, 11/22/2007 - 16:32
TR
Posts: 925
 Joined: 11/05/2007
Bug FinderFAQ ModeratorGetting busy with the Ubercode.

I need to have FedEx shipping for my store, but it's not clear to me what the status of the FedEx module is.

As the thread at http://www.ubercart.org/forum/support/574/uc_fedex states, the documentation implies that FedEx support is core. A response from Ryan (9/7) says FedEx now in bazaar, but I don't see it in the repository at http://bazaar.ubercart.org/ubercart/alpha/ubercart/.

That thread has several attached versions of the module, the most recent one updated on 9/12. Several code corrections have since been posted in the thread; have these since been incorporated, if so, where is the corrected module?

Another thread, in the Contributions forum (http://www.ubercart.org/contrib/620), has several versions of uc_fedex, last updated on 9/12. How do these versions relate to the ones posted in first thread?

Is anyone actively working on this module?

Since I need FedEx shipping, I would be willing to support it myself, but I'm not going to start in on it if it's being actively worked on by someone else, and I don't want to start with an outdated version that has known bugs.

What are the known bugs? There is only one post in issue tracker (by me), but that has not been addressed. Other issues seem to have been brought up in the forums, but it is not clear which if any have been fixed.

I have a suggestion:

Edit pasts posts to remove all duplicate versions of uc_fedex. Instead, add a link to the "official" version, whether it be core or a contrib. This will eliminate the confusion about which version of the module is the latest and greatest.

Fix documentation to clarify whether FedEx is core or contributed, and add links to it if contributed.

--

<tr>.
permalink #1 Fri, 11/23/2007 - 05:17
Verad
Posts: 4
 Joined: 11/13/2007

I am in the same boat. Fedex is required by my client, but since Ubercart doesn't seem to have it as part of core, and the few contributed packages seem to be broken, it's really starting to cause issues with my project. If anyone can let us know why fedex is not in core, or at least could point me to a working copy, it would be much appreciated.

permalink #2 Fri, 11/23/2007 - 11:20
Lyle

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 Joined: 08/07/2007
AdministratoreLiTe!

The FedEx module has had a funny history. It had first been written for the shipping quotes, and that was working fairly well. Then cosmo83 contributed changes to allow it to handle shipments and packages. While it did what he wanted, it was mostly the same code as the manual shipping option that's in uc_shipment. At some point I decided to update the FedEx module so that it could use a web service to return labels and connect to a FedEx account.

FedEx updated their web service, and I felt that the module was in a broken state, so I took it out of the repository while I worked on it. I upgraded the code and started to put in the XML and such to get shipping labels. But then I found out that FedEx's web service would require SOAP integration. I knew how much of a pain that would be so I just dropped the whole thing.

While I know that the shipment integration won't work, the FedEx quotes should still. I'll test it out again, and hopefully get it back into the Bazaar repository.

permalink #3 Fri, 11/23/2007 - 17:20
Lyle

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 Joined: 08/07/2007
AdministratoreLiTe!

At some point I should rant about how ridiculous XML is and how hard it is to work with it in PHP. But not now.

Instead, I'm just going to say that the FedEx module won't work at all without SOAP support, or possibly just namespaces. Either way, it's not something I'm inclined to work on for a while. Sorry.

permalink #4 Sat, 11/24/2007 - 14:51
TR
Posts: 925
 Joined: 11/05/2007
Bug FinderFAQ ModeratorGetting busy with the Ubercode.

OK, so it's not going to be in core - that answers one part of my question. As I said, I'm willing to work on it because I need it. But I would like to start with the most up-to-date version available, so I don't have to waste my time fixing bugs that others fixed long ago etc.

So, can someone in the know identify the "best" version of uc_fedex out there which I can use as a starting point? There're a half-dozen or so versions floating around in the forums/contribs.

--

<tr>.

permalink #5 Mon, 11/26/2007 - 10:01
Lyle

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 Joined: 08/07/2007
AdministratoreLiTe!

This is the version of uc_fedex that I have. As far as I can tell, the XML is compatible with the current version of FedEx's web service. The main problem is that the JSimpleXML parser can't handle namespaces, which are in the response. It's in uc_store/includes if you want to try to fix it.

AttachmentSize
uc_fedex.tar.gz19.2 KB
permalink #6 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 11:48
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

this is a hard problem to solve but I'm going to have to get it working. I'm starting today, if anyone has already started on this let me know and we can hookup on IRC or something.

thanks

permalink #7 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 14:11
kaizen

Posts: 85
 Joined: 08/08/2007
Uber DonorEarly adopter... addicted to alphas.Not Kulvik

I wish I could help contribute if possible as I too have clients that use FEDEX and even though I am using UPS for the quotes which should be a little marked up by default, I am still having issues where products with weight, and dimension are under quoted.

Keep up the good fight gentlemen! (and ladies) =)

permalink #8 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 14:43
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

I have the same deal. Some clients of mine use it.

Kaizen: what are you currently doing for clients who use fedex? if it works halfway good maybe I can use it for some of mine. Let me know...

thanks

permalink #9 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 15:31
kaizen

Posts: 85
 Joined: 08/08/2007
Uber DonorEarly adopter... addicted to alphas.Not Kulvik

Right now my cleint processes credit cards online but not with Ubercart. We have it setup so that he can access purchases and accepts credit cards or paypal and we have an account with UPS to use the UPS module. Now we were having issues where his dimensions/weight were equating to low shipping rates (even though he really ships FEDEX and normally UPS would be more expensive).

So if someone purchases an item and pays with a credit card, that is stored in until my client comes online and sees what was purchased. At that time he packages it up to get ready for shipping, processes the card on a seperate web page (works for him since he did that previously) and ships the item. So in other words the credit cards are not processed at the time of order which is good because my client would rather have the item in the shop before shipping.

What we were having issues with was UPS was quoting rates that were less than he was paying @ FEDEX. So I have the Markup section in Shipping Settings set to 65% markup. That so far seems to be a solution as it brings the prices up to a more reasonable rate for him. I have not found any other accounts of others having this issue with UPS on these forums.

You can read more about my UPS situations at the following threads:

UPS Specifying Wrong Price (or Rate) [forum]
UPS Information Quesiton.

If you need me to elaborate or have a question for me feel free to ask. =)

permalink #10 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 16:13
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

Would it cost anything for me to go in and setup a UPS account for my client so I can do the same thing? As long as it charges the customer the right price for him to clear shipping and have enough left over for the price of the item he wont care.

thanks

permalink #11 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 21:22
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

I think I'm just going to keep trying to fix the problems with uc_fedex. I'm going to have to work around the XML that FedEx sends back.

If anyone has gotten any further on this issue please share your progress.

Thanks

permalink #12 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 22:03
TR
Posts: 925
 Joined: 11/05/2007
Bug FinderFAQ ModeratorGetting busy with the Ubercode.

I have started to re-write the entire module using the new FedEx SOAP API. I have rate quotes working, but I don't have a lot of options built in yet. I don't think it's worth it to mess with the current version, because FedEx has deprecated that old XML API. If you can wait a few days I'll post the module for review. In the meantime, please let me know what functionality you're interested in and any special needs you have.

--

<tr>.

permalink #13 Thu, 11/29/2007 - 22:12
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

TR,
Id like to see what you have so far. I'm a novice at PHP and I'm trying to get a starting point. I tried to add namespace support to the JSimpleXML script by adding _ns on all the xml parser openings. What I'm trying is probably not even the right way to approach this.

All I need to get done ASAP is have a uc_fedex module that will give quotes and add in the right amounts of money.

Could you please post what you have? I'm going to have to have something better than the solution I have by Sunday. I will be happy to help you in anyway to get this thing finished.

Thanks

permalink #14 Fri, 11/30/2007 - 06:50
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

I looked at it a while last night and I think your right. It would just be better to conform to FedEx's new standard. This would increase the longevity of the module.

permalink #15 Fri, 11/30/2007 - 14:54
jimi089
Posts: 104
 Joined: 09/07/2007
Uber Donor

TR, thanks for your work on this module. I have the old version cosmo83 made working on my site, but I've held off on upgrading to the latest 7e version of Ubercart because the module isn't updated and I haven't had the time to do it.

permalink #16 Fri, 11/30/2007 - 15:13
kaizen

Posts: 85
 Joined: 08/08/2007
Uber DonorEarly adopter... addicted to alphas.Not Kulvik

It is free to sign up with UPS to get all the information you need to get the quoting system working with Ubercart.

permalink #17 Fri, 11/30/2007 - 17:26
dangerduck
Posts: 8
 Joined: 11/28/2007

I'm thinking I should go with something like what TR is working on. It seems a lot easier
to do it with the SOAP API. As opposed to try to keep the one we have alive. that will just be a bandage on it.

permalink #18 Thu, 12/06/2007 - 12:10
TR
Posts: 925
 Joined: 11/05/2007
Bug FinderFAQ ModeratorGetting busy with the Ubercode.

I've finished off the first version of my FedEx module and posted it here: http://www.ubercart.org/contrib/2106 Please post any comments about the new module to that new thread.

I've done quite a bit of testing on it, on several different servers, and it seems to work well. Suggestions/bug reports welcome - I will be maintaining this. Please read the README.txt that comes with the module, as it contains a lot of details.

--

<tr>.

permalink #19 Fri, 05/23/2008 - 20:21
tgkennedy
Posts: 1
 Joined: 05/23/2008

FedEx Web Services can be used without using SOAP. They have a version that uses an XML POST method which should allow you to submit a request to their Web Services server and receive an XML response back for use in Ubercart.

If you want more info, let me know.

TK

permalink #20 Fri, 10/10/2008 - 01:31
bkuzma
Posts: 2
 Joined: 08/30/2008

I'm trying to find a FedEx module for my store and came across this one, but with my current hosting plan I don't have SOAP enabled and it's not possible to recompile PHP in order to do so. TK, can you tell me more about using the FedEx Web Services without SOAP ? Do you know of any existing module ?

Thanks,
Brian