Tax Provider Integration : Avalara

[jrobgood]

Rob here, chiming in on the error Brian and I are experiencing:

Here is the explicit output of the error...

Code: Select all

Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code. 

Exception Details: System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.

Source Error: 


Line 189:        Basket basket = Token.Instance.User.Basket;
Line 190:		basket.Package(true);
Line 191:        basket.Recalculate();
Line 192:        //VALIDATE THE BASKET
Line 193:        List<string> basketMessages;

Source File: c:\srv\www\ConLib\Basket.ascx.cs    Line: 191 

Stack Trace: 


[NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.]
   CommerceBuilder.Taxes.TaxCalculator.Calculate(Basket basket) +583
   CommerceBuilder.Orders.Basket.Recalculate() +59
   ConLib_Basket.Page_PreRender(Object sender, EventArgs e) in c:\srv\www\ConLib\Basket.ascx.cs:191
   System.Web.Util.CalliHelper.EventArgFunctionCaller(IntPtr fp, Object o, Object t, EventArgs e) +24
   System.Web.Util.CalliEventHandlerDelegateProxy.Callback(Object sender, EventArgs e) +57
   System.Web.UI.Control.OnPreRender(EventArgs e) +126
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +143
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +257
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +257
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +257
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +257
   System.Web.UI.Control.PreRenderRecursiveInternal() +257
   System.Web.UI.Page.ProcessRequestMain(Boolean includeStagesBeforeAsyncPoint, Boolean includeStagesAfterAsyncPoint) +3680

[sohaib]

Our classID is now namespace.classname, so it's AvalaraTaxProvider.MyTaxClass. (this is in the appcode folder, using the TaxProvider.cs file)

I suspect that problem you are having could be because of your implementation being in App_Code rather than a pre-compiled DLL. Ablecommerce dynamically tries to load the class with given ClassId and create an instance of it. If it fails to create an instance a null instance is returned. I think that is where you are getting this exception from.

As an improvement, may be Ablecommerce should throw an exception when it fails to create an instance rather than trying to use a null instance.

Btw if you provide a wrong ClassId you will get the same error. So I am not sure whether the error you are getting is because of invalid ClassId or because of your classes being in App_Code.

[BillEisenman]

I succeeded in recreating the Avalara Tax Provider Code from Brian's code with a bit of modifications and am unsure as how to (1) Test it. and (2) Register it with the store. Can I get someone to walk me thru it?

[mazhar]

I succeeded in recreating the Avalara Tax Provider Code from Brian's code with a bit of modifications and am unsure as how to (1) Test it. and (2) Register it with the store. Can I get someone to walk me thru it?

In order to register it with the store, please read the following post.
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=8694

[Netfinity]

Hey Brian,
Did you get the Avalara class completed? Are you interested in sharing it?

[sfeher]

Anyone made any major changes to this for the 7.0.3 install?
I have a client who has used Certitax on their version 5.5 cart and wants to see us maintain Certitax for their AC 7x install, but this might be a better option if you have had success already.

Any advice to pass along here?
Anyone have an integration with Certitax that is working on AC 7x?

Thanks!

[sfeher]

Still curious if anyone has implemented Certitax within the 7.0.3 cart.
We have a project that requires Certitax and there doesn't appear to be much remaining interest inside the AC community for using this third party service.

I have the tax provider integration from the wiki page (see http://wiki.ablecommerce.com/index.php/ ... x_Provider ), but I am trying to see if anyone has successfully implemented with Certitax. It seems to have fallen out of use/favor.

Anyone?

Thanks!

[joea84]

Hi,

If you want to create a custom tax provider and add tax at the order stage (so you can test for billing state, etc.), this code would work:

Code: Select all

/// <summary>
        /// Commit the taxes by this provider for the given order
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="order">The order for which to commit the taxes</param>
        public override void Commit(Order order)
        {
            OrderItem oi = new OrderItem();
            oi.OrderId = order.OrderId;
            oi.Price = 1200;
            oi.Name = "Joe's Custom Order tax.";
            oi.OrderItemType = OrderItemType.Tax;
            oi.Quantity = 1;
            oi.Save();
            order.Items.Add(oi);
            order.Save();
        }

I am using AC 7.0.4. You must go to the admin > Configure > Taxes > 3rd Party Providers and click the activate button next to your tax provider.

Joseph Anderson
JMA Web Technologies, Inc.
http://www.jmawebtechnologies.com
info@jmawebtechnologies.com
781 330 0737

[Logan Rhodehamel]

I'm not sure why this thread got bumped up, but since this time, we were contacted by Avalara and asked to do the integration officially. A fully supported AvaTax connector is now available for AbleCommerce 7.0.3 and above. Our current release of the AvaTax connector for AbleCommerce requires full trust to run. A new version of our connector that works in medium trust has been developed and is currently in a QA process.

[dirk.mccomsey]

I couldn't find a place in the wiki to leave a comment, but it seems that with 7.0.7, this portion of the code

Code: Select all

        /// <summary>
        /// Is the tax provider activated or not
        /// </summary>
        public override bool Activated
        {
            get { throw new Exception("The method or operation is not implemented."); }
        }

is now invalid... Apparently Activated must now be implemented.