AbleCommerce Shopping Cart Software

Evening All!

Currently running VERSION: 7.0.2, BUILD: 11659. Been running perfectly for almost three years now!

Customers pointed out today that when proceeding through checkout, they are stuck on page 2 as the "select (shipping) method" (normally Australia Post) doesn't appear - there is just blank space. I've tested this myself and no options appear other than the error message "There are no shipping methods available to the selected destination(s)."

I've also checked this in the basket/shipping estimate page. It just returns a similar error "No shipping methods are available for the current items and/or the given destination."

System was working fine as of last order (Sunday evening). Brought to our attention by customers this afternoon (Tuesday).

I've had a network admin friend have a look at Able, the server and logs. According to him, he believes that Australia Post may have changed something at their end that has accidentally stopped the Able applet.

I'll be talking to Australia Post tomorrow... just thought I'd check if I was on my own here or has anyone else had this problem?

Regards and thanks,
Adrian

Hi Guys.

Further to this problem, we found:

In "Able Website\App_Data\Logs" is "AustraliaPost.log". The log contains the same error over and over (obviously as various customer have either attempted to get shipping quotes or complete checkout).

The error is:

"Send: Pickup_Postcode=3554&Destination_Postcode=3001&Country=AU&Service_Type=STANDARD&Weight=1900&Length=270&Width=190&Height=110&Quantity=1

Receive: charge=0
days=0
err_msg=Please enter Country code."

I've just noticed looking at those values; they're in grams and millimetres, where in Able they're set to kilograms and centimetres. Does able convert before sending the data to Australia Post?

The Country Code is correct despite the error. I wonder if Australia Post has changed the order of the data?

Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks,
Adrian

OK some more searching on local forums has turned up the fact that Australia Post has changed the IP for the calculator and kept it a secret. Apparently thousand of ecommerce sites have been affected here in Australia since Tuesday morning 9.00am!

Anyway, a quick fix suggested for 'another' ecommerce software package is the following:

$ausPostURL = 'http://155.144.24.22/ratecalc.asp?';
//$ausPostURL = 'http://drc.edeliver.com.au/ratecalc.asp?';

the second line is the commented out original code.

I've searched high and low through the Able modules, but haven't found the old address (drc.edeliver.com.au...) yet. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
TIA
Adrian

So much for a quick fix... I've come to the realisation that the code requiring alteration is in a dll (CommerceBuilder.AustraliaPost.dll), so its now out of my hands.

Although this problem isn't AbleCommerce's doing, I've had to log a bug report as the AustraliaPost function is now inoperative for me (and I assume every other Australian user).

Just hope they can provide a patch soon (four days and counting since Australia Post did the deed)...

You can get the source of Australia Post shipping gateway from AbleCommerce and modify it to suit your needs.

Thanks plugables!

Do I put in a request for the 7.0.1 Development Files (the first version that contains the AustraliaPost modules) through my account, or is there a more direct request method?

Thanks and regards,
Adrian

We are aware of the issue now and ready to respond. A little digging revealed that AustraliaPost recognized they broke many existing integrations and rolled out a correction intended to resolve it. There was also the IP / DNS change taking place at the same time. I want to confirm it is still failing for you before going any further. After reading all of the updates and then testing myself, I am finding it working for a selection of destinations both international and AU domestic. I half suspect the server side changes plus the completed DNS propagation solved things.

If it did not, we will immediately produce an update to make the shipping estimator work using the rules of the new system.

Because of the time difference, I don't want for this issue to be delayed another business day. In the event that your shipping calculator is not working, here is a proposed patch for the issue. The readme covers what improvements have been made for the calculator. It would be helpful to get response on two things

1 - did the existing integration begin working again after the changes from Australia Post were implemented?

2 - does this new integration work satisfactorily?

If it were me I would prefer the new integration. I've attempted to update to the new rules as nearly as I can determine them to be. I am waiting to find out more from Australia Post directly about where the API is published and how we can get timely updates of these changes BEFORE they happen.

This update should work in all versions of AbleCommerce 7.1 and higher.

Hi Logan,

thanks for your response. I'm out of the office today but can answer the first question - changes Australia Post have made since the problem began have made no difference. Tested again this morning with the same error resulting.

Will implement the patch later today (Tuesday) and report back.

Once again, your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Regards,
Adrian

Yes, we make a conversion to grams/millimeters prior to sending the information.

Strange that it is breaking on country code. Earlier today I sent this data:

Send: Pickup_Postcode=2000&Destination_Postcode=2000&Country=AU&Service_Type=STANDARD&Weight=4535&Length=100&Width=100&Height=100&Quantity=1

Receive: charge=8.35
days=1
err_msg=OK

I can retry with your postcodes. Hopefully the patch works correctly then. You will either have the option of trying the alternate IP based URL or (hopefully) it will work due to the updated method of using HTTP GET rather than HTTP POST with the newer platform they released.

The server does not like your origin postcode. Is this tied to a PO box? I read somewhere that one of the changes was to no longer allow these codes as an origin. For some reason the old method returns a weird error about country code but the new method returns the better message:

Send: http://drc.edeliver.com.au/rateCalc.asp ... Quantity=1

Receive: charge=0
days=0
err_msg=Please enter a valid From postcode.

See this post: http://whrl.pl/RcTO6q

Hi Logan.

The from postcode may be a problem. The current postcode 3554 belongs to the mail sorting centre for the city. I do have a postbox at that branch - although postbox numbers should bear no relation to postcodes as almost every post office in the country has postboxes!?

When I get back to the office, I'll change the from postcode to that for the city (3550) and test that, then I'll install the patch and we should be 'legal'!

Thanks and regards,
Adrian

I look forward to hearing how it turns out. There's not much for me to go on, the Australia Post site is notably missing some of the developer and integration documentation. That post I linked says they are relaunching a developer section at the end of the month. Hopefully that is the case.

Managed to login remotely and change the from postcode... amazing what a difference one digit makes! Works now Will install the patch when I get back.

You're a lifesafer Logan!

Regards,
Adrian

Well... that was interesting!

Installed the update as per the readme. Checked the integration version - correct.

Same error returned. Restarted server, same result.

Restored the old files - works again.

Hmmm.

As the system works with the 'from' postcode fix, the immediate problem is resolved. I'll leave the long term solution to those best qualified.

Once again, a thousand thanks for your assistance Logan,
Adrian

OK can I clarify? With the patch installed, you received an error about... needing to specify a country code? Having an invalid from postcode?

As I'm not familiar with how Australian post codes work, I don't understand why the change regarding origin postcodes. I am glad you have a working solution in the interim but I would much like to understand what (if anything) we are doing wrong. I guess I have to wait for the developer site to be relaunched so I can get updated documentation on integrating that service.

To clarify, I changed the 'from' postcode to a valid one prior to installing the patch - all working.

After installing the patch, received the same Able checkout error 'No shipping methods are available for the current items and/or the given destination.'

I do recall seeing a longer error in the Auspost method with debug switched on. Unfortunately enabling the error disables checkout, so I'd prefer to do it at a quieter time (Fri night/Sat Morning). I'll send you that info as soon as I have it.

Regards,
Adrian

Adrian I wonder if I could get an update on this. Are you still using the original (unpatched) version of our integration and is it still operating correctly?