Perl Monk, Perl Meditation | |
PerlMonks |
Re: Re: Re: Re: CPAN Module Proposal: Business::Shipby danb (Friar) |
on Jun 03, 2003 at 09:19 UTC ( [id://262604]=note: print w/replies, xml ) | Need Help?? |
Well, it's decided then. Business::Shipping it is. "Package" doesn't represent a physical package, really, but more of a "what does the carrier think of a package as?" Very good ideas... thanks. I might try to go with a simpler 'Package' idea like you are suggesting. Unfortunately, the vendors really do have different ideas of what you need to know about a package. I mean, we could have one "perfect" package that can be everything to everyone, but UPS doesn't need: * Is it machineable? * Container? (not to be confused with "Package type" ) * Breadth? Whereas USPS does. Then, probably, FedEx has some additional questions about packages that the other two don't. But anyway, I was hoping to design it so that the user never had to instantiate a ::Package object anyway -- they are just created behind the scenes. That is a *great* idea! I sure appreciate the feedback. This one is going on the todo list.Other vendors think of a package as only one part of a larger shipment.
I guess I could have a "use_defaults=1" option that will just guess various things, like "is it residential", or "is it machineable", etc., that the API user might not care about (and doesn't have much influence on the final price). My first instict was to require every detail that the carrier requires, though. If a shipper requires more specific information, your clients (those using your module) should be able to query the shipper to determine what information is needed. That way YALWS.com can ask those questions directly of their customers via some inputs on a form.That's a nice idea, but I don't think it would work out for everything, in practice. The consumer would likely put in whatever values that caused it to come out cheaper; in which case the vendor would end up manually correcting it anyway (or eating the cost). Now that I think about it, you were probably thinking of things like "which service do you want" and "do you want insurance?", etc. Yes... that makes a lot of sense. Roger that. :-) -Dan
In Section
Meditations
|
|