3.9.2024
Third-Party API
Working with Canada Post Shipping Rates API
The following PHP code is in relation to one of my recent videos which provides an overview on how to work with the Canada Post shipping rates API – you can watch the video posted in the sidebar. The code is pretty much broken down into three key steps outlined below:
Step 1:
Here i define the necessary variables required for the API and then pass those values into the XML request.
$env = "sandbox";
$customer_number = "000392384"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post company number
$username = $env == "sandbox" ? "998234kjsdfsdf" : "dfad9098234kj"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post API credentials
$password = $env == "sandbox" ? "2adfpoijksd9889234" : "kksd023lalsdf02398sdf"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post API credentials
$service_url = 'https://ct.soa-gw.canadapost.ca/rs/ship/price';
$origin_postal_code = 'L4L9Bk';
$destination_postal_code = 'L4B2B9';
$xmlRequest = <<<XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mailing-scenario xmlns="http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/ship/rate-v4">
<customer-number>{$customer_number}</customer-number>
<parcel-characteristics>
<weight>1</weight>
<dimensions>
<length>13</length>
<width>13</width>
<height>5</height>
</dimensions>
</parcel-characteristics>
<origin-postal-code>{$origin_postal_code}</origin-postal-code>
<destination>
<domestic>
<postal-code>{$destination_postal_code}</postal-code>
</domestic>
</destination>
</mailing-scenario>
XML;
Step 2:
The XML request is parsed through curl which sends the request to the service url and then retrieves the response from the Canada Post API.
$curl = curl_init($service_url); // Create REST Request
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
//curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_CAINFO, realpath(dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'])) . '/cert/cacert.pem');
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $xmlRequest);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $username . ':' . $password);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('Content-Type: application/vnd.cpc.ship.rate-v4+xml', 'Accept: application/vnd.cpc.ship.rate-v4+xml'));
$curl_response = curl_exec($curl); // Execute REST Request
if(curl_errno($curl)){
throw new Exception("Curl Error encountered.");
}
curl_close($curl);
Step 3:
Here i use SimpleXML to parse the XML response – if the response returns false i throw a new exception else i continue with parsing the response to retrieve the data that i require and then i send that data back to Javascript for further parsing.
//Use SimpleXML to parse xml response
libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
$xml = simplexml_load_string('<root>' . preg_replace('/<\?xml.*\?>/','', $curl_response) . '</root>');
if (!$xml) {
throw new Exception("XML Parsing Failed");
} else {
$ratesArray = [];
if ($xml->{'price-quotes'} ) {
$priceQuotes = $xml->{'price-quotes'}->children('http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/ship/rate-v4');
if ( $priceQuotes->{'price-quote'} ) {
foreach ( $priceQuotes as $priceQuote ) {
$ratesArray[] = ["service" => $priceQuote->{'service-name'}, "price" => $priceQuote->{'price-details'}->{'due'}];
}
}
}
if ($xml->{'messages'} ) {
$messages = $xml->{'messages'}->children('http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/messages');
}
//Rates have been fetched, continue to process $ratesArray data anyway you wish
}
Putting it all together:
The final code is executed through a try/catch block as seen below.
try {
$env = "sandbox";
$customer_number = "000392384"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post company number
$username = $env == "sandbox" ? "998234kjsdfsdf" : "dfad9098234kj"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post API credentials
$password = $env == "sandbox" ? "2adfpoijksd9889234" : "kksd023lalsdf02398sdf"; //Fake, replace with your CA Post API credentials
$service_url = 'https://ct.soa-gw.canadapost.ca/rs/ship/price';
$origin_postal_code = 'L4L9Bk';
$destination_postal_code = 'L4B2B9';
$xmlRequest = <<<XML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mailing-scenario xmlns="http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/ship/rate-v4">
<customer-number>{$customer_number}</customer-number>
<parcel-characteristics>
<weight>1</weight>
<dimensions>
<length>13</length>
<width>13</width>
<height>5</height>
</dimensions>
</parcel-characteristics>
<origin-postal-code>{$origin_postal_code}</origin-postal-code>
<destination>
<domestic>
<postal-code>{$destination_postal_code}</postal-code>
</domestic>
</destination>
</mailing-scenario>
XML;
$curl = curl_init($service_url); // Create REST Request
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST, 2);
//curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_CAINFO, realpath(dirname($_SERVER['SCRIPT_FILENAME'])) . '/cert/cacert.pem');
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, $xmlRequest);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPAUTH, CURLAUTH_BASIC);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_USERPWD, $username . ':' . $password);
curl_setopt($curl, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array('Content-Type: application/vnd.cpc.ship.rate-v4+xml', 'Accept: application/vnd.cpc.ship.rate-v4+xml'));
$curl_response = curl_exec($curl); // Execute REST Request
if(curl_errno($curl)){
throw new Exception("Curl Error encountered.");
}
curl_close($curl);
//Use SimpleXML to parse xml response
libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
$xml = simplexml_load_string('<root>' . preg_replace('/<\?xml.*\?>/','', $curl_response) . '</root>');
if (!$xml) {
throw new Exception("XML Parsing Failed");
} else {
$ratesArray = [];
if ($xml->{'price-quotes'} ) {
$priceQuotes = $xml->{'price-quotes'}->children('http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/ship/rate-v4');
if ( $priceQuotes->{'price-quote'} ) {
foreach ( $priceQuotes as $priceQuote ) {
$ratesArray[] = ["service" => $priceQuote->{'service-name'}, "price" => $priceQuote->{'price-details'}->{'due'}];
}
}
}
if ($xml->{'messages'} ) {
$messages = $xml->{'messages'}->children('http://www.canadapost.ca/ws/messages');
}
//Rates have been fetched, continue to process $ratesArray data anyway you wish
//Optional: This can be used to send data back to JS if required
echo json_encode(array(
'status' => 'success',
'rates' => $ratesArray,
));
}
} catch(Exception $e) {
//Catch errors here
//Optional: This can be used to send data back to JS if required
echo json_encode(array(
'status' => 'error',
'error' => $e->getMessage()
));
}
And that’s all you pretty much need if you require live Canada Post shipping rates. If you are working with another programming language such as Java or C sharp then you can reference the Canada Post API docs here.
If you have any questions or require assistance with your web project feel free to reach me at leo@digitalodyssey.ca
Cheers.
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