The UPS-style lookup uses two files for its purposes, both of which need to be in a format like UPS distributes for US shippers.
The zone file is a file that is usually specific to the originating location. For
US shippers shipping to
US locations, it is named for the first three digits of the originating zip code with a
CSV extenstion -- for example,
450.csv.
It has a format similar to:
low - high, zone,zone,zone,zone
The low entry is the low bound of the geographic location -- high
is the high bound. (By geographic location we mean zip code.) If the first digits of the zip code, compared
alphanumerically, fall between the low and high values, that zone is used
as the column name for a lookup in the rate database. The weight is used as the row key.
The first operative row of the zone file (one without leading quotes) is used to determine the zone column name. In the US, it looks something like
Dest. ZIP,Ground,3 Day Select,2nd Day Air,2nd Day Air A.M.,Next Day Air Saver,Next Day Air
MiniVend strips all non-alpha characters and comes up with:
DestZIP,Ground,3DaySelect,2ndDayAir,2ndDayAirAM,NextDayAirSaver,NextDayAir
Therefore, the zone column (shipping type) that you would use use for
UPS ground would be ``Ground'', and that is what the
database should be named. To support the above, you would want a shipping.asc line that reads:
upsg UPS Ground weight 0 150 u Ground [default zip 983]
and a catalog.cfg database callout of:
Database Ground Ground.csv CSV
You can change these column names as long as they correspond to the identifier of your rate database.
The rate database is a standard MiniVend database. For US shippers, UPS distributes their rates in a fairly standard comma-separated value format, with weight being the first (or key) column and the remainder of the columns corresponding to the zone -- which you obtain from the lookup in the zone file.
To adapt other shipper zone files to MiniVend's lookup, you will need to make it fit the UPS US format. (Most of the UPS international files don't follow the US format). For example, the 1998 Ohio-US to Canada file begins:
Canada Standard Zone Charts from Ohio
Locate the zone by cross-refrencing the first three
characters of the destination Postal Code in the Postal
Range column.
Postal Range Zone
A0A A9Z 54
B0A B9Z 54
C0A C9Z 54
E0A E9Z 54
G0A G0A 51
G0B G0L 54
G0M G0S 51
G0T G0W 54
You need to change it to
Destination,canstnd
A0A-A9Z, 54
B0A-B9Z, 54
C0A-C9Z, 54
E0A-E9Z, 54
G0A-G0A, 51
G0B-G0L, 54
G0M-G0S, 51
G0T-G0W, 54
and match it with a canstnd
CSV database that looks like
Weight,51,52,53,54,55,56
1,7.00,7.05,7.10,11.40,11.45,11.50
2,7.55,7.65,7.75,11.95,12.05,12.10
3,8.10,8.15,8.40,12.60,12.70,12.85
4,8.65,8.70,9.00,13.20,13.30,13.55
5,9.20,9.25,9.75,13.85,13.85,14.20
6,9.70,9.85,10.35,14.45,14.50,14.90
7,10.25,10.40,11.10,15.15,15.15,15.70
8,10.80,10.95,11.70,15.70,15.75,16.35
9,11.35,11.55,12.30,16.40,16.45,17.20
and is called out in catalog.cfg with:
Database canstnd canstnd.csv CSV
With the above, a 4-pound shipment to postal code E5C 4TL would yield a cost of 13.20.