FAIL: UPS Developers Guide

I can’t describe the frustration and vile feelings I have for both UPS and FedEx at this point. I have had the unique experience of developing software for both the FedEx and UPS XML webservices.

My current frustration is due entirely to UPS’s complete lack of information on their online developer website. Their developer documentation is WORSE than FedEx’s. It’s ‘Developers Guide’ is an abortion of a document slapped together with crap and fluff.

The ‘Planning Your Applications’ section is particularly condescending and retarded. It’s written as if you’re a recently hatched dipshit who still thinks AOL is the Internets.

The ‘Working with HTTP and SSL in Application Program’ is another piece of crap section that should have been deleted. I read the section and envision some schmuck cranking this vomit out to satisfy his boss’s list of requirements for the document he sent in some email.

The sample code is worthless crap. The section explaining XML is a joke. Even the title of the document ‘RSS-WW-XML.pdf’ is stupid. RSS? WW? WTF?

The first 24 pages are weapons grade FAIL and should be avoided. The only useful piece of the document is found between pages 25 and 34. That’s right, 9 pages of anything that even resembles useful. This 9 pages of C- content details the XML query and response service messages.

So 13% of the document is not a total waste of bandwidth. That’s an F— overall.

My abridged version of the UPS XML Rates and Service Developers Guide:

Development URL: https://wwwcie.ups.com/ups.app/xml/Rate
Production URL: https://onlinetools.ups.com/ups.app/xml/Rate OR https://www.ups.com/ups.app/xml/Rate

UPS XML Schema: PDF
UPS Service Codes: PDF
Rates & Service Specifications: PDF

Country Codes: See ISO 3166
Currency Codes: See ISO 4217

You’ll need the following:
UserId & UPS Account Number: Link
Developers Key: Link
Access Key: Link

I will post a php class for UPS Online Tools (XML) shortly.

Next up DHL …