Action shop:checkout_shipping_method

shop:checkout_shipping_method CMS action

Defined in	/modules/shop/classes/shop_actions.php, lines 1946-1961
Author	LemonStand eCommerce Inc.

Base action for the Shipping Method checkout page. This action is a part of the step-by-step checkout process. The Shipping Method page is the third step of the conventional step-by-step checkout process.

Note that there is another action - shop:checkout, which incorporates all steps of the checkout process and allows to build the AJAX-driven checkout page, where all steps of the checkout process are displayed one by one on a single page. That sort of checkout process is implemented in our Demo Store. As contrasted with the shop:checkout action, the step-by-step checkout actions allows you to build a checkout process with separate pages. Also, using these actions you can customize the checkout process. For example, it is possible to skip some checkout steps and implement simplified checkout scenarios. Please refer to the Creating the One-Step Checkout article for the example of customizing the checkout process.

Watching the cart content changes

It is possible that a customer can change the content of the shopping cart during the checkout process. It can be done in a separate browser window. It is recommended to check whether the shopping content has not been changed after the checkout process started. LemonStand automatically saves the cart content identifier to the memory on the Billing address information step (the first step in the checkout process). You can place the following code in the Pre Action Code field of the Action tab of all your checkout pages, excluding the billing address information step.

if (Shop_CheckoutData::get_cart_id() != Shop_Cart::get_content_id())
  Phpr::$response->redirect('/checkout_billing_information');

The code compares the saved cart content identifier with a current identifier, and if they do not match, redirects the browser to the first step of the checkout process. Please use an actual value for the URL of the first checkout step of your online store.

Supported form fields

Field	Type	Description
shipping_option	string	an identifier of selected shipping method. Required.
redirect	string	specifies an ULR of a page to redirect the browser after processing the form data.
submit	string	a name of the SUBMIT input element.
cart_name	string	specifies the shopping cart name.

Generated PHP variables

Variable	Type	Description
shipping_options	array	a list of available shipping options.
shipping_method	object	a PHP object representing a shipping method previously selected by the customer, if any.
discount	float	estimated cart discount.
cart_total	float	cart total amount (subtotal).
estimated_total	float	an estimated total value.
estimated_tax	float	an estimated tax value.

Built-in AJAX handlers

Handler	Description
shop:on_checkoutSetShippingMethod	Processes the form in AJAX mode.

Supported form field details

¶ shipping_option form field

An identifier of selected shipping method. Required. You can use either radio button set or a SELECT element for representing a list of available shipping methods.

¶ redirect form field

Specifies an ULR of a page to redirect the browser after processing the form data. Use a hidden field for this value. If you are implementing a conventional checkout process, a value of this field is an URL of the checkout Payment Method page. Note that if your copy of LemonStand is installed in a subdirectory, you need to use the root_url() function in the redirect field value.

¶ submit form field

A name of the SUBMIT input element. The submit button should have name submit if you are implementing a regular POST form. Alternatively you can create an AJAX form with shop:on_checkoutSetShippingMethod handler.

¶ cart_name form field

Specifies the shopping cart name. LemonStand support multiple shopping cart. By default the cart named main used.

Generated PHP variable details

¶ shipping_options variable

array $shipping_options;

A list of available shipping options. Each element in the array is an object of the Shop_ShippingOption class.

¶ shipping_method variable

object $shipping_method;

A PHP object representing a shipping method previously selected by the customer, if any. The object has the following fields:

id - an identifier of the shipping method in LemonStand database.
quote - specifies the shipping quote.
name - specifies the shipping method name.

You can use this variable for pre-selecting an item in the shipping method list.

¶ discount variable

float $discount;

Estimated cart discount. You can display this value during the checkout process.

¶ cart_total variable

float $cart_total;

Cart total amount (subtotal).

¶ estimated_total variable

float $estimated_total;

An estimated total value. This value is calculated on each step of the checkout process, taking into account price rules and known information about the customer.

¶ estimated_tax variable

float $estimated_tax;

An estimated tax value. The value includes the sales tax and shipping tax.

Built-in AJAX handlers details

¶ shop:on_checkoutSetShippingMethod AJAX handler

Processes the form in AJAX mode. Use this handler for creating a button, or link, for sending the form data to the server and redirecting the browser to a next checkout step. Example:

<input 
  type="image" 
  src="/resources/images/btn_next.gif" 
  alt="Next" 
  onclick="return $(this).getForm().sendRequest('shop:on_checkoutSetShippingMethod')"/>

LemonStand API