Order Total Modules

Adding fees and discounts to an order

Introduction

Zen Cart order-total modules are used to calculate (and display) sub-totals, taxes, totals and other intermediary values for an order. Order-total modules can also calculate discounts or other subtractions from the amount a customer owes for an order. Each module includes, at a minimum, two files:

  1. A class file: /includes/modules/order_total/my_order_total.php
  2. A language file: /includes/languages/current_language/modules/order_total/my_order_total.php

The language file contains all the translatable language text for the module while the class file contains the module’s processing portion.

Order Total Class

The class defined in /includes/classes/order_total.php handles the loading of the order-total modules during Zen Cart storefront order-processing.

Anatomy of an Order-Total Module

Each module can provide either basic or credit-class computations. Credit-class modules, like the Coupon (ot_coupon) or Gift Certificate (ot_gv) built into the Zen Cart base, can also operate on customer input during the checkout process.

Class Names

An order-total module’s filename (e.g. my_order_total.php) is also used as its class name:

class my_order_total extends base
{
  ...
}

Note: Unlike shipping modules, underscore characters (_) are allowed in order-total module names!

Class Variables

An order-total module’s class definition includes the following publicly-available variables, depending on the “mode” in which the order-total processes:

Variable Name Variable Type Basic Credit Class Description
code string Contains the unique “code” identifying this order-total; normally set to the module’s class name.
title string Identifies the title displayed for the module during the admin’s Modules > Order Total processing. This variable is normally initialized during class construction to a language-file definition.
description string Identifies the description displayed for the module during the admin’s Modules > Order Total processing. This variable is normally initialized during class construction to a language-file definition.
sort_order integer Identifies the relative order in which this module is processed; the value configured must be unique within a store’s Modules > Order Total settings. This value is used by the main order_total class (/includes/classes/order_total.php), which loads all active modules in ascending sort_order sequence.
output array Contains the order-total’s “output”, a PHP associative array containing the information to be displayed in an “orders-totals” section, e.g. on the checkout_confirmation page. See below for details.
credit_class boolean Identifies, if present and set to boolean true, that the module is a credit-class object. When a module indicates that it performs credit_class processing, that order-total module provides additional class methods.

The order-total’s output array contains the following fields:

Array “Key” Type Array “Value”
title string The descriptive text to accompany the module’s addition to (or subtraction from) the order.
value float The numeric value that the module applies to the order. Positive values add; negative values subtract.
text string The character-display value associated with the module’s numeric value. This value is normally created via call to the Zen Cart $currencies class and represents the currency-formatted value.

Class Methods

The methods provided by an order-total module depend on whether the module provides credit-class processing.

Basic Order-Total Class Methods

These methods are provided by all order_total modules.


__construct

A module’s class-constructor method performs initialization of its class variables and determines whether the module is enabled for the current order. Upon completion, the class variable enabled identifies whether (true) or not (false) the module is to be enabled for storefront processing.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    public function __construct ()
    {
    }

    ...
}

process

This method, normally called during the confirmation and processing phases of the checkout process, performs the module’s special calculations. If the module’s conditions are satisfied, the module adds (or subtracts) its cost from the order’s current total and, optionally, makes any tax-related adjustments to the order’s tax.

Basic process function processing is illustrated below.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...
    public function process ()
    {
        global $order, $currencies;

        ...

        if ($this_totals_conditions_are_satisified) {
            $order->info['total'] += $my_cost;
            $this->output[] = array (
                'title' => $this->title,
                'value' => $my_cost,
                'text' => $currencies->format ($my_cost, true,  $order->info['currency'], $order->info['currency_value']),
            );
        }
    }

    ...
}

check

This method, called from admin-level Modules > Order Total processing, returns a boolean value indicating whether (true) or not (false) the module is currently installed.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function check ()
    {
        global $db;
        if (!isset ($this->_check)) {
            $check_query = $db->Execute ("SELECT configuration_value FROM " . TABLE_CONFIGURATION . " WHERE configuration_key = 'MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_STATUS' LIMIT 1");
            $this->_check = !$check_query->EOF;
        }
        return $this->_check;
    }

    ...
}

install

This method, called from admin-level Modules > Order Total processing when the module is initially installed, sets the module’s configuration into the Zen Cart database. The example shows how to insert the common, required, configuration elements into the database for the my_order_total order-total module. If your order-total module requires additional settings, add them here.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function install () 
    {
        global $db;

        $db->Execute ("INSERT INTO " . TABLE_CONFIGURATION . " (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, set_function, date_added) VALUES ('Enable My Order Total', 'MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_STATUS', 'True', 'Do you want to enable "my order total" processing?', '6', '0', 'zen_cfg_select_option(array(\'True\', \'False\'), ', now())");
        $db->Execute ("INSERT INTO " . TABLE_CONFIGURATION . " (configuration_title, configuration_key, configuration_value, configuration_description, configuration_group_id, sort_order, date_added) VALUES ('Sort Order', 'MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_SORT_ORDER', '400', 'Sort order of display.', '6', '0', now())");

        ...

    }

    ...

}

keys

This method, called during admin-level Modules > Order Total processing, returns the database configuration “keys” associated with this order-total module. The configuration values are displayed for the module in the order specified by the returned array.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function keys () 
    {
        return array (
            'MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_STATUS', 
            'MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_SORT_ORDER'
        );
    }

    ...

}

remove

This method, called during admin-level Modules > Order Total processing to remove this module, removes all database changes (normally just configuration keys) associated with the order-total module.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function remove () 
    {
        global $db;
      	$db->Execute ("DELETE FROM " . TABLE_CONFIGURATION . " WHERE configuration_key LIKE 'MODULE\_ORDER_TOTAL\_MY_ORDER_TOTAL\_%'");
    }

    ...

}

Credit-Class Order-Total Methods

These methods are provided by an order-total module that identifies itself as a Credit Class module by setting its $this->credit_class variable to true. The Coupon (ot_coupon) and Gift Voucher (ot_gv) modules that are built into Zen Cart are examples of this type of order-total module.

Note: While many of the credit-class order-total modules include a method named pre_confirmation_check, that method is never called during the checkout process and can be safely removed (if not used internally).


credit_selection

This method, normally called during the payment stage of the checkout process, returns an associative array containing information describing any form-related elements associated with the module’s processing. If the module has no value to return for the current order, an empty array should be returned.

The module is given the opportunity to process these fields via future call to its collect_posts method.

The selection array returned uses the following structure:

Field Name Type Description
id string Normally set to the current module’s “code”, e.g. ot_my_order_total.
module string Normally set to the current order-total’s descriptive name. This value is displayed to the customer.
redeem_instructions string Normally set to a language-constant, describes to the customer what the module does and how its processed.
checkbox string Normally set to a text string containing HTML tags required for some special processing by the module.
fields array A basic array containing one array-element for each customer-configurable input field used in this module’s processing.

Each fields array element is also an associative array, using the following structure:

Field Name Type Description
title string The text to display for any HTML label associated with the current field.
field string The HTML input tag used to gather this field’s input.
tag string Identifies, if non-blank, the value to be used for the for attribute of the generated label tag.
class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function credit_selection () 
    {
        $input_field_id = 'disc-' . $this->code;
        $selection = array (
            'id' => $this->code,
            'module' => $this->title,
            'redeem_instructions' => MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_REDEEM_INSTRUCTIONS,
            'fields' => array (
                'title' => MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_ENTER_CODE,
                'field' => zen_draw_input_field ('my_redeem_code', '', 'id="' . $input_field_id . '"'),
                'tag' => $input_field_id
            ),
        );
        return $selection;
    }

    ...

}

collect_posts

This method is called during the payment and confirmation stages of the checkout process, allowing a module to gather, inspect and process the $_POST variables that it identified by its credit_selection method’s return. The method returns no value.

If the order-total module’s processing discovers an issue with the posted information, it is the module’s responsibility to display a message to the customer to describe the problem and redirect back to the checkout_payment page to allow the form-input to be re-displayed and updated by the customer.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function collect_posts () 
    {
       ...
    }

    ...

}

update_credit_account

This method is called during the processing stage of the checkout process by the order class’ create_add_products function for each product iteration, enabling an order-total module to have “visibility” into the specific products that are in the order.

The method’s purpose is to allow a module to decide whether the current product in the order should add something to a credit account. For example, for the Gift Voucher processing, a check is made to see if the product is a Gift Voucher and then adds the GV amount to the customer’s GV account. Another use would be to check to see if the product would give reward-points and add those points to the customer’s points/reward account

The method’s input is the integer index into the current order’s products array and the method returns no direct output.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function update_credit_account ($i) 
    {
        global $order;
        if ($order->products[$i]['name'] == 'Some Special Text') {
           ...
        }
    }

    ...

}

apply_credit

This method is called during the processing stage of the checkout process by the order class’ create_add_products method just prior to that method’s completion. The method takes no direct input and returns no direct value.

The method’s purpose is to enable a module to test whether the customer has chosen to apply a credit amount to their order, reducing the order’s final total. If so, the order-total module’s processing performs some action, e.g. for a Gift Voucher, the customer’s GV account is reduced by the amount applied to the order.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function apply_credit () 
    {
       ...
    }

    ...

}

clear_posts

This method is called during the processing stage of the checkout process and gives a module the opportunity to remove any session-related information for the just-completed order. The method neither takes nor returns any direct values.

class my_order_total extends base
{
    ...

    public function clear_posts () 
    {
       unset ($_SESSION['my_redeem_code']);
    }

    ...

}

Standard Configuration Settings

These common settings should be provided by all order-total modules:

Configuration Name Configuration Value
MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_STATUS Set to either ’true’ or ‘false’, identifies whether or not the module is currently enabled.
MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_SORT_ORDER Identifies the sort-order to be used when displaying this module.

Tips & Tricks

Procedurally, all configuration options for an order-total module named my_order_total should be named MODULE_ORDER_TOTAL_MY_ORDER_TOTAL_*, as should all language constants for the module, to ensure uniqueness of those constants.

Troubleshooting

Since the admin-level processing by Modules > Order Total loads all .php modules present in the /includes/modules/order_total folder, make sure that any backup files in that directory have the .php extension are renamed (use .php.bak or .php~), or errors will result during the admin loading.




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Last modified February 27, 2021 by pRose on charmes (91f57e5).