[ic] Interchange Vend::Payment and Business::OnlinePayment

[Mike Heins]

Quoting ivan-interchange-users@420.am (ivan-interchange-users@420.am):
> On Tue, Sep 17, 2002 at 11:18:50AM -0400, Mike Heins wrote:
> > Quoting ivan-interchange-users@420.am (ivan-interchange-users@420.am):
> > >
> > > What would be necessary to get the official support of Interchange for
> > > this project?  I'm completely willing to contibute my development
> > > time to making this happen, design the new API for Interchange's
> > > needs, and so on.  Please let me know.
> > 
> > Stability. My main worry in using a master payment class outside of
> > Interchange is that it would be installed every time a system was
> > updated, and there would be the potential for problems being introduced
> > due to version change, particularly with large numbers of
> > independently-maintained modules.
> 
> How would you like to address this problem?
> 
> Would you like the Business::OnlinePayment project to shoot for periodic
> stable releases including the base class and also stable, tested gateway
> modules, suitable for bundling with Interchange or other applications?
> 
> Would you like to ship Business::OnlinePayment and processor
> modules as part of Interchange, updating from the CPAN versions as you
> see fit?
> 
> Would you just like to make sure that myself and the other gateway
> module authors won't cause you support headache with sloppy, broken CPAN
> uploads?  :)

That's mostly it. 8-)

We don't want to be ultra-paranoid about this, obviously, but
until a track record is built you don't stop thinking about it.

> 
> Something else?
> 
> > Also, I like the idea of a result hash that is available so that
> > we can carry past payment status runs in our session for diagnosis.
> > I would want that added where it is available.
> 
> The "result hash" is the fields and values returned by the specific
> processor?  I'll make sure it is available.
> 
> > I would want to keep the configuration all in Interchange, though,
> > with no external config files necessary.
> 
> Business::OnlinePayment modules don't use config files - the application
> is responsible for keeping configuration information.  You pass the
> configuration when you create the object:
> 
>   $o = new Business::OnlinePayment( "Gateway",
>     gateway_option => 'value',
>     another_option => 'black cats',
>   );
> 
> The way I use Business::OnlinePayment in my application is to allow
> users to configure the hash of options.  That way they can make use of
> configure their gateway and make use of new gateway modules with no
> changes necessary to the application code.
> 
> Does that work for you?

Yes. I did figure it was that way, as my personal definition of a module
means that it should not rely on external config files (as opposed to
applications, which must).

> 
> > > Again, I'm not asking for any code here, I'm willing to do the necessary
> > > patches myself.  What I'm looking for is the "buy-in" that yes, this
> > > would be acceptable to the Interchange powers-that-be, and also your
> > > requirements for making that happen, i.e.:
> > > 
> > > - Is some sort of "ownership" of this project by the Interchange folks
> > >   necessary?  Host it on your CVS, allow you to make releases of the
> > >   gateway modules, etc.?  Let me know.
> > 
> > No, I don't think so. Obviously if we were bringing in a gateway or
> > two from our code, we would have it for that. 
> 
> From your code we'd probably want Signio and iTransact, maybe Skipjack.

It is there for the taking....

> CCVS if that's still a viable gateway.

Nope -- deader than the proverbial doornail. Its place is taken by
MCVE, I think.

> I don't think CyberCash is worth
> moving over - I understand it'll be turned off soon.

So they say. The first date I heard for turn-off was March 2001, and I
haven't heard anything from my CyberCash clients recently. I think
Verisign may be supporting it indefinitely for existing clients, since
the hurdles they placed with converting to Signio/Payflow meant they
lost as many clients to Authorizenet (me to Skipjack) as they converted.
I have converted just because I want to be Verispam^H^H^Hign-free. I
have moved all of my domains from Network Solutions, and any conversions
I do from CyberCash will be to Skipjack.

-- 
Mike Heins
Perusion -- Expert Interchange Consulting    http://www.perusion.com/
phone +1.513.523.7621      <mike@perusion.com>

Being against torture ought to be sort of a bipartisan thing.
-- Karl Lehenbauer