Getting the rate of a specific service - EasyPost - php

Question

I currently have EasyPost creating a shipment. When I create the shipment it provides me with all the available services and rates.
I would like to dynamically select service and only return that rate.
I originally would read through the array using the index number (I guess that how to describe it).
The problem with this is every time I create a new shipment the order of the rates array changes so what would have been $shipment->rates[0]['rate'] would be express and then the next time first class.
I want to create a shipment with "Express" and only return that rate.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Here is my code:
$name = $this->thiscustomer->cust_first . ' ' . $this->thiscustomer->cust_first;
$street_1 = $this->thiscustomer->street_1;
$street_2 = $this->thiscustomer->street_2;
$city = $this->thiscustomer->city;
$state = $this->thiscustomer->state;
$zip = $this->thiscustomer->zip;
$weight = $this->weight;
$packaging = $this->packaging;
$service = $this->service;
$caddress = $this->consultant->address;
$cstreet_1 = $this->consultant->street_1;
$cstreet_2 = $this->consultant->street_2;
$ccity = $this->consultant->city;
$cstate = $this->consultant->state;
$czip = $this->consultant->zip;
$cname = $this->consultant->first_name . ' ' . $this->consultant->last_name;
$cuser_id = $this->consultant->user_id;
require_once(dirname(__FILE__) . '/lib/easypost.php');
\EasyPost\EasyPost::setApiKey('KUk4fZUI6YaYc1h0FiIXFw');
$shipment = \EasyPost\Shipment::create(array(
'to_address' => array(
"name" => $name,
"street1" => $street_1,
"street2" => $street_2,
"city" => $city,
"state" => $state,
"zip" => $zip
),
'from_address' => array(
"company" => $cname,
"street1" => $cstreet_1,
"street2" => $cstreet_2,
"city" => $ccity,
"state" => $cstate,
"zip" => $czip
),
'parcel' => array(
'weight' => $weight,
'predefined_package'=> $packaging
),
'rates' => array(
'service' => $service
)
));
echo $shipment->rates[0]['rate']. '<br>';

Answer 1

In EasyPost's Getting Started Guide there is an example of buying a specific carrier+rate:
$shipment->buy($shipment->lowest_rate(array('USPS'), array('Express')));

Answer 2

you can get different rates through below lines of code
if(!empty($shipment->rates))
{
$count = 0;
foreach($shipment->rates as $rate)
{
$serviceRates[$count] = [
'service' => $rate->service,
'carrier' => $rate->carrier,
'rate' => $rate->rate,
'currency' => $rate->currency,
'delivery_days' => $rate->delivery_days
];
$count++;
}
}
else
{
echo 'no result fond for given address';
}
print_r($serviceRates);

Answer 3

#KFunk is correct that EasyPost does not provide a native way to accomplish what you are asking since this use case is unique to you. The EasyPost client libraries provide all the functions needed to interact with the API; however, all of the business logic is left to the user.
If you want to create a shipment but only show a single rate to the user, you will need to filter out the other rates in your own application. To do this, you can follow the simple example here:
<?php
\EasyPost\EasyPost::setApiKey($_ENV['EASYPOST_API_KEY']);
// Create your shipment, the response will contain all rates for all configured carriers
$shipment = \EasyPost\Shipment::create([
'to_address' => [
'name' => 'Dr. Steve Brule',
'street1' => '179 N Harbor Dr',
'city' => 'Redondo Beach',
'state' => 'CA',
'zip' => '90277',
'country' => 'US',
'phone' => '3331114444',
'email' => 'dr_steve_brule#gmail.com'
],
'from_address' => [
'name' => 'EasyPost',
'street1' => '417 Montgomery Street',
'street2' => '5th Floor',
'city' => 'San Francisco',
'state' => 'CA',
'zip' => '94104',
'country' => 'US',
'phone' => '3331114444',
'email' => 'support#easypost.com'
],
'parcel' => [
'length' => 20.2,
'width' => 10.9,
'height' => 5,
'weight' => 65.9
]
]);
$rates = $shipments->rates;
// Filter out all the rates that aren't the desired one, in this case - `Express`
$expressRate = null;
foreach ($rates as $rate) {
if ($rate->service == "Express") {
$expressRate = $rate;
break;
}
}
// Return $expressRate to your UI or do with it what you need
echo $expressRate;
Relying on array ordering is an antipattern that should be avoided. Array indices are never guaranteed to remain in the same order and do not have a strong bond to the data in question.
For further help with the EasyPost API specifically, you can reach out to our support team via support#easypost.com. Best of luck!