The newest code has been deployed to TEST2 for developers to test their integrations. Due to the bugs in the SOAP library we depend on, we have now reverted the WSDL to RPC/Encoded. This will mean you will have to regenerate your client-side code if you've already started your development against DM API 3.x. The rest of the release is small bug fixes in preparation for the Christmas 2011 peak period.

It has become clear that there are serious compatibilty issues between the new API and .NET systems. This does not affect those integrating to DM API 2.x.

The latest version of Delivery Manager, including a large number of changes to the SOAP API, will be giong live Saturday 20th from 8pm until midnight. The system will be unavailable during that period.

The beta version of DM API 3.x is now available on http://test2.metapack.com/ for you to use. There are some big differences that affect the way you work. This article describes some of those differences.

 DM has been operating for five years and it has long been observed that the URL naming convention we adopted at the beginning is proving fallible. But it can can easily be bettered. Sometime in the near future (a date will be announced well before it occurs), we will be changing the URL pattern, whilst keeping it backwards-compatible. This article describes what we will do, and why we are going to do it.

The Incoterm DDU is being replaced with DAP. DM will continue to allow DDU but you really need to change your systems to start using DAP instead.

Delivered at Place (DAP) is defined as:

• The seller delivers the goods when they are placed at the disposal of the buyer on the arriving means of transport ready for unloading at the named place of destination
• Parties are advised to specify as clearly as possible the point within the agreed place of destination, because risks transfer at this point from seller to buyer
• If the seller is responsible for clearing the goods, paying duties etc.

The next major release of DM 3.x will incorporate API changes, and can be expected after January 2011. We are still open to your suggestions but need to schedule our work, so please get them to us before the end of October. That said, the changes we have already scoped and started have been suggested by integrators, and should cover off most of what everyone needs.

This article gives an overview of the forthcoming features that have already been accepted into scope.

We are now able to provide fake status tracking information for consignments "shipped" from the test platform. This enables you to complete the loop and see what reports would look like in the real world. At the moment, we only model a satisfactory delivery, rather than one which is carded, misrouted or damaged.

We do nothing more than provide the status. It will not trigger emails or any other event that could happen in the live systems.

Microsoft has done a sterling job with webservices. The tools, however, are somewhat cumbersome. The WSDL->C# code generator, wsdl.exe, produces code that is hardly developer-friendly. Moreover, the code does not support HTTP/1.0 by default. This article describes how to integrate with Delivery Manager.