Feature Pack 4Feature Pack 3

Tutorial: Extending a search profile to retrieve and display custom data in the storefront

Introduced in Feature Pack 3

In this tutorial, you learn how to create catalog data and display this data in the storefront by using the search-based catalog navigation noun.

The catalog programming model provides a consistent service-oriented architecture (SOA) based programming model for WebSphere Commerce storefronts. It uses the WebSphere Commerce search framework and the CatalogNavigationView search noun to move storefront catalog services from beans and service-oriented integration (SOI) to SOA.
Note: As the catalog programming model uses the WebSphere Commerce search framework, search-based navigation must be enabled in starter stores to use the SOA services.
In this tutorial, you extend the IBM_findCatalogEntrySummary search profile to return custom warranty data from the WebSphere Commerce schema. By extending the search profile, you add the new warranty fields to the search index.

Next, you customize the Business Object Mediator to map the new search results to the user data field of the CatalogEntryView noun. You customize this mediator by extending the business object mediator configuration to include the three new warranty fields warterm, wartype, and careinstruction.

You must then create an expression builder to retrieve warranty information from the search index to display in the storefront. You modify JSP files to use the getData tag to retrieve data from the expression builder.

Note:
  • Workspaces are not supported when you are completing this tutorial.
  • This tutorial is valid for the Deprecated featureMadisons starter store only.

Learning objectives

After completing this tutorial, you should be familiar with the following concepts:
  • Search profiles
  • CatalogEntryView noun
After completing this tutorial, you should be familiar with the following tasks:
  • Customize WebSphere Commerce search
  • Customize the catalog programming model
  • Extend a search profile
  • Customize the business object mediator
  • Create a custom get data configuration file

Time required

Expect this tutorial to take 2 hours to complete. The tutorial takes longer if you explore concepts that are related to this tutorial.

Skill level

This tutorial is intended for advanced WebSphere Commerce developers responsible for creating and customizing WebSphere Commerce BOD services. To complete this tutorial, ensure that you are familiar with the following terms and concepts:
  • WebSphere Commerce search
  • Web services
  • XML
  • WebSphere Commerce services
  • Relational databases
  • SQL

Audience

System requirements

Before you begin this tutorial, ensure that you completed the following tasks: