Each tool within the Management Center is
responsible for managing a set of objects (for example, creating,
editing, and saving an object). The Management Center supports
the following tools: the Catalogs tool, the Promotions tool, the Marketing
tool, the Installments tool, the Store Management tool, Catalog Filter
and Pricing tool, the Assets tool, and the Tasks tool. A developer
can also create a custom tool so that business users can manage store
tasks more efficiently.
Each tool within the Management Center is
a Business Object Editor, which is the main widget within the Management Center framework,
and it includes the various low level widgets that make up the framework.
The Business Object Editor is defined in the wcfBusinessObjectEditor class and
includes the following elements:
Menu bar. The Management Center includes
four menus within the menu bar: File, Edit, View, and Help. All actions
supported by the Management Center are
within the menu bar.
Toolbar. Click a button on the toolbar to quickly perform
a task. The toolbar actions are a subset of the most common tasks
you can perform using the Management Center.
Store list. Switch to another store by selecting the down
arrow next to your current store name. This list also contains a search
option, which you can use to find a store.
Find area. Search for objects by typing a keyword and selecting
a search object type from a list. You can also select the advanced
search option to refine your search.
Explorer filter. Filter the explorer view to display your
top-level object (for example, the screen capture shows the explorer
filter within the Catalogs tool, which is filtered to show only the
master catalog categories).
Explorer view. The explorer view allows you to navigate
through the objects with which you want to work. The entire frame
is the explorer view. You can expand and collapse the nodes in the
explorer tree to view and work with objects. For example, you can
expand a catalog until you reach the SKU level. The selected node
in the explorer view controls what displays in the main work area
(for example, if you click the SKUs node for the catalog, then a list
of SKUs for the catalog displays in the main work area. Likewise,
if you click a specific SKU within the hierarchy, then details of
that SKU display).
The explorer view always includes the Search
Results node (to allow you to return to a list of results
at any time) and Active Work node (to show
the objects you currently have open).
Main work area. The Management Center main
work area is controlled by what you have selected in the explorer
view and is displayed in the middle (largest) area of the user interface.
The main work area can display information in three views: list view,
properties view, or calendar view. You can also split the main work
area (horizontally or vertically) so that you can see two views at
once.
List view. One of the three views displayed in the main
work area. A list view lists objects in the form of a table. You can
view the list and select a specific row to see more details. You can
also reorder, hide, or show columns. If information is editable, you
can click the cell and edit on the spot.
Properties view. One of the three views displayed in the
main work area. A properties view shows details about an object and
is where you can edit the object. The properties view can contain
entry fields, check boxes, radio buttons, lists, tables, pull-down
sections, and tabs. You access the properties view from either selecting
to create a new instance of an object, or by selecting an existing
object from a list view.
Utilities view. The utilities view allows you to locate
and use objects that you want to reference or use with your current
object, without navigating away from the current view. For example,
while editing a product, you want to include a reference to another
product as a cross-sell item. Use the utilities view to search for
merchandise association items, and then drag an item from the utilities
view to merchandising association tab of the source product. The utilities
view includes three functions: search (to find objects by a system
search), browse (to find objects by looking through a directory structure
or hierarchy), and clipboard (a container to hold objects for later
use).