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User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to IBM WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0.0.9 and Feautre Pack 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in new editions.
Developing
The topics in the Developing section describe tasks performed by an application developer.
Presentation layer
WebSphere Commerce uses Java Server Pages (JSP) to implement the view layer of the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern. The view layer is in charge of retrieving data from the database through the use of data beans and formatting it to meet the display requirements. The view layers determines whether the request is sent to a browser or streamed out as XML. JSP files present a clean separation between data content and presentation.
WebSphere Commerce integration with WebSphere Portal
You can integrate WebSphere Commerce, a Business Application Service with WebSphere Portal, an Interaction Service. The Interaction Service provides core portal services (WebSphere Portal) that aggregate applications and content and deliver them as role-based applications. The Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) pattern is used for communication, mediation, transformation and integration with external systems. Using an ESB to integrate the Web services exposed from WebSphere Commerce to the WebSphere Portal promotes a loosely coupled design where the ESB manages the interactions styles between the WebSphere Commerce services and the presentation layer. You do not need to alter your presentation layer to support the protocol and format used by the WebSphere Commerce services. Instead, you rely on the ESB to perform tasks such as message transformation and protocol mediation. Neither WebSphere Commerce nor WebSphere Portal needs to change in order to communicate with one another. The ESB is used to act as an interpreter between the two systems and will translate the messages into a format the receiving system understands.
Customizing WebSphere Commerce Portal integration
There are two main approaches to Customizing WebSphere Commerce Portal integration. Using the provided WebSphere Commerce MVCPortlet class (MVC style), and Using WebSphere Portal general programming techniques (Web service style).
Using the provided WebSphere Commerce MVCPortlet class (MVC style)
The WebSphere Commerce Portlet, MVCPortlet, is a generic implementation of the MVC pattern. It allows you to set up one or more portlets, each with its own configuration, to call various WebSphere Commerce services. The goal of this MVCPortlet is to cleanly separate the model (application logic that interacts with a database) from the view (HTML pages that are presented to the client) and the controller (instance that passes information between view and model). This programming pattern greatly reduces code redundancy and maintains a consistent behavior across all WebSphere Commerce portlet actions.
Creating cooperative portlets
Cooperative portlets are portlets that are capable of interacting with other portlets of the same kind by sharing information. One or more cooperative portlets can automatically react to changes from a source portlet triggered by an action in the source portlet. Portlets that are targets of the event can react, where users are not required to make repetitive changes or actions in the other portlets. This provides coordinated and consistent behavior between the portlets and enhances the overall user experience.

Creating cooperative portlets

Cooperative portlets are portlets that are capable of interacting with other portlets of the same kind by sharing information. One or more cooperative portlets can automatically react to changes from a source portlet triggered by an action in the source portlet. Portlets that are targets of the event can react, where users are not required to make repetitive changes or actions in the other portlets. This provides coordinated and consistent behavior between the portlets and enhances the overall user experience.

For more information, see Cooperative portlets.

Creating cooperative portlets consists of three main steps.

For more information on how to use WebSphere Commerce Developer to program with cooperative portlets, see the Developing cooperative portlets topic.