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User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
Developing
The topics in the Developing section describe tasks performed by an application developer.
Customizing WebSphere Commerce
You can extend the WebSphere Commerce product to fit your business needs. This topic describes the prerequisite skills and required knowledge that you need to customize business logic. After you have the required knowledge, use WebSphere Commerce Developer to take tutorials that guide you step-by-step through various customization scenarios.
Business relationship assets
Product sets in contracts
In WebSphere Commerce there are two different types of product sets: Product set business policies and Customized product sets.

User Guide
The information contained in this section applies to WebSphere Commerce Version 8. The documentation also applies to all subsequent releases and modifications until otherwise indicated in a newer section.WebSphere Commerce is a single, unified e-commerce platform that offers the ability to do business directly with consumers (B2C), directly with businesses (B2B), and indirectly through channel partners (indirect business models). WebSphere Commerce is designed to be a customizable, scalable, and high availability solution that is built to leverage open standards. It provides easy-to-use tools for business users to centrally manage a cross-channel strategy. Business users can create and manage precision marketing campaigns, promotions, catalog, and merchandising across all sales channels.
- Planning
  Creating a custom implementation of a WebSphere Commerce store requires a significant amount of planning. From gathering client needs, to deploying the live solution, much work is needed to successfully deploy a custom client store. Use the resources in here to help you plan every phase of store creation.
- Installing
  Review the following sections for information about installing the WebSphere Commerce product, associated maintenance, and WebSphere Commerce enhancements.
- Migrating
  Before you migrate to WebSphere Commerce Version 8.0, review this information to help plan and execute your migration.
- Deploying
  The topics in this section describe how to publish stores to either a test or production environment, and how to deploy customized code.
- Operating
- Integrating
  Topics in the Integrating category highlight the tasks that are commonly performed for using WebSphere Commerce in combination with other products.
- Administering
- Tutorials
  WebSphere Commerce provides many tutorials to help you customize and understand your WebSphere Commerce instance and stores.
- Samples
- Developing
  The topics in the Developing section describe tasks performed by an application developer.
  - Functional architecture
    Functional architecture provides both the set of patterns used to implement the business functionality and the frameworks in which these business functions execute.
  - Persistent object model
    WebSphere Commerce deals with a large amount of persistent data. There are numerous tables defined in the current database schema. Even with this extensive schema, however, you might need to extend or customize the database schema for your particular business needs.
  - 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.
  - Controller layer
    The Controller layer is the conductor of operations for a request. It controls the transaction scope and manages the session related information for the request. The controller first dispatches to a command and then calls the appropriate view processing logic to render the response.
  - Business logic layer
    The business logic layer is the business components that provide OAGIS services to return data or start business processes. The presentation layer uses these OAGIS services to display data, or to invoke a business process. The business logic provides data required by the presentation layer. The business logic layer exists because more than just fetching and updating data is required by an application; there is also additional business logic independent of the presentation layer.
  - Persistence layer
    The interaction between the business objects and persistence layer is isolated in an object called the Business Object Mediator. Business object document (BOD) commands interact with the Business Object Mediator to handle the interaction with the logical objects and how they are persisted.
  - Business model information model
    A business model, a representation of the business processes used throughout the site, provides a sample commerce solution which includes an organization structure, default user roles and access control policies, one or more starter stores, administration tools, and business processes that demonstrate best practices. A business model can be customized to support business requirements and scenarios. WebSphere Commerce provides sample business models that show some common commerce solutions. These business models are created by setting up an organization hierarchy structure, access control policies, stores, and contracts that help satisfy the necessary business requirements.
  - Business models
    Before starting to develop your site with WebSphere Commerce, you need to determine the business model supported by WebSphere Commerce that best represents the purpose of your site. Usually sites created with WebSphere Commerce will be implemented based on of one of these business models.
  - Store data information model
    Store data is the information that is loaded into the WebSphere Commerce Server database, which allows your store to function. The URL Registry Entries and View Registry Entries packages are included in the diagram, but they are not database assets. These entries are presentation configuration (that is, struts actions and forwards) that must be deployed. URL registry entries are shown in the diagram to illustrate the entire store data information model. To operate properly, a store must have the data in place to support all customer activities. For example, in order for a customer to make a purchase, your store must contain a catalog of goods for sale (catalog data), the data associated with processing orders (tax and shipping data), and the inventory to fulfill the request (inventory and fulfillment data).
  - Customizing WebSphere Commerce
    You can extend the WebSphere Commerce product to fit your business needs. This topic describes the prerequisite skills and required knowledge that you need to customize business logic. After you have the required knowledge, use WebSphere Commerce Developer to take tutorials that guide you step-by-step through various customization scenarios.
    - Understanding access control
      Access control in a WebSphere Commerce application is composed of the following elements: users, actions, resources, and relationships.
    - Supporting globalization
      The WebSphere Commerce architecture is designed to support globalization. Globalization is the proper design and execution of systems, software, services, and procedures so that one instance of software, running on a single server or end-user machine, can process multilingual data and present culturally correct data in a multicultural environment such as the Internet.
    - Adding and modifying price lists and price policies
      You can add additional price lists, if you require multiple price lists to support cost and list prices.
    - Business relationship assets
      - Setting the invoice format
        The format of invoices is defined in an optional business policy called InvoiceFormat, enforced by the Invoice task command. To set the format for generated invoices, you must import the account XML from a file, using the AccountImport command.
      - Creating business policy XML files
        While WebSphere Commerce provides a number of business policies that the terms and conditions in your store's default contract can reference, some business policies must still be defined by you. You must define any return charge, return approval, and pricing business policies that the store default contract terms reference. Commands for these business policies are provided and can be used without modification.
      - Default contract
        A default contract defines the default customer entitlement for a store or a group of stores. The default contract applies to all customers shopping at a store who do not have any other contract with the store, for example, guest customers. Also, the default contract will apply to customers buying products not covered by other contracts they have with the store if the customer is permitted to purchase products that are not covered by a contract.
      - Changing the default contract
        To modify the default contract without using the user interface, you need to export the default contract and make changes to the contract XML file and then import the modified contract.
      - Creating a default contract file
        In order to create a default contract, you must define the contract, the contract owner, the contract description, the contract participants, and the terms and conditions of the contracts. Contract information is stored in four tables: CONTRACT, PARTICIPNT, TRADING, and TERMCOND.
      - Creating a default contract asset
        The default contract defines the default behavior of a store. As with all contracts, you can set the available products, prices, payment methods, shipping methods, and other store behavior.
      - Enabling the AND operation for multiple contracts
        You can enable the AND operation for multiple contracts so that shoppers must be entitled to products under all contracts before they can purchase them. The default value is OR, where shoppers can purchase products if they are entitled to them under only one contract.
      - Invoice XML data
        Invoice XML data is generated for each order release when a pick batch for the release is generated and the account referenced by the contract for the order items includes the invoice term. This data is stored in the database/database/invoice.html database table.
      - XML, DTD, and XSD files for business and partner relationship management
        The following table outlines the XML, DTD, and XSD files that are important for contracts in a B2B direct or B2B indirect store. All files are found in the following directories:
      - DTD-based and XSD-based contracts
        WebSphere Commerce supports contracts based on two models: DTD-based contracts and XSD-based contracts. You can use the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to manage both DTD-based contracts and XSD-based contracts. Imported contracts can be either DTD or XSD based, but contracts will be exported in the XSD format.
      - Developing business policies
        In WebSphere Commerce, business policies are enforced with a combination of one or more business policy commands that implement the rules of the business policy. Each business policy command is a Java class. A business policy command can be shared by multiple business policies. The behavior of the business policy command is determined by the parameters passed to the command.
      - Purchase order number validation
        Purchase order numbers are validated during the order processing.
      - Product sets in contracts
        In WebSphere Commerce there are two different types of product sets: Product set business policies and Customized product sets.
      - Defined referral interface business policies
        WebSphere Commerce does not define referral interface business policies. For examples on how to create a referral interface business policy, refer to the TemplateReferralContract.xml file, which is located in the WC_eardir /xml/trading/xml directory.
      - Account terms and conditions
        Terms and conditions define how a contract is implemented for a customer organization. When the same terms and conditions are being applied to each contract in an account, it makes more sense to define the terms and conditions at the account level, so they can be inherited by all of the contracts under the account.
      - Contract terms and conditions
        Terms and conditions define how a contract is implemented for a customer organization. They define what is being sold under the contract; the price of the items being sold; how the items are shipped; how orders are paid for; how item returns are handled; how orders are approved; and where orders are shipped from.
      - ContractExport utility XML file encoding
        XML files generated by the ContractExport utility can be encoded in several ways.
      - Contract information according to business models
        When creating contracts for WebSphere Commerce, it is important to understand the business model in which you store is based, as well as the participants, usages, and XML elements for each business model, as outlined in the following table:
    - Catalog subsystem
      The catalog subsystem is a component of the WebSphere Commerce Server that provides online catalog navigation, partitioning, categorization, and associations. In addition, the catalog subsystem includes support for personalized interest lists and custom catalog display pages. The catalog subsystem contains all logic and data relevant to an online catalog, including catalog groups (or categories), catalog entries, and any associations or relationships among them.
    - Member subsystem
      The Member subsystem is a component of the WebSphere Commerce Server that includes data for participants of the WebSphere Commerce system. A member can be a user, a group of users (also known as a member group), or an organizational entity (which can be an organization, such as "IBM" or an organizational unit within an organization, such as "Electronic Commerce Division"). Business logic in the Member subsystem provides member registration and profile management services. Other services which are closely related to the Member subsystem include access control, authentication, and session management.
    - Currency
      You can display prices in your site in one currency, or you can use multiple currencies by following the instructions for the euro. For a site with multiple stores, you can use different currencies for the stores, or you can assign currencies to the store group. Depending on the type of site that you are creating, you can specify what currencies you want to use and how they are displayed. You can also allow customers to select a shopping currency.
    - Returns
    - Tax codes
      A tax calculation code indicates the tax calculation for order items. A store typically collects two type of taxes: sales or use tax, and shipping tax. The tax codes are unique within each tax type for a store. Only one tax calculation code of each tax type is applied to a particular order item.
    - Calculation framework
      Commerce systems need to calculate monetary amounts and apply them to business objects. Business rules and legal requirements specify how and when these monetary amounts should be calculated. When these rules and requirements change, a good commerce system can adapt to the changes with little or no programming changes.
    - Order Management subsystem
      The Order Management subsystem is a component of the WebSphere Commerce Server that provides shopping carts, order capture, order fulfillment, inventory, and payment function support.
    - Stored procedure error codes
      The following table describes the error codes that are returned by specific WebSphere Commerce stored procedures. You should receive these error messages only when a problem with the data requires further investigation by a technical person. If you receive one of these errors (other than error code 0) and you cannot determine the cause of the error, contact IBM WebSphere Commerce support for assistance.
    - Trading subsystem
  - WebSphere Commerce development environment
    WebSphere Commerce Developer is the development toolkit for customizing a WebSphere Commerce application.
  - Web services and WebSphere Commerce
    A web service is an interface that describes a collection of operations that are accessible through the network by using standardized XML messaging.
  - WebSphere Commerce Search
    WebSphere Commerce comes with a powerful and fully integrated search function. The search functions in WebSphere Commerce provide an enriched customer experience, with features such as automatic search term suggestions and spelling correction. Since it is built on open standards, WebSphere Commerce Search is highly flexible and extensible. Starter stores can use the search engine's most sophisticated features without requiring extra customization. A key feature of Search is that sales personnel can create and manage search term associations, and search-based merchandising rules, from within the Management Center and Store view.
- Compliance
  The following section describes how you can leverage WebSphere Commerce features and functionality to help your site be compliant with different privacy and security standards.
- Securing
  These topics describe the security features of WebSphere Commerce and how to configure these features.
- Performance
- Troubleshooting

WebSphere Commerce Enterprise

Product sets in contracts

In WebSphere Commerce there are two different types of product sets: Product set business policies and Customized product sets.

Product set business policies: A product set business policy is created from categories in a store's master catalog. If the product set business policy is created using the Product Management tools in the WebSphere Commerce Accelerator, the product set will be automatically maintained when products are added or removed from a master catalog category that is part of a product set business policy. That is, any products added or removed from the master catalog category will automatically added or removed from any product set business policy using that master catalog category.
Top-level catalog groups, also referred to as browsable product sets, can be browsed, but are not published. A browsable product set is indicated by a PRODUCTSET.PUBLISHTIME value of ZERO_VALUE. To improve performance, you can mark top-level category groups as browsable only. This improves the performance of contract import and contract deploy commands.
Customized product sets: A customized product set is created from categories and SKUs from the store's master catalog. Customized product sets cannot be shared between contracts nor can they be shared between terms in a contract. For example, a customized price list term and a customized product set exclusion term cannot share a customized product set; a customized product set must be created for each term.