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HCL Commerce is a high-availability, highly scalable and customizable e-commerce platform. Able to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per day, HCL Commerce allows you to do business with consumers (B2C) or directly with businesses (B2B). HCL Commerce uses cloud friendly technology to make deployment and operation both easy and efficient. 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. Business users can also use AI enabled content management capabilities.
Customizing
The topics in the Customizing section describe tasks performed by an application developer to customize HCL Commerce.
Presentation layer
HCL 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.
Customizing promotions
Customizing promotions can involve the customization of the promotion business user tools and the underlying promotion engine, which features a clean architecture supporting rich functionality, as well as a wide array of customization possibilities.
Promotion engine customization
You can customize the promotion engine if your customization scenario is not already supported by the existing promotion engine function.
Promotion engine components
The promotion engine comprises a series of configurable components. All of these configurable components are specified in a configuration XML file, WCSPromotionEngineConfig.xml. The promotion engine is configured per HCL Commerce instance; it is not possible to have different configurations for stores in the same instance.

Documentation
HCL Commerce is a high-availability, highly scalable and customizable e-commerce platform. Able to support hundreds of thousands of transactions per day, HCL Commerce allows you to do business with consumers (B2C) or directly with businesses (B2B). HCL Commerce uses cloud friendly technology to make deployment and operation both easy and efficient. 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. Business users can also use AI enabled content management capabilities.
- Getting started
  HCL Commerce has different advantages for business users, administrators and developers. HCL Commerce targets each of these roles with a tailored set of offerings so that each of your users can get maximum benefit.
- Installing and deploying
  Learn how to install and deploy HCL Commerce development environments and HCL Commerce production environments.
- Migrating
  Before you migrate to HCL Commerce Version 9, review this information to help plan and execute your migration.
- Operating
  Topics in the Operating category highlight tasks that are typically performed by business users, customer support representatives, to complete their day-to-day tasks in the operation of the HCL Commerce site.
- Integrating
  Topics in the Integrating category highlight the tasks that are commonly performed for using HCL Commerce in combination with other products.
- Administering
  Topics in the Administering category highlight tasks that are typically performed by the Site Administrator, to support daily operations of the HCL Commerce site.
- Customizing
  The topics in the Customizing section describe tasks performed by an application developer to customize HCL Commerce.
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  - Managed asset deployment
    Managed assets are files that are uploaded by business users to be used for store marketing, or to supplement products. They are added to HCL Commerce through the Assets tool or the Marketing tool in Management Center. By default, managed assets are extracted and deployed through the HCL Commerce EAR. To maintain performance in a large-scale production environment, site administrators must switch to alternative extraction and deployment methods for managed assets.
  - What's new for developers
    Learn about the new features and functions HCL Commerce offers developers.
  - HCL Commerce development environment
    HCL Commerce Developer is the development toolkit for customizing a HCL Commerce application.
  - 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
    HCL 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.
  - Creating your custom store
    After you install and set up your programming environment, you can create your custom store and customize your storefront. You must ensure that the store server is properly configured, and that your store assets are moved to the Store server.
  - Presentation layer
    HCL 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.
    - HCL Commerce Struts framework
      Struts is a well documented, mature and popular framework for building front ends to Java applications. To address concerns in software applications, it uses a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture: The Model represents the business or database code, the View represents the page design code, and the Controller represents the navigational code.
    - Spring framework
      The Spring Framework is a lightweight, open source programming and configuration model for developing Java based enterprise applications. This framework is used in HCL Commerce for building and configuring Management Center, including the managing of URL requests from Management Center to retrieve and process object data.
    - Management Center
      The Management Center for HCL Commerce framework is the foundation for HCL Commerce business user tooling. The business objects that are managed with Management Center are defined by the individual components that make up Management Center. The Management Center framework uses these definitions to provide the features that you can use to find, create, modify, and delete the defined business objects. If you plan to customize the Management Center, ensure that you understand the framework and all of the components that make up Management Center.
    - Developing Commerce Composer assets
      Enrich the capabilities of the Commerce Composer tool by developing your own widgets and templates, and extending other features and functions to suit your business needs.
    - Customizing promotions
      Customizing promotions can involve the customization of the promotion business user tools and the underlying promotion engine, which features a clean architecture supporting rich functionality, as well as a wide array of customization possibilities.
      - Promotions customization: Management Center
        If the default promotion types that are supplied with the Management Center do not meet your business needs, you can create custom promotion types. Business users can then use the custom promotion types in the Management Center Promotions tool to create promotions for the store.
      - Promotion engine customization
        You can customize the promotion engine if your customization scenario is not already supported by the existing promotion engine function.
        Promotion organization
        Promotions are owned by stores. They can be uniquely identified by the store they belong to, their name, version and revision. Promotions are organized into Promotion Groups, which are also owned by stores. Each promotion belongs to one, and only one, promotion group. Optionally, a promotion can be associated with a campaign.
        Promotion lifecycle
        A business user creates a promotion in the inactive state. From that point forward, the promotion can be activated, modified, and deleted.
        XMLizable interface and component model
        While learning about the architecture and design of the promotion engine, you will repeatedly encounter objects that implement the XMLizable interface. This is a fundamental interface that serves as the basis for the component model the promotion engine employs.
        Black box view of the promotion engine's architecture
        At the core of the promotion component is the promotion engine. The promotion engine is surrounded by three sets of APIs: the persistence management APIs, the dependency management APIs, and the Runtime APIs.
        Promotion engine components
        The promotion engine comprises a series of configurable components. All of these configurable components are specified in a configuration XML file, WCSPromotionEngineConfig.xml. The promotion engine is configured per HCL Commerce instance; it is not possible to have different configurations for stores in the same instance.
        Promotion engine flow during promotion evaluation
        The promotion engine evaluates promotions for customers while they shop on the storefront. The evaluation process has several stages and involves different components of the promotion engine.
        Promotion evaluation sequence development details
        The promotions engine uses a construct that is called a Promotion Execution Agenda to determine which promotions to evaluate and the evaluation sequence. The Promotion Execution Agenda also determines which policies govern each promotion during evaluation.
        Agenda builder
        The agenda builder builds a table that shows the relationship between promotions and polices during promotion evaluation. The agenda builder is a configurable part of the promotion engine.
        Sequence builder
        The sequence builder sorts the list of promotions that are returned by the agenda builder, and decides the order in which to evaluate promotions. The sequence builder is a configurable component of the promotion engine.
        Promotion events and listeners
        The promotion engine generates a number of events during its normal operation. Listeners wait for specific types of events to occur and then log the events.
        Promotion code manager
        The promotion code manager records promotion codes that a customer enters for an order. The promotion code manager is a configurable component of the promotion engine. By default, the promotion component supports a one-to-one mapping between promotion codes and promotions.
        Coupon manager
        A coupon is a piece of evidence that a customer is entitled to a promotion. Coupons are managed by the coupon manager, which is a configurable part of the promotion engine.
        Promotion anatomy
        A promotion is defined as an interface within the promotion engine, which means that different implementations of a promotion can be supplied by the developer who customizes the promotion engine. A default implementation is supplied for the interface, which follows a pattern-based model. This topic explains the model.
        Raising customer awareness of promotions
        Advertising promotions and rendering adjustments when promotions are applied to an order are not part of the core promotion infrastructure; other HCL Commerce mechanisms perform these functions.
        Customization scenarios
        You can customize various aspects of the promotions component, from creating a new promotion type to changing the way the agenda builder selects potentially applicable promotions for evaluation.
        Example: Promotion engine configuration XML file
        The configurable components of the promotion engine are specified in a configuration XML file, WCSPromotionEngineConfig.xml. The configuration file is stored in the workspace_dir\WC\xml\PromotionEngineConfiguration directory.
        Example: runtime promotion XML
        The runtime promotion XML is the name that is given to the XML representation of a promotion type. The promotion engine uses the runtime promotion XML to evaluate the promotion on the storefront.
        Purchase condition XML definition
        The purchase condition defines what customers must have in their shopping cart before they qualify for a promotion. If the order qualifies, the purchase condition defines the applicable reward. The purchase condition XML is part of the runtime promotion XML, which the promotion engine uses to evaluate promotions during the shopping flow.
        Example: XML representation of a purchase condition
        The runtime promotion XML is the name given to the XML representation of a promotion type. The purchase condition element is a key fragment of the full runtime promotion XML; it defines the purchase condition and reward for a given promotion.
        Example: Adjustment XML fragments
        Reviewing the XML representation of some common adjustments in the runtime promotion XML for a promotion type can help you understand how to customize an adjustment.
        Example: Filter XML fragments
        Reviewing the XML representation of some common filters in the runtime promotion XML for a promotion can help you understand how to customize a filter.
        Promotion DTD example
        The Promotions tool is not shipped with a DTD for the runtime promotion XML; however, this model DTD provides a perspective of what a promotion definition might look like.
        Default promotion policies
        The Promotions component has various default promotion policies, each with a default XML representation.
        Example: Adding support for a custom promotion type
    - Working with the promotions component configuration file
      Some Management Center components, like the promotions component, have customizable configuration files. These files contain properties that control certain component features.
    - Customizing marketing
      You can customize marketing features and objects to better meet the business needs of your site. For example, you can customize e-Marketing Spots, customer segments, activities, activity components, such as triggers, targets and actions, and more. Customization is supported for the Marketing tool in Management Center and for the storefront to display e-Marketing Spots.
    - Customizing price rules
      You can customize price rules to suit the business needs of your site. For example, you can create a new condition or action for business users to add to price rules. Customization is supported for both the Price Rule Builder tool user interface in the Catalog Filter and Pricing tool, and for the pricing services.
    - Customizing store preview
      You can customize store preview to add enhancements that help business users work more efficiently. These enhancements include the click-to-edit function and in-context preview function.
    - Customizing content versioning
      The content versioning feature is enabled for some objects in the Catalogs tool in Management Center. You can add or remove content versioning support for existing objects and custom objects by customizing both Management Center and HCL Commerce server.
    - Customizing the infrastructure component
      Customizing the infrastructure component provides you the ability to change configurable properties for Management Center and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) functionality.
    - Developing JSP pages
      To create JSP pages for HCL Commerce, you should have Rational Application Developer skills and JSP skills. You should also be familiar with JSTL.
    - HCL Commerce JSP programming best practices
      This section offers the following selection of JSP programming best practices, which promote development of reusable and easily maintainable JSP pages within the HCL Commerce store development framework:
    - Double-click handling in HCL Commerce
      The purpose of double-click handling in HCL Commerce is to prevent processing the same request twice to ensure data integrity within the system. When processing certain URL requests, such as OrderItemAdd, the double-click feature of HCL Commerce will identify whether the request from the online shopper is currently being processed and blocks the current request if that is the case.
  - 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. HCL 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 HCL Commerce, you need to determine the business model supported by HCL Commerce that best represents the purpose of your site. Usually sites created with HCL 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 Transaction 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 HCL Commerce
    You can extend the HCL 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 HCL Commerce Developer to take tutorials that guide you step-by-step through various customization scenarios.
  - Run Engine command framework
    The Run Engine command framework provides predefined commands, that you can use to change environment parameters or container configurations. This framework is built into the HCL provided Docker images.
  - Representational State Transfer (REST) services
    HCL Commerce uses Representational State Transfer (REST) services to provide a framework that can be used to develop RESTful applications on several platforms. These platforms can include web, mobile, kiosks, and social applications.
  - Web services
  - Search
    HCL Commerce comes with a powerful and fully integrated search function. The search functions in HCL Commerce provide an enriched customer experience, with features such as automatic search term suggestions and spelling correction. Since it is built on industry standards, HCL Commerce Search is highly flexible and extensible. Starter stores can use the search engine's most sophisticated features without requiring extra customization.
- Tutorials
  HCL Commerce provides many tutorials to help you customize and understand your HCL Commerce instance and stores.
- Samples
  Topics in the Samples category highlight the various samples that are provided with HCL Commerce.
- Compliance
  The following section describes how you can leverage HCL Commerce features and functionality to help your site be compliant with different privacy and security standards.
- Securing
  These topics describe the security features of HCL Commerce and how to configure these features.
- Performance
  Topics in the Performance section describe the means by which to plan, implement, test, and re-visit the optimization of HCL Commerce site performance.
- Troubleshooting
  Topics in the Troubleshooting section highlight common issues that are encountered with HCL Commerce, and how they can be addressed or mitigated.
- Reference
  Topics in the Reference section contain all of the HCL Commerce reference documentation.

Promotion engine components

The promotion engine comprises a series of configurable components. All of these configurable components are specified in a configuration XML file, WCSPromotionEngineConfig.xml. The promotion engine is configured per HCL Commerce instance; it is not possible to have different configurations for stores in the same instance.

For a complete configuration file, see sample promotion engine configuration XML file. The configuration file is stored in the workspace_dir\WC\xml\PromotionEngineConfiguration directory.