Download 04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview

04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
John Tullis
DePaul Instructor
[email protected]
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John Tullis
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
What is Net.Commerce?
Net.Commerce
 The Shopper
 The Merchant
 The Administrator

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
IBM Net.Commerce
Allows merchants to showcase their
products and services and enable
immediate purchases globally over the
internet's World Wide Web.
 Allows for a single virtual store environment
or a mall environment with many virtual
stores

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce People

Net.Commerce takes into consideration 3
types of user groups.
The Shopper
The Merchant
The Administrator

Merchant
Shopper
Administrator
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Shoppers

Shoppers can :
–browse
on-line multi-media catalogues
–register themselves with the store
–join special shopping groups for discount prices
–maintain their own electronic shopping carts
–order items from their shopping cart
–can pay directly using credit card payments
–monitor the status of their purchases
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Merchants

Merchants can :
–create
their own electronic stores
–modify the store appearance
–directly modify the product & price information
that is store in the database
–offer special prices to different shopper groups
–accept credit card payments on-line
–track demographic information
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Administrator

Administrator can :
–Open
and Close stores on the site
–Administer user access and scope to other
users
–Provide Shipping services
–View Shopper information
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Summary of Features
Dynamic, customizable, multi-media on-line
catalog
 Dynamic Content
 Shopper Tracking (Registration)
 Highly Customizable Environment

–Data
Model
–Powerful Macro Language
–Flexible API's
–Dynamic Error Handler
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Knowledge Level

Required Skills
–Comfortable
with AIX, Solaris, AS/400, OS/390
or Windows NT platforms
–Internet Protocol (SSL, HTTP, HTTPS)
–Webserver configuration (Lotus Go, Netscape)
–Relational Database Concepts (DB2, Oracle);
Basic SQL, SQL scripts
–WWW Knowledge, HTML, CGI
–Net.Data, C/C++/Java, Javascript
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Functional Components of
Net.Commerce
Overall Picture
 Secure Web Server
 Database Management
System
 Net.Commerce

– Server
– Administrator
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
The Net.Commerce System
Composed of 3 components
 Net.Commerce component

–Net.Commerce
Server
includes IBM Net.Data functionality
–Net.Commerce Administrator

2 other components
–IBM
Lotus Go (or Netscape enterprise server)
–IBM DB2 (or Oracle database server)
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Net.Commerce System Diagram
The Net.Commerce System
Net.Commerce
Administrator
Site Manager
Net.Commerce Server
Director
Daemon
Store Manager
Template
Designer
Netscape Enterprise
Server Webserver
Merchant
Shopper
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Oracle
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Lotus Go (or the NES)
The Net.Commerce System
Net.Commerce
Administrator
Site Manager
Net.Commerce Server
Director
Daemon
Store Manager
Template
Designer
Netscape Enterprise
Server Webserver
Merchant
Shopper
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Oracle
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Security on the Internet
The nature of the internet is that it is an
insecure network.
 Information that travels across the network
could potentially be examined, copied or
altered by unwanted viewers
 Thus, this information needs to be protected
while it is traveling from the shopper to the
merchant (or vice versa)

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Secure Web Servers

Control the flow of secure transactions over
the internet.
–They
provide us with the security we need to do
business on the internet

There are several levels of security that are
addressed by a secure web server
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Levels of Security
Confidentiality
Message content remains private
Integrity
Messages are not altered while being transmitted
Accountability
Both parties agree the exchange happened
Authenticity
Both parties trust each other
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
SSL Ensures Security
Secure web servers use security protocols
to secure transactions
 Net.Commerce uses the SSL protocol
 SSL = Secure Sockets Layer Protocol

–Uses
RSA public key technology
–Uses the concept of keys to encrypt and decrypt
messages
–128 bit encryption within North America
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
SSL - Facts and Features
SSL uses both symmetric key and
public/private key techniques
 Public/private key is used during the
handshake phase to agree upon the
symmetric key.
 Symmetric key is used for encrypting the
bulk data transmitted
 SSL also uses secure hash functions to
ensure data integrity

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Webserver - Communications
Browser
1
Browser
2
Browser
3
Browser
n
Webserver (Lotus Go or Netscape)
<host>/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;InterestItemDisplay
<host>/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;LogonForm
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Server Diagram
The Net.Commerce System
Net.Commerce
Administrator
Site Manager
Net.Commerce Server
Director
Daemon
Store Manager
Template
Designer
Lotus Go
DB2
Merchant
Shopper
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Server
Controls the flow of information that is
displayed to shoppers and provided by
shoppers during their shopping trip
 Consists of 2 components

–Director
–Daemon
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
The Director

Allows 2-way communication between :
–IBM
Webserver or Netscape Enterprise
Server
–Net.Commerce Server Daemon
With each request the web server
connects to a separate instance of the
Director
 Communicates via TCP/IP with the
daemon to quickly access the
Net.Commerce database

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The Director
Webserver (IBM or Netscape)
Request
Request
Request
Director
Director
Director
ncommerce3
ncommerce3
Daemon
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ncommerce3
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
The Director = NCOMMERCE3
CGI program called "ncommerce3" on AIX,
Solaris, or NT hosts.
 When it receives a request:
–Determines
if the browser supports SSL
–Takes care of session management
–Parses the command (request) and passes it to
the Daemon so that it can do the necessary
work
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
CGI Programs

CGI = Common Gateway Interface
–a
standard interface between Web servers,
external programs and databases

Can be written in any language supported by
the OS of the server
–The
Director (ncommerce3) is written in C++
–Technically not really CGI - Webserver calls via
API call and communicates via TCP/IP - and so is
more efficient
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Session Management
The Web Server is stateless:
–IN - OUT - FORGET!
–Need a way to keep track of the different
shoppers that enter your site
Each shopper is assigned an ID
An anonymous shopper is a assigned a
temporary random string - ytre83h
A registered shopper is identified by a login ID
that they create at registration time - jtullis

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Session Management
When a shopper first visits the Net.Commerce site,
they are assigned a temporary ID
When the shopper registers or logs in, then their
temporary ID is replaced with their Login ID
When you are logged in with one ID, then that ID
will stay with you throughout that entire Browser
session
To change IDs, you must start a new Browser
window

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Netscape Cookies
Netscape cookies are used to identify the shopper
a file is kept on the client's machine
enables the server to store client-specific
information on the client's machine and use that
information when a server on a particular page is
accessed by the client
user information passed to the server via a cookie
allows the server to personalize pages according
the information that is passed.

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Commands
Net.Commerce commands are parameters
which tell the daemon what to do
 Commands have 3 parts

–command
& parameter type : indicated by a ;
–values : indicated by a ?
/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;<command & parameter>?<values>
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Commands
Command Parsing Example
–/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;InterestItemAdd?merchant_rn=123&product_rn=654
;
<command> = InterestItem
<parameter> = Add
?
<values> = merchant_rn=123&product_rn=654
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Server - Daemon

They are background tasks that sit there in
a process pool waiting for something to
happen and then handle it
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
The Daemon
Maintains a continuous connection to the
database
 Displays store pages dynamically

–Interprets
Net.Data files to be able to do this e.g, shopcart.d2w is processed for the HTML to
display the shopping cart
–Also processes DLL API commands - e.g,
ORD_PROD_TOT calculates total charges for
an order
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
The Daemon
Director
Main Daemon
ncommerce3
...
Daemon
Daemon
Daemon
mserverd
mserverd
mserverd
Net.Commerce Database
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Net.Data Functionality
Used to allow the creation of macros
 Macros allow for dynamic generation of web
pages by doing SQL queries to a database
then formatting the results with HTML tags
 Executes all store functions
 Integrates with Javascript, enables calls to
C++ programs (however, working with the
OverRideable Functions is the
recommended approach)

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Net.Commerce Server Overview

AllBrowser
togetherCGI/Director
...
Browser
CGI/Director
Browser
CGI/Director
Browser
CGI/Director
Main Daemon
Net.Data as DLL in Daemon
1
2
1
3
2
3
Permanent DB
Connections
TCP/IP
Browser
Web Server
DB2 or Oracle DB
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Oracle (or DB2)
The Net.Commerce System
Net.Commerce
Administrator
Site Manager
Net.Commerce Server
Director
Daemon
Store Manager
Template
Designer
Netscape Enterprise
Server Webserver
Merchant
Oracle
Shopper
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Oracle/DB2
Database management system
 Contains all information about the :

–site
(mall)
–store
–goods and services
 shoppers and their purchases

Database Tables are described in the
"Net.Commerce Customization & Reference Guide"

Handles client/server communications
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Administrator
The Net.Commerce System
Net.Commerce
Administrator
Site Manager
Net.Commerce Server
Director
Daemon
Store Manager
Template
Designer
Netscape Enterprise
Server Webserver
Merchant
Oracle
Shopper
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Net.Commerce Administrator
A suite of tools to create and maintain
Net.Commerce mall and stores
 Consists of

–Site
Manager
–Store Manager
–Template Designer
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Site Manager

Used to perform the following tasks:
–Create
& maintain Site Information
–Create & maintain User Access information
–Create & maintain store records
–View Shopper information
–Create and maintain customized options
–Create and maintain shipping providers
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Store Manager

Used to perform the following tasks :
–Enter
or change store information
–Create & manage product categories
–Create & manage product information
–Create & manage Shopper groups
–View Shopper information
–Manage Shipping services
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Template Designer
Used to create and update page layouts for
the mall and store
 A graphical object oriented HTML Editor

–Almost
WYSIWYG
–Has built in knowledge of database fields, builds
SQL statements automatically
–Note: You are not forced to use this tool to
create your page layouts
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Template Designer (Almost WYSIWYG)
Page Layout
Page Result
Hardware Store
$(V_iidesc)
Welcome!
Come
<h2> Welcome!
</h2>
Come...
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Template Designer (Dynamic)

It is customized to link into the
Net.Commerce database to create pages
that are dynamically created at run-time with
the latest information.
Hardware
Store
Hardware Store
$(V_desc)
Hardware Store
Oracle
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Welcome!
Come
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Store Wizard (Dynamic)
Create 2 B2C and 1 B2B store.
 Chose different “styles” when creating store.
 Can use instead of Net.Commerce Store
Manager when doing creation of store.

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Installation and Configuration
Planning
 Firewalls
 Installation
 Configuration
 Security
 Test
 Maintenance

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Planning for your Web Site

Need to determine :
–Performance
setup
Single or Multiple machine setup
–Security of transmission of information
Verisign vs Self-Signed
–Protection of Server and Database
Firewalls Setup
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Single or Multiple Machine Setup

Single Machine Setup
–Both
Net.Commerce server and database are
on the same machine

Multiple Machine Setup
–Computer
#1
Contains the Net.Commerce Server
–Computer #2
Contains the Net.Commerce Database
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Single Machine Setup
Client
Internet World Wide Web
Server
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Multiple Machine Setup
Network
Database
Server #1
Server #2
Server #n
Router
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Multiple Machine Setup Benefits
Workload will be distributed among other
machines
 If one machine is down, the other machines
can pick up the load (If configured)
 The database can be installed on a more
powerful machine, thus allowing more
transactions to be processed in a smaller
period of time

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Setting up Security

Need to create a key ring file:
–Certificate
Signed by a trusted third party such as Verisign
–Client Key (Public Key)
Is used to encrypt messages for the server
–Server Key (Private Key)
–Used to decrypt message from the client

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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Configuration

Several files need to be configured
–ncommerce.ini
(Net.Commerce daemons)
–db2www.ini (Net.Data)
–srvrctrl.ini (Server pool configuration)
–obj.cnf (Netscape Webserver)
–httpd.cnf (IBM Webserver)
–The
Net.Commerce database tables need
to be created.
 This is all done from the Browser
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ncommerce.ini configuration
Needed
for proper daemon operation
–DB_RETRY_LIMIT - the number of times to attempt
to connect to the DB
–DB_RETRY_INTERVAL - number of seconds
between retry attempts
–MACRO_PATH - the fully qualified names of the
directories that contain the Net.Commerce macro files,
separated by colons
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ncommerce.ini configuration
Needed
for proper daemon operation
–MERCHANT_KEY - the string the system uses to
encrypt the password file and the passwords in the
database
–MS_DBINST - name of the instance that owns the
database
–MS_DBNAME - name of the database
–MS_DBPASS - encrypted password used for database
access
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ncommerce.ini configuration
Needed
for proper daemon operation
–MS_HOSTNAME - fully qualified domain name of
your Net.Commerce host
–MS_HTADMIN - must be set to: <path
to>/htadm_ns.exe when running the Netscape
Enterprise Server (NES)
–MS_HTPASS - must be set to: <NES install
path>/authdb/ncuser
–MS_LOGPATH - fully qualified path to directory
where logfiles are written
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ncommerce.ini configuration
Needed
for proper daemon operation
–MS_NUM_CHILD - number of daemons to run
(default is 2 per CPU) - for performance, 4 per CPU is
recommended.
–MS_PORT - the port number the Director uses to talk
with the parent daemon
See the NT installation documentation for other
settings.
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
DB2WWW.INI configuration
–MACRO_PATH
- specifies the fully qualified
directory paths, separated by colons, for the macro
files
–INCLUDE_PATH - specifies the fully qualified
directory names for the files referenced by
%INCLUDE statements in the Net.Data files
–Also specifies calling C programs, e.g., for updating
the shopcart.
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
After Installation
After successful install - using NCINST.PDF:
– Go to Chapter 8 to create the store.
– Click on Tutorials under the Online Help (in the
Administrator tool)
– Ignore any references to Etill or SET - you don’t
care about a payment gateway
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Starting the Server
NT
 1) Ensure that your database management
system is started. If you are using Oracle,
refer to Oracle’s documentation.
 2) On a Windows NT user ID with
Administrator authority, click Start, point to
Settings, and click Control Panel.
 3) On the Control Panel window, double-click
the Services icon.

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Starting the Server
• 4) For each Net.Commerce instance that you
wish to start, do the following:
–a. From the Service list, select Net.Commerce –
instance_name, where instance_name is the
name of the instance that you wish to start. By
default, the instance name is mser if you are
running only one instance.
–b. Click Start to start the instance.
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Stopping the Server
1) On a Windows NT user ID with Administrator authority, click
Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2) On the Control Panel window, double-click the Services icon.
3) For each Net.Commerce instance that you wish to stop, do
the following:
a. From the Service list, select Net.Commerce –
instance_name, where instance_name is the name of the
instance that you wish to stop. By default, the instance
name is mser if you are running only one instance.
b. Click Stop to stop the instance.
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Skill categories to maintain site
Internet marketing
and strategy
formulation
Website design
& development
Systems integration
& programming
Total Project Management
Creative Site Layout &
Design
Project management &
business re-engineering
Graphics, Animation &
Video Production
Integration of Web-collected
data with existing legacy
order-entry systems
Innovative Site Marketing
Strategies
Search engine registration
& other web advertising
HTML, Javascript,
Net.Data, C, SQL,
shell scripting, Java
Site Hosting &
Maintenance
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Multi-Platform API
Programming - MQSeries,
Java, C++; EDI
Database Design &
Programming
04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
Command information
Command
type - All buttons and hyperlinks on store pages
map to commands that are embedded in URLs. Depending on
the kind of function it performs, a command is either a
user-interface (UI), or a non-user-interface (non-UI) command.
Non-UI commands - Process and write information to the
Net.Commerce database. For some non-UI commands, the
Net.Commerce system calls APIs for part of the processing.
UI commands - retrieve information from the Net.Commerce
database and display store pages. They achieve this by calling
macros that contain SQL statements, HTML tags, Net.Data
statements, and Javascript; all of which you can modify.
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Command conventions
Ensure
that there are no spaces between keywords, delimiters,
and variables.
Enter parameters in any order.
Enter keywords in lower case.
Enter variables that represent column names and table names
in lower case.
 Replace spaces in values with plus signs (+).
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Command conventions
The
basic command syntax is diagrammed thusly:
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Address Command group
Address
- performs all non-UI functions for the shopping process,
"Working with the address book". The following are the address
book commands:
–AddressAdd?sanick=name. Some additional params
are: SALNAME,SADDR1,SACITY,SASTATE ,SACNTRY,SAZIPC.
The sanick is the nickname that represents the new entry.
–AddressDelete?sarfnbr=adrbkref. This handles deletion.
–AddressUpdate?sarfnbr=adrbkref&sanick=name. This updates an
entry in the shopper's address book.
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Address book command examples
http://<hostname>/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;AddressAdd?
sashnbr=9&sanick=default&saaddr1=600+N.+U.S.+Highway+4
5&sacity=Libertyville&sastate=IL&sacntry=USA&sazipc=60048
&salname=Tullis {Add Mr. Tullis to address book}.
 See the table MACROS in the database to see which
Net.Data macro file is associated with each task. You will need
to cross reference to table TASKS to see the task name.

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Display command group
• The CategoryDisplay command displays a category page based
on the shopper group--if any--of which the shopper is a member.
Merchants can assign category templates to specific shopper
groups using Net.Commerce Administrator.
• merref - the store identifier
• catref - the category identifier
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Display command group
• The ProductDisplay command displays a product or item
page based on the shopper group--if any--of which the shopper is
a member. Merchants can assign product templates to specific
shopper groups using the Net.Commerce Administrator.
•merref - the store identifier
•prodref - the identifier for the product or item to be displayed
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EXECMACRO command group
EXECMACRO
- The ExecMacro command executes the Net.Data
macro that you specify. The macro can be one that is provided by
the system or one that you create.
 input or report refer to the HTML_INPUT or HTML_REPORT
sections of a Net.Data file, where execution should start.
 Note: use this for custom dynamic HTML page generation!
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EXECTASK command group
EXECMACRO
- The ExecTask command calls a view or
exception task that you specify.
 taskname is the name of the task to be executed, merref is the
store to which it is to be applied.
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InterestItem command group
You use the InterestItem commands to do any of the following:
• Display the contents of the shopping cart
• Add products and items to the shopping cart
• Delete products and items from the shopping cart
• For example, the InterestItemAdd command adds a product or
item to the shopper’s shopping cart.
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ORDER command group
When
working with order commands, you should understand
the following about the order process:
–An order is created in the database when the shopper displays an
order or a list of orders for the first time. Before then, the shopper
adds products and items to the shopping cart.
When the shopper displays an order list, the list of merchants
whose products and items are associated with shipping info
is compiled and an order number is assigned to each order.
–When the shopper displays a specific order, all the product,
item, and shipping information is assembled, including the current
prices, taxes, and shipping charges.
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04/15/00 Net.Commerce Overview
ORDER command group
The
Net.Commerce system uses the statuses P, X, and C
as follows:
–In status P, the shopper has not yet placed the order. The
order is referred to as a pending order.
–In status X, the shopper has cancelled the order. The order
is referred to as a cancelled order. Shoppers cannot display
cancelled orders, but the merchant can scan the database
for cancelled orders to analyze, archive, or delete.
–In status C, the shopper has placed the order. The order is
referred to as a past order. The merchant can now fill the order.
When an order is in status C, the merchant can update the
status to meet any unique requirements. The Net.Commerce
system considers any status other than P or X to be a past order.
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ORDER command group
When working with order commands, you should understand the
order process. You use the Order commands to do any of the
following:
•Display an order details page and lock the order
•Display a list of the shopper’s orders
•Place an order
•Cancel an order
•Unlock an order that is locked by the OrderDisplay
command
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ORDER command group
The OrderDisplay command displays the contents of the
specified order. If no order reference number is specified, this
command displays the first order that was created that matches
the order status and merchant reference number (if any) that is
specified.
• s - The status of the order to be displayed. This can be any
value other than X.
•ordref - The reference number of the order to be displayed.
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ORDER command group
The OrderList command displays a list of the shopper’s
orders that have been prepared but not placed.
• s - The status of the order to be displayed. Usually ‘P’ to show
list of pending orders.
• merref - The reference number of the merchant for the orders
to be listed. If you omit this parameter, the shopper’s orders for
all merchants are listed.
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ORDER command group
The OrderProcess command processes an order that has
been submitted.
• ordref - The reference number of the order to be placed..
• All other parameters are optional.
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ORDERITEM command group
You use the OrderItem commands to do any of the following:
•Display a list of products and items in the shopping cart from
which the shopper can order
•Display a list of products and items that are assigned to a
shipping address
•Delete the products and items in an order that are associated
with a shipping address
•Associate any quantity of a product with a shipping address
•Modify the quantities of products to be shipped, specify attributes
for products, and delete produts and items from a shopping list
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ORDERITEM command group
The OrderItemDisplay command lists all items for which the
shopper has specified shipping addresses.
•addref - The reference number of the address book entry for the
items to be displayed.
•merref - The reference number of the merchant whose version of
the page is to be displayed. (May be omitted.)
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ORDERITEM command group
The OrderItemDelete command deletes the association
between a shipping address and an item to be shipped to that
address, and calls the URL specified. To delete multiple
item/address associations, use multiple parameters.
•shipref - The shipping reference number that corresponds to the
association to be deleted..
•url - Reference to next page to display.
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REGISTER command group
You use the Register commands to do any of the
following:
•Display a registration page.
•Update an existing registration record.
•Create a new registration record.
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REGISTER command group
The RegisterForm command displays a registration page.
Notes: It is recommended that this command be used in
conjunction with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer), to ensure that the
shopper’s logon password and personal information are encrypted.
To do this, type the command with the https secure protocol and
use Net.Commerce Administrator to assign the command to the
SSL protocol.
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REGISTER command group
The RegisterUpdate command modifies the shopper’s registration
record.
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REGISTER command group
The RegisterNew command creates the shopper’s
registration record. It has another big humping flow diagram.
See the DBTOFCMD.PDF document for details on all
commands, macros, etc.
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Tasks
A task is a "contract" between a command and an overridable
function, or between two overridable functions. It defines the rules
that govern the relationship between the two.
These rules dictate the following:
•The work that the caller expects the overridable function to
perform
•The parameters that the caller passes to the overridable function
•The parameters and other results that the caller expects the
overridable function to return
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Tasks
Net.Commerce defines three types of tasks, each of which is
defines the rules for a different type of overridable function.:
• View tasks are used for overridable functions that display the
pages that shoppers normally see during the shopping process,
such as product pages, registration pages, and ordering pages.
• Process tasks are used for overridable functions that process
information, such as calculating the total cost of an order.
• Exception tasks are used for overridable functions that handle
exception conditions, such as when a shopper tries to place an
order before logging on as a registered shopper, or when a
shopper tries to order an item that is not in stock.
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Overridable Functions
•An overridable function is program code that implements a task. It
implements a behavior that is expected by the task, and deals with
input and output parameters as defined by the task.
•An OF is essentially a C++ method call.
•See the DBTOFCMD.PDF document for details.
•It is not expected that OF programming is required for this course.
It is possible to kick off the shipment of a completed order from
Net.Commerce to the MQSeries interface by overriding an OF. But
some form of batch processing for new orders is also acceptable.
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Database Tables
The database tables contain columns that correspond to the
database field tags used on templates and other dynamic store
pages to retrieve and display database information on Web pages.
The database tables are organized into the following functional
groups:
•Tables about shoppers and users
•Tables about merchants, stores, shopper groups, and customers
•Tables about categories, products and items
•Tables about price discounting
•Tables about shipping
•Tables about tax calculations
•Tables about orders
•Tables about system functions
•Tables about Net.Commerce
commands…etcetera….
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Database Data Models
Shoppers and other system users:
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Database Data Models
Access control tables:
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Database Data Models
Shoppers, shopper groups, merchants, & stores:
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Database Data Models
Categories, products, & items:
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Basic Net.Data information
Net.Data is a free-form web macro language, which
gives you flexibility as to how your macros are written.
Unless specifically noted, extra white space characters
are ignored.
The Net.Data macro statement contains two parts:
The preamble, which includes comments, define
statements, and function declarations; and
The HTML part, which includes the HTML input
or report sections.
The Net.Data macros exist in files that have the .d2w
suffix. The Net.Data interpreter is linked into the mserver
daemon. The db2www.ini file provides additional information
to the mserver daemons for Net.Data file execution.
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Net.Data %DEFINE
Net.Data %define statements: defines variables and sets
configuration variables. Variables must begin with a letter or
underscore (_) and contain any alphanumeric characters or
underscore. All variables are case sensitive except
N_columnName and V_columnName. Use as a statement to
define one variable at a time or section to define several
variables with one %DEFINEstatement.
Examples:
%define { SUBTOTAL = "0.0" %}
%define {qty_in = QTY ? "$(QTY)" : "1"%}
%DEFINE { qtycall = %EXEC "/nc/bin/updtqty $(DBNAME)
$(INSTNAME) $(PASSWD) $(ACCESS) $(SHOPPERNUM)
$(QUANTITY) $(PRODNUM) $(PRODREFNUM)" %}
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Net.Data COMMENTS
Net.Data comments: any text on one or more lines.
Net.Data ignores the contents of all comments.
Context - Comments must be outside all other sections.
Restrictions - Any text or characters are allowed.
Examples:
%{ Set to 1 to turn on DEBUG, set to 0 to turn off %}
%define { DEBUG = "0"%}
%{==================================
File Name: getorderinfo.d2w
Author: Team Z
Project: ChemCo Extranet Project
==================================%}
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Net.Data FUNCTIONS
Net.Data functions: the function section defines a
subroutine that can be invoked from the Web macro. The
executable statements in a function section can be language
statements directly interpreted by a language environment,
or they can indicate a call to an external program.
If you use %EXEC, it must be the only executable statement
in the %FUNCTION section. Before passing the executable
statement to the language environment, the file name of the
program in the %EXEC statement is appended to a path name
determined by the EXEC_PATH configuration statement in the
initialization file (db2www.ini). The resulting string is passed to
the language environment to be executed.
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Net.Data FUNCTIONS continued
Net.Data functions: can contain these elements:
–%EXEC statement
–function call
–%MESSAGE section
–%REPORT section
–%ROW section
–variable references
The %EXEC statement would be used to execute a system
call to an external program. The function call would call another
function in the same Net.Data file. %REPORT, %ROW, and
%MESSAGE are all used in processing SQL data.
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Net.Data FUNCTION example
Net.Data Example:
%{ Get the shopper reference number. %}
%function(dtw_odbc) get_shopper_rn(){
select sashnbr from shaddr where sanick='$(SESSION_ID)'
%REPORT{
%ROW{
@DTW_assign( ShopperRefNbr, V_sashnbr)
%}
%}
%MESSAGE{ default: { %} :continue %}
%}
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Net.Data %REPORT, %ROW,
and %MESSAGE
%REPORT - used to format output from a function call
using HTML.
%ROW - used to display HTML formatted data once for
each row of data returned from a function call. For example,
this is how the shopping cart is built and displayed using
the HTML TABLE syntax. All data returned from the DB
are placed between table cell and table row tags.
%MESSAGE - defines a set of return codes, the associated
messages, and the actions Net.Data takes when the function
call is returned. An example might be a message if the SQL
call returns nothing. See next slide.
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Net.Data %MESSAGE example
%MESSAGE{
100 : {
<CENTER>
<h3><tt>Your shopping cart is currently empty!</tt><p></h3>
<font face="arial" size="2" Please click on the <B>"ONLINE
STORE"</B> button above to continue shopping<br></font>
</CENTER>
%} : continue
default: {<br>
<CENTER>
There were problems retrieving your Shopping Cart contents.
<P>Please try again later. </CENTER>
%}
%}.
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Net.Data HTML_INPUT, REPORT
HTML_INPUT - contains HTML, along with Net.Data constructs
such as %IF/%ELSE/%ENDIF blocks, function calls (both
Net.Data built in function calls such as DTW_ASSIGN() and
functions declared within the Net.Data file), and variable
references.
The purpose of the HTML_INPUT section is generally to create
an HTML form that is displayed for user input. The results of the
user input are then processed in the HTML_REPORT section.
This is done via the ACTION URL of the form.
Note, however, that strictly speaking from the Net.Data
perspective, these actions can be reversed. HTML_INPUT and
HTML_REPORT are just two "buckets" within the Net.Data file.
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Net.Data HTML_REPORT ex.
%HTML_INPUT{
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Reports for ChemCo</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY BGCOLOR=#ffffff TEXT=#000000 LINK=#0000ff
VLINK=#8000ff ALINK=#ff0000>
<CENTER>
<TABLE WIDTH=100%><TR><TD BGCOLOR=#00FF00>
<H3 ALIGN=CENTER>Reports</H3></TD></TR></TABLE>
<CENTER><P><FONT SIZE=4><STRONG>
Please enter the password for access!
<FORM ACTION="/cgi-bin/ncommerce3;ExecMacro/req_rep.d2w/input"
METHOD=POST><INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="doodlebug"
SIZE="8" MAXLENGTH="16"></FORM></STRONG></FONT>
</CENTER></BODY></HTML>
%}
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Net.Data HTML execution
The way that either the HTML_REPORT or HTML_INPUT sections are
executed are controlled via the URL line macro specification. The default
will be to call the REPORT section.
Therefore, a Net.Commerce URL like this:
/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;OrderDisplay?status=P will result in the
Net.Commerce mserver daemon doing a database lookup to find the
Net.Data file to execute, and then processing the HTML_REPORT section
within that file - currently this file is orderdspc.d2w.
An example of specifying a particular file and section for processing in a
form action might be:
/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/;execmacro/repcss.d2w/input.
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Important support web sites
http://www.software.ibm.com/data/net.data
- on line documentation for
Net.Data. Check out the library for a 1.9Mbyte zip file holding PDF info.
http://www.software.ibm.com/data - Data Management home page - links
to DB2, Net.Data, Net.Commerce, ICSS web server, data mining, Java - very
useful.
http://www-4.ibm.com/software/webservers/commerce/web_press.html
from here you can get to most important Net.Commerce info.
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com - this page provides the best access to
purchasing redbooks - THE authoritative and offical technical
documentation source. Inexpensive, also!
http://www.ibm.com/Help - search engine.
http://www.ibm.com - the root location.
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