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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.
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.
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.
Catalog search methods
WebSphere Commerce offers two search options to address the different needs of customers and administrators. Each of the search formats is based on underlying technology that uses the Catalog Search data bean. The search methods are provided primarily by a search engine and an abstraction layer API from which you can build search features and search tools.

Catalog search methods

WebSphere Commerce offers two search options to address the different needs of customers and administrators. Each of the search formats is based on underlying technology that uses the Catalog Search data bean. The search methods are provided primarily by a search engine and an abstraction layer API from which you can build search features and search tools.

The following search methods are available:

Catalog search: The catalog search provides both basic and advanced search functionality to your site for use by customers.
Catalog search enables you to implement a search tool for your customers that is powerful enough to search both vertical and horizontal constraints to locate products. By adding a simple search interface to any JSP file in your site, you can provide your customers an additional way to locate products.
Deprecated featureProduct Advisor: Deprecated featureThe Product Advisor provides interactive shopping guides to help your customers identify the products that match their requirements.
Product Advisor offers the ability to apply vertical constraints iteratively to narrow down the product selection.

These two types of search are complementary.