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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.
Troubleshooting
WebSphere Commerce Developer
You might experience the following problems when you use WebSphere Commerce Developer.
Cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack after you switch database type
If you previously changed your WebSphere Commerce Developer database type from Derby to DB2 or Oracle, you cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack.

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.
- 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 messages
  - Contacting HCL Customer Support
    HCL Customer Support provides assistance with product defects. Contact HCL if you require assistance with an WebSphere Commerce problem.
  - Installation issues
    Both installing and uninstalling WebSphere Commerce encompass a wide range of steps. If you encounter problems, refer to the following resources for assistance.
  - WebSphere Application Server issues
    Review this information when you encounter problems with the WebSphere Application Server that is associated with your WebSphere Commerce instance.
  - Configuration issues
    If you encounter problems while configuring WebSphere Commerce, refer to the following resources for assistance.
  - Web server issues
    Review this information when you encounter problems with the Web server that is associated with your WebSphere Commerce instance.
  - General issues
    Review the following information when you encounter any general problems with WebSphere Commerce.
  - Update Installer issues
    If you encounter issues with the WebSphere Commerce Update Installer, refer to the following topics.
  - Fix pack issues
    If you encounter problems during the installation or uninstallation of the WebSphere Commerce fix pack, review the following issues:
  - WebSphere Commerce Developer fix pack issues
    Common fix pack installation problems and solutions for WebSphere Commerce Developer.
  - Deployment
    The troubleshooting information for deployment is divided into the following categories: Custom WebSphere Commerce database assets, Custom WebSphere Commerce Enterprise Application (EAR) or Java EE assets and Custom WebSphere Commerce Web server assets.
  - Access control problems
    Access control problems are often indicated by generic application errors with error message keys such as _ERR_USER_AUTHORITY. The first step in problem determination is to enable tracing for the access control component.
  - Catalogs
    If you encounter problems when you are managing or displaying catalogs, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Contracts
    If you encounter problems working with contracts, review the following troubleshooting topics.
  - Messages
    Problems encountered when sending e-mail for error notification.
  - Workspaces
    If you encounter problems while using workspaces, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Management Center
    If you encounter problems while using the Management Center, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Aurora starter store
    If you encounter problems when you use the Aurora starter store, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Changed data
    When data is changed in the WebSphere Commerce database, it will sometimes appear not to have any effect on the server functionality -- specifically, when the values are modified directly through loading utilities or through SQL statements. Certain tables are cached for performance reasons, and their values will not be reread by WebSphere Commerce until the server is restarted or the registry is refreshed. Examples of cached tables are the STORE table or the URLREG table.
  - Promotion code problem
    When you try to log on to the storefront in a B2C store, the Logon URL is used to log on to the system. If information already exists for the guest customer, the guest customer's basic information, such as their shopping cart, is merged with the registered user. You might experience the following problem with the shopping cart merge because of promotion codes.
  - Guest shopping in the advanced B2B direct store
    When you try to log on to the storefront in an advanced B2B direct store, the Logon URL is used to log on to the system. If information already exists for the guest shopper, the guest shopper's basic information, such as their shopping cart, is merged with the registered user. You might experience the following problem with the shopping cart merge because of multiple pending shopping carts for the registered user.
  - Enabling error message details in the storefront
    The storefront hides specific error details from shoppers by default for security purposes. For example, instead of seeing a 404 error page with details, shoppers instead see a generic error page. If you need to enable error message details in the storefront, to satisfy a particular business requirement, you can enable verbose error messages in the configuration file.
  - Publishing a store archive
  - Storefront categories do not display after you publish a store archive
    After successfully publishing a store archive, the category navigation menu is not displayed in your storefront. For example, in the Aurora starter store, the Department menu does not display any categories.
  - Storefront does not display catalog filters
    When a catalog filter is applied to your store, the store continues to display catalog entries that are not included in the filtered catalog.
  - WebSphere Commerce Developer
    You might experience the following problems when you use WebSphere Commerce Developer.
    - Store development
      While developing your store, you might experience the following scenarios.
    - Developing using service-oriented architecture (SOA)
      You might experience the following problems when you develop applications using SOA.
    - Cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack after you switch database type
      If you previously changed your WebSphere Commerce Developer database type from Derby to DB2 or Oracle, you cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack.
    - Setdbtype utility does catch invalid database user credentials
      If you run the setdbtype utility with invalid database user credentials (such as an incorrect database administrator ID), the setdbtype utility does not detect any errors and finishes as if successful. But then you might realize that the database type did not change.
    - "Unable to aquire PluginConverter service during generation for" error found in log file
      After you run the restoreDefault.bat utility, you notice the following errors in the WCDE_installdir/logs/updateModules.log file.
    - Issues with Mod Pack 1 for WebSphere Commerce Developer
      IBM is aware of issues with Mod Pack 1 for WebSphere Commerce Developer. Mod Pack 1 for WebSphere Commerce (runtime environment) is not affected.
  - Inventory issues
  - Logging issues
  - Member group issues
  - Promotions issues
  - Tax
    If you encounter problems while using the tax codes or calculation codes, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Utilities
    If you encounter problems while using WebSphere Commerce utilities, refer to the following troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - WebSphere Commerce Search
    If you encounter problems while you use WebSphere Commerce Search, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Search engine optimization (SEO)
    If you encounter problems using search engine optimization (SEO), review the following issues:
  - REST services
    If you encounter problems with WebSphere Commerce REST services, refer to the troubleshooting information to help determine the problem and find possible solutions.
  - Staging server
    Issues you may encounter while using the stagingprop utility.
  - Administrator is locked out from Administration Console
    In the event you are locked out from the Administration Console, you need to update the database directly to unlock your account.

Troubleshooting: Cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack after you switch development database type

If you previously changed your WebSphere Commerce Developer database type from Derby to DB2 or Oracle, you cannot roll back to an earlier fix pack.

Problem

You encounter NullPointerException errors in your database log files and the rollback is unsuccessful.

Solution

IBM is investigating the problem and intends to resolve the issue in a future fix pack.