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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.
Web services
Data service layer
The data service layer (DSL) provides an abstraction layer for data access that is independent of the physical schema.
Using the data service layer
You can customize the data service layer to create and modify schemas and queries.
Creating a query
Query templates are used to define queries in the Data Service Layer. The template file maps queries on the logical model (XPath queries) to templated SQL statements. These templates are used to generate the actual SQL queries. These are invoked by the Data Service Layer to access the database. Each query is analogous to an EJB finder method.
Generating your XPath key using the wcs_xpathkey utility
The XPath key generator command-line utility takes an XPath expression as input and generates an XPath key. This key is used to locate the XPATH_TO_SQL_STATEMENT template in the query template file.

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 9.1, 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.
  - Customizing Management Center for HCL Commerce
    HCL Commerce allows you to pull the GIT bundle of Management Center source code and start the application locally to customize the Management Center.
  - 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.
  - 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.
  - 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.
  - GraphQL for HCL Commerce
    The GraphQL markup language is available for any API. It is a server-side interpreter for processing queries using a data type system you design. With GraphQL, your data and code are independent of any database or storage system.
  - 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
    - Working with HCL Commerce SOI services
      Working with HCL Commerce services involves developing client libraries, new commands, and business logic. The Java Emitter Template (JET) is documented to assist you with these tasks.
    - Creating HCL Commerce services
      Creating HCL Commerce services involves setting up the development environment, creating and extending client libraries, and setting an EMF genmodel. The Java Emitter Template (JET) is provided and documented to assist you with these tasks.
    - HCL Commerce BOD command framework
      The Business Object Document (BOD) command framework encapsulates the business logic layer of HCL Commerce. In Version 9, it is largely superseded by the Java Persistence API (JPA).
    - Developing the business logic layer using the BOD command framework
      Business layer can be designed and programmed using the BOD programming model introduced in HCL Commerce Version 6 Feature Pack 3.0.1. This command framework revolves around using Business Object Documents, and the Java representation of those objects, logical service data objects.
    - HCL Commerce BOD command framework
      The Business Object Document (BOD) command framework encapsulates the business logic layer of HCL Commerce. In Version 9, it is largely superseded by the Java Persistence API (JPA).
    - Data service layer
      The data service layer (DSL) provides an abstraction layer for data access that is independent of the physical schema.
      - Business Object Mediator
        The Business Object Mediator (BOM) performs bidirectional transformations between the physical service data objects (SDO) and logical SDOs. By performing this role, it provides a business object persistence interface for the data service layer. The BOM supports create, read, update, delete operations on the logical SDOs so that the business logic layer can work with them rather than the physical schema.
      - Physical data container
        The physical data container supports create, read, update, delete operations on the physical SDOs, which are mapped directly to the physical schema. It also enables the business logic to work with physical SDOs that are not mapped to the logical model – for example, statistics or auditing data.
      - HCL Commerce extended XPath notation
        When get requests for HCL Commerce nouns are processed, HCL Commerce uses extended XPath notation as the query language to identify which nouns to return. XPath is an industry standard language for addressing parts of an XML document, and the HCL Commerce extended XPath notation uses extensions to this standard.
      - Object-relational metadata
        Object-relational metadata is an XML file that maps physical SDO Java classes to the database schema. The data service layer requires this object-relational metadata to translate between the physical Java classes and the HCL Commerce database schema.
      - Service Data Objects (SDO)
        SDO (Service Data Objects) is a framework for data application development, which includes an architecture and API. HCL Commerce utilizes the SDO capabilities for XML marshalling and unmarshalling, and code generation from XSD to static Java objects. The SDOs themselves are Java object representations of your nouns, and can be easily traversed by using getters.
      - Replacing Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) physical Service Data Objects (SDO) with Eclipselink SDO linked with Java Persistence API (JPA)
      - Data service layer query processing
        The data service layer uses the different sections of the query template file to control how the query is run.
      - Paging support in the data service layer
        Paging is used to return multiple "pages" of data when it is necessary to retrieve only a certain number of entries at a time. The data service layer supports paging of data, as well as setting result limits for paging.
      - Using the data service layer
        You can customize the data service layer to create and modify schemas and queries.
        Extending the HCL Commerce schema using the data service layer
        You can extend the existing schema to support customization. These extensions include changing the physical database schema, generating the object-relational metadata and physical SDOs, and using query templates to retrieve the new information.
        Creating a query
        Query templates are used to define queries in the Data Service Layer. The template file maps queries on the logical model (XPath queries) to templated SQL statements. These templates are used to generate the actual SQL queries. These are invoked by the Data Service Layer to access the database. Each query is analogous to an EJB finder method.
        Creating an access profile for an existing XPath expression
        A new access profile is required when you need to return different data for a noun than is returned by the default access profiles. If you have extended the HCL Commerce schema with custom tables, and need to return data from the custom tables, create a new access profile.
        Generating your XPath key using the wcs_xpathkey utility
        The XPath key generator command-line utility takes an XPath expression as input and generates an XPath key. This key is used to locate the XPATH_TO_SQL_STATEMENT template in the query template file.
        Validating your query template file syntax
        HCL Commerce Developer provides a JSP file that you can use to validate your query template file syntax. Query template file syntax validation can only be performed on local instances of HCL Commerce. This JSP file cannot be used for remote access and testing.
        Tracing queries and query parameters
        You can use the WebSphere Application Server administrative console to trace queries serviced by the data service layer. You can also enable tracing for query parameters.
        Overriding generated parametric search SQL
        There may be cases where you want to override the generated SQL for parametric search queries. For example, if a certain parametric search is not performing well, your database administrator may suggest another way to write the SQL. In this case, you can completely override the SQL used for the parametric search query.
        Configuring parametric search to search on custom data
        Before new properties can be used as search conditions in a query template, you must configure parametric search to define the object path mapping so that the query can identify the corresponding column in the database table.
        Reusing an access profile under a different alias
        You can reuse an access profile that is registered in the configuration of the data service layer as different access profiles supported by the Get service. You can do this by using access profile aliasing.
        Creating direct SQL statements
        Under certain circumstances, SQL statements may need to be run to select data, update data, delete data, or retrieve data independently of the data model. For example, a business operation may insert or delete records in data tables that are not defined in the logical model.
        Creating a get-data-config.xml file
        You can use getData tags and process-related service requests after creating a get-data-config.xml file. The get-data-config.xml file contains expression builders, each representing a different SQL query defined in the project's query template file. getData tags in the storefront JSP files can retrieve specific data from the database by referencing the appropriate expression builder.
        Creating an expression builder
        An expression builder is used by the wcf:getData tag on a JSP file to construct an XPath expression that is used by an HCL Commerce service to retrieve data.
        Overview of the get-data-config.xml file
        The get-data-config.xml file is used to configure expression builders that are used by the getData JSTL tag configured by the HCL Commerce getData action. When using the getData data, you specify an expression builder name and a data-type-name. This information is used when looking up the configuration in the get-data-config.xml file to determine which XPath Expression to execute.
        Deploying customizations made using the BOD command framework and the data service layer
        Deploying customizations to the data service layer to a production environment is handled using WebSphere Application Server deployment.
        Enabling optimistic concurrency control for custom tables
        Most HCL Commerce tables use optimistic locking for database performance reasons. A similar functionality is provided for the data service layer, called optimistic concurrency control. Optimistic concurrency control can slightly decrease performance but allows for much greater concurrency during heavy database load, because it allows for a reduction in the transaction isolation level, reducing locking.
        Techniques for improving the performance of SQL queries under workspaces in the Data Service Layer
        SQL queries under workspaces can suffer performance issues. Performance degradation often occurs if the database is not being properly maintained or if queries can be rewritten more efficiently. In addition to making sure that the database is properly maintained, there are several techniques that can help improve the performance of SQL queries under workspaces. While no single technique yields significant results, a combination of several techniques can help achieve considerable performance improvements in many applications.
    - HCL Commerce Web services with JSP pages
      A Web service is an interface that describes a collection of operations that are accessible through the network by using standardized XML messaging. A Web service is described using a standard, formal XML notation, called a service description. The service description includes all the details necessary to interact with the service, including its message formats (that detail the operations), transport protocols, and location. The interface hides the implementation details of the service, allowing it to be used independently of the hardware or software platform on which it is implemented and also independently of the programming language in which it is written. The foundation for Web services are standards such as simple object access protocol (SOAP), the Web Services Description Language (WSDL), and the Universal Description, Discovery, and Integration (UDDI) registry.
    - Workspaces support for BOD service modules
      There are two user interfaces that use workspaces in HCL Commerce, HCL Commerce Accelerator, and Management Center. The Management Center uses Get services from BOD service modules to retrieve many of its business objects, and along with the business objects, change control metadata is also included in the response. The change control metadata is returned to the Management Center, where it is used to determine whether the object can be modified by the current user.
    - Location-based services
      HCL Commerce uses location-based services to target customers using Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled mobile devices.
  - 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. Starting with Version 9.1, HCL Commerce Search with Elasticsearch microservices manage indexing and other crucial tasks, with no performance impact on the storefront or transaction server.
- 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.

Generating your XPath key using the wcs_xpathkey utility

The XPath key generator command-line utility takes an XPath expression as input and generates an XPath key. This key is used to locate the XPATH_TO_SQL_STATEMENT template in the query template file.

About this task

Note: The name of the XPath to SQL template is the same as the key for two-step queries. For single-step queries, it is a combination of the XPath key and the name of the access profile.

To generate your XPath key:

Procedure

Open a command line prompt and navigate to WCDE_installdir\bin.

Run the following command, where MyXPath is your XPath expression:

wcs_xpathkey MyXPath

For example:

wcs_xpathkey /CatalogEntry[(@catalogEntryTypeCode='ProductBean' or @catalogEntryTypeCode='ItemBean') and ParentCatalogGroupIdentifier[ExternalIdentifier[GroupIdentifier='Coffee Table']]]

The output from this command would be:

/CatalogEntry[(@catalogEntryTypeCode=) and ParentCatalogGroupIdentifier[ExternalIdentifier[GroupIdentifier=]]]