Foundation Store



Table of Contents


1. The Foundation Store

The Foundation store is distributed with Interchange to give you a starting point with which to build your e-business. While the Foundation store is designed to be relatively easy to start with, it is still a full-featured demonstration of a number of Interchange capabilities. Once you understand the Foundation store and how it works you are well on your way to understanding the Interchange software.

The following is a list of some popular features:

Category Searches

Images

Related Items

Reviews/Testimonials

1.1. Customizing Foundation

The foundation store has been customized to add just about every ecommerce and content management feature under the sun. If you are asking the question "can I do ...." the answer is almost assuredly "Yes".

Note that customizing the foundation store will take some experience in web design and database operations. Perl experience is also helpful. Most of all it will take persistence and empowering yourself to make changes and watch what happens.

It is usually helpful to make a test store, perhaps just an unmodified copy of foundation, to test out your additions before you make them on your own store. That way you can try anything you want without the chance of causing problems on your own store.


2. Tree design

By determining how users will enter and exit the catalog, complex and intelligent conditional schemes are possible, especially if the Cookies capability is exercised. However, it is recommended that simplicity be used. Consumers will not make purchases if they can't navigate their way around the catalog.

It is important to remember that users will lose their session (and items in their shopping cart) if their browser does not accept cookies and they leave the site. Interchange addresses this problem by using the area and page tags. If you are using frames, source all frame panes containing Interchange links from an initial page served by Interchange. If you don't do this, the user may have multiple session IDs depending on which frame generated the link.

Note that Interchange can work properly even if the browser doesn't store cookies. In this situation Interchange inserts a session ID into each URL; if the ID is preserved as the user navigates from page to page the session will remain intact.


3. The Catalog Directory

Interchange pages are contained in the catalog directory. Each individual catalog has its own base directory. The catalog directory has the following structure by default:

catalog.cfg

config

          StaticPage  <static.pages

error.log

etc

pages

        /cgi-bin/simple/products/gold will call the page in the file
        pages/products/gold.html.

products

session

tmp


4. Page Templates

This section describes the files located in the Foundation demo.

4.1. Template File Locations

This diagram shows the directory and file structure used for the default Foundation 'templates' directory. The base will be a directory with the name of your catalog, here called CATROOT.

    CATROOT/
    |
    |----templates/
         |----cart
         |----components/
              |----affiliate_receptor
              |----best_horizontal
              |----best_vertical
              |----cart
              |----cart_display
              |----cart_tiny
              |----category_vertical
              |----cross_horizontal
              |----cross_vertical
              |----modular_buy
              |----modular_update
              |----none
              |----promo
              |----promo_horizontal
              |----promo_vertical
              |----random
              |----random_horizontal
              |----random_vertical
              |----saved_carts_list_small
              |----search_box_small
              |----upsell
              |----upsell_horizontal
              |----upsell_vertical
         |----default --> foundation
         |----foundation/
              |----cart
              |----fullwidth
              |----leftonly
              |----leftright
              |----regions/
                   |----LEFTONLY_BOTTOM
                   |----LEFTONLY_TOP
                   |----LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM
                   |----LEFTRIGHT_TOP
                   |----NOLEFT_BOTTOM
                   |----NOLEFT_TOP
              |----simple
              |----theme.cfg
         |----fullwidth
         |----leftonly
         |----leftright
         |----regions/
         |----LEFTONLY_BOTTOM
         |----LEFTONLY_TOP
         |----LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM
         |----LEFTRIGHT_TOP
         |----NOLEFT_BOTTOM
         |----NOLEFT_TOP
         |----sampledata/
         |----computers/
              |----images/
                   |----items/
                        |----generic.gif
                        |----gift_certificate_large.gif
                        |----yourimage.gif
                   |----thumb/
                        |----generic_thumb.gif
                        |----gift_certificate.gif
                        |----thumb.gif
              |----products/
                   |----inventory.txt
                   |----merchandising.txt
                   |----mv_metadata.asc
                   |----options.txt
                   |----pricing.txt
                   |----products.txt
                   |----userdb.txt
         |----reports/
              |----download/
                   |----00352as.pdf
                   |----11993ab.pdf
                   |----22083da.pdf
                   |----49503cg.pdf
                   |----59330rt.pdf
                   |----59402fw.pdf
                   |----66548ch.pdf
                   |----73358ee.pdf
                   |----83491vp.pdf
                   |----90773sh.pdf
              |----products/
                   |----mv_metadata.asc
                   |----products.txt
                   |----userdb.txt
         |----tools/
              |----etc/
                   |----after.cfg
                   |----before.cfg
              |----images/
                   |----items/
                        |----os28004.gif
                        |----os28005.gif
                        |----os28006.gif
                        |----os28007.gif
                        |----os28008.gif
                        |----os28009.gif
                        |----os28011.gif
                        |----os28044.gif
                        |----os28057a.gif
                        |----os28057b.gif
                        |----os28057c.gif
                        |----os28062.gif
                        |----os28064.gif
                        |----os28065.gif
                        |----os28066.gif
                        |----os28068.gif
                        |----os28068a.gif
                        |----os28068b.gif
                        |----os28069.gif
                        |----os28070.gif
                        |----os28072.gif
                        |----os28073.gif
                        |----os28074.gif
                        |----os28075.gif
                        |----os28076.gif
                        |----os28077.gif
                        |----os28080.gif
                        |----os28081.gif
                        |----os28082.gif
                        |----os28084.gif
                        |----os28085.gif
                        |----os28086.gif
                        |----os28087.gif
                        |----os28108.gif
                        |----os28109.gif
                        |----os28110.gif
                        |----os28111.gif
                        |----os28112.gif
                        |----os28113.gif
                        |----os29000.gif
                   |----thumb/
                        |----gift_certificate.gif
                        |----os28004_b.gif
                        |----os28005_b.gif
                        |----os28006_b.gif
                        |----os28007_b.gif
                        |----os28008_b.gif
                        |----os28009_b.gif
                        |----os28011_b.gif
                        |----os28044_b.gif
                        |----os28057a_b.gif
                        |----os28057b_b.gif
                        |----os28057c_b.gif
                        |----os28062_b.gif
                        |----os28064_b.gif
                        |----os28065_b.gif
                        |----os28066_b.gif
                        |----os28068_b.gif
                        |----os28068a_b.gif
                        |----os28068b_b.gif
                        |----os28069_b.gif
                        |----os28070_b.gif
                        |----os28072_b.gif
                        |----os28073_b.gif
                        |----os28074_b.gif
                        |----os28075_b.gif
                        |----os28076_b.gif
                        |----os28077_b.gif
                        |----os28080_b.gif
                        |----os28081_b.gif
                        |----os28082_b.gif
                        |----os28084_b.gif
                        |----os28085_b.gif
                        |----os28086_b.gif
                        |----os28087_b.gif
                        |----os28108_b.gif
                        |----os28109_b.gif
                        |----os28110_b.gif
                        |----os28111_b.gif
                        |----os28112_b.gif
                        |----os28113_b.gif
                        |----os29000_b.gif
               |----products/
                    |----affiliate.txt
                    |----area.txt
                    |----cat.txt
                    |----inventory.txt
                    |----merchandising.txt
                    |----mv_metadata.asc
                    |----options.txt
                    |----orderline.txt
                    |----pricing.txt
                    |----products.txt
                    |----transactions.txt
                    |----userdb.txt

4.2. Themes

This section explains how themes are defined in Interchange via the STYLE variable and the theme configuration file, theme.cfg.

4.2.1. STYLE

The STYLE variable in CATROOT/products/variable.txt indicates the template style to be used as the theme for the catalog; the appropriate templates for that theme are found in CATROOT/templates/__STYLE__/. (To change the value of the STYLE variable, either edit variable.txt directly or use the table editor feature of the admin interface.)

The default theme for Interchange is the Foundation demo; hence, the STYLE variable is assigned the value 'Foundation' in variable.txt. The theme is defined in catalog.cfg as follows (line numbers added):

    # Here we set up the catalog theme.

  1 ParseVariables Yes

  2 ifndef STYLE
  3 Variable STYLE default
  4 endif
  5 include templates/__STYLE__/theme.cfg

Variables that make up the look and feel of the STYLE (theme) are defined in the file CATROOT/templates/foundation/theme.cfg, which is read by Interchange in line 5 above.

4.2.2. theme.cfg

The file CATROOT/templates/foundation/theme.cfg serves three purposes:

  1. It defines the THEME and THEME_IMG_DIR variables,
  2. It defines a cascading style sheet for the theme, and
  3. It defines the location of region templates according to the traffic settings for the Interchange daemon.

The THEME variable is used to set the location of the region templates in the traffic settings section of the theme.cfg file. It is also used in the cart template definition file (CATROOT/templates/cart) to set the path of an image. The THEME_IMG_DIR variable is used to set image paths in the template region files and the template component files.

The look and feel of the Foundation theme are defined primarily in the cascading style sheet specified in the theme.cfg file. This

The Interchange TRAFFIC setting, defined system-wide in interchange.cfg, is described in the ??document??. The settings in theme.cfg pertain to the location of region templates for the high and low traffic settings. For example, if you need to define a separate set of high traffic templates, you would change the ConfigDir variable in theme.cfg to point to the directory containing those templates.

4.3. Template Definition Files

The template definition files store the name and description of the template as well as components and options for that template.

    templates/cart
    templates/fullwidth
    templates/leftonly
    templates/leftright

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/fullwidth
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright
    templates/foundation/simple

4.3.1. Template Walkthrough -- leftonly

This section is best read while viewing the file CATROOT/templates/leftonly and the 'Edit Page' page in the Content Editor of the Interchange Administration Tool.

Looking at the example template definition file, all lines located between the [comment] and [/comment] tags (lines 1 and 53) control what is available in the Edit Page screen of the Administration Tool.

Lines 2-5: Template specification

    2  ui_template: Yes
    3  ui_template_name: leftonly
    4  ui_template_layout: LEFTONLY_TOP, UI_CONTENT, LEFTONLY_BOTTOM
    5  ui_template_description: Page with top/left areas.

Line 2 indicates that this file is a template for the user interface. Line 3 names the template, while Line 4 indicates the regions that comprise the template and that will eventually make up the new page that is created from the template. Line 5 provides a description used to identify the template when it appears in a Select Template pull-down menu on the Edit Page of the Administration Tool. This description can be changed or modified to better describe a new template or a template that is created from the stock templates provided with Interchange.

Lines 7-8: Break

    7  break:
    8          widget: break

This code creates a separation line in the Edit Page between sets of options. In the default Interchange installation the line is grey, but the color can be changed. Note -- Changing this color applies the change to any catalog served by Interchange.

Lines 10-11: Page Title

    10 page_title:
    11         description: Page title

This code tells Interchange to display a text field on the Edit Page for entering the page title ('Title of New Page' in this example). The value entered is assigned to the scratch variable page_title and is set as a default value at the bottom of the template definition file using the following ITL:

    54 [set page_title][set]

which, in turn, sets the scratch variable on the new page using the tag

    [set page_title]Title of New Page[set]

The scratch variable page_title is parsed by the following code in the region template specified in the template definition file and called in the new page:

       <title>[scratch page_title]</title>

Lines 13-15: Page Banner

    13 page_banner:
    14         description: Page banner
    15         help: Defaults to page title

Assigns a textual title for the page to the scratch variable page_banner, which is assigned by the following ITL:

    55 [set page_banner][set]

The scratch variable page_banner is set on the new page using the tag

    [set page_banner]Banner of New Page[set]

The scratch variable can be parsed in the region template by this code:

    [either]
        [scratch page_banner]
    [or]
        [scratch page_title]
    [/either]

This results in the page banner being displayed if defined. Otherwise, the page title is used.

Lines 17-20: Members Only

    17 members_only:
    18         options: 1=Yes,0=No*
    19         widget: radio
    20         description: Members only

This creates a radio-button form element on the Edit Page with the user can specify whether the page can be accessed if a visitor is logged in (Yes) or not (No). The default is indicated by an asterisk.

The scratch variable members_only is assigned by the ITL code

    56 [set members_only][set]

and set on the new page using the tag

       [set members_only]0[/set]

if the page can be accessed without logging in or

       [set members_only]1[/set]

if it can not.

The members_only function is handled by the following code within each region template file:

    [if scratch members_only]
      [set members_only][/set]
      [if !session logged_in]
        [set mv_successpage]@@MV_PAGE@@[/set]
        [bounce page=login]
      [/if]
    [/if]

This code says that if "members only" is set to yes, and the visitor is logged in, to display the page. Otherwise, redirect the visitor to the login page.

Lines 22-23: Break

    22 break1:
    23         widget: break

Another separation line.

Lines 25-28: Horizontal Before Component

    25 component_before:
    26         options: =none, best_horizontal=Best Sellers, \
                cross_horizontal=Cross sell, \
                promo_horizontal=Promotion, \
                random_horizontal=Random items, \
                upsell_horizontal=Upsell
    27         widget: select
    28         description: Component before content

This allows the inclusion of a defined component (included in the CATROOT/templates/components directory) to be displayed before, or above, the page's content. It provides a pull-down menu on the Edit Page displaying the available components. The components, identified here on line 26, can be assigned a name via the value=name convention.

The scratch variable component_before is assigned in the template definition file by the ITL code

    57 [set component_before][set]

It is called with the following code within the LEFTRIGHT_TOP, LEFTONLY_TOP, and NOLEFT_TOP region templates:

    [if scratch component_before]
      [include file="templates/components/[scratch component_before]"]
    [/if]

Lines 30-33: Horizontal After Component

    30 component_after:
    31         options: =none, best_horizontal=Best Sellers, \
                    cross_horizontal=Cross sell, \
                promo_horizontal=Promotion, \
                                random_horizontal=Random items, \
                upsell_horizontal=Upsell
    32         widget: select
    33         description: Component after content

Similar to component_before, this allows the inclusion of a defined component after, or below, the page's content.

The scratch variable component_before is assigned in the template definition file by the ITL code

    58 [set component_after][set]

It is called with the following code within the LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM and LEFTONLY_BOTTOM region templates:


    [if scratch component_after]
      [include file="templates/components/[scratch component_after]"]
    [/if]

Lines 35-38: Horizontal Item Width

    35 component_hsize:
    36         options: 1,2,3*
    37         widget: select
    38         description: Component items horizontal

This setting allows you to choose how many items the horizontal components display. For example, the horizontal best sellers component ("best_horizontal") uses this setting to randomly select the best sellers. Notice the default is 3 if nothing is defined. It is called by the following code in the promo_horizontal and random_horizontal components in the Foundation demo.

    random="[either][scratch component_hsize][or]2[/either]"

Lines 40-45: Before/After Banner

    40 hbanner:
    41         options: =--custom--, Also see..., Best Sellers, \
                            New items, \
                Some of our fine products, \
                                Specials, You might also like
    42         widget: move_combo
    43         width: 40
    44         description: Before/after Banner
    45         help: Banner for Before/after component

Allows a title for the horizontal components to be defined to be displayed in a header above the component's items. It is called with the [scratch hbanner] tag and used in the Foundation demo in the random_horizontal component.

Lines 47-51: Special Tag

    47 hpromo_type:
    48         options: specials=Specials, new=New items
    49         widget: select
    50         description: Special tag
    51         help: Only for a horizontal Promotion

This setting is only viable when a promotion is used for a horizontal component. It tells the promotional component which row(s) to evaluate in the merchandising table for display within the component. This setting, used in the promo_horizontal component, typically correlates to the featured column of the merchandising table as follows:

    [query arrayref=main
           sql="
            SELECT sku,timed_promotion,start_date,finish_date
            FROM merchandising
            WHERE featured = '[scratch hpromo_type]'
            "]
    [/query]

4.4. Edit Page Function

Creating a page with the following specifications using the Edit Page function results in the HTML and ITL code displayed below.

Specifications:

    Template:                    Page with top/left areas.
    Page title:                  test
    Page banner:                 test
    Members only:                No
    Component before content:    Best Sellers
    Component after content:     Random items
    Component items horizontal:  3
    Before/after Banner:         New items
    Special tag:                 Specials
    Content:                     <P>My first HTML/ITL page!

Resulting code:

    [comment]
    ui_template: Yes
    ui_template_name: leftonly
    [/comment]

    [set hbanner]New items[/set]
    [set page_title]test[/set]
    [set hpromo_type]specials[/set]
    [set component_hsize]3[/set]
    [set page_banner]test[/set]
    [set members_only]0[/set]
    [set component_before]best_horizontal[/set]
    [set component_after]random_horizontal[/set]
    @_LEFTONLY_TOP_@

    <!-- BEGIN CONTENT -->
    <P>My first HTML/ITL page!
    <!-- END CONTENT -->

    @_LEFTONLY_BOTTOM_@

An important point demonstrated here is the inclusion of the region templates LEFTONLY_TOP and LEFTONLY_BOTTOM through the @_VARIABLE_NAME_@ notation. These are included because of line 4 of the leftonly template definition file:

    4  ui_template_layout: LEFTONLY_TOP, UI_CONTENT, LEFTONLY_BOTTOM

However, understand that you are free to change the region templates used in the file by editing the file itself or, better yet, using an existing region as a starting point for a region of your own design.

The next section explains the structure of region templates.

4.5. Region Templates

Interchange region templates (or "regions") are portions of HTML and ITL that are included in pages within a catalog. Using regions, along with the cascading style sheet defined in theme.cfg, allows you to control the look and feel of specific parts of each catalog page.

The default Foundation region set, found in CATROOT/templates/foundation/regions, includes the following:

    LEFTONLY_TOP
    LEFTONLY_BOTTOM
    LEFTRIGHT_TOP
    LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM
    NOLEFT_TOP
    NOLEFT_BOTTOM

The Foundation demo uses the Variable feature extensively to simplify hand page editing. Basically, a Variable is a define that permits the substitution of text for a simple __VARIABLE__ string in a page. For example, in the test page above, the variables LEFTONLY_TOP and LEFTONLY_BOTTOM correspond to region templates that provide a logobar, menubar, leftside menu, and copyright footer. Content, consisting of HTML and ITL, is placed within the BEGIN and END CONTENT comments. The following illustration shows how this looks on the page:

   +--------------------------------------------------------+
   |                      LOGOBAR                           |
   |--------------------------------------------------------+
   |                      MENUBAR                           |
   |--------------+-----------------------------------------+
   |              |                                         |
   |              |                                         |
   |              |                                         |
   |   LEFTSIDE   |          This is your content           |
   |              |                                         |
   |              |                                         |
   |              |                                         |
   |              +-----------------------------------------|
   |              |               COPYRIGHT                 |
   +--------------------------------------------------------+

In this diagram, LEFTONLY_TOP contributes the LEFTSIDE, LOGOBAR, and MENUBAR sections, while LEFTONLY_BOTTOM contributes the COPYRIGHT section.

The following subsections provide an inventory of where each of the region templates, included with the Foundation demo, are used in the pages and template definition files that make up the catalog.

4.5.1. LEFTONLY_TOP

The LEFTONLY_TOP template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/aboutus.html
    pages/account.html
    pages/affiliate/index.html
    pages/affiliate/login.html
    pages/canceled.html
    pages/contact.html
    pages/customerservice.html
    pages/flypage.html
    pages/help.html
    pages/login.html
    pages/logout.html
    pages/modular_modify.html
    pages/new_account.html
    pages/ord/basket.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/quantity.html
    pages/query/check_orders.html
    pages/query/order_detail.html
    pages/query/order_return.html
    pages/returns.html
    pages/saved_carts.html
    pages/ship_addresses.html
    pages/ship_addresses_added.html
    pages/ship_addresses_removed.html
    pages/stock-alert-added.html
    pages/stock-alert.html

The LEFTONLY_TOP template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/simple

4.5.1.1. Region Template Walkthrough -- LEFTONLY_TOP

 1  <!-- BEGIN LEFTONLY_TOP -->
 2  [if scratch members_only]
 3      [set members_only][/set]
 4      [if !session logged_in]
 5      [set mv_successpage]@@MV_PAGE@@[/set]
 6      [bounce page=login]
 7      [/if]
 8  [/if]
 9
10  <html>
11  <head>
12    <title>[scratch page_title]</title>
13    __THEME_CSS__
14  </head>
15
16  <body marginheight="0" marginwidth="0">
17
18  <!--- top left and right logo --->
19  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
20  <tr>
21    <td align="left" valign="middle" class="maincontent">
22      &nbsp;<img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR____LOGO__">
23    </td>
24    <td align="right" valign="middle" class="maincontent">
25      <img width="174" height="60" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__logo2.gif">&nbsp;
26    </td>
27  </tr>
28  </table>
29
30  <!--- menu bar along the top --->
31  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
32  <tr>
33    <td width="100%" class="menubar">
34      <a href="[area index]"> \
         <img name="Home" border="0" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__home.gif"></a>
35        <img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__sep.gif">
36      <a href="[area login]">
37      [if session logged_in]
38        <img alt="Log Out" border="0" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__logout.gif"></a>
39      [else]
40        <img alt="Log In" border="0" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__login.gif"></a>
41      [/else]
42      [/if]
43        <img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__sep.gif">
44      <a href="[area ord/basket]">
        <img alt="Your Cart" border="0" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__cart.gif"></a>
45        <img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__sep.gif">
46      <a href="[area ord/checkout]"> \
          <img alt="Check Out" border="0" src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__checkout.gif">\
                  </a>
47        <img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__sep.gif">
48      <a href="[area customerservice]">
        <img alt="Customer Service" border="0"
                  src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__service.gif"></a>
49        <img src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__sep.gif">
50      <a href="[area aboutus]">
                        <img alt="About Us" border="0"
                        src="__THEME_IMG_DIR__about.gif"></a>
51    </td>
52  </tr>
53  </table>
54
55  <!--- left category column, main content column, and right special column --->
56  <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
57  <tr>
58    <td width="20%" valign="top" align="left" class="categorybar">
59      <!--Left Sidebar-->
60      <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
61        [include file="templates/components/[control component none]"][control]
62        [include file="templates/components/[control component none]"][control]
63        [include file="templates/components/[control component none]"][control]
64      </table>
65    </td>
66    <td width="80%" valign="top" align="center" class="maincontent">
67      [include file="templates/components/[control component none]"][control]
68

4.5.2. LEFTONLY_BOTTOM

The LEFTONLY_BOTTOM template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/aboutus.html
    pages/account.html
    pages/affiliate/index.html
    pages/affiliate/login.html
    pages/canceled.html
    pages/contact.html
    pages/customerservice.html
    pages/flypage.html
    pages/help.html
    pages/login.html
    pages/logout.html
    pages/modular_modify.html
    pages/new_account.html
    pages/ord/basket.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/quantity.html
    pages/query/check_orders.html
    pages/query/order_detail.html
    pages/query/order_return.html
    pages/returns.html
    pages/saved_carts.html
    pages/ship_addresses.html
    pages/ship_addresses_added.html
    pages/ship_addresses_removed.html
    pages/stock-alert-added.html
    pages/stock-alert.html

The LEFTONLY_BOTTOM template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/simple

4.5.3. LEFTRIGHT_TOP

The LEFTRIGHT_TOP template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/browse.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/results_big.html
    pages/swap_results.html

The LEFTRIGHT_TOP template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

4.5.4. LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM

The LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/browse.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/results_big.html
    pages/swap_results.html

The LEFTRIGHT_BOTTOM template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

4.5.5. NOLEFT_BOTTOM

The NOLEFT_BOTTOM template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/ord/checkout.html
    pages/splash.html

The NOLEFT_BOTTOM template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/fullwidth

4.5.6. NOLEFT_TOP

The NOLEFT_TOP template region is used in the following template pages:

    pages/ord/checkout.html
    pages/splash.html

The NOLEFT_TOP template region is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/fullwidth

4.6. Template Page List

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/:

    aboutus.html
    account.html
    browse.html
    canceled.html
    change_password.html
    contact.html
    customerservice.html
    deliver.html
    flypage.html
    help.html
    index.html
    login.html
    logout.html
    lost_password.html
    modular_modify.html
    new_account.html
    privacypolicy.html
    process_return.html
    quantity.html
    results_big.html
    results_either.html
    results.html
    returns.html
    saved_carts.html
    ship_addresses_added.html
    ship_addresses.html
    ship_addresses_removed.html
    splash.html
    stock-alert-added.html
    stock-alert.html
    swap_results.html

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/admin/report_def:

    Order%20Status.html
    Products%20to%20edit.html

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/admin/reports:

    Order%20Status.html
    Products%20to%20edit.html

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/affiliate:

    index.html
    login.html

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/ord:

    basket.html
    checkout.html

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/pages/query:

    check_orders.html
    get_password.html
    order_detail.html
    order_return.html

4.7. Special Page List

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/special_pages/:

    badsearch.html
    canceled.html
    cc_not_valid.html
    confirmation.html
    failed.html
    interact.html
    missing.html
    needfield.html
    nomatch.html
    noproduct.html
    notfound.html
    order_security.html
    reconfig.html
    sec_faq.html
    security.html
    violation.html

4.8. Components

Interchange components are portions of HTML and ITL that are included in pages within a catalog depending on options set in the Administration Tool. The default component set includes the following:

    affiliate_receptor
    best_horizontal
    best_vertical
    cart
    cart_display
    cart_tiny
    category_vertical
    cross_horizontal
    cross_vertical
    modular_buy
    modular_update
    none
    promo
    promo_horizontal
    promo_vertical
    random
    random_horizontal
    random_vertical
    saved_carts_list_small
    search_box_small
    upsell
    upsell_horizontal
    upsell_vertical

/home/ic/catalogs/ft/templates/components:

4.8.1. affiliate_receptor

Not used in Foundation demo

4.8.2. best_horizontal

The best_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright

Not used in Foundation demo pages

4.8.3. best_vertical

The best_vertical component is used in the following template:

    templates/foundation/leftright

Not used in Foundation demo pages

4.8.4. cart

The cart component is used in the following page:

    pages/ord/basket.html

4.8.5. cart_display

The cart_display component creates a small shopping cart that is displayed on the search results page (pages/results.html). It is displayed after an item in a list of results from a search is added to the shopping cart. cart_display is called in results.html by the following include statement:

    [include file="templates/components/cart_display"]

The cart_display component is used in the following pages:

    pages/results.html

4.8.5.1. Component Walkthrough -- cart_display

The remainder of this section is best read in conjunction with the file CATROOT/templates/components/cart_display in a text editor.

Lines 1-6: Component Specification

     1  [comment]
     2  ui_component: cart_display
     3  ui_component_group: info
     4  ui_component_label: Smaller cart for display in content area
     5
     6  [/comment]
     7

These lines control what is shown in the Edit page screen of the admin interface.

     8  <!-- BEGIN COMPONENT [control component cart_display] -->

Line 8 is an HTML comment noting the start of the code for the component. (Note that this can serve as a useful debugging tool to help you locate the component in the resulting HTML generated by Interchange when you view the source of a page loaded in the browser.)

     9  [if items]

Line 9 checks to see if there are items in the shopping basket. If there are, the remaining code up to the closing [/if] tag on line 64 is executed. If not, Interchanges continues executing the remaining code in results.html (the file that calls the cart_display component).

    10  <center>
    11    <table width="95%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0">
    12      <TR class="contentbar2" VALIGN=TOP>
    13        <td align=center class="contentbar2">Action</td>
    14        <td class="contentbar2">
    15          SKU
    16        </td>
    17        <td class="contentbar2">
    18          Description
    19        </td>
    20        <td class="contentbar2">
    21          Quantity
    22        </td>
    23        <td class="contentbar2">
    24          Price
    25        </td>
    26        <td class="contentbar2">
    27          Extension
    28        </td>
    29      </TR>

Line 10 centers the table started in line 11. Lines 12-29 create a header row in the shopping cart consisting of the header titles Action, SKU, Description, Quantity, Price, and Extension.

    30      <TBODY>
    31  [item-list]
    32

Line 30 defines the remainder of the table as a section while the [item-list] tag on line 31 tells Interchange to execute the code up to the closing tag ([/item-list] on line 59 for each item the customer has ordered so far.

    33      <tr class="[item-alternate 2]
                                                        maincontent
                                                        [else]contentbar1[/else]
                                                [/item-alternate]">
    34        <td align=center valign=top>
    35          [page ord/basket]edit</A>
    36        </TD>
    37        <td valign=top>[item-code]</TD>
    38        <td valign=top>[page [item-code]][item-description]</A>
    39        </TD>
    40

Line 33 begins the next row in the table. The [item-alternate] tag provided as the value of the class attribute tells Interchange to alternate between displaying the rows according to the "maincontent" and "contentbar1" styles (gray and white, respectively).

Lines 34-36 create a link to the shopping cart (basket.html) where the customer can remove or change the quantity of the item ordered.

Line 37 displays the SKU of the item. Lines 38 and 39 provide a link to the product display page (flypage.html) for the item. The [item-description] tag providing the content of the [page] tag enables the item's name to be displayed as the link to the product display page.

    41  [if-item-modifier gift_cert]
    42        <TD ALIGN=CENTER><small>Amount of gift:</small></TD>
    43        <TD ALIGN=CENTER>[item-quantity]</TD>
    44        <TD ALIGN=right>
    45          [item-subtotal]
    46        </TD>
    47  [else]
    48        <TD ALIGN=CENTER>[item-quantity]</TD>
    49        <TD ALIGN=right>
    50          [item-price]
    51        </TD>
    52        <TD ALIGN=right>
    53          [item-subtotal]
    54        </TD>
    55  [/else]
    56  [/if-item-modifier]
    57      </TR>
    58

Line 41 checks whether the item is a gift certificate. If it is it displays "Amount of gift:" and the [item-quantity] (number of gift certificates, in this case) under the headings "Quantity" and "Price", respectively. Otherwise, lines 48 through 50 display the quantity and price of the item ordered. Lines 45 or 53 (depending on whether the item is a gift certificate) display the item subtotal (quantity multiplied by price) for the item under the heading "Extension".

    59  [/item-list]
    60  </TBODY>
    61  </table>
    62  </FORM>
    63  </center>
    64  [/if]
    65
    66  <!-- END COMPONENT [control component cart_display] -->

Lines 59 through 64 close out the tags for the component, and line 66 indicates the end of the component code.

4.8.6. cart_tiny

The cart_tiny component is used in the following pages:

    pages/account.html
    pages/browse.html
    pages/canceled.html
    pages/customerservice.html
    pages/flypage.html
    pages/help.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/logout.html
    pages/modular_modify.html
    pages/new_account.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/quantity.html
    pages/query/check_orders.html
    pages/query/order_detail.html
    pages/query/order_return.html
    pages/saved_carts.html
    pages/ship_addresses.html

4.8.7. category_horizontal

Not used in Foundation demo pages or templates.

4.8.8. category_vertical

The category_vertical component provides a listing of all products in the catalog, organized by prod_group (e.g., Hand Tools, Ladders). category_vertical is usually displayed in the LEFTSIDE section of the page, under the search_box_small component.

The category_vertical component is used in the following pages:

    pages/aboutus.html
    pages/account.html
    pages/affiliate/index.html
    pages/affiliate/login.html
    pages/browse.html
    pages/canceled.html
    pages/contact.html
    pages/customerservice.html
    pages/flypage.html
    pages/help.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/login.html
    pages/logout.html
    pages/modular_modify.html
    pages/new_account.html
    pages/ord/basket.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/quantity.html
    pages/query/check_orders.html
    pages/query/order_detail.html
    pages/query/order_return.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/results_big.html
    pages/returns.html
    pages/saved_carts.html
    pages/ship_addresses.html
    pages/stock-alert-added.html
    pages/stock-alert.html
    pages/swap_results.html

4.8.8.1. Component Walkthrough -- category_vertical

The remainder of this section is best read while viewing the file CATROOT/templates/components/cart_display in a text editor.

Lines 1-6: Component Specification

     1  [comment]
     2  ui_component: category_vertical
     3  ui_component_group: Navigation
     4  ui_component_label: Vertical category list
     5
     6  page_class:
     7          label: Page class
     8          widget: select
     9          lookup: which_page
    10          db: area
    11          help: Defines which sets of items should be displayed
    12          advanced: 1
    13
    14  set_selector:
    15          label: Page area selector
    16          widget: select
    17          db: area
    18          lookup: sel
    19          help: Defines which sets of items should be displayed
    20          advanced: 1
    21  [/comment]
    22

These lines control what is shown in the Edit page screen of the Administration Tool.

    23  <tr><td align="center" class="categorybar">
    24    <br>
    25    <table>
    26
    27  <!-- BEGIN COMPONENT [control component category_vertical] -->

Lines 23-25 set up the row and table within that row that will hold the vertical category list. Line 27 identifies the start of the code for the list.

    28  [loop
    29          prefix=box
    30          search="
    31                  fi=area
    32                  st=db
    33                  tf=sort
    34                  ac=0
    35                  ac=0
    36                  co=yes
    37
    38                  sf=sel
    39                  op=eq
    40                  se=[control set_selector left]
    41
    42                  sf=which_page
    43                  op=rm
    44                  se=[control page_class all|@@MV_PAGE@@]
    45  "]
    46

Lines 28-45 build a list of product categories obtained through a search of the area table.

    47    <tr>
    48      <td valign="top" class="categorybar">
    49        <b>[box-exec bar_link]area[/box-exec]</b>
    50      </td>
    51    </tr>
    52    <tr>
    53      <td valign="top" class="categorybar">
    54
    55  [set found_cat][/set]
    56  [loop prefix=cat
    57          search="
    58                  fi=cat
    59                  st=db
    60                  tf=sort
    61                  tf=name
    62                  rf=code,name
    63                  sf=sel
    64                  se=[box-code]
    65          "
    66          ]
    67        &nbsp;&nbsp;[cat-exec bar_link]cat[/cat-exec]<BR>
    68  [/loop]
    69
    70      </td>
    71    </tr>
    72  [/loop]
    73
    74    </table>
    75    <br>
    76  </td></tr>
    77
    78  <!-- END COMPONENT [control component category_vertical] -->

Lines 47-78 generate a list of links based on the products and product categories identified in the search.

4.8.9. cross_horizontal

The cross_horizontal component is used in the following pages:

    pages/browse.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/results_big.html

The cross_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.10. cross_vertical

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

The cross_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.11. modular_buy

The modular_buy component is used in the following pages:

    pages/flypage.html

The modular_buy component is used in the following templates:

    templates/components/modular_update

4.8.12. modular_update

The modular_update component is used in the following pages:

    pages/modular_modify.html

4.8.13. promo

The promo component is used in the following pages:

    pages/contact.html
    pages/results_big.html

4.8.14. promo_horizontal

The promo_horizontal component is used in the following pages:

    pages/aboutus.html
    pages/canceled.html

The promo_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.15. promo_vertical

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

The promo_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.16. random

The random component is used in the following pages:

    pages/browse.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/ord/basket.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/swap_results.html

4.8.17. random_horizontal

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

The random_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.18. random_vertical

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

The random_vertical component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.19. saved_carts_list_small

The saved_carts_list_small component is used in the following pages:

    pages/ord/basket.html

4.8.20. search_box_small

The search_box_small component is used in the following pages:

    pages/aboutus.html
    pages/account.html
    pages/affiliate/index.html
    pages/affiliate/login.html
    pages/browse.html
    pages/canceled.html
    pages/contact.html
    pages/customerservice.html
    pages/flypage.html
    pages/help.html
    pages/index.html
    pages/login.html
    pages/logout.html
    pages/modular_modify.html
    pages/new_account.html
    pages/ord/basket.html
    pages/privacypolicy.html
    pages/process_return.html
    pages/quantity.html
    pages/query/check_orders.html
    pages/query/order_detail.html
    pages/query/order_return.html
    pages/results.html
    pages/results_big.html
    pages/returns.html
    pages/saved_carts.html
    pages/ship_addresses.html
    pages/stock-alert-added.html
    pages/stock-alert.html
    pages/swap_results.html

The search_box_small component is used in the following templates:

    templates/regions/LEFTONLY_TOP
    templates/regions/LEFTRIGHT_TOP

4.8.21. upsell

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

4.8.22. upsell_horizontal

The upsell_horizontal component is used in the following pages:

    pages/flypage.html

The upsell_horizontal component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/cart
    templates/foundation/leftonly
    templates/foundation/leftright

4.8.23. upsell_vertical

Not used in Foundation demo pages.

The upsell_vertical component is used in the following templates:

    templates/foundation/leftright

5. The Database Tables

Interchange catalogs are centralized around the database. You can alter any of the standard databases, add new databases, or remove unneeded databases

The foundation catalog includes the following tables, organized here by content:

You may also see symbolic links pointing to index tables, for example products.category.txt linking to products.txt.10. These are automatically generated indexes, in this case into the products table to speed category searches. See Dictionary Indexing With INDEX in the database documentation for details about auto-indexing of text databases.

The following dictionary lists and describes each table used in the Foundation demo.

5.1. 2ndDayAir.csv

Shipping table from UPS (http://www.ups.com/using/services/rave/rate/). This and all shipping tables should be updated periodically.

5.2. 450.csv

Shipping table from UPS for 450xx Zip Code origin. You will probably need to get your own from the UPS site (http://www.ups.com/using/services/rave/rate/) and clip the headers.

5.3. Ground.csv

Shipping table from UPS (http://www.ups.com/using/services/rave/rate/).

5.4. NextDayAir.csv

Shipping table from UPS (http://www.ups.com/using/services/rave/rate/).

5.5. access.asc

Administrative access table. This table is used by the Administration Tool. For more description on these fields, see the Interchange Administration Tool guide.

Fields

Field Description
username Login name or group name (group names begin with ':')
password Hashed password
name Administrator's name
last_login Last login time
super Set to 1 if superuser
yes_tables Tables the user may edit
no_tables Tables the user may not edit
upload No Description
acl No Description
export No Description
edit No Description
pages No Description
files No Description
config No Description
reconfig No Description
groups Administrator's group memberships
meta No Description
no_functions Explicitly disallowed functions
yes_functions Allowed functions with permission flags
table_control No Description
personal_css Administrator's personal CSS (for admin screen presentation)

5.5.1. username

Example Data

   :ausers
   :busers
   BigUser
   goody
   ic

The login name for an administrator or an administration group. Group names are prefixed with a colon (':').

5.5.2. password

Example Data

   Ksjs65bMNLjPQ

Hashed password.

5.5.3. name

Example Data

   Interchange Site Administrator
   Interchange Site Associates
   Business Users
   2nd Shift
   Mr. Jones
   Inbound Sales

Descriptive name for the administrator or administration group.

5.5.4. last_login

Example Data

   989424489

Last login time (in unix time() format).

5.5.5. super

Boolean value. If true (1), the administrator has Interchange Site Administrator privilege.

5.5.6. yes_tables

Example Data

   affiliate=vcx component=v gift_certs=v inventory=vx ...
   NONE

Tables this administrator or administration group can access. This is a space-delimited list of 'table_name=permission_flags' entries.

5.5.7. no_tables

Example Data

   access mv_metadata variable

Tables this administrator or administration group can not use. This is a space-delimited list of tables names.

5.5.8. upload

No Description

5.5.9. acl

No Description

5.5.10. export

No Description

5.5.11. edit

No Description

5.5.12. pages

No Description

5.5.13. files

No Description

5.5.14. config

No Description

Example Data

Allowed Values

5.5.15. reconfig

No Description

5.5.16. groups

Example Data

   ausers
   busers

Allowed Values

Groups the site user belongs to. You can set permissions for groups.

5.5.17. meta

No Description

5.5.18. no_functions

Example Data

   orderstats trafficstats

Space-delimited list of functions explicitly not allowed for the site user.

5.5.19. yes_functions

Example Data

   item=lvecd itemtype=lvc order=lvca orderstats trafficstats ...
   NONE

Functions the site user can perform. This is a space-delimited list of functions, with permission flags if appropriate.

Usage examples

5.5.20. table_control

No Description

Usage examples

5.5.21. personal_css

Used in the Administration Tool screens to make personal changes to the page presentation. This is done by creating your own personal CSS (cascading style sheet).

Usage examples

5.6. affiliate

cat_root/products/affiliate.txt

This table contains data related to your affiliate programs. See also the affiliate_receptor component.

Fields

Field Description
affiliate Affiliate ID
name Name of affiliate organization
campaigns Campaigns this affiliate participates in
coupon_amount Discount for customers from affiliate participating in coupon campaign
join_date When the affiliate signed with you
url Your default URL to use for customers coming from the affiliate site (not the affiliate's home page)
timeout Timeout in seconds after which purchases are no longer credited to the affiliate
active Boolean, set to 1 for active affiliates
password Affiliate login password
image Affiliate's logo

5.6.1. affiliate

Example Data

   consolidated
   hardhat

This field contains the unique Affiliate ID.

5.6.2. name

Example Data

   Consolidated Diversified
   Hardhat Construction

This is the descriptive name of the affiliate.

5.6.3. campaigns

Example Data

   coupon

This field lists the campaigns that the affiliate participates and enables campaign features and tracks traffic from advertising campaigns. The foundation catalog implements a coupon campaign in the affiliate_receptor component. If you want to add campaigns, you will also need to develop the appropriate logic within the affiliate_receptor component and pages that use it.

5.6.4. coupon_amount

Example Data

   5

This is the discount offered customers from the affiliate participating in the coupon campaign.

Note -- This is implemented in the affiliate_receptor component as a flat discount amount. If you wanted a percentage discount instead, you would modify the [discount] tag in catalog_root/templates/components/affiliate_receptor (see the [discount] tag for more detail).

5.6.5. join_date

Example Data

   20000827
   20000910

This is the date when the affiliate signed with you.

5.6.6. url

Example Data

   http://demo.akopia.com/~hardhat
   http://www.minivend.com/consolidated/

The value in this field is used to direct visitors coming from the Affiliate to your home page or a page you have designed specifically for visitors from that Affiliate's site. Note that this should not be the URL of the Affiliate's home site.

5.6.7. timeout

Example Data

   0
   3600

The value in this field is used to specify the amount of time a customer has to place an order to still give the Affiliate credit for it. If the customer goes over this amount of time, the Affiliate doesn't get credit for the customer visit. The timeout delay is measured in seconds, with the value of 0 (zero) disabling it. It is recommended that you use a value in the thousands to make sure the customer has enough time to shop.

5.6.8. active

This is a boolean value indicating whether the affiliate is active.

5.6.9. password

Example Data

   akopia

Password for affiliate login (see catalog_root//pages/affiliate/login.html). Note that the password is stored in plaintext by default.

5.6.10. image

Example Data

   http://demo.akopia.com/~hardhat/images/logo.gif
   http://www.minivend.com/consolidated/conslogo.gif

Affiliate's logo image.

5.7. area

cat_root/products/area.txt

This table is used to implement dynamic navigation bars. For example, it is used in the category_horizontal and category_vertical components. Note the similarity to the cat table, since both area and cat tables supply data for building links to results pages.

When building entries in a navigation bar, it is the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file that actually reads and processes the values from the table.

See also the following catalog and administrative templates:

Fields

Field Description
code Unique key
sel Space-delimited list of navigation bars to contain the entry
name Display label
which_page Page class in which the navigation bar may appear
sort Sorting prefix for entry (preempts standard alphanumeric sort)
display_type How to label links in the navbar (name, icon, url or image)
image Image URL (if appropriate)
image_prop HTML attributes for output <img> tag (if appropriate)
banner_image Image name for use in target page
banner_text Text for use in target page
link_type Type of links in the navbar (external, internal, simple, complex)
url Target for internal or external link_type
tab Database table file to use with 'simple' link_type
page Results page to use with 'simple' link_type
search Search spec used with 'complex' link_type
selector The selector used to scan the products table for products in the category
link_template Overrides template used for building navbar links.

5.7.1. code

Example Data

   1
   2
   3

Unique key.

5.7.2. sel

Example Data

   left

Space-delimited list of navigation bars that should contain the entry. Note that comma or null should also work as a delimiter.

5.7.3. name

Example Data

   Hand Tools
   Hardware
   Ladders
   Measuring Tools
   Painting Supplies
   Safety Equipment
   Specials
   Tool Storage

Label to display.

5.7.4. which_page

Example Data

   all

Page class in which the navigation bar may appear.

5.7.5. sort

Example Data

   00
   03
   04
   05
   06

Lexographic (alphanumeric) sorting prefix. Note use of '03' rather than '3', which would sort after '13'. This controls the order of the categories in your navigation bar.

If this is not set, your navbar entries will sort in alphabetical order.

5.7.6. display_type

Example Data

   name
   icon
   url
   image

What to use for the labels in the navigation bar (for example, name, icon, url or image). The navigation bars in the foundation catalog are set up with 'name' display_type.

display type Link shown as
name Displays name only
icon Displays name and specified image
image Displays image only
url Displays link

5.7.7. image

Image URL for image or icon display_type.

5.7.8. image_prop

For image or icon display_type, this contains the HTML attributes for the HTML that will appear in the navbar, for example:

  <img src="image" alt="name" image_prop>name

5.7.9. banner_image

Example Data

   promo_image.gif

This field is not related to banner ads. It is useful if you want to pass to your results page an image that is specific for the navbar entry (perhaps to display a banner above your results).

If you are using an Interchange search for your links (i.e., 'simple' or 'complex' link_type), then this will add 'va=banner_image=banner_image' to the resulting search specification. This puts the contents of banner_image into the Values hash of your search results page. You can access it with [value banner_image] (see the value tag). You will have to modify the standard results page (or set up and specify your own) in order to display the image.

   <IMG src="[value banner_image]" alt="[value banner_text]">

The foundation catalog does not implement banner_image in the preconfigured navigation bars.

5.7.10. banner_text

Example Data

   This Is A Title For Hand Tools

This field is not related to banner ads. It is useful if you want to pass to your results page some text that is specific for the navbar entry (perhaps to display a title above your results).

If you are using an Interchange search for your links (i.e., 'simple' or 'complex' link_type), then this will add 'va=banner_text=banner_text' to the resulting search specification. This puts the contents of banner_text into the Values hash of your search results page. You can access it with [value banner_text] (see the value tag). You will have to modify the standard results page (or set up and specify your own) in order to display the text.

The foundation catalog does not implement banner_text in the preconfigured navigation bars.

5.7.11. link_type

Example Data

   none
   external
   internal
   simple
   complex

Link type to create in the navigation bar.

Link type Description
none No link
external External link. The HTML specified in url will go directly into the navigation bar.
internal Internal link. This will be highlit if it is the current page. If you specify both a page and a form for the link, the url field should contain "page form". See the Search Engine documentation for more detail on search forms.
simple Allows you to specify an Interchange search with a few values. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file for more detail.
complex Allows you to fully specify an Interchange search specification. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file for more detail if you need to use these.

5.7.12. url

Target URL (external link or internal page/search specification). See link_type . The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the url field.

5.7.13. tab

Database table file to use with 'simple' link_type (searchspec fi=tab). The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the tab field.

5.7.14. page

Results page to use with 'simple' link_type (searchspec sp=page). The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the page field.

5.7.15. search

Search spec used with 'complex' link_type. See the Search Engine documentation for more detail on search forms. The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the search field.

5.7.16. selector

The selector that is used to scan the products table for products in the category. Used with 'simple' link_type. The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the selector field.

5.7.17. link_template

Overrides the usual HTML link template for navbar entries. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file if you need to modify link templates.

The foundation catalog navigation bars are not set up with link types that use the link_template field.

5.8. banner

cat_root/products/banner.txt

The banner ad table. The foundation catalog does not implement any banner ads with this table.

You do not need to use this table to display ads served by third parties (for example, doubleclick). Since most banner ads on the internet are served by third parties and are not managed by your catalog, you probably will not need to set up banners here unless you do your own advertising.

See Banner/Ad rotation in the template documentation for a detailed description of the columns and content of the banner table. Also, see the banner tag documentation.

Fields

Field Description
code Key for the item. If the banners are not weighted, this should be a category-specific code.
category Category for set of weighted banners
weight Display frequency weight for weighted banner
rotate Boolean: parse banner field for banners to rotate if true (1)
banner Banner name or list of banners to rotate

5.8.1. code

Example Data

   MyBanner
   MyBanner2
   MyBanner3
   default

See Banner/Ad rotation.

5.8.2. category

Example Data

   BannerCat1

See Banner/Ad rotation.

5.8.3. weight

Example Data

   1
   2
   7

See Banner/Ad rotation.

5.8.4. rotate

Boolean value. If true (1), rotates banners listed in banner. See Banner/Ad rotation.

5.8.5. banner

Example Data

   Default banner 1{or}Default banner 2{or}Default banner 3
   First MyBanner
   Second MyBanner
   Third MyBanner

See Banner/Ad rotation.

5.9. cat

cat_root/products/cat.txt

This table contains properties of product categories. Notice the similarity to the area table, since both the area and cat tables supply data for building links to results pages.

Fields

Field Description
code Unique key
sel Space-delimited list of foreign keys into area table
name Category name
which_page Page class in which the category may appear
sort Sorting prefix for entry (preempts standard alphanumeric sort)
display_type How to label the category links (name, icon, url or image)
image Image URL (if appropriate)
image_prop HTML attributes for output <img> tag (if appropriate)
banner_image Image name for use in target page
banner_text Text for use in target page
link_type Type of links in the navbar (external, internal, simple, complex)
url Target for internal or external link_type
tab Database table file to use with 'simple' link_type
page Results page to use with 'simple' link_type
search Search spec used with 'complex' link_type
selector The selector used to scan the products table for products in the category
link_template Overrides template used for building links

5.9.1. code

Example Data

   1
   4
   5

Unique key.

5.9.2. sel

Example Data

   6
   8 9
   9

Space-delimited list of foreign key(s) into area table. The category will appear in each navbar section (defined by a row in the area table) where the key from cat.sel matches the area.code.

For example, the foundation catalog (tools) places Gift Certificates in more than one category of the left navbar.

5.9.3. name

Example Data

   Breathing Protection
   Eye Protection
   Gift Certificate
   Picks & Hatchets
   Pliers
   Rulers
   Sandpaper
   Toolboxes

Category name for display.

5.9.4. which_page

The page class. When building links, you can select categories matching a page class. This means you could set up your catalog to show a different list of links on page 'foo.html' than on page 'bar.html'.

5.9.5. sort

Example Data

   01
   03

Lexographic (alphanumeric) sorting prefix. Notice use of '03' rather than '3', which would sort after '13'. You can use this to control the order of the categories in a list of links.

5.9.6. display_type

Example Data

   name
   icon
   url
   image

What to use for the labels in the navigation bar (for example, name, icon, url or image). The links in the foundation catalog are set up with 'name' display_type.

display type Link shown as
name Displays name only
icon Displays name and specified image
image Displays image only
url Displays link

5.9.7. image

Image URL for image or icon display_type.

5.9.8. image_prop

For image or icon display_type, this contains the HTML <img ...> tag attributes for the links, for example:

  <img src="image" alt="name" image_prop>name

5.9.9. banner_image

Example Data

   promo_image.gif

This field is not related to banner ads. It is useful if you want to pass to your results page an image that is specific for the navbar entry (perhaps to display a banner above your results).

If you are using an Interchange search for your links (i.e., 'simple' or 'complex' link_type), then this will add 'va=banner_image=banner_image' to the resulting search specification. This puts the contents of banner_image into the Values hash in your search results page. You can access it with [value banner_image] (see the value tag). You will have to modify the standard results page (or set up and specify your own) in order to display the image. For example, you might include the following in your results page:

   <IMG src="[value banner_image]" alt="[value banner_text]">

5.9.10. banner_text

This field is not related to banner ads. It is useful if you want to pass to your results page some text that is specific for the navbar entry (perhaps to display a title above your results).

If you are using an Interchange search for your links (i.e., 'simple' or 'complex' link_type), then this will add 'va=banner_text=banner_text' to the resulting search specification. This puts the contents of banner_text into the Values hash in your search results page. You can access it with [value banner_text] (see the value tag). You will have to modify the standard results page (or set up and specify your own) in order to display the text.

5.9.11. link_type

Example Data

   none
   external
   internal
   simple
   complex

The link type to create.

Link type Description
none No link
external External link. The HTML specified in url will go directly into the link.
internal Internal link. This will be highlit if it is the current page. If you specify both a page and a form for the link, the url field should contain "page form". See the Search Engine documentation for more detail on search forms.
simple Allows you to specify an Interchange search with a few values. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file for more detail.
complex Allows you to fully specify an Interchange search specification. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file for more detail if you need to use these.

5.9.12. url

Target URL (external link or internal page/search specification). See link_types above.

5.9.13. tab

Example Data

   products

Database table file to use with 'simple' link_type (searchspec fi=tab).

5.9.14. page

Example Data

   swap_results

Results page to use with 'simple' link_type (searchspec sp=page).

5.9.15. search

Example Data

   fi=merchandising^Msf=featured^Mse=new
   fi=merchandising^Msf=featured^Mse=special^Msu=yes

Search spec used with 'complex' link_type. See the Search Engine documentation for more detail on search forms.


Note: The '^M' delimiters in the sample data represents a carriage return character (Control-M, or hexadecimal 0x0d).

5.9.16. selector

Example Data

   category=Breathing Protection
   category=Eye Protection
   category=Gift Certificate
   category=Picks & Hatchets
   category=Pliers
   category=Rulers
   category=Sandpaper
   category=Toolboxes

The element that is used to scan the products table for products in the category. Used with 'simple' link_type.

5.9.17. link_template

Overrides the usual HTML link template for navbar entries. See the bar_link subroutine in the /dist/catalog_before.cfg configuration file if you need to modify link templates.

5.10. country

A list of countries used to build select boxes, calculate tax, and set shipping mode choices based on the user's country.

    code          Country code
    sorder        Used to determine sort order
    region        An enumerator to group based on region
    selector      The code that should be used (same as code)
    shipmodes     Shipping modes to be presented for that country
    name          Textual name of the country
    iso           ISO three letter code for the country
    isonum        ISO numeric code for the country
    tax           Tax information (may redirect to a state table)

5.11. downloadable

This table controls downloadable products. The Marketing Reports data set for the foundation catalog demonstrates downloadable products. List a product's sku in this table if you want to deliver it through a download. A customer can then download the file specified in the dl_location field after checkout.

For reference, see the implementation in the following files:

Fields

Field Description
sku Unique key, matches product.sku
dl_location Location of downloadable file
dl_type MIME type of downloadable file

5.11.1. sku

Example Data

Example Data from the Marketing Reports data set:

   00352as
   22083da
   49503cg
   59330rt
   59402fw
   73358ee
   83491vp
   90773sh

This is the unique key for this table that is also the common key into the products table.

5.11.2. dl_location

Example Data from 'reports' catalog

   download/00352as.pdf
   download/22083da.pdf
   download/49503cg.pdf
   download/59330rt.pdf
   download/59402fw.pdf
   download/73358ee.pdf
   download/83491vp.pdf
   download/90773sh.pdf

File location of downloadable product.

5.11.3. dl_type

Example Data from 'reports' catalog

   application/pdf

MIME type of downloadable content.

5.12. files

A database where files (pages, etc.) can be kept instead of in the Unix filesystem. Not normally used in foundation.

5.13. inventory.txt

    sku            Quantity info
    quantity       Gets decremented after each sale.
    stock_message  The usual shipping time of the product. Example choices:

                                      In stock
                                      Ships in 3-5 days
                                      Ships in 4-6 weeks
                                      Special order

    account        Sales account for accounting links
    cogs_account   Inventory account for accounting links

5.14. locale.txt

    code
    en_US
    de_DE
    fr_FR

Used to develop localization. Can be used in conjunction with other types of locale information. See Internationalization.

5.15. merchandising.txt

    sku
    featured
    banner_text
    banner_image
    blurb_begin
    blurb_end
        Closer (end text for feature display)
    timed_promotion
    start_date
        Start date
    finish_date
    upsell_to
        Cross-sell SKUs
    cross_sell
    cross_category
    others_bought
    times_ordered

5.16. mv_metadata

See the following sections in the icadvanced catalog for more information:

5.17. options

This table contains data for implementing simple, matrix and modular options.

Simple options are options that a customer can combine arbitrarily, such as size and color. The selected options might affect price. See the accessories tag for more detail on option values for simple options.

Matrix options are preconfigured combinations of options. For example, if you sell titanium and carbon-fiber bike frames, but offer only certain combinations of frame material and color, your checkout page might include a select box with only the following entries:

Note that there is no Yellow Flame Titanium offering, for example.

Modular options are like a structured bill of materials, where one product is a master item and other products are subitems for that master item. The subitems can also be master items to subitems at a lower level. In addition, subitems may be designated as 'phantom', which means that they are placeholders in the hierarchy of the structured bill of materials with their own subitems, but are not actual items themselves.

The foundation catalog with the computer data set uses modular options.

For more information, see the following pages and components in the foundation catalog:


Note: Subsequent foundation catalog releases may place simple, matrix, and modular option types in separate tables.

Fields

Field Description
code Unique ID for the product option
o_master SKU of the master item for the option
sku SKU for the option (foreign key into products table)
o_group Product grouping code
o_sort Sorting prefix for list display
phantom Boolean -- Item is a phantom placeholder (as in structured bill of materials) with suboptions.
o_enable Boolean -- enables suboptions for the option
o_matrix Matrix-type option (preconfigured combinations of attributes)
o_modular Modular-type option (master/subitem relationship like modular bill of materials)
o_default Default selection for the option group or suboption for a phantom option
o_label Short name for option display
o_value Simple option values (in Interchange option format)
o_widget The HTML widget to use for displaying the option group
o_footer Not used in foundation catalog
o_header Not used in foundation catalog
o_height Height of widget (if applicable)
o_width Width of widget
description Option/Variant description (for description in display)
price Price of this option/variant
wholesale Dealer price of this option/variant
differential Differential to add to the base item price when using a phantom bill of materials
weight Weight difference with this option/variant (for shipping)
volume Volume difference with this option/variant
mv_shipmode No Description
o_exclude Option groups to exclude (trumped by o_include). Modular only.
o_include Option groups to include (trumps o_exclude). Modular only.

5.17.1. code

Example Data

   1002
   1003
   1004
   1005

Unique ID for the option.

5.17.2. o_master

Example Data

   00010
   999000
   999001
   999002

SKU of the master item for the option. The master item is one level up in the modular hierarchy, and must be one of the following:

If an option has a master item, then a customer can not choose that option without having previously selected the master item.

The price for a master item is the sum of the master item's price and the price for each of the subitems. Because the subitems are recursively defined, the top-level item reflects the top level price plus the price of all selected options.

5.17.3. sku

Example Data

   00010
   999000
   7000015
   7000030

The sku for the item or option. This may not be unique for matrix options or if an option that belongs to multiple o_masters is listed for each master.

5.17.4. o_group

Example Data

   A
   B
   C
   I

Product group (scanned to see whether it applies to this product or not)

5.17.5. o_sort

Example Data

   01
   02
   03
   04
   47
   48
   49
   50

Sorting prefix for listing order of options.

5.17.6. phantom

Modular options only.

Boolean -- if true (1), then this is a phantom item acting as a placeholder for other items rather than an actual product. The item's sku will not match an entry in the products table, though the o_master will match either the sku of another phantom item in the options table or the sku of an item in the products table.

5.17.7. o_enable

Boolean -- Enables subitems for this item or option. Note that an option with o_enable false may itself still be a subitem for an option or item above it.

5.17.8. o_matrix

Boolean. Set true (1) for matrix-type options. See the options table in the tools data set for examples of matrix options. Matrix options that are part of a set have the same value for options.sku.

5.17.9. o_modular

Specifies a modular option. See main heading for description of modular options.

5.17.10. o_default

Example Data

   1
   11002
   7000062
   7000087

Selects the default option for a group.

5.17.11. o_label

Example Data

   Add a second hard drive
   Case Color
   Case color
   Case style
   Include tapes
   Red

This is the short name for option display.

5.17.12. o_value

Example Data

   1=One 8GB tape,\r2=Two 8GB tapes,\r=None*
   a=One 8GB tape,\rb=Two 8GB tapes,\r=None*
   baby=Baby Tower,\rmid=Mid-tower,\rfull=Full Tower
   baby=Baby tower,\rmid=Mid-tower,\rfull=Full tower
   red=Passion Red,\rblue=Electric Blue,\rgreen=Sea Green,\rgrey=S...
   red=Passion Red,\ryellow=Lemon Yellow,\rblue=Electric Blue,\rgr...
   red=Rage Red,\ryellow=Honey Yellow

This is an Interchange value set for a simple option. It is typically a comma-delimited list of labels and values with '*' indicating the default value. See the accessories tag for more detail.

Note that the "\r" characters in the above example represent carriage returns in the actual data ("\r" in perl, or Ctrl-M, or hexadecimal 0D), and the ... indicates a line too long to show.

5.17.13. o_widget

Example Data

   select

This determines the HTML Widget type (e.g., a select box). For example, the [options] tag uses this entry when building HTML widgets in a page. See also the [accessories] tag for available widgets.

5.17.14. o_footer

Example Data

Allowed Values

5.17.15. o_header

Example Data

Allowed Values

5.17.16. o_height

This allows you to set the height of the HTML widget, if appropriate.

5.17.17. o_width

This allows you to set the width of the HTML widget, if appropriate.

5.17.18. description

Example Data

   ATX Mid Tower-Grey (3)5.25 (2)3.5 & (1)3.5 Hidden
   Enlight ATX Desktop Case (2)5.25 & (2)3.5
   Enlight ATX Tower Case (4) 5.25 & (2)3.5
   Micro ATX Tower - Honey Yellow
   Micro ATX Tower - Moody Blue
   Micro ATX Tower - Rage Red
   Micro ATX Tower - Smoky Grey
   Super Tower Case (6)5.25 & (3)3.5

Longer description to show when displaying the options.

5.17.19. price

Example Data

   0.00
   10
   20
   29
   75

This sets the retail price of the option.

5.17.20. wholesale

Example Data

   13
   40.00

This sets the dealer price of the option.

5.17.21. differential

Example Data

   -209
   -40
   -79

The phantom bill of materials for an option group can have a differential, which is an amount to add to the base price of the master product to get to a new base price that accommodates the phantom bill of materials. Note that the differential can be negative.

For example, in the computer data set of the foundation catalog, SKU 00011 in the products table is an $849.95 pre-configured Athlon 800MHz computer that includes a 17" monitor (in this case, SKU 7000087 in the products table).

The monitor by itself would otherwise have cost $209. It is much more convenient if you can use the same option part number and price for each item. To do this, you need a phantom option (in this case, SKU 999105 in the options table only) with a differential of -209 and the available monitors as suboptions. When you include the phantom option in the bill of materials for the computer (SKU 00011), the $-209 differential adjustment makes the price work out properly.

For instance, suppose that a $499 computer is configured as follows:

        500 MHz Athlon         --  $499
        32 MB SDRAM            --  ZERO
        10 GB disk             --  ZERO

        TOTAL                  --  $499

Suppose it costs $90 to upgrade the base computer to 128M of RAM and $150 for a 30 GB hard disk.

If you also sell an 128MB 800 MHz $899 computer, and the customer upgrades to the 30 GB hard disk,

        800 MHz Athlon          --  $899
        (memory differential)   --  $-90
        128 MB RAM              --   $90
        30 GB  disk             --  $150

        TOTAL                   -- $1039

If you did not have the differential, you would need a different option part number for each item make the number come out right.

With the differential, you can use the same part number for 128MB RAM no matter what the base part is. The price is always $90 -- there is just a -90 differential when ordered with the 800MHz Athlon, making the effective price zero.

5.17.22. weight

Example Data

   5

Shipping weight of the option. Interchange uses this to calculate shipping cost.

5.17.23. volume

Volume added by the option.

5.17.24. mv_shipmode

No Description

5.17.25. o_exclude

Modular options only.

Lists the option groups to exclude once the include has been done. Takes the form of a number of wildcard atoms.

5.17.26. o_include

Modular options only.

Lists the option groups to include with your item. Takes the form of a number of wildcard atoms.

5.18. order_returns.txt

    code
    order_number
    session
    username
    rma_number
    nitems
    total
    return_date
    update_date

5.19. orderline.txt

Every line item that is actually ordered is detailed in this table. The order as a whole is one record in the transactions table.

See the page query/check_orders.html for how it can be used. See etc/report for how to add to it.

    code
    store_id
    order_number
    session
    username
    shipmode
    sku
    quantity
    price
    subtotal
    shipping
    taxable
    mv_mi
    mv_si
    size
    color
    options
    order_date
    update_date
    status
            pending = Pending
            shipped = Shipped
            backorder = Back ordered
            credit = Waiting for credit check
            canceled = Cancelled
    parent
    affiliate
    campaign
    description
    mv_mp

5.20. pricing

This database works in conjunction with the CommonAdjust directive to allow quantity pricing for one product or for a group of products (sometimes known as mix-and-match). The fields q2, q5, q10, etc. are for the quantity levels; the price_group field selects the mix-and-match category for the product.

Fields

Field Description
sku Unique key, shared with products table
price_group Mix-and-match category
q2 Retail, 2 or more
q5 Retail, 5 or more
q10 Retail, 10 or more
q25 Retail, 25 or more
q100 Retail, 100 or more
w2 Wholesale, 2 or more
w5 Wholesale, 5 or more
w10 Wholesale, 10 or more
w25 Wholesale, 25 or more
w100 Wholesale, 100 or more

5.20.1. sku

Example Data

   os28004
   os28006
   os28057c
   os28069

Unique key, matching the sku for an entry in products table.

5.20.2. price_group

Example Data

   general

This field determines mix-and-match categories if you want to allow mix-and-match quantity pricing (i.e., where 5 of these plus 5 of those afford the q10 price for both these and those).

5.20.3. q2

If set, this will be the price per item when the order quantity is 2 or greater.

5.20.4. q5

If set, this will be the price per item when the order quantity is 5 or greater.

5.20.5. q10

If set, this will be the price per item when the order quantity is 10 or greater.

5.20.6. q25

If set, this will be the price per item when the order quantity is 25 or greater.

5.20.7. q100

If set, this will be the price per item when the order quantity is 100 or greater.

5.20.8. w2

If set, this will be the dealer price per item when the order quantity is 2 or greater.

5.20.9. w5

If set, this will be the dealer price per item when the order quantity is 5 or greater.

5.20.10. w10

If set, this will be the dealer price per item when the order quantity is 10 or greater.

5.20.11. w25

If set, this will be the dealer price per item when the order quantity is 25 or greater.

5.20.12. w100

If set, this will be the dealer price per item when the order quantity is 100 or greater.

5.21. products

This is the main table for product data. See also 'The Product Database' section in the database documentation.

The sku is also the master key in many of the related tables.

Fields

Field Description
sku Unique product ID
description Short description for list display
title Full title for book, CD, artwork, etc.
template_page Not used in foundation catalog. No description.
comment Longer description for item display (e.g., flypage.html)
thumb Thumbnail image
image Regular-sized image
price Retail quantity one price
wholesale Dealer minimum quantity price
prod_group Product supercategory
category Product category
nontaxable Boolean. Set true (1) if nontaxable
weight Weight in your units. Should match shipping table.
size List of options used with accessories tag.
color List of options used with accessories tag.
gift_cert Boolean. Set true (1) if this is a gift certificate.
related Deprecated in favor of merchandising.upsell_to
featured Deprecated. Use merchandising table.
inactive Boolean. Set true (1) to inactivate a product
url Not Documented

5.21.1. sku

Example Data

   gift_cert
   os28004
   os28006
   os28057c

Unique identifier for the product. You should use only characters of the class A-Z a-z 0-9 _ - (i.e., matching the regular expression, '[-A-Za-z0-9_]+'). Although Interchange itself does not impose this restriction, you may have problems with SQL databases, file systems, and URL encoding if you use other characters. For example, a slash (/) can interfere with URLs and filenames, a colon (:) can interfere with database representations (or file names on some operating systems), i<etc.>

5.21.2. description

Example Data

   Brush Set
   Disposable Brush Set
   Ergo Roller
   Gift Certificate
   Painters Brush Set
   Painters Ladder
   Spackling Knife
   Trim Brush

A short description for the product that is used for displaying in the shopping cart, receipt, and order report.

5.21.3. title

Example Data

   Brush Set
   Disposable Brush Set
   Ergo Roller
   Gift Certificate
   Painters Brush Set
   Painters Ladder
   Spackling Knife
   Trim Brush

This column is not used in the foundation catalog. Previously used in the Art store (simple) demo for a painting title. You probably want to use description instead.

You should modify the products and other tables to suit your catalog's requirements. You might use this field if you want to show titles for books, music, or other titled merchandise. If you do not use a title that is distinct from the short description, then you probably do not need this column in the table at all.

5.21.4. template_page

Not used in foundation catalog.

No Description.

5.21.5. comment

Example Data

   A must have for all painters!  This spackling knife is ergon...
   Enjoy the perfect feel and swing of our line of hammers. Thi...
   This set includes 2" and 3" trim brushes and our ergonomical...
   This set of disposable foam brushes is ideal for any stainin...

This is the field for a long description of the product. If you are using an Interchange text/gdbm database, the field size is unlimited; if using another type of database, the length will be dependent on the field type selected. If you are using a SQL database, see the appropriate cat_root/dbconf subdirectory for a place to set COLUMN_DEF values. See also the database documentation, 'Importing from an ASCII File', for details about defaults for columns that you do not define.

5.21.6. thumb

Example Data

   gift_certificate.gif
   os28004_b.gif
   os28005_b.gif
   os28006_b.gif

This is the filename for a small (thumbnail) image of the product.

5.21.7. image

Example Data

   gift_certificate_large.gif
   os28004.gif
   os28005.gif
   os28006.gif

This is the filename for a regular-sized image of the product, as it should appear in an HTML <img src="image"> tag. You do not need to specify the path if the image files are in the usual Interchange image directory.

5.21.8. price

Example Data

   1.00
   12.99
   14.99
   9.99

The quantity-one price of the product. See the wholesale field and the price table for dealer and quantity pricing.

5.21.9. wholesale

Example Data

   1
   10
   11
   12

This is the minimum dealer price for the item. For quantity pricing, see the price table.

5.21.10. prod_group

Example Data

   Hand Tools
   Hardware
   Ladders
   Measuring Tools
   Miscellaneous
   Painting Supplies
   Safety Equipment
   Tool Storage

Product group (supercategory). This indicates the grouping of product categories, for example in the navigation bars created from the area table (note the match with the name data in the area table).

5.21.11. category

Example Data

   Brushes
   Gift Certificate
   Hammers
   Ladders
   Nails
   Paintbrushes
   Putty Knives
   Rollers

This is the category the product should appear in when you select a list. You can put a product in more than one category, but you may need to accommodate this in display and banner headings. Embedded perl is helpful for this.

5.21.12. nontaxable

Boolean value. If true (1), the sales tax calculation for an order will not include the cost of the product. See also the salestax tag.

5.21.13. weight

Example Data

   1
   2
   3

This is a numeric value of the weight used for determining shipping costs (with UPS, for example). In the US, this is typically the weight in pounds in order to match the UPS, Fed Ex and other standard shipping tables.

5.21.14. size

Example Data

   1", 2", 3"
   1', 1.5'
   1/4", 1/2", 3/4", 1", 2", 3"
   10oz, 15oz, 20 oz
   2"
   6'
   set
   standard, metric

This is where the old Construct Something demo store kept the 'size' options for a product. The foundation catalog now uses the options table instead to handle product options (also sometimes called product attributes).

The accessories tag can build HTML widgets from the comma-delimited list of product options. You can use a delimiter other than comma (if compatible with the table) as long as you also set the delimiter in the accessories tag.

You probably do not need this field if you use the options table (for example, if you are building from the foundation catalog).

5.21.15. color

Another product option column. No longer used in the foundation catalog. See size above for description.

5.21.16. gift_cert

Boolean value. If true (1), specifies that this product is a gift certificate. See also the gift_certs table.

5.21.17. related

Used for displaying "upsells," opportunities to purchase an additional item when this one is purchased. Contains a comma-separated list of SKUs to be offered.

The foundation catalog now instead uses the upsell_to field of the merchandising table for upselling.

5.21.18. featured

Deprecated in favor of the merchandising table.

5.21.19. inactive

If true (1), renders the product inactive (i.e., it will not appear in the catalog).

5.21.20. url

Not Documented

5.22. route.txt

    code
    attach
    continue
    commit
    commit_tables
    counter
    credit_card
    cyber_mode
    email
    empty
    encrypt
    encrypt_program
    errors_to
    increment
    inline_profile
    individual_track
    individual_track_ext
    partial
    pgp_cc_key
    pgp_key
    profile
    receipt
    reply
    report
    rollback
    rollback_tables
    supplant
    track

5.23. salestax.asc

5.24. shipping.asc

Shipping methods table

5.25. state.txt

State/territory/county information

    code
    sorder
    country
    state
    name
    tax
    postcode
    shipmodes
    tax_name

5.26. transactions.txt

Each individual customer order has an entry in this table. The line items are not entered here, but in the orderline table.

See the page query/check_orders.html for how it can be used. See etc/report for how to add to it.

    code
    store_id
    order_number
    session
    username
    shipmode
    nitems
    subtotal
    shipping
    handling
    salestax
    total_cost
    fname
    lname
        Last Name
    company
    address1
    address2
        Address line 2
    city
    state
    zip
    country
    phone_day
        Daytime Phone
    phone_night
        Home Phone
    fax
    email
    b_fname
    b_lname
        Billing Last Name
    b_company
    b_address1
    b_address2
        Billing Address Line 2
    b_city
    b_state
        Billing State
    b_zip
        Billing Postcode
    b_country
        Billing Country
    b_phone
    order_date
    order_ymd
    order_wday
    payment_method
    po_number
    avs
    order_id
    update_date
    status
    affiliate
    campaign
    parent
    archived
    deleted
    complete
    comments

5.27. userdb.txt

The user database used for maintaining customer address information, account information, preferences, and more. See icdatabase for more information.

    username
    password
    acl
    mod_time
    s_nickname
    company
    fname
    lname
    address1
    address2
    address3
    city
    state
    zip
        Postcode
    country
        Country
    phone_day
    mv_shipmode
    b_nickname
    b_fname
    b_lname
    b_address1
    b_address2
    b_address3
    b_city
    b_state
    b_zip
    b_country
    b_phone
        Billing Phone
    mv_credit_card_type
    mv_credit_card_exp_month
    mv_credit_card_exp_year
    p_nickname
    email
    fax
    phone_night
    fax_order
        Payment method:
            (none) = Credit Card
            1 = Fax or Mail
            2 = Purchase order
            3 = COD
    address_book
    accounts
    preferences
    carts
    owner
    file_acl
    db_acl
    order_numbers
    email_copy
    mail_list
        Mailing lists the customer has joined:
            offer = Special offers
            newsletter = Newsletter
            alert = Alerts and Recalls
            upgrade = Upgrades
    project_id
    account_id
    order_dest
    credit_limit
    inactive
    dealer
        Dealer:
            (none) = No
            1 = Yes
    b_company
    feedback
        ???

5.28. variable.txt

Configuration database

    code
        Variable name
    Variable
    pref_group
        Preferences area

6. HTML Hypertext links

Normally, regular hypertext links are not used in Interchange pages. These kinds of links will not include the session ID. If the customer follows an external link back to the catalog, the list of products ordered so far will have been lost. The area tag is used to generate a hypertext link which includes a session ID.

Instead of:

   <A HREF="/cgi-bin/catlink/shirts">Shirts</A>

Use:

   <A HREF="[area shirts]">Shirts</A>

7. Images

Inline images are placed in Interchange pages in the normal fashion with <IMG SRC="URL">. But since Interchange pages are served by a CGI program, it will by default automatically rewrite relative image links as absolute ones based on the ImageDir and ImageDirSecure directives.


8. Browser Cookies

The Foundation store enables the Cookies directive so that users with cookie-capable browsers will retain session context. Then, standard HREF and Interchange page links can be intermixed without the fear of losing the shopping basket. Cookie capability is also required to use search caching, page caching, and statically generated pages. If the user's browser does not support cookies, the cache will be ignored.

If planning to use more than one host name within the same domain for naming purposes (perhaps a secure server and non-secure server), set the domain with the CookieDomain directive. This must contain at least two periods (.) as per the cookie specification, and must be located in the same server as the domain.


9. Dependencies in administration

In general, it's a good idea to leave fields empty if you don't want to use them, instead of removing them from the database altogether. That way nothing in the administration interface or the Foundation pages will break.


Copyright 2002-2004 Interchange Development Group. Copyright 2001-2002 Red Hat, Inc. Freely redistributable under terms of the GNU General Public License.