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iPlanet Market Maker 4.5 Customization Guide



Chapter 6   Module Pluggability


This chapter contains the following sections:



Definition

Module pluggability is defined as the ability to enable or disable one or more optional modules with the following considerations:

  • The installer installs all the modules.

  • Although a module is typically enabled or disabled post installation, it can be enabled or disabled at any time.

  • The modules Display should not be disabled.

  • The runtime jar files, database tables, and configuration of a disabled module are still in place and can be invoked.

  • Enabling or disabling a module results in changes to only the GUI portion of the product at this time, and when a module is disabled, it is removed completely from the GUI. All menu items, href links, buttons, and other objects accessing the module disappear.



Business Application

The out of the box iPlanet Market Maker 4.0 software consists of three core modules:

  • Base

  • Community

  • Display

There are six optional business modules:

  • Catalog

  • RFx

  • Auctions

  • Exchange

  • Order Management System

  • Pricing

Almost every production installation of the iPlanet Market Maker 4.0 software is a subset of the out-of-the-box product.

Depending upon the business application, the customer might need to enable one module and disable another. For example, a marketmaker might host a marketplace using only the exchange module, disabling the RFx and Auctions modules. Another marketmaker might decide to host a vertical marketplace using only the core modules. Though it was possible in earlier versions of the iPlanet Market Maker software to disable one or more modules, it was done largely by modifying the code.

In version 4.0 SP1 of the iPlanet Market Maker software, pluggability is formally supported and is made very simple. A module can be disabled by removing it (commenting it out) from the module list in a property file.

This reduces the effort to create a custom version of the product considerably. Additionally, it results in the following:

  • Reduced training.

  • Reduced complexity.

  • Reduced initial cost to the customer.



Notification is Pluggable

The default option for Notification is Inbox. Notification appears in a user's Inbox for iPlanet Market Maker events in which the user is interested.

Inbox is part of the main portal screen that appears after login, and it is also available by accessing the Administration tab.

By default, all of the notification modes are disabled. To set the default notification mode, change the following in the VortexConfiguration.properties file:

Set CFG_DEFAULT_NOTIF to true and set the CFG_NOTIFICATION_DEFAULT_MODE to the mode that you want to enable by default.

Additional modes of notification can be configured by uncommenting config parameters in the VortexConfiguration.properties file.
# Developers can change the impl class and display ID, but we don't recommend changing the key.
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_INBOX_ATTRS
85[0]=2
85[1]=com.iplanet.ecommerce.vortex.arch.InboxNotifierImpl
85[2]=21

#
# - SMTP
CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_1_ID=4
CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_1_IMPL=com.iplanet.ecommerce.vortex.arch.SMTPNotifierImpl
CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_1_DISPLAY_STR_ID=22

#
# - FAX
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_2_ID=8 <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_2_IMPL= <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_2_DISPLAY_STR_ID=23 <== customize
#
# - MEMO Page
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_3_ID=16 <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_3_IMPL= <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_3_DISPLAY_STR_ID=24 <== customize
#
# - SMS
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_ID=32 <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_IMPL= <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_DISPLAY_STR_ID=25 <== customize
#
# - VOICE
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_ID=64 <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_IMPL= <== customize
#CFG_NOTIFICATION_MODE_4_DISPLAY_STR_ID=26 <== customize

The template shown above is present in the VortexConfiguration.properties file. These are all commented out (as indicated by # sign preceding the CFG_* parameters).

Follow the template exactly if you intend to add more modes than are available now. The above mentioned modes are potentially the most practical and useful.
ID:

Always a two times the previous value, starting with two for Inbox (default).

IMPL:

Class that implements the com.iplanet.ecommerce.vortex.arch.IExternalNotifier interface corresponding to the notification mode.

STR_ID:

The display string ID corresponding to the notification mode in VortexStrings.properties the String corresponding to the ID (in VortexStrings.properties) appears in the NotificationConfiguration Screen.

The impl class provided by default in iPlanet Market Maker is tuned and multi-threaded for efficiency. We recommend that you not change the Inbox and SMTP (email) configuration as provided.



Effects on Modules



Auction, RFx, Exchange

  • When disabled, these modules are removed completely from the GUI.

  • When disabled, anything accessing one of the modules (for example, all menu items, hrefs, and buttons) disappear.


Pricing

  • When disabled, the pricing GUI (for example, approve and create pricing rules) disappears.

  • When disabled, catalog does not show negotiated prices (previously this was configurable via a catalog configuration).

  • When disabled, OMS does not apply pricing rules to orders. This ensures that existing pricing rules (those in place when pricing is disabled) are not applied.


OMS

  • When disabled, this functionality provides OMS with a way to get a list of settled transactions (for example, from shopping cart, RFx, auction and exchange) out of the system in a consistent way.

  • When disabled, the OMS GUI disappears. However, the ability to create requisitions (from the shopping cart, RFx, auction, and exchange) is still present. For example, the Create Requisition button is still visible. All settled transactions (requisitions) are routed via ESV (a functionality already available).
    Note

    Currently, the createRequisition() API called by all modules can be routed via ESV by a global switch. This switch is set when OMS is disabled). ECXpert is not required to receive these requisitions (for example, they can be created on the file system by default).



Catalog

  • When disabled, the catalog GUI (for example, maintenance, browse, shopping cart) disappears.

  • When disabled, all references by other modules to the catalog (for example, add catalog items in Auction and RFx) disappear from the GUI as well.

  • When disabled, the maintain master catalog menu item is moved under the Auction menu (instead of the Catalog menu), since the auction ontology is dependent on the catalog. This allows the auction ontology to be maintained in the absence of catalog.


Community

  • When disabled, the community GUI disappears. However, community search screens used by other modules are still present.


Base

  • When disabled, the Administration menu (accessed for logging and notification) disappears from the GUI.



Supported Test Cases

Because the number of module permutations is too great to test, only the following test cases are supported for Market Maker at this time:


Test Case #1


Auction + Catalog + Pricing + Community + Base

This configuration contains everything except OMS, RFx, and Exchange.


Menu Bar
Order Management, RFx and Exchange main menu selections are not present.


Community
Advanced Search: RFx Module and Exchange Module do not appear as Market Place Services.

Company Profile and Create Company: RFx Module and Exchange Module do not appear as a Business Services.

Create Role, Role Detail: Exchange Module, Order Management Module and RFx Module privileges do not appear.


Administration
Configure Notification, Configure Logging and Log Viewer: Exchange Module, RFx Module and OMS Module are not in the module list.

Inbox: Messages never appear for Exchange, RFx or OMS Module.


Auctions
Settled auctions are automatically routed through ESV.


Test Case #2


Auctions Only

This configuration supports nothing but Auctions.


Menu Bar
Only the Auction menu is present. However, since the auction ontology is dependent on the catalog, for the immhost user, the Maintain Master Catalog sub-menu needs to appear under the Auctions main menu.


Auctions
Settled auctions are automatically routed through ESV.


Test Case #3


RFx + Catalog + Pricing + OMS + Community + Base

This configuration contains everything but Auctions and Exchange.


Menu Bar
Auctions and Exchange main menu selections are not present.


Catalog
Product Details: Initiate Reverse Auction button is not present.


RFx
Request Details: Auction It! link on Line Items is not present.


Community
Advanced Search: Auctions Module and Exchange Module do not appear as Market Place Services.

Company Profile and Create Company: Auctions Module and Exchange Module do not appear as a Business Services.

Create Role, Role Detail: Exchange Module and Auction Module privileges do not appear.


Administration
Configure Notification, Configure Logging and Log Viewer: Exchange Module and Auction Module are not in the module list.

Inbox: Messages never appear for Exchange or Auction Module.


Test Case #4


Exchange + Community + Base

This configuration contains only Exchange and supporting modules.


Menu Bar
Only Exchange, Community and Administration main menu items are present.


Community
Advanced Search: Auctions Module and RFx Module do not appear as Market Place Services.

Company Profile and Create Company: Auctions Module and RFx Module do not appear as a Business Services.

Create Role, Role Detail: Order Management Module, Pricing Module, Catalog Module, Auction Module and RFx Module privileges do not appear.


Administration
Configure Notification, Configure Logging and Log Viewer: Order Management Module, Pricing Module, Catalog Module, Auction Module and RFx Module are not in the module list.

Inbox: Messages never appear for Order Management Module, Pricing Module, Catalog Module, Auction Module and RFx Module.


Test Case #5


Catalog + OMS + Community + Base

This configuration has everything but Auctions, RFx, Pricing and Exchange.


Menu Bar
Auctions, RFx, and Exchange main menu selections are not present. Pricing Rules sub-menu is not present under the Catalog main menu.


Catalog
Negotiated Price field should not be present on the following pages: Browse/Search, Item Detail, Compare Items, Shopping Cart, Requisition Details and Order Details (both Buyer and Seller). Furthermore, verify pricing rules in place before disabling the pricing module are no longer being applied.

Product Details: Initiate Reverse Auction button is not present


Community
Advanced Search: Auctions Module, RFx Module and Exchange Module do not appear as Market Place Services.

Company Profile and Create Company: Auctions Module, RFx Module and Exchange Module do not appear as a Business Services.

Create Role, Role Detail: Exchange Module, Auction Module and RFx Module privileges do not appear.


Administration
Configure Notification, Configure Logging and Log Viewer: Exchange Module, Pricing Module, Auction Module and RFx Module are not in the module list.

Inbox: Messages never appear for Exchange Module, Pricing Module, Auction Module and RFx Module.


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Copyright © 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.

Last Updated March 25, 2002