A pipeline is an execution mechanism that allows for modular code execution. Core Commerce uses pipelines to execute tasks such as loading, saving, and checking out Orders. The PipelineManager implements the pipeline execution mechanism.

The pipeline is defined in an XML file, which can be found at <ATG11dir>/DCS/config/atg/commerce/commercepipeline.xml. To execute a pipeline through JSPs, define a handle method in a form handler class that calls the PipelineManager.

In the Nucleus hierarchy, the PipelineManager is located at /atg/commerce/PipelineManager. When you deploy an application that includes Core Commerce, a new instance is created and the pipeline configuration is loaded. The pipeline configuration file contains the definition for the processOrder chain. To insert a new link, add a new element to the XML file that references the new pipeline processor. The new functionality is inserted into the execution chain without affecting the existing code.

A pipeline should generally be executed from an OrderManager method. This is the case for the loadOrder, updateOrder, and processOrder methods.

For more information, see the Processor Chains and the Pipeline Manager chapter in this manual. For a list of the pipeline chains used in Core Commerce, refer to the Appendix E: Pipeline Chains section.