Commerce Server Tools

Commerce Server 3.0 includes a number of tools that make it easier than ever to create a customized Commerce Server site.

• Site Foundation Wizard. This wizard makes it easy to set up the infrastructure for a new Commerce Server site: its physical directories, its Microsoft® Internet Information Server (IIS) virtual directories, its configuration files, the Microsoft® Windows NT® user account that will be used to manage the new site, and so on. Separating this function from the Site Builder Wizard supports hosting scenarios in which a server administrator creates the foundation, but the site operator builds the site itself.
• Site Builder Wizard. This wizard removes the complexity of creating a commerce site by providing a simple step-by-step interface that generates a completely functional Commerce Server site quickly and easily. The wizard supports a variety of site options, including department hierarchies, products in multiple departments, variable numbers of product attributes, different registration models (on entry, none, on purchase), price and cross-sell promotions, Microsoft Wallet payment options, and so on. Sites generated by this wizard conform to recommended Microsoft® Transaction Server (MTS) and ADO architecture, and they can be edited using Microsoft® Visual InterDev™.
• Pipeline Editor. The Pipeline Editor is used to customize a site's pipeline for complete integration with legacy or other business systems. Both a Win32®-based Pipeline Editor and an ASP-based Pipeline Editor are included to support both local and remote editing.
• Certificate Management Tool. Several of the components in the Commerce Interchange Pipeline (CIP) use digital certificates for encryption and decryption of business objects such as purchase orders, receipts, and so on. The Certificate Manager is used both to create a certificate request and to manage the exchange of certificates between business trading partners.
• Commerce Site Packager. The Commerce Site Packager is a utility for developers that packages an existing Commerce Server site into a self-extracting executable file. This file can then be sent over the Internet for installation at a remote location.
• Administrative Tools. The server administrator can perform tasks such as creating, closing, opening, and deleting Commerce Server sites using any of three administrative interfaces: the Commerce Server snap-in for the Microsoft® Management Console (MMC), the Commerce pages of Site Server Web-based Administration (WebAdmin), or the Commerce Server command-line interface.