Object Oriented CommerceBuilder Framework
AbleCommerce websites are built around a set of compiled libraries known as CommerceBuilder.
This is a set of object oriented classes that powers the ecommerce features of the
site. It isolates complex business code from your web scripts so that during custom
development you can focus on the user interface.
Published Integration APIs
AbleCommerce works with many third party tools for shipping rates, payment processing,
and tax calculation right out of the box, for example AuthorizeNet, Paymentech,
FedEx, USPS, and many more. If by chance your desired third party provider is not
represented, there is good news.
The
CommerceBuilder framework uses a provider model where you can integrate a new service
without ANY customization to Commercebuilder itself and without the need for any
of our compiled source code. All you need to do is inherit from the abstract base
class and then add your provider specific code in the empty methods. For each type
of integration point we publish the API documentation as well as a fully operational
source example.
ASP.NET Themes
AbleCommerce makes use of ASP.NET themes for styling the look and feel of the store
website. You can completely redesign the look of the website site purely by working
with the skin, CSS, and image files within a theme. AbleCommerce ships with over
a dozen pre-defined themes that you can use as a starting point.
Master Pages and Base Inheritance
AbleCommerce script files make use of two techniques to help implement site-wide
look and feel. These include the user of master pages and a custom base class for
pages to inherit from. These provide integration points where sitewide customizations
can be made.
Scriptlets and nVelocity
Through the use of scriptlets, a large majority of the site content can be altered
directly from the web based merchant admin site. We also leverage the nVelocity
scripting language to allow dynamic content to be included. This is especially useful
in the email template system where you can script virtually any content as part
of an order notification or other system messages.
Easy Script Customization
If the use of themes and the built in customization tools aren't enough, AbleCommerce
can be customized almost endlessly with direct script modification. The website
project is compatible with Visual Studio 2005 and higher, so you can use the WYSIWYG
editing features to design your site.
Source Code Available
We generally discourage changes to the source code of the CommerceBuilder framework.
In general it leads to extra hassles for upgrades and almost always it is not necessary
to customize the framework to achieve your goals. However we continue to make the
source code available for an additional fee. If you have truly specific customization
requirements, the source code will let you make changes to the framework itself.
More Information: