CHAPTER 9 Category Object

ProgID: ACBStore.tCategory

Description

The Category object contains data about a specific Category.

Category_ID	Read Only. A Long value that holds the unique ID of the Category.
CategoryLevel	Read Only. An Integer value that holds the level of this Category.
CategoryPath	Read Only. A String that contains a list of the Category IDs that are parent to this category.
Description	Read/Write. A String value that contains the description of the category.
IsDirty	Read/Write. A boolean value that indicates whether the data in this object has been changed and requires a database update.
Name	Read/Write. A String value that contains the name of the category.
OrderBy	Read/Write. A Long value that indicates the order in which this Attribute will be displayed. Attributes are displayed in ascending order based on this value.
Parent_ID	Read Only. A Long value that indicates the ID of the category which is parent to this one. 0 indicates no parent (root level).
Store_ID	Read Only. A Long value that holds the ID of the Store to which this category applies.
Thumbnail	Read/Write. A String value that contains the url of the thumbnail image to be displayed for this category.
ThumbnailParams	Read/Write. A String value that contains the html parameters (e.g. height, width, alt, etc.) to be used for the thumbnail image display.

Categories	Returns a reference to a collection that contains all subcategories of the active category.
Delete	Deletes the specified object from the database.
GetCategoryTree	Returns an array that contains all subcategories of the active category.
GetOrderBy	Returns the next OrderBy value for a given parent category.
GetPath	Returns an array containing all parent category names and IDs that lead to this category.
GetProducts	Returns an array containing all products in the active category.
GetProductTree	Returns an array that contains all products and subcategories of the active category.
Load	Loads the object from the database.
Products	Returns a reference to a collection that contains all products for the active category.
Reset	Resets the object, freeing any allocated resources.
Save	This method commits to the database all changes made to the object.
SaveAsNew	This method assigns a new unique ID to the object and then commits the data as a new object in the database.
SetParent	This method can be used to change the Parent of the active category.

Categories Method

Returns a reference to a collection that contains all subcategories of the active category.

Syntax

Set colCategories = objCategory.Categories

Return Value

Returns a reference to an ACBStore.cCategories collection.

Delete Method

Deletes the specified object from the database.

Syntax

objCategory.Delete(objToken,[intCategoryID])

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

intCategoryID [in] Optional. A long value that specifies the category to delete. Default is the current value of the Category ID Property.

Notes

When Delete is called, the properties within the object itself are not reset. However, all applicable data is immediately removed from the database and the Product_ID property is reset to 0.

GetCategoryTree Method

Returns an array that contains all subcategories of the active category.

Syntax

arrCategories = objCategory.GetCategoryTree([intMaxLevel])

Return Value

Returns a two dimensional Variant Array (5,x), where "x" is the number of rows in the array (0 based). The array structure is as follows:

arrCategories(0,x) = Category_ID (long)
arrCategories(1,x) = Parent Category_ID (long)
arrCategories(2,x) = Category Name (string)
arrCategories(3,x) = Category Level (integer)
arrCategories(4,x) = IsProduct (boolean)
arrCategories(5,x) = Active (boolean)

Parameters

intMaxLevel [in] Optional. An Integer value that specifies the maximum number of levels to recurse. Use -1 to recurse all levels. Default value is -1.

GetOrderBy Method

Returns the next OrderBy value for a given parent category.

Syntax

intOrderBy = objCategory.GetOrderBy(objToken, [intParentID], [intBound])

Return Value

Returns a long value that indicates the next OrderBy value for the desired insertion point.

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

intParentID [in] Optional. A Long value that contains the ID of the category to obtain the OrderBy value from. Default is the current value of the category ID property.

intBound [in] Optional. An integer value that indicates the desired insertion point for the OrderBy value. Valid values are 0 (beginning of list) and 1 (end of list). Default value is 1.

GetPath Method

Returns an array containing all parent category names and IDs that lead to this category.

Syntax

arrPath = objCategory.GetPath(objToken)

Return Value

Returns a two dimensional Variant Array (1,x), where "x" is the number of rows in the array (0 based). The array structure is as follows:

arrPath(0,x) = Category_ID
arrPath(1,x) = Category Name

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

Notes

The parent categories in the array are in order starting with the root level category. All the way to the active category.

GetProducts Method

Returns an array containing all products in the active category.

Syntax

arrProducts = objCategory.GetProducts

Return Value

Returns a two dimensional Variant Array (5,x), where "x" is the number of rows in the array (0 based). The array structure is as follows:

arrProducts(0,x) = Product_ID (long)
arrProducts(1,x) = Active Category_ID (long)
arrProducts(2,x) = Product Name (string)
arrProducts(3,x) = Product Level (integer)
arrProducts(4,x) = IsProduct (boolean; always true)
arrProducts(5,x) = Active (boolean)

Notes

If no products are found, the function returns 0.

GetProductTree Method

Returns an array that contains all products and subcategories of the active category.

Syntax

arrChildren = objCategory.GetProductTree([intMaxLevel])

Return Value

Returns a two dimensional Variant Array (5,x), where "x" is the number of rows in the array (0 based). The array structure is as follows:

arrChildren(0,x) = Category_ID (long)
arrChildren(1,x) = Parent Category_ID (long)
arrChildren(2,x) = Category Name (string)
arrChildren(4,x) = IsProduct (boolean)
arrChildren(5,x) = Active (boolean)

Parameters

intMaxLevel [in] Optional. An Integer value that specifies the maximum number of levels to recurse. Use -1 to recurse all levels. Default is -1.

Load Method

Loads the object from the database.

Syntax

Boolean = objProduct.Load(objToken, intCategoryID)

Return Value

Returns a boolean value indicating success (true) or failure (false).

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

intCategoryID [in] A long value indicating the Category to load from the database.

Products Method

Returns a reference to a collection that contains all products for the active category.

Syntax

Set colProducts = objCategory.Products

Return Value

Returns a reference to an ACBStore.cProducts collection.

Reset Method

Resets the object, freeing any allocated resources.

Syntax

objCategory.Reset

Notes

Reset should always be called before setting the object to nothing. This will force all allocated memory to be freed.

Save Method

This method commits to the database all changes made to the object.

Syntax

Boolean = objCategory.Save(objToken)

Return Value

Returns a boolean value indicating success (true) or failure (false).

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

SaveAsNew Method

This method assigns a new unique ID to the object and then commits the data as a new object in the database.

Syntax

Boolean = objCategory.SaveAsNew(objToken)

Return Value

Returns a boolean value indicating success (true) or failure (false).

Parameters

objToken [in] A reference to a loaded Token object.

SetParent Method

This method can be used to change the Parent of the active category.

Syntax

Boolean = objCategory.SetParent(intNewParentID)

Return Value

Returns a boolean value indicating success (true) or failure (false).

Parameters

intNewParentID [in] A long value indicating the Category to set as parent for the active category.