WebSphere Commerce data beans

WebSphere Commerce and the WebSphere Commerce development environment include a set of Java beans, called WebSphere Commerce data beans, that access information from the tables in the database. Creating store pages using these beans allows you to display information that may change often, such as catalog groups and product lists, or product prices.

The WebSphere Commerce data beans are grouped into the following areas:

Each WebSphere Commerce data bean accesses information from a particular table. For example, the CatalogGroupDataBean, a catalog bean, accesses information from the CATGROUP table. In that table, the bean accesses information from a particular column through properties. That is, the categoryId property accesses the information in the CATGROUP_ID (catalog group reference number) column in the CATGROUP table.

Some WebSphere Commerce data beans work in conjunction with others. For example, the CategoryDataBean will return a list of the applicable Product or ItemDataBeans within a particular catalog. The ProductDataBean includes the PriceDataBean that allows you to display the price for that product.

Use Page Designer, or a JSP editor of your choice, you can choose any WebSphere Commerce data bean to add to your store page and select which properties you want to display from the Bean Property Selection window.

Related concepts

WebSphere Commerce framework overview

Related tasks

Create a simple data bean
Customizing data beans