Passing extra data to IBM Digital Analytics with the extraparms parameter

Passing extra data to IBM Digital Analytics with the extraparms parameter
You might want to pass more data to IBM Digital Analytics that is not collected automatically by the WebSphere Commerce analytics tags. For example, we can pass information about the brand of the products customers view for a IBM Digital Analytics explore report, or pass specific registration data for a custom report in IBM Digital Analytics. If so, use the extraparms parameter in the WebSphere Commerce analytics tag when you place the tag in the store page. We can also use the extraparms parameter to override the category ID that the WebSphere Commerce analytics tag generates. Many of the WebSphere Commerce analytics tags support the extraparms parameter.
Note: This information also applies to the orderExtraparms and extraparmsMap parameters that are supported by some WebSphere Commerce analytics tags. For more information about passing values with the orderExtraparms parameter, see the section 3. Format for setting extraparms values for other WebSphere Commerce analytics tags.

How the extraparms parameter passes data to IBM Digital Analytics

At run time, the WebSphere Commerce analytics tags generate IBM Digital Analytics data tags. If you include the extraparms parameter in the WebSphere Commerce analytics tag, its values are passed as a string to one or more of the following IBM Digital Analytics data tag parameters, depending on how you specify the values:

Parameter in the generated IBM Digital Analytics data tag Description
catIDoverride Use this parameter to explicitly override the category ID generated by the following WebSphere Commerce analytics tags: <cm:cart />, <cm:order />, and <cm:product /> tag.
attributes This parameter provides Explore attributes to IBM Digital Analytics Explore, an ad hoc reporting solution we use to build custom reports.
extraFields This parameter provides more data for custom reports in IBM Digital Analytics.
cm_vc This parameter is the "virtual category" parameter, used only for the <cm:product /> tag. Use this parameter to categorize product views that originate from special links, such as cross-sell recommendations, rather than from the normal category navigation.
The format that we use to pass extraparms values differs depending on the WebSphere Commerce analytics tag. Format rules are provided in the following three sections:

1. Format for setting extraparms values for the <cm:cart /> and <cm:order /> tags
2. Format for setting extraparms values for the <cm:product /> tag
3. Format for setting extraparms values for other WebSphere Commerce analytics tags

Note: The examples in this topic use the simplified syntax for specifying extraparms values. We must specify the values using properly escaped JavaScript:

Simplified syntax example

extraparms="value1-_-value2,value3-_-value4"

Properly escaped JavaScript example

extraparms="\"value1-_-value2\",\"value3-_-value4\""

If any of your extraparms values are JavaScript variables, see the syntax rules explained in Syntax for passing JavaScript variables as extra parameters.

1. Format for setting extraparms values for the <cm:cart /> and <cm:order /> tags

When you set the extraparms values for either of these tags, we must follow a specific format to control which values are passed to the catIDoverride parameter, the attributes parameter, and the extraFields parameter. The following example illustrates the correct format:
The format rules are:

Specify values for the three IBM Digital Analytics parameters in the order that is shown in the previous example. Specify the catIDoverride value in the first position, followed by a comma, then one or more attributes values in the second position, followed by a comma, and then one or more extraFields values in the third position.
Use the null value to indicate when no values are being passed for catIDoverride or attributes.
To pass multiple values for a parameter, separate each value with the following delimiter: -_-

The following examples show how to apply these format rules when using the extraparms parameter. The examples use the <cm:cart tag />, but they apply to the <cm:order /> tag as well.
Example 1:
To pass a value to the catIDoverride parameter:
<cm:cart orderId="${order_OrderId}" extraparms="categoryID" />
Because no values are being passed to either the attributes or the extraFields parameter, no commas or null values are required.
Example 2:
To pass a single value to the attributes parameter:
<cm:cart orderId="${order_OrderId}" extraparms="null,attr1"/>
The null value to the left of the comma is required to indicate that no values are being passed to the catIDoverride parameter.
Example 3:
To pass two values to the attributes parameter:
<cm:cart orderId="${order_OrderId}" extraparms="null,attr1-_-attr2"/>
Example 4:
To pass a single value to the extraFields parameter:
<cm:cart OrderId="${order_OrderId}" extraparms="null,null,exField1"/>
2. Format for setting extraparms values for the <cm:product /> tag

When you set the extraparms values for the <cm:product /> tag, we must follow a specific format to control which values are passed to the catIDoverride parameter, the attributes parameter, and the cm_vc parameter. The following example illustrates the correct format:
The format rules are:

Specify values for the three IBM Digital Analytics parameters in the order that is shown in the previous example. Specify the catIDoverride in the first position, followed by a comma, then one or more attributes values in the second position, followed by a comma, and then a virtual category name as the cm_vc value in the third position.
Use the null value to indicate when no values are being passed for catIDoverride or attributes.
To pass multiple values for a parameter, separate each value with the following delimiter: -_-

The following examples show how to apply these format rules when using the extraparms parameter with the <cm:product /> tag:
Example 1:
To pass a value to the catIDoverride parameter:
<cm:product catentryId="${product_catentryId}" extraparms="categoryID"/>
Because no values are being passed to either the attributes or the cm_vc parameter, no commas or null values are required.
Example 2:
To pass a single value to the attributes parameter:
<cm:product catentryId="${product_catentryId}" extraparms="null,attr1"/>
The null value to the left of the comma is required to indicate that no values are being passed to the catIDoverride parameter.
Example 3:
To pass two values to the attributes parameter:
<cm:product catentryId="${product_catentryId}" extraparms="null,attr1-_-attr2"/>
Example 4:
To pass a single value to the cm_vc parameter:
<cm:product catentryId="${product_catentryId}" extraparms="null, null, virtualCategory"/>
3. Format for setting extraparms values for other WebSphere Commerce analytics tags

The following format rules and examples apply to the <pageview /> tag, and to any other WebSphere Commerce analytics tags that pass values to the IBM Digital Analytics attributes and extraFields parameters. When you set the extraparms values for these tags, we must follow a specific format to control which values are passed to the attributes parameter, the extraFields parameter, or both. The following example illustrates the correct format:
The format rules are:

Specify values for the two parameters in the order that is shown in the previous example. Specify one or more attributes values in the first position, followed by a comma, and then one or more extraFields values in the second position.
Use the null value to indicate when no values are being passed for the attributes parameter.
To pass multiple values for a parameter, separate each value with the following delimiter: -_-

The following examples show how to apply these format rules. The examples use the <cm:pageview /> tag, but they also apply to other tags that pass values to attributes and extraFields.
Example 1:
To pass a single value to the attributes parameter:
<cm:pageview extraparms="attr1"/>
Because no values are being passed to the extraFields parameter, the comma is not required.
Example 2:
To pass a single value to the extraFields parameter:
<cm:pageview extraparms="null,exField1"/>
The null value to the left of the comma is required to indicate that no values are being passed to the attributes parameter.
Example 3:
To pass multiple values to the attributes parameter:
<cm:pageview extraparms="attr1-_-attr2"/>
Example 4:
To pass multiple values to the extraFields parameter:
<cm:pageview extraparms="null,exField1-_-exField2"/>
The null value to the left of the comma is required to indicate that no values are being passed to the attributes parameter.
Example 5:
To pass multiple values to both the attributes parameter and the extraFields parameter:
<cm:pageview extraparms="attr1-_-attr2,exField1-_-exField2"/>
Related reference
Use the page view tag with IBM Digital Analytics
Use the product tag with IBM Digital Analytics

Parameter in the generated IBM Digital Analytics data tag	Description
catIDoverride	Use this parameter to explicitly override the category ID generated by the following WebSphere Commerce analytics tags: <cm:cart />, <cm:order />, and <cm:product /> tag.
attributes	This parameter provides Explore attributes to IBM Digital Analytics Explore, an ad hoc reporting solution we use to build custom reports.
extraFields	This parameter provides more data for custom reports in IBM Digital Analytics.
cm_vc	This parameter is the "virtual category" parameter, used only for the <cm:product /> tag. Use this parameter to categorize product views that originate from special links, such as cross-sell recommendations, rather than from the normal category navigation.