Business Desk Framework

Commerce Server Business Desk is a user interface framework implemented primarily as Active Server Pages (ASP) pages containing Dynamic Hypertext Markup Language (DHTML). This framework provides a structured environment in which third-party developers can easily extend the management functionality provided with Commerce Server 2002. This environment includes structured page navigation, standard mechanisms for data manipulation, shared utility routines, and conventions that help to ensure a consistent user experience.

By default, every Commerce Server Web site has a distinct instance of Business Desk associated with it. Though Business Desk shares a set of commerce resources, such as databases, with the Web site, it exists as a separate ASP application, with a directory structure and virtual root of its own.

The Commerce Server Business Desk Framework provides the environment in which Business Desk modules are run. The following figure shows how a set of configuration files provides two important types of information needed for the Business Desk Framework to support navigation. The first type determines the set of categorized modules that will be accessible within Business Desk. The second type is used to build and manage the taskbar, which can be unique to each action page.

The figure also shows how modules are typically designed so that their initial action page is a list page, from which edit pages can be accessed by using task buttons. It also shows the typical design in which a user must return to the initial list page to move to a different module.

The Business Desk Framework has the following characteristics:

• The master configuration file, together with a set of module configuration files, provides the information needed by the Business Desk Framework to manage both the navigation pane and the taskbar displayed on each action page.
• Action pages that display read-only lists, known as list pages, are always displayed along with the navigation pane. This means that a user must move to a different module from a list page, and not from an edit page. List pages are read-only (with the exception of Delete tasks), which means that users will generally not need to be presented with warnings about leaving the module without saving changes to data.
• Navigation between action pages should typically be done by using the task buttons on the taskbar. This mechanism allows the Business Desk Framework to provide services that occur during transition between action pages. You should minimize the direct linking of action pages to buttons within a page.

See Also

Building Business Desk Modules

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