Pipeline Programming Concepts

A pipeline is an extensible software framework that defines and links together one or more stages of a business process, running them in sequence to complete a specific task. The functionality of a pipeline is based on three parts: pipeline components, pipeline configuration files, and pipeline framework objects. Pipeline components each complete a defined work item on the data and collectively process the order. Pipeline configuration files define the sequence in which the pipeline components are run. Pipeline framework objects invoke pipeline configuration files and pipeline components through the code on select Active Server Pages (ASP).

Pipeline Components

Pipeline Configuration Files

Pipeline Objects

Pipeline Components

Pipeline components are COM objects that perform a particular task and operate on business objects, such as an OrderForm or Dictionary object. Pipeline components may be customized and added to pipeline configuration files through the Pipeline Editor. Pipeline components can also be used independently of the Pipeline Editor and integrated into your existing system, or they can be replaced by third-party components.

Pipeline Configuration Files

Pipeline configuration files (.pcf) determine the order in which pipeline components are run and may provide configuration information to the components in the pipeline. Pipeline configuration files can be created and edited in the Pipeline Editor by opening a pipeline configuration template and saving it as a pipeline configuration file.

Pipeline configuration files are broken into two main categories: Order Processing pipelines (OPP) and Content Selection pipelines (CSP). Order Processing pipelines model the workflow for processing an order, breaking it down into discrete tasks. Content Selection pipelines are responsible for targeted content delivery of ads and discounts. In addition to OPPs and CSPs, there is one other type of pipeline, the Direct Mailer pipeline, used only by the Direct Mailer service. The following table shows the configuration files and templates that may be used for each of the pipeline categories. The file names listed in bold are included in the Commerce Server 2002 Solution Sites.

Commerce Server Solution Sites are available at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=6491.

Pipeline Objects

Pipeline objects are COM objects that are responsible for running pipeline configuration files. The six pipeline objects are: MtsPipeline, MtsTxPipeline, PooledPipeline, PooledTxPipeline, OrderGroup, and OrderPipeline. For more information about how to use pipeline objects in your code, see Programmers Reference or Code to Invoke a Pipeline.

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