Packaging Other Data
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
A resource that has a custom user interface and stores its configuration data somewhere other than the Administration database has the following characteristics:
The configuration data is stored somewhere other than the Commerce Server Administration database, such as the system registry, an initialization (.ini) file, or perhaps in a different database.
In order to use Commerce Server Site Packager, new resources that are integrated at this level must include a Component Object Model (COM) object that implements the IPuP interface.
The configuration data must be administered by using a custom Microsoft Management Console (MMC) snap-in extension. This is because the configuration data is not stored in the Administration database. Therefore you cannot use the Generic Resource dialog box.
Because the configuration data is not stored in the Administration database, it cannot be accessed and changed programmatically using the Commerce Server administration objects GlobalConfigFreeThreaded, GlobalConfig2FreeThreaded, SiteConfigFreeThreaded, and SiteConfigReadOnlyFreeThreaded. You must develop some other solution for programmatic access to the configuration data.
It is possible to provide a mixed solution, where some relatively simple configuration data is stored in the Administration database. This allows access through the Commerce Server administration objects, and where other more complex data is stored in other databases or facilities. Many of the resources included with Commerce Server work in this manner.
This section provides additional details about how to implement the IPuP interface, which allows the resource to pack its own data for deployment.