Listing Engine

Sections:
Database Table
Database
Listings Edited by Customers
Engine Overiew
Drilldown browsing
Listing Browser Setup
Listing.asp Parameters
Listing Manager
Listing Repair Job

The Listing Engine is part of the SendSafe E-Business framework. It manages the sale and display of listings of all kinds: real estate, classfieds, product reviews, etc.

Website and database customization is required.

The listing engine comes standard with 4 types of listings:

• 1 = Real Estate
• 2 = Classified
• 3 = POI listing
• 4 = Review

LISTING ENGINE OVERVIEW

Using with the engine typically requires only including links to the listing engine page. The listing engine page is very similar to the browser.asp (E-Business framework page).

Each listing Engine can run any number of unique DB ListingExt* tables. To facilitate this broad configurablity the system is dvidied up into customizable include files. The structure is as follows:

1. listing.asp (top level listing file) - a different file is needed for each different ListingExt* table.
   1. #include ListingDisplayLogic.inc.asp (Custom Display logic)
   2. #include ListingSearchCriteriaLogic.inc.asp (Custom Search Request logic)
   3. #include Listing.inc.asp (General purpose management code)

ListingSearchCriteriaLogic.inc.asp

The following functions define the include file interface:

Function	Description
leStartRenderSearchEntryForm()	This function will render a search form. This form is then used by leSetupSQLClauseForExtSCriteria() to construct the needed SQL.. The location of the display of the search critera can be controlled via CSS. The default location is setup in the listing.asp file by the placement of this rendering function. This function MUST NEVER be called before the #include listing.inc.asp occurs.
leEndRenderSearchEntryForm()	This function will end the render process for a search form. This form is used by leSetupSQLClauseForExtSCriteria() to construct the needed SQL. This function is called from within the renderListingBrowserResults() subroutine inside #include listing.inc.asp.
leSetupSQLClauseForExtSCriteria()	This function builds an SQL clause which replaces the WHERE SQL clause in record selection. If this function returns an empty string then the default clause which searches searchableDescription is used. This clause must no begin with an 'AND' or a 'WHERE' verb. The clause must not include ordering. The bwRestrictions restrcition clause will be appened and is built from listingBrowsingRestrictions. Different search critera can be be handled for different listing types.
leOverrideDefaultConfig()	This function is used to override the default configuration of this instance of the listing page. Different search critera can be be handled for different listing types.
leRenderMatrixListingDescription()	This function is used to render the description part of a matrix of listings. Different displays can be be handled for different listing types.
leRenderShowcaseListing()	This function is used to render the showcase page description for listings. Different displays can be be handled for different listing types.

LISTING PURCHASED AND EDITED BY CUSTOMER

Listings can be optionally purchased edited by the customer. For example if a classified or real estate listing is purchased then the customer can edit or create these listings off the MyAccount page. The Order Status page shows the items purchased and if it is an editiable listing then the customer can edit it from the order status page.

To edit listings on the Listing Manager page the following settings are required:

• Application("CustomerPurchaseOfListings") = true
• Application("urlfor_LISTINGEDITOR") = "LE.STEP1.asp" - This is the listing editor page.
• Items are flagged as listings by the $LST=N flag in the productType DB column; where N = the listing number.

The purchase process involves a few steps:

1. When a listing is purchased each listing is a subscription with deplexed lineitems and must follow those requirements and rules.
2. On the order status webpage, when a customer clicks on a lineitem containing a listing THEN if a listing records does not EXIST one is created by the order status webpage.

DRILLDOWN BROWSING

Listing drilldown browsing functions the same as E-Business framework product browsing (see for more information: Product Browser and Product Browser drilldown browsing).

Some background notes:

1. The selection of category and subcategory incons is the same and used the function getIconFileNameFromCat() (in pagetools.inc.asp). The same rules for icon file names as used in product browsing apply.

DATABASE

The information which comprises each listing is contained in two tables: the base listing table and a custom listingext table.

ListingExt table:
The name of the ListingExt table must match the type of listing which it contains; where the ListingType is used as a postfix. For example: a real estate listing would be named ListingExt1 and a classified listing would be named ListingExt2

LISTING BROWSER SETUP

All the files which make up the E-Business framework can be found in the .\includes\ directory. Setup is performed by editing the file: includes\pageconfig.inc.asp

LISTING.ASP PARAMETERS

The basic search is done by passing on the URL parameter line THE NAME OF A COLUMN and a VALUE to search for in that column. For example:

• URL for the top of the browsing tree: listing.asp?TopList=subcat&LType=1

This URL will search for all items which have "Hot dog bun" in the SUBCATERGORY column.

NOTE: Start=0 is required and will make sure that the list begins with the 1st item found.

Here is an example of drilldown browsing and direct parts access links. The following settings are in effect for this example:

• broadCategorySearches = true - LIKE will be used instead of EQUALS
• broadCategorySearches = true - Category searchs will be browads i.e. LIKE will be used instead of EQUALS

(2) The next drilldown shows categories

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?TopList=subcat&Start=0

SQL = Select distinct category From Listing, ListingExt where Listing.itemcodeid = ListingExt.itemcodeid and dateAdded is not null order by category

(3) The next drilldown shows subcategories

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?Lev2List=2000&Start=0

SQL = Select distinct subcategory, category From Listing, ListingExt where Listing.itemcodeid = ListingExt.itemcodeid and category like '%2000%' and dateAdded is not null and brands = 'Chevrolet' order by subcategory

(4) The final drilldown level shows parts

Cookie: svnLastLev2List=2000 =yields=> category=2000

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?Subcategory=Corvette&Start=0

SQL = Select InformationLink, Category, SubCategory, Brands, Listing.itemCodeId, PictureFileB, producttype, PriceEa, QtyInStock, OutOfStockMsg, FullName, sku , FeaturedDesc , description From Listing, ListingExt where Listing.itemcodeid = ListingExt.itemcodeid and SUBCATEGORY = 'Corvette' and dateAdded is not null and brands = 'Chevrolet' and category like '%2000%' order by SUBCATEGORY, fullName

(5) Showcase

Cookie: svnLastLev2List=2000 =yields=> category=2000

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?ItemCodeId=1827144522&showcase=yes

SQL = Select InformationLink, Category, SubCategory, Brands, Listing.itemCodeId, PictureFileB, producttype, PriceEa, QtyInStock, OutOfStockMsg, FullName, sku , FFParams, logo, PictureFileA, longDesc , FeaturedDesc , description From Listing, ListingExt where Listing.itemcodeid = ListingExt.itemcodeid and Listing.itemCodeId = '1827144522' order by Listing.itemCodeId, fullName

This direct link: This link will set toplevel brands filtering but will not set category (svnLastLev2List)

SETS cookie: svnSearchRefinementByBrandsVal=Chevrolet

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?ItemCodeId=1827144522&brandsTL=Chevrolet&showcase=yes

This direct link: This link will not set toplevel brands

http://www.mybiz.com/listing.asp?ItemCodeId=1827144522&showcase=yes

Listing Repair Job

This job periodically scans listings for user and admin entry errors and corrects the errors. The repairs performed are:

1. Find listings with '#' image processing required prefixes in the picturefile fields but no matching job.
2. Find listings with '#' image processing required prefixes in the picturefile fields but the filename specified is missing. PictureFileA is substitued in all cases.