cXML Documents for Remote Shopping

cXML Documents for Remote Shopping

The cXML remote shopping protocol defines the following XML documents to control the initiation and termination of remote shopping sessions:

cXML Document Description
Punchout Index Catalog The Punchout Index Catalog document is not strictly one of the remote shopping session documents, but it does define the format for a product catalog document for which remote shopping is meant to be used. In other words, it defines the format of product catalog documents that will inform the buyer application that the included products require a remote shopping session in order to be purchased.

Note that a cXML catalog can be mixed in that some of the products can be specified such that they are purchased without a remote shopping session, while other products can be specified such that they require remote shopping.

PunchOutSetupRequest The PunchOutSetupRequest document is used by the trading partner's buyer application to initiate a remote shopping session. It is sent to a particular URL in the supplier's Web site and must include enough information for the supplier's Web site to construct a URL that is specific to the remote shopping session being initiated, including information about the customer and about the products for which the remote shopping session is being initiated.

This document must also include a URL at which the trading partner's buyer application is expecting the PunchoutOrderMessage to be sent at the conclusion of the remote shopping session.

The PunchOutSetupRequest element in the XML document includes an operation attribute that has a significant impact on the nature of the remote shopping session. There are four legal values:

  • Create. The create operation indicates the start of a brand new remote shopping session.
  • Edit. The edit operation is used to make changes to products chosen or configured in a previous remote shopping session, and includes the product details from the previous session. This is most significant to supplier Web sites that maintain some type of record of remote shopping sessions, and need to track any changes made.
  • Inspect. The inspect operation is used to examine, but not modify, the products chosen or configured in a previous remote shopping session, and includes the product details from the previous session. When such operations are initiated after the supplier has received the corresponding purchase order, it would benefit the customer to have the status of the order displayed as well.
PunchOutSetupResponse The PunchOutSetupResponse document is constructed by the supplier's Web site in response to receiving a PunchOutSetupRequest message, and is returned to the trading partner's buyer application in the HTTP Response stream. It includes a URL that the buyer application can use to start the remote shopping session on behalf of the customer.
PunchoutOrderMessage The PunchoutOrderMessage document is constructed by the supplier's Web site when the customer concludes their shopping, or configuration, or some other task, and clicks the Return to Buyer Application button. It is used to communicate the contents of the remote shopping "basket" back to the trading partner's buyer application.

For reasons that are too complex to mention here, this XML document is sent as the contents of a particular hidden form field in an HTTP POST operation.


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Microsoft Corporation - Microsoft. Net Server Solutions for the Enterprise
Microsoft .NET Server Solutions for the Enterprise
ISBN: 0735615691
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2002
Pages: 483

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