ContentSelector Programming Concepts
For the latest version of Commerce Server 2007 Help, see the Microsoft Web site.
You use the ContentSelector object to run Content Selection Framework (CSF) pipelines to display dynamic, targeted content on a Web page. The ContentSelector object is a property bag that inherits the properties and methods of the Dictionary Object and adds the GetContent method. The Dictionary object passed to the GetContent method, the global Context dictionary for the CSF application, is used to pass global objects and other values to the pipeline. These values include the location of the redirector script (Redir.aspx), the expression evaluator object, and the Content Selection pipeline that you run to select the content. These values do not change on a per-request basis.
Certain pipeline components in the CSF pipeline expect certain values, some optional, to be set in the dictionary. For example, the CSF pipeline expects the Size, PageGroups, NumRequested, and UserProfile keys to be set in the dictionary.
Redirecting Users
To capture and record the final click events before users move away from your site, Commerce Server includes the redirector script, Redir.aspx. For example, if an advertiser on your site supplies you with an ad and requests that when a user clicks the ad, that the browser move to the advertiser's site, then without a mechanism such as the redirector, Commerce Server has no way to know that the user clicked the ad. Being able to track these final click events helps you to analyze the performance and success of targeted content on your Web site.