Site Packager Interface

Custom resources can be packaged into a file. A package is a specially formatted Commerce Server file. Each package is identified with a .pup extension. A package always contains a single site, which includes resource configuration data and the applications of a Commerce site. It can also include whatever files each resource chooses to package, though no special processing (such as DLL registration) will be performed during unpacking.

Custom resources do not necessarily need to do anything to be included in the packaging process. If the custom resource stores its data in the Commerce Server Administration database, that data will automatically be packaged. If your custom resource stores its configuration data outside of the Administration database, or if you want other files to be included in the package, you must generally develop a custom Component Object Model (COM) component that participates in the packaging and unpacking process. For example, if your resource depends on data being placed in the Site Configuration Store, the custom COM component you develop will perform that function.

If you must develop a custom COM component to participate in the packaging process, it must implement the IPuP interface.

The ProgIDs of custom COM components that implement the IPuP interface must be placed in the appropriate tables within the Administration database in order to be invoked.

The methods of the IPuP interface to be implemented by your custom COM component are shown in the following table.

Method	Description
CreateGroupResource	Called to create the connection between a global resource and the site-level reference to that resource. Called in conjunction with the Import method if the resource is a global resource.
Delete	Called by the Commerce Server Manager to delete custom site resource data from a computer. It also removes the configuration data for this resource from the Administration database. This method should perform whatever is required to properly delete data associated with the corresponding site resource.
DeleteGroupResource	Called to delete custom global resource data from a computer. It also removes the configuration data for this resource from the Administration database. This method should perform whatever is required to properly delete data associated with the corresponding global resource.
Export	Called to allow the custom COM component to place the files to be packaged into a specified location.
Import	Called to allow the custom COM component to retrieve the files that were packaged from a specified location.