b2c-querying-data

# Querying Data in B2C Commerce Efficient data querying is critical for storefront performance and job stability. B2C Commerce provides index-backed search APIs and database query APIs—choosing the right one for each use case avoids performance problems. ## Product Search (Storefront) Use `ProductSearchModel` for all storefront product searches. It is index-backed and designed for high-traffic pages. ### Basic Product Search ```javascript var ProductSearchModel = require('dw/catalog/ProductSearchModel'); var psm = new ProductSearchModel(); psm.setCategoryID('electronics'); psm.setOrderableProductsOnly(true); // Only in-stock products psm.setSearchPhrase('laptop'); psm.search(); var hits = psm.getProductSearchHits(); while (hits.hasNext()) { var hit = hits.next(); var productID = hit.productID; var minPrice = hit.minPrice; var maxPrice = hit.maxPrice; } hits.close(); ``` ### Paging Search Results Always page results—never load the full result set: ```javascript var ProductSearchModel = require('dw/catalog/ProductSearchModel'); var PagingModel = require('dw/web/PagingModel'); var psm = new ProductSearchModel(); psm.setCategoryID('mens-clothing'); psm.setOrderableProductsOnly(true); psm.search(); var pagingModel = new PagingModel(psm.getProductSearchHits(), psm.count); pagingModel.setPageSize(12); pagingModel.setStart(0); // page offset var pageElements = pagingModel.pageElements; while (pageElements.hasNext()) { var hit = pageElements.next(); // Render product tile } ``` ### Getting Variation Data from Search Hits Use `ProductSearchHit` methods instead of loading full product objects: ```javascript // GOOD: Get variation info from the search hit (index-backed) var representedColors = hit.getRepresentedVariationValues('color'); var representedIDs = hit.getRepresentedProductIDs(); var minPrice = hit.getMinPrice(); var maxPrice = hit.getMaxPrice(); // BAD: Loading the full product and iterating variants (database-intensive) var product = hit.product; var variants = product.getVariants(); // Expensive! var priceModel = product.getPriceModel(); // Expensive! ``` ### Search Refinements ```javascript var psm = new ProductSearchModel(); psm.setCategoryID('shoes'); psm.addRefinementValues('color', 'blue'); psm.addRefinementValues('size', '10'); psm.setPriceMin(50); psm.setPriceMax(200); psm.search(); // Get available refinement values for the current result set var refinements = psm.getRefinements(); var colorValues = refinements.getAllRefinementValues('color'); ``` ### ProductSearchModel API Summary | Method | Description | |--------|-------------| | `search()` | Execute the search | | `setCategoryID(id)` | Filter by category | | `setSearchPhrase(phrase)` | Set search keywords | | `setOrderableProductsOnly(flag)` | Exclude out-of-stock | | `addRefinementValues(name, value)` | Add refinement filter | | `setPriceMin(price)` / `setPriceMax(price)` | Price range filter | | `setSortingRule(rule)` | Set sorting rule | | `getProductSearchHits()` | Get result iterator | | `getRefinements()` | Get available refinements | | `count` | Total result count | ## Order Queries ### OrderMgr.searchOrders / queryOrders Use `searchOrders` for index-backed order lookups and `queryOrders` for database queries: ```javascript var OrderMgr = require('dw/order/OrderMgr'); var Order = require('dw/order/Order'); // Index-backed search (preferred for common lookups) var orders = OrderMgr.searchOrders( 'customerEmail = {0} AND status != {1}', 'creationDate desc', 'customer@example.com', Order.ORDER_STATUS_FAILED ); while (orders.hasNext()) { var order = orders.next(); // Process order } orders.close(); // Always close iterators ``` ### Query by Date Range ```javascript var OrderMgr = require('dw/order/OrderMgr'); var Calendar = require('dw/util/Calendar'); var Order = require('dw/order/Order'); var startDate = new Calendar(); startDate.add(Calendar.DAY_OF_YEAR, -7); var orders = OrderMgr.searchOrders( 'creationDate >= {0} AND status = {1}', 'creationDate desc', startDate.time, Order.ORDER_STATUS_NEW ); while (orders.hasNext()) { var order = orders.next(); // Process } orders.close(); ``` ### searchOrders vs queryOrders | Aspect | `searchOrders` | `queryOrders` | |--------|---------------|---------------| | Backing | Search index | Database | | Performance | Fast for indexed fields | Slower, full table scan possible | | Use when | Querying indexed attributes (status, email, dates) | Querying non-indexed or custom attributes | | Result limit | Up to 1000 hits | No hard limit (but use paging) | **Prefer `searchOrders`** for storefront and high-traffic code paths. Use `queryOrders` only when you need to query attributes not available in the search index. ## Customer / Profile Queries ### CustomerMgr (Preferred) Use `searchProfiles` for index-backed searches and `processProfiles` for batch processing in jobs: ```javascript var CustomerMgr = require('dw/customer/CustomerMgr'); // Index-backed search (storefront use) var profiles = CustomerMgr.searchProfiles( 'email = {0}', 'lastLoginTime desc', 'customer@example.com' ); while (profiles.hasNext()) { var profile = profiles.next(); // Process profile } profiles.close(); ``` ### Batch Processing (Jobs) Use `processProfiles` for jobs that need to iterate over many profiles—it has optimized memory management: ```javascript var CustomerMgr = require('dw/customer/CustomerMgr'); function processProfile(profile) { // Process each profile individually // Memory is managed automatically } // Process all profiles matching the query CustomerMgr.processProfiles('gender = {0}', processProfile, 1); ``` **Important:** `processProfiles` replaces the older `queryProfiles` and `SystemObjectMgr.querySystemObjects` for customer data. It uses the full-text search service with better performance and memory characteristics. ### Customer Query Behaviors - Wildcards (`*`, `%`, `+`) are filtered from queries and replaced by spaces - `LIKE` and `ILIKE` execute as full-text queries (match whole words, not substrings) - `LIKE` is case-insensitive - Combining `AND` and `OR` in the same query degrades performance - Range queries (e.g., `a > b`) impact performance - Results are limited to the first 1000 hits ## System Object Queries (SystemObjectMgr) For querying system objects other than customers (e.g., SitePreferences, catalogs): ```javascript var SystemObjectMgr = require('dw/object/SystemObjectMgr'); // Query system objects var results = SystemObjectMgr.querySystemObjects( 'Profile', 'custom.loyaltyTier = {0}', 'lastLoginTime desc', 'Gold' ); while (results.hasNext()) { var obj = results.next(); // Process } results.close(); ``` **Note:** For customer profiles specifically, prefer `CustomerMgr.searchProfiles` or `CustomerMgr.processProfiles` over `SystemObjectMgr.querySystemObjects`—they use the search index and perform significantly better. ## Database-Intensive APIs to Avoid These APIs hit the database directly and are expensive on high-traffic pages. Replace them with index-friendly alternatives. See [Performance-Critical APIs](references/PERFORMANCE-APIS.md) for the complete list with impact details. | Avoid (Database-Intensive) | Use Instead (Index-Friendly) | |----------------------------|------------------------------| | `Category.getProducts()` / `getOnlineProducts()` | `ProductSearchModel.setCategoryID()` | | `ProductMgr.queryAllSiteProducts()` | `ProductSearchModel.search()` | | `Product.getVariants()` / `getVariationModel()` | `ProductSearchHit` methods | | `Product.getPriceModel()` (in loops) | `ProductSearchHit.getMinPrice()` / `getMaxPrice()` | | `CustomerMgr.queryProfiles()` | `CustomerMgr.searchProfiles()` or `processProfiles()` | ## Related Skills - `b2c-ordering` skill — Order lifecycle, status transitions, creation flows - `b2c-custom-objects` skill — Custom object CRUD, OCAPI search queries ## Best Practices ### Do - **Always close iterators** — unclosed iterators leak resources (`results.close()`) - **Page results** — use `PagingModel` or limit result counts; never load unbounded result sets - **Put all filtering in the query** — don't post-process or filter results in custom code - **Use index-backed APIs** — `ProductSearchModel`, `searchOrders`, `searchProfiles` for storefront pages - **Use `processProfiles`** for batch customer operations in jobs (optimized memory) - **Limit page size** — maximum ~120 products per page for search result pages - **Use `setOrderableProductsOnly(true)`** — to filter unavailable products at the search level ### Don't - **Don't iterate over product variants on search result pages** — use `ProductSearchHit` methods instead - **Don't post-process search results** — all criteria must go into the query for efficient execution - **Don't use `queryAllSiteProducts()`** on storefront pages — it bypasses the search index - **Don't combine AND + OR** in customer queries — it degrades performance - **Don't rely on getting more than 1000 results** — search APIs cap at 1000 hits - **Don't call database-intensive APIs on high-traffic pages** — category pages, search results, PDPs, and homepage ### Job-Specific Guidelines - Use `processProfiles` over `queryProfiles` for large customer data sets - Design loop logic so memory consumption doesn't grow with result set size - Keep only the currently processed object in memory; don't retain references - Stream data to files regularly; don't build large structures in memory - Limit transaction size to under 1000 modified business objects ## Detailed References - [Performance-Critical APIs](references/PERFORMANCE-APIS.md) — full list of index-friendly vs database-intensive APIs