Create your product configurator with your user interface

Introduction

Two endpoints let you get all metadata related to one configuration, which is basically linked to one part number in one language, in order to create a configurator with your own user interface.

To use the endpoints, you need to know the partFamilyCode, unique identifier of a product configurator across all the data stored in the TraceParts database. The partFamilyCode is provided by the Search/PartNumber/Availability endpoint or the Search/YourOwnCode/Availability endpoint.

Load of the initial configuration

The initial load of the configuration, in order to only get all metadata related to it, or in order to build a configurator, is done with the partFamilyCode and the selectionPath, usually linked to a part number.

With the Product/Configure endpoint, if you do not set the non-required selectionPath parameter, the default configuration of the product is loaded.

To receive the data in supported language you need, or in the default language defined by the supplier of the product if the language you need is not available, please use on the cultureInfo values returned by the SupportedLanguages endpoint.

The response contains the all metadata to use to create a product page, for instance, including the list of associated CAD formats, the configurator, the Bill Of Materials (BOM), for instance, as you can see on www.traceparts.com.

Display of the configurator

You can define your own user interface with the data returned in configuratorList, which can displayed as tables or as grid, with list of values, text to edit, real, for instance. The configurator might also contain tables and grids. Each parameter of the configurator as an internal symbol, a label related to the cultureInfo, a type (boolean, integer, real or text), an internal value used by the configurator and a label to display instead of the value.

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For the Tables, the "Selector" symbol is not to display. It has to be used during the configuration.

CAD request

By using the Product/Configure endpoint, you also get the list of CAD formats related to the current configuration without to use the Product/CadDataAvailability endpoint. The list of CAD formats is in the cadFormatList object.
All the data related to the current configuration, needed for the Product/cadRequest endpoint, to request a CAD file, is in the response, in the globalInfo object.

Other data from the response

All objects are described in the response of the Product/Configure endpoint but here is a summary of the ones not related to the display of the configurator or the CAD formats:

• bomFields: object listing all attributes defined by the supplier of the data, known as Bill Of Materials (BOM), to expose a summary of the product related to the current configuration, such as the part number, the description, the supplier, for instance.
• documentList: object listing all documentations related to the product, defined by the supplier of the data.
• technicalDocumentList: object listing all documentations having a specific type, defined by the supplier of the data, usually storing the dimensional drawings which help the end user to configure the product.
• categoryDocumentList: object listing all documentations related to the category where the product belongs to, defined by the supplier of the data.
• cadDetailLevels: object listing the level of details only having an impact on the display of the CAD model, with more or less details. This choice has to be selected by the end user, knowing there is an impact on the quality of the model and the file weight.
• selectorListWithoutCad: object listing each selector value, for the Table object, where there is no CAD file output available.
• currentConfigurationLinkList: object listing each URL related to the current configuration, with a type of link in order to diplay the hyperlink at the right place of the user interface, depending on its usage.
• globalInfo: object listing generic information related to the current configuration, such as the picture, the title, the version or the date of the last update, for instance.

Configure the product

Based on the current configuration, with the partFamilyCode, the selectionPath and the cultureInfo, the Product/UpdateConfiguration endpoint provide a new set of data, after the post of a new value related to a symbol.

To configure a product and to receive a new response to display, the configurator must know what is the current configuration by using the following string from the current configuration, partFamilyCode, cultureInfo and selectionPath, in order to set the related query parameters, partFamilyCode, cultureInfo and initialSelectionPath.

Because each value can have an impact on easy other parameters of the configuration, the configuration must be done parameter after parameter. Knowing the symbol is unique inside one partFamilyCode, you need to post the symbol the end user changed, and the value related to the label the end user selected or set, if the parameter is editable.

Developer support

Please contact us for any problem, question or comment related to this content integration.