Episerver + Apptus eSales DynamicPages
I just wanted to note down what I have done when integration Episerver CMS and Apptus eSales with DynamicPages.
ESales relies on building zones with panels to return all data in a single response.
As a close implementation Episerver CMS has blocks, blocks can contain custom logic and views depending on the locations the block is shown.
In my case i used Blocks as a substitute for eSales panel and then build a DynamicPage on the shown blocks in the page.
# Implementation
By intercepting when PageData passed into a controller method (solution) (opens new window), then get all ESalesPanelBlocks in currentPage (directly or in ContentArea) we can build a DynamicPage query.
ESalesPanelBlocks is an abstract block class with panelpath and attributes for the esales subpanel and a result property where data is returned.
When the DynamicPage content returns; look for the subpanels for the blocks and insert dem into ResultPanel property. The property should be marked with [Ignore], so the data is not stored.
I used AutoMapper to map dto-models to site-models as a last step before setting ResultPanel property.
# Efficiency
I have not yet tested its efficiency against using predefined zones in eSales, this far the response time seems to be very quick (100ms-200ms local episerver, remote on-premise eSales, two different “recommended products for user blocks”).
# Conclusion
By doing it this way we get a optimal solution, one eSales query for the entire page and Episerver blocks that is easy to place and use on your page. The best from both worlds.
# Future development
Make “ESalesZonePanelBlock” that implements the zone capabilities.