Custom Job Steps Skill

This skill guides you through creating new custom job steps for Salesforce B2C Commerce batch processing.

Running an existing job? If you need to execute jobs or import site archives via CLI, use the b2c-cli:b2c-job skill instead.

When to Use

• Creating a new scheduled job for batch processing

• Building a data import job (customers, products, orders)

• Building a data export job (reports, feeds, sync)

• Implementing data sync between systems

• Creating cleanup or maintenance tasks

Overview

Custom job steps allow you to execute custom business logic as part of B2C Commerce jobs. There are two execution models:

Model Use Case Progress Tracking

Task-oriented Single operations (FTP, import/export) Limited

Chunk-oriented Bulk data processing Fine-grained

File Structure

my_cartridge/ ├── cartridge/ │ ├── scripts/ │ │ └── steps/ │ │ ├── myTaskStep.js # Task-oriented script │ │ └── myChunkStep.js # Chunk-oriented script │ └── my_cartridge.properties └── steptypes.json # Step type definitions (at cartridge ROOT)

Important: The steptypes.json file must be placed in the root folder of the cartridge, not inside the cartridge/ directory. Only one steptypes.json file per cartridge.

Step Type Definition (steptypes.json)

{ "step-types": { "script-module-step": [ { "@type-id": "custom.MyTaskStep", "@supports-parallel-execution": "false", "@supports-site-context": "true", "@supports-organization-context": "false", "description": "My custom task step", "module": "my_cartridge/cartridge/scripts/steps/myTaskStep.js", "function": "execute", "timeout-in-seconds": 900, "parameters": { "parameter": [ { "@name": "InputFile", "@type": "string", "@required": "true", "description": "Path to input file" }, { "@name": "Enabled", "@type": "boolean", "@required": "false", "default-value": "true", "description": "Enable processing" } ] }, "status-codes": { "status": [ { "@code": "OK", "description": "Step completed successfully" }, { "@code": "ERROR", "description": "Step failed" }, { "@code": "NO_DATA", "description": "No data to process" } ] } } ], "chunk-script-module-step": [ { "@type-id": "custom.MyChunkStep", "@supports-parallel-execution": "true", "@supports-site-context": "true", "@supports-organization-context": "false", "description": "Bulk data processing step", "module": "my_cartridge/cartridge/scripts/steps/myChunkStep.js", "before-step-function": "beforeStep", "read-function": "read", "process-function": "process", "write-function": "write", "after-step-function": "afterStep", "total-count-function": "getTotalCount", "chunk-size": 100, "transactional": "false", "timeout-in-seconds": 1800, "parameters": { "parameter": [ { "@name": "CategoryId", "@type": "string", "@required": "true" } ] } } ] } }

Task-Oriented Steps

Use for single operations like FTP transfers, file generation, or import/export.

Script (scripts/steps/myTaskStep.js)

'use strict';

var Status = require('dw/system/Status'); var Logger = require('dw/system/Logger');

/**

• Execute the task step

• @param {Object} parameters - Job step parameters

• @param {dw.job.JobStepExecution} stepExecution - Step execution context

• @returns {dw.system.Status} Execution status */ exports.execute = function (parameters, stepExecution) { var log = Logger.getLogger('job', 'MyTaskStep');

  try { var inputFile = parameters.InputFile; var enabled = parameters.Enabled;

   if (!enabled) {
       log.info('Step disabled, skipping');
       return new Status(Status.OK, 'SKIP', 'Step disabled');
   }
  
   // Your business logic here
   log.info('Processing file: ' + inputFile);
  
   // Return success
   return new Status(Status.OK);
  

  } catch (e) { log.error('Step failed: ' + e.message); return new Status(Status.ERROR, 'ERROR', e.message); } };

Status Codes

// Success return new Status(Status.OK); return new Status(Status.OK, 'CUSTOM_CODE', 'Custom message');

// Error return new Status(Status.ERROR); return new Status(Status.ERROR, null, 'Error message');

Important: Custom status codes work only with OK status. If you use a custom code with ERROR status, it is replaced with ERROR. Custom status codes cannot contain commas, wildcards, leading/trailing whitespace, or exceed 100 characters.

Chunk-Oriented Steps

Use for bulk processing of countable data (products, orders, customers).

Important: You cannot define custom exit status for chunk-oriented steps. Chunk modules always finish with either OK or ERROR.

Required Functions

Function Purpose Returns

read()

Get next item Item or nothing

process(item)

Transform item Processed item or nothing (filters)

write(items)

Save chunk of items Nothing

Optional Functions

Function Purpose Returns

beforeStep()

Initialize (open files, queries) Nothing

afterStep(success)

Cleanup (close files) Nothing

getTotalCount()

Return total items for progress Number

beforeChunk()

Before each chunk Nothing

afterChunk()

After each chunk Nothing

Script (scripts/steps/myChunkStep.js)

'use strict';

var ProductMgr = require('dw/catalog/ProductMgr'); var Transaction = require('dw/system/Transaction'); var Logger = require('dw/system/Logger'); var File = require('dw/io/File'); var FileWriter = require('dw/io/FileWriter');

var log = Logger.getLogger('job', 'MyChunkStep'); var products; var fileWriter;

/**

• Initialize before processing */ exports.beforeStep = function (parameters, stepExecution) { log.info('Starting chunk processing');

  // Open resources var outputFile = new File(File.IMPEX + '/export/products.csv'); fileWriter = new FileWriter(outputFile); fileWriter.writeLine('ID,Name,Price');

  // Query products products = ProductMgr.queryAllSiteProducts(); };

/**

• Get total count for progress tracking */ exports.getTotalCount = function (parameters, stepExecution) { return products.count; };

/**

• Read next item
• Return nothing to signal end of data */ exports.read = function (parameters, stepExecution) { if (products.hasNext()) { return products.next(); } // Return nothing = end of data };

/**

• Process single item

• Return nothing to filter out item */ exports.process = function (product, parameters, stepExecution) { // Filter: skip offline products if (!product.online) { return; // Filtered out }

  // Transform return { id: product.ID, name: product.name, price: product.priceModel.price.value }; };

/**

• Write chunk of processed items */ exports.write = function (items, parameters, stepExecution) { for (var i = 0; i < items.size(); i++) { var item = items.get(i); fileWriter.writeLine(item.id + ',' + item.name + ',' + item.price); } };

/**

• Cleanup after all chunks */ exports.afterStep = function (success, parameters, stepExecution) { // Close resources if (fileWriter) { fileWriter.close(); } if (products) { products.close(); }

  if (success) { log.info('Chunk processing completed successfully'); } else { log.error('Chunk processing failed'); } };

Parameter Types

Type Description Example Value

string

Text value "my-value"

boolean

true/false true

long

Integer 12345

double

Decimal 123.45

datetime-string

ISO datetime "2024-01-15T10:30:00Z"

date-string

ISO date "2024-01-15"

time-string

ISO time "10:30:00"

Parameter Validation Attributes

Attribute Applies To Description

@trim

All Trim whitespace before validation (default: true )

@required

All Mark as required (default: true )

@target-type

datetime-string, date-string, time-string Convert to long or date (default: date )

pattern

string Regex pattern for validation

min-length

string Minimum string length (must be ≥1)

max-length

string Maximum string length (max 1000 chars total)

min-value

long, double, datetime-string, time-string Minimum numeric value

max-value

long, double, datetime-string, time-string Maximum numeric value

enum-values

All Restrict to allowed values (dropdown in BM)

Configuration Options

steptypes.json Attributes

Attribute Required Description

@type-id

Yes Unique ID (must start with custom. , max 100 chars)

@supports-parallel-execution

No Allow parallel execution (default: true )

@supports-site-context

No Available in site-scoped jobs (default: true )

@supports-organization-context

No Available in org-scoped jobs (default: true )

module

Yes Path to script module

function

Yes Function name to execute (task-oriented)

timeout-in-seconds

No Step timeout (recommended to set)

transactional

No Wrap in single transaction (default: false )

chunk-size

Yes* Items per chunk (*required for chunk steps)

Context Constraints: @supports-site-context and @supports-organization-context cannot both be true or both be false

• one must be true and the other false .

Best Practices

• Use chunk-oriented for bulk data - better progress tracking and resumability

• Close resources in afterStep()

• queries, files, connections

• Set explicit timeouts - default may be too short

• Log progress - helps debugging

• Handle errors gracefully - return proper Status objects

• Don't rely on transactional=true - use Transaction.wrap() for control

Related Skills

• b2c-cli:b2c-job

• For running existing jobs and importing site archives via CLI

• b2c:b2c-webservices

• When job steps need to call external HTTP services or APIs, use the webservices skill for service configuration and HTTP client patterns

Detailed Reference

• Task-Oriented Steps - Full task step patterns

• Chunk-Oriented Steps - Full chunk step patterns

• steptypes.json Reference - Complete schema