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-jobskill 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 CLIb2c: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