sf-b2c-isml

sf-b2c-isml

Build ISML (Internet Store Markup Language) templates for Salesforce B2C Commerce storefronts.

Before Writing Code

Fetch live documentation FIRST:

• Search: "Salesforce B2C Commerce ISML reference 2026"
• Search: "B2C Commerce template best practices encoding modes"
• WebFetch: Official ISML tag reference from Salesforce docs
• WebFetch: Template best practices and encoding guidelines

Why: ISML syntax, tag attributes, encoding modes, and localization patterns evolve with each B2C Commerce release. Always verify current specs before generating template code.

Conceptual Architecture

ISML Key Tags

| Tag | Purpose | Key Attributes | |-----|---------|----------------| | <isprint> | Output with encoding | value, encoding (required for XSS safety) | | <isif> / <iselseif> / <iselse> | Conditional rendering | condition | | <isloop> | Iteration | items, var, status, begin, end, step | | <isset> | Variable assignment | name, value, scope (page/request/session) | | <isinclude> | Include partial template | template (path) or url (controller action) | | <isdecorate> | Decorator/layout wrapper | template (decorator path) | | <isreplace> | Insertion point in decorator | (no attributes) | | <isslot> | Content slot | id, context (category/folder/global), description | | <iscache> | Template-level caching | type, hour, varyby | | <isscript> | Inline server-side JS | (use sparingly -- prefer controllers) | | <iscontent> | Set content type/charset | type, charset | | <isstatus> | Set HTTP status code | code | | <isredirect> | Server-side redirect | location | | <iscomment> | Server-side comment | (not rendered to client) |

Encoding Modes for <isprint>

| Mode | Context | When to Use | |------|---------|-------------| | htmlcontent | HTML body text | Default for most output (de facto SFRA standard) | | htmlsinglequote | Single-quoted HTML attributes | <div title='...'> | | htmldoublequote | Double-quoted HTML attributes | <div title="..."> | | htmlunquote | Unquoted HTML attributes | Rarely needed; prefer quoted attributes | | jshtml | JavaScript strings in HTML | <script>var x = '...';</script> | | jsattribute | JS in HTML event attributes | onclick="..." | | jsonvalue | JSON values | JSON data output | | uricomponent | URL query parameters | Query string values | | uristrict | Full URI encoding | Path segments | | xmlcontent | XML body content | XML/RSS feeds | | off | No encoding | Trusted content ONLY -- avoid in production |

Always specify encoding. Choose based on output context. Never use raw ${variable} for user-controlled data without encoding.

Expression Syntax

Pipeline Dictionary (pdict):

• ${pdict.variableName} -- access controller-passed data (SFRA: from res.render())
• In SFRA, pdict contains only what the controller explicitly passed
• Legacy SiteGenesis globals (CurrentSession, CurrentRequest, etc.) are NOT available in SFRA controllers

Object Navigation:

• ${pdict.product.name} -- dot notation for nested properties
• ${pdict.basket.totalGrossPrice.value} -- deep property access
• Null-safe: always check for null/undefined before accessing nested properties

Operators: Arithmetic (+, -, *, /, %), comparison (==, !=, <, >), logical (&&, ||, !), ternary (${cond ? a : b}).

<isloop> Status Object

| Property | Type | Description | |----------|------|-------------| | first | Boolean | True on first iteration | | last | Boolean | True on last iteration | | count | Number | Current iteration (1-based) | | index | Number | Current iteration (0-based) |

Access via the status attribute: <isloop items="${list}" var="item" status="loopstate">, then use ${loopstate.first}, ${loopstate.index}, etc.

<isset> Scope Rules

| Scope | Lifetime | Use Case | |-------|----------|----------| | page | Current template render | Temporary computation within a template | | request | Current HTTP request | Share data across included templates | | session | Current user session | Persist across requests (use sparingly) |

Default scope is session -- always specify scope explicitly to avoid unintended session pollution.

Localization (Resource Bundles)

${Resource.msg('key', 'bundleName', 'Default')}
${Resource.msgf('key', 'bundle', 'Default {0}', param)}

Common bundles: forms, common, error, product. Always provide meaningful default values. Resource bundles are .properties files in templates/resources/.

Decorator Pattern (Template Inheritance)

Decorators wrap child content via <isdecorate> and <isreplace>:

<!-- Child template -->
<isdecorate template="common/layout/page">
    <h1>Page Content</h1>
    <!-- replaces <isreplace /> in decorator -->
</isdecorate>

The decorator template defines shared layout (header, footer, <head>) and uses <isreplace /> to mark where child content is inserted. Nested decorators are supported.

Common Patterns

<!-- Pattern: product loop skeleton -->
<!-- Fetch live docs for loopstate properties -->
<isloop items="${pdict.products}" var="product" status="loopstate">
    <isprint value="${product.name}" encoding="htmlcontent" />
</isloop>

<!-- Pattern: URL generation -->
<a href="${URLUtils.url('Product-Show', 'pid', product.ID)}">
    <isprint value="${product.name}" encoding="htmlcontent" />
</a>

URL Generation Helpers

| Method | Purpose | |--------|---------| | URLUtils.url() | Generate absolute URL for controller action | | URLUtils.https() | Force HTTPS URL | | URLUtils.staticURL() | URL to static asset in cartridge | | URLUtils.absURL() | Absolute URL with full domain | | URLUtils.home() | Homepage URL | | URLUtils.continueURL() | Current request URL for form returns |

Content Slots

Configured in Business Manager. Slots support HTML, products, categories, or content assets. Use descriptive IDs (home-banner-top, category-promo-sidebar) and set appropriate context (global, category, folder). Slot rendering can be cached separately from template caching.

Platform Warnings

• <isscript> executes on the server and can access the full SFCC API -- keep logic minimal and move heavy processing to controllers or scripts.
• <isset scope="session"> persists across requests -- avoid session bloat by defaulting to page scope.
• SFRA templates do NOT support SiteGenesis pipeline dictionary globals; only data from res.render() is available.
• Template-level <iscache> is separate from CDN caching; both must be configured correctly.

Best Practices

Security

• Always encode output with the correct mode for context.
• Never use encoding="off" unless input is fully trusted.
• Use CSRF tokens on all state-changing forms.
• Validate user input in controllers before passing to templates.

Performance

• Minimize <isscript> blocks -- move logic to controllers or scripts.
• Use <isset> to compute expensive values once and reuse.
• Avoid deeply nested loops and conditionals.
• Use <iscache> for templates that do not change per request.

Maintainability

• Use decorators for consistent page layout across templates.
• Extract reusable components into separate templates with <isinclude>.
• Externalize all user-facing strings to resource bundles for i18n.
• Follow naming convention: lowercase-hyphenated template names.

Template Organization

| Directory | Contents | |-----------|----------| | common/layout/ | Decorators (page, checkout, account) | | components/ | Shared partials (header, footer, navigation) | | product/ | Product display templates | | search/ | Search results templates | | account/ | Customer account templates | | cart/ | Cart and mini-cart templates | | checkout/ | Checkout flow templates |

Fetch the ISML tag reference, encoding mode d