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Global Deployment Guide > Configuring Global Applications > Converting Data to UTC >
Enabling the Global Time Zone Feature in an Upgraded Environment
When enabling the Global Time Zone feature for an upgraded Siebel environment, you should convert your historical data to make all existing date and time values consistent with the Global Time Zone feature logic. The Global Time Zone feature stores date and time values in the database adjusted to UTC time. For more information about how the Global Time Zone feature processes data and time data in UTC, see Converting Data to UTC.
Although enabling your environment for the Global Time Zone feature is optional, it is recommended that you perform the following procedure immediately after upgrading to Release 7.
Converting historical data into a environment using the Global Time Zone feature requires performing the following tasks:
- Upgrade your development and production environments to Release 7. For more information, see the Upgrade Guide for the operating system you are using.
- Prepare your data for conversion to UTC. See Preparing Your Data for Conversion to UTC.
- Convert your historical data, using the Siebel Software Configuration Utility. See Updating Existing Data to UTC.
- Review the UTC log file for errors. See Reviewing the UTC Conversion Log Files.
- Turn on the Global Time Zone Feature. See Turning On the Global Time Zone Feature.
Preparing Your Data for Conversion to UTC
Before you convert your data to UTC, you need to prepare your historical data.
- Configure fields and columns (if necessary) for UTC.
- Edit the driver_utc.ucf file for UTC conversion.
- Set the default time zone preference for each of your users.
- Save a report of your user time zones.
- Partition large tables to assure sufficient log space.
- Allocate maximum database transaction log space.
NOTE: Log space is controlled through transaction logs. On the DB2 UDB database platform, this is called transaction log. On the Oracle database platform, this is called rollback segment. On the MS SQL database platform, this is called log file.
Configure Fields for UTC
Date and time fields in Siebel eBusiness Applications are enabled for UTC based on their object types in the Siebel Repository. This includes fields that users manually populate by entering date and time data and fields that the system populates by generating a date and time stamp. However, if you create custom date and time fields, it is important to enable them for UTC so that data entered in these fields is consistent with data entered in other date and time fields.
Enable fields for UTC by setting the Physical Type property for the column and the Type property of the field to which the column is mapped.
- Set the Physical Type property of the column to UTC Date Time.
- Set the Type property of the Field object to DTYPE_UTCDATETIME.
If you configured additional columns for UTC date time, you need to add these columns to the utc_columns.inp file. This input file tells the UTC conversion utility which columns need to be converted to UTC.
Set Time Zones for Users
Set the default time zone preference in the table S_CONTACT for each of your users.
For users who do not have a default time zone set in their user profile, the time zone specified in the server_time.inp file will be used for UTC conversions by the conversion utility. The server_time.inp file is located in the siebsrvr/bin directory.
Edit the driver_utc.ucf File for UTC Conversion
If you create additional input files, you need to add them to the driver_utc.ucf file. There is a default set of input files, but you may need to create an additional file to specify more columns to convert.
An example from the driver_utc.ucf file appears below:
[File Execute Entry 7]
Type = FileExecute
File Name = $SiebelRoot\bin\utcupgd
Check Return Code = 1
Return Code Compliance = 0
16 Bit App = 0
Command Line = /u $UserName /p $Password /c "$ODBCDataSource" /d $DatabaseOwner /n "$RepositoryName" /g $Language /x $DatabasePlatform /j $SiebelRoot/bin/s_camp_con_01.inp /l $SiebelRoot/log/s_camp_con_01.log /s $SiebelRoot/bin/ server_time.inp
Number of 10 Second Wait Loops = 2000
Prompt User For Status = 0
Parallelizable Item = 0
Title Message Num = 0
Estimated Disk Space = 0
Backup Db = 0
To edit the driver_utc.ucf file parameters to accommodate additional input files
- Create a new input file in the driver_utc.ucf file by copying a complete step from the driver_utc.ucf file and pasting the copied step immediately after the step which you duplicated.
- In the new step, change the input file parameter (which follows /j in the command line) to the name of your new input file.
Using the example driver_utc.ucf file above, you need to change:
/j $SiebelRoot/bin/s_camp_con_01.inpto
/j $SiebelRoot/bin/new_file_name.inp- In the new step, change the log file parameter (which follows /l in the command line) to the name of the log file which corresponds to your new input file.
Using the example driver_utc.ucf file above, you need to change:
/l $SiebelRoot/log/s_camp_con_01.logto
/l $SiebelRoot/log/new_file_name.log- Renumber the file execute entry numbers for your new step and for each subsequent step, in order.
Using the example driver_utc.ucf file above (and assuming no preceding steps have changed) you need to change:
[File Execute Entry 7]
to
[File Execute Entry 8]
and so on, for each subsequent step.
Save a Report of User Time Zones
Prior to running the UTC conversion utility, save a report of your user time zones as a record of the input data used during the conversion.
Partitioning Prerequisite for the Oracle Database Platform
By default, tables are partitioned by making use of month (CREATED). Make sure that the user running the UTC conversion utility has execute privilege on month. To give execute permission, connect to the database server as the tableowner and execute the following command:
grant execute on month to SSE_ROLEPartition Large Tables to Prevent Insufficient Database Log Space
The UTC conversion utility uses input files to control the conversion of your date and time data to UTC. The conversion utility typically processes each table as a whole. However, tables with very large record counts may encounter errors due to constraints on log space at the database level.
The UTC conversion utility prevents errors which may occur due to insufficient log space at the database level by using multiple input files to partition large tables into subsets of records for processing. The UTC conversion utility updates each record set individually to convert all rows in a partitioned table.
The utility uses partition keys to control how a table is divided into record sets. For example, large tables may be divided based on the calendar month in which each record was created, resulting in twelve approximately equal-sized partitions.
Partition keys are supplied for tables that are typically very large and that generally use a lot of log space if updated as a single input file. The tables which are delivered with partition keys are:
NOTE: If you require a different partitioning method, or if you want reduced partitioning in order to optimize performance, contact Siebel Technical Support and Expert Services for assistance.
If you create additional partitioned files, you may decrease performance.The default value for each key is customizable. You determine the way that your tables are partitioned, and you can partition your own tables that you know to have large record counts by adding or modifying the input files.
The input file includes a WHERE clause, which defines the parameters that will be used as partition keys to divide large tables into appropriately sized sections. This WHERE clause represents standard SQL that will be used to filter which records are to be updated by each input file. Verify that you are using the correct SQL syntax.
The input files are located in your siebsrvr/bin directory. Each input file represents a single database transaction.
The following example is from the s_evt_act_00.inp file. This particular file is used to define one partition of the Activities table that includes all records created in the month of January (month=1) or February (month=2).
[S_EVT_ACT]
Clause = where month(CREATED) = 1 or month(CREATED) = 2
Column = APPT_START_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_ACTL_END_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_ACTL_START_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_AFTER_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_DUE_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_PLAN_END_DT, CREATED_BY
Column = TODO_PLAN_START_DT, CREATED_BYNOTE: If the where clause is blank, then the table will not be partitioned. It will have all records processed at once.
Allocate Maximum Log Space
Prior to running the UTC conversion utility, set the log space parameters on the database server to the maximum. The UTC conversion utility requires a large amount of log space in order to run properly.
For the Oracle database platform, allocate a single large rollback segment and take other rollback segments offline to make sure that large transactions succeed.
Updating Existing Data to UTC
To update existing date and time data in your data tables to UTC, you need to run the UTC conversion utility from within the Siebel Software Configuration Utility. This utility will help you define the required parameters for UTC conversion, and set the UTC system preference to TRUE.
The UTC conversion takes an input file containing rows of data and updates appropriate database columns to the UTC format. Each entry in the input file contains the table name, a where clause, and a list of columns with their conversion methods. The conversion method defines how to link each record to the user record from which the default time zone is derived. The value specified as the conversion method corresponds to a column whose value identifies a unique user record.
For example:
[TABLE_NAME]
Clause =
Column = CREATED, CREATED_BYwhere:
- The first column value (in this example, CREATED) indicates the column name
- The second column value (in this example, CREATED_BY) indicates the conversion method
In this case, the utility will look up the profile record of the user who created the record being converted, and derive the corresponding time zone from that profile.
NOTE: For date and time values that are not associated with a user, the server conversion method should be used (conversion method = SERVER_TIME). The server conversion method uses the time zone specified in the server_time.inp file.
Server_time.inp File Syntax
You must use the correct syntax in the server_time.inp file to implement UTC. If the exact values are not specified, the UTC Conversion Utility will not work. Use the Time Zone setting on the Microsoft Windows operating system to determine the correct values for this syntax.
Enter the value and region (in quotation marks), on the second line of the server_time.inp file. Here is an example for United States Central Standard Time (CST) -06:00:
[GLOBAL] SERVER_TIME: "(GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada)";Table 7 provides a list of the values and regions to use for this setting.
Running the UTC Conversion Utility
The following procedure will convert your date and time data to UTC.
To run the UTC conversion utility from the Siebel Software Configuration Utility
- Launch the Siebel Software Configuration Utility by one of the following methods:
- From the Microsoft Windows platform, launch the utility by selecting Start > Programs > Siebel Servers 7.0 > Configure DB Server.
- On the UNIX platform, launch the utility by first setting the environment variables:
setenv LANGUAGE ENU (where ENU represents your display language)
setenv SIEBEL_ROOT SIEBEL_ROOT (where SIEBEL_ROOT is the name of your Siebel root directory.)
Then type the command:
dbsrvr_config.kshThe Siebel Software Configuration Utility appears.
NOTE: The values you enter into the Siebel Software Configuration Utility are case-sensitive. You may not type spaces in parameter values; use underscores (_) instead.
- Enter the required parameters to run the UTC conversion utility.
See Table 8 for a list of dialog boxes, options, and required values.
The UTC conversion utility updates your existing data. For columns configured for UTC, the UTC conversion utility adjusts the historical date and time values to their UTC equivalent. After successfully converting the UTC-enabled date and time fields, the conversion utility sets the value for the UTC system preference to TRUE.
The Siebel Software Configuration Utility checks for errors, and writes any errors to a log file.
- Review the log file generated by the UTC conversion, and resolve errors as necessary. See Reviewing the UTC Conversion Log Files.
NOTE: If the UTC conversion fails for any reason, you must review the log files and resolve any errors encountered. Then you need to rerun the UTC conversion utility.
UTC Conversion Parameters
Table 8 shows the UTC conversion parameters to use with the Siebel Configuration Utility.
(This is typically the machine name.)Enterprise Server Address
(This is the SIEBSRVR_ROOT directory, for example, D:\sea7xx\siebsrvr.)
(This is the primary language of your prior environment.)
(This was created automatically by the Siebel server installation, using the format SiebSrvr_EnterpriseName.)
(User name of the Siebel administrator, for example, sadmin)Database Password
(Note for Microsoft SQL: this is the login for the owner of the database, not necessarily the default owner of the database in DBO.)Table Owner Password
1To find the name of the ODBC data source, go to Start > Settings > Control Panel > ODBC data source. Click the System DSN tab to find the name of the ODBC data source.
Reviewing the UTC Conversion Log Files
After the UTC conversion utility runs, if errors are encountered, the utility records those errors to log files. The log files are located in the siebsrvr\LOG directory. The default log files are described in the following list. Some of the errors listed in the log file are acceptable, but others will require resolution. An example of an acceptable error is when the utc_drop_temp_tab.log file generates the error ORA-00942: table or view does not exist, when initially dropping the S_CONTACT_TMP and S_TIMEZONE_TMP tables. You may have additional log files if you edited the input file. Carefully review the log files for errors.
utc_drop_temp_tab.log
null_timezone.log
utc_insert_to_tmp_tab.log
utc_create_tmp_ind.log
utc_run_stats.log
s_camp_con_00.log
s_camp_con_01.log
s_camp_con_02.log
s_camp_con_03.log
s_communication_00.log
s_communication_01.log
s_communication_02.log
s_communication_03.log
s_evt_act_00.log
s_evt_act_01.log
s_evt_act_02.log
s_evt_act_03.log
s_evt_act_04.log
s_evt_act_05.log
s_contact.log
s_org_ext.log
s_srv_req.log
utc_columns.log
denorm.log
utc_drop_temp_tab2.logReview the log files that were generated by the UTC conversion utility, including any custom log files that you may have created, and resolve errors as necessary. If the UTC conversion utility was interrupted after it encountered an error, you need to manually re-launch the UTC conversion utility.
Manually Launching the UTC Conversion Utility
If the UTC conversion fails for any reason, you need to review the log files and resolve any errors encountered. Then you need to rerun the UTC conversion utility.
To manually launch the utility
- Type the following command from the SIEBEL_ROOT\siebsrvr_root\BIN directory:
- On Microsoft Windows, type:
siebupg.exe /m master_utc.ucf- On UNIX, type:
srvrupgwiz /m master_utc.ucfTurning On the Global Time Zone Feature
After you have confirmed that your UTC conversion was successful, turn on the Global Time Zone feature by completing the following procedure.
To activate the Global Time Zone feature
- Set the database server to UTC.
- Make sure that the UTC system preference is set to TRUE. If not, then set the UTC system preference to TRUE.
See Enabling UTC for more information.
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Global Deployment Guide Published: 18 April 2003 |