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Running Batch Assignment

This topic is part of About Running Batch Assignment.

Batch assignment executes the Batch Assignment component (AsgnBatch) to perform assignment in batch mode. This component can take the Object Where Clause parameter and other appropriate parameters that determine candidates for chosen objects

You typically use batch assignment for importing new records from a legacy system, or when an assignment rule changes, such as when a sales representative no longer manages a specific ZIP Code.

When You Must Run Batch Assignment

You must run Assignment Manager in batch mode if you change nonobject data that can affect assignments. Such situations occur whenever you:

• Modify assignment rules and want these changes to affect existing objects. You modify assignment rules when you:
  • Add or remove employees, positions, or organizations
  • Add, remove, or update assignment criteria or criteria values
  • Associate a rule with a different rule group or change the rule sequence number
  • Change scores
  • Change activation and expiration dates
  • Change exclusive mode
• Modify the list of employees, positions, or organizations and you want these changes to affect existing objects.
• Change the Assignment Manager configuration in Siebel Tools and you want your changes to affect existing objects. You change the Assignment Manager configuration when you:
  • Change Assignment Attribute definitions
  • Change Assignment Criteria definitions
  • Change Assignment Object definitions
  • Change Workflow Policy Object definitions
• Use Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager (EIM) to perform initial loads (if you do not run Generate Triggers to create the appropriate triggers).

  NOTE:  When using Siebel EIM to load assignment rules, make sure the column ASGN_TYPE_CD includes a value. If it is left NULL, which is permissible in Siebel EIM, the rules are loaded but Assignment Manager fails.

• Determine that existing assignments may not be accurate. Assignment Manager does not change assignments if the existing assignments are correct.

  NOTE:  When batch mode is run on correct assignments, even if there are no changes to the team or primary, an update of the record occurs. This situation can disturb other workflow policies relying on various record fields. For example, a workflow policy relying on the PR_POSTN_ID column to trigger an action does not work properly if this field is updated from a new batch assignment. If your deployment uses MS SQL Server, this note does not apply.

You can configure the Batch Assignment server component for your implementation by adjusting the appropriate parameters. Table 47 lists the parameters used by the Batch Assignment component that you can set.

Use the following procedure to run batch assignment.

To run batch assignment

1. Navigate to the Administration - Server Management screen, and then the Jobs view.
2. In the Jobs list, click New.

   A new record appears with a system-defined ID automatically populated with a status of Creating.

3. In the new record, enter the relevant information for the new job.
   1. In the Component/Job field, select Batch Assignment.
   2. In the Requested Server field, type the name of the server on which you want to run this batch request.
   3. (Optional) If you want to run a specific rule group for this batch, type the row ID of the assignment rule group for which you want rules processed for the AsgnKey parameter.
   4. Complete the rest of the fields for the new record, if needed.
4. In the Job Parameters list, click New to create a new record, and enter relevant information for the assignment object that you want to assign as part of this batch request.
   1. In Name field, click the select button.
   2. In the Job Parameters dialog box, select Assignment Object Name, and then click OK.
   3. In the Value field, enter the name of the assignment object for the parameter.

      Use the exact name found in Siebel Tools, such as Service Request or Order (Sales Credit Assignment).

      NOTE:  Because batch assignment cannot run more than one assignment object per batch, run batch assignment on only one assignment object for each batch.

5. While still in the Job Parameters list, click New to create a new record so that Assignment Manager uses the Object Where Clause parameter to limit the number of rows processed at one time.
   1. In Name field, click the select button.
   2. In the Job Parameters dialog box, query for ObjWhereClause, click Go, and then click OK.
   3. In the Value field, enter a WHERE clause to select the object instance that you want to process; the WHERE clause can include up to 100 characters.

      For example, to select object instances beginning with ibm, type:

   WHERE name like 'ibm%'

   NOTE:  If you leave the Value field blank, all object instances are selected. However, it is strongly recommended that you limit the number of rows that Assignment Manager processes, to make sure that sufficient rollback space is available.

   For more information about using the object WHERE clause, see Setting the Log Level of Siebel Assignment Manager Events.

6. (Optional) If you want to enable Contact Denormalization for batch assignment, add two more component job parameter records with values from the following table.

   Parameter Name	Value
   Assignment Object Name	Contact Denormalization
   Assignment Mode	Denorm

7. (Optional) If you want to save changes to the database during batch processing, add another component job parameter, as follows:
   1. In Name field, click the select button.
   2. In the Job Parameters dialog box, query for Batch Size, and then click Go.
   3. In the Value field, enter the number of objects to assign before committing each batch.
8. In the Job Detail form, click the menu button and choose Start Job.

NOTE:  Monitor the performance of Batch Assignment and increase or decrease the number of running tasks to obtain optimal performance.