Fine Tuning and Scaling Demantra

Typically you adjust parameters to control your solution's global behavior, including various defaults and performance settings. This chapter provides an overview of most of the parameters, grouped into specific areas.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Basic Parameters
• Application Server
• Collaborator Workbench
• Database
• Date/Time Formats
• Email
• Integration
• Item Aggregation
• Logs and Old Data
• Proport Mechanism
• EngineOutputThreshold
• Simulation
• Solution Branding
• Threading
• Workflow
• Worksheets
• Languages
• Configuring User Productivity Kit (UPK)

Basic Parameters

For reference, Demantra stores basic configuration information in the following parameters. Unless otherwise noted, you should not change these parameters after going live:

Parameter	Description
active_forecasts_versions	Specifies how many forecast versions the Demantra database should store. You can change this parameter after going live.
FIRSTDAYINWEEK	First day of week to use when binning sales data into base time buckets, in a weekly system. It is not generally safe to change this parameter after going live.

Application Server

The APS queue uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
QueryMechanisimTimeOut	The timeout period for the query notification listener, in milliseconds.
StartUpdateQueue	Specifies whether to start the manual update listener.
UpdateQueueTimeout	The timeout period for the manual update listener, in milliseconds.

Collaborator Workbench

The following parameters control Collaborator Workbench. Also see "Solution Branding" for parameters that control Collaborator Workbench titles.

• "General"

• "My Tasks"

• "Who's Online"

• "Content Panes"

General

The following parameters control Collaborator Workbench in general:

Parameter	Description
collaborator.supportURL	URL of the Support link, relative to http://server name/virtual directory/portal/. This link is in the upper right corner of Collaborator Workbench.
collaborator.searchURL	URL of the Search link, relative to http://server name/virtual directory/portal/. This link is in the upper right corner of Collaborator Workbench.
dir.onlineHelp	URL of the online help, relative to http://server name/virtual directory/portal/. This link is in the upper right corner of Collaborator Workbench.
navBarContentProvider.addNewContentLink.Text	Text of the New link, which is shown at the top of the Contents menu.
Server.SessionExpiration	This is the time interval (in seconds) between which the current page automatically refreshes itself. If an idle Collaborator Workbench session has expired, the current page will not reflect this until the next refresh event, at which time it will automatically redirect itself to the expiration page.expires.

Also see "Customizing Demantra Web Pages".

My Tasks

The following parameter affects the My Tasks pane of Collaborator Workbench:

Parameter	Description
general.userList.tasks	Specifies whether the My Tasks module displays the Create Task button:

Who's Online

The following parameters control the Who's Online pane of Collaborator Workbench:

Parameter	Description
general.userList.whoisonline	Specifies whether the Who's Online module is displayed.
UserListContentProvider.commontitle	The title of the Who's Online pane.
UserTitleContentProvider.TimeToSleep	The time to wait polling user status for the Who's Online pane.

Content Panes

The following parameters control the default behavior of graph-type content panes:

Parameter	Description
Graph.MaxLabelWidth	Maximum width of labels in graph-type content panes in Collaborator Workbench. If a label is too longer, the last characters are represented by three periods (...).
Legend.MaxLegendItemWidth	Maximum width (in characters) of the legend in a graph-type content pane in Collaborator Workbench. If any lines of the legend are too longer, the last characters of those lines are represented by three periods (...), as follows:
Query.MaxCombinations	Maximum number of combinations that can be displayed in a graph-type content pane in Collaborator Workbench, when you display a single series plotted for multiple combinations. The user receives an error if a content pane contains more than this number of combinations.
Query.MaxSeries	Maximum number of series that can be displayed in a graph-type content pane in Collaborator Workbench. The user receives an error if a content pane contains more than this number of series.
Query.TopBottom.MaxCombinations	Maximum number of combinations that can be displayed in a content pane that contains a stacked bar chart or pie chart. The user receives an error if a content pane contains more than this number of combinations.

See also

"Email"

"Workflow"

"Worksheets"

Database

The following parameters control how Demantra connects to and uses the Demantra database.

• "General Database Settings"

• "Database Connections"

• "Oracle Tablespaces"

• "Technical Settings"

For additional parameters that specify which database Demantra connects to, see the Oracle Demantra Installation Guide.

General Database Settings

Parameter	Description
DBDateFormat	Controls the date format used in the database.
LockTimeout	Specifies the period (in seconds) between killing a database session and releasing the lock for that session.
Rebuild_Sales_Table	Specifies whether the REBUILD_TABLES procedure should rebuild the sales_data table. Applies only to Oracle.

Database Connections

The following parameters control Oracle Demantra's database connections:

Parameter	Description
AdditionalConnectionsExpression	New for 7.0) Ignore this parameter for now.
DBConnectionTimeout	The database connection timeout period.
DBIdleTimeOut	The connection idle timeout period. Recommended: 300000 (5 minutes)
MaxDBConnections	The maximum number of database connections for the Demantra database user. Recommended: the number of concurrent users multiplied by 2.
MinDBConnections	The minimum number of database connections for the Demantra database user.

Oracle Tablespaces

For Oracle databases, Demantra writes to multiple tablespaces, as specified during installation. The tablespace assignments are controlled by parameters, which you can edit through the Business Modeler. Make sure that these parameters refer to tablespaces within the appropriate database user, and make sure each has enough storage. Additional parameters control the default initial sizes and how much storage is added.

Parameter	Description
initial_param	Default initial size of system tablespaces.
next_param	Incremental amount of storage that is added to a tablespace when more space is needed.
tablespace*	Tablespace used for the sales table.
indexspace*	Database index space that stores the forecast table indexes, as specified during installation.
simulationspace*	Tablespace used for simulation data.
simulationindexspace*	Tablespace used for simulation index data.
sales_data_engine_index_space*	Tablespace used for the index of sales_data_engine.
sales_data_engine_space*	Tablespace used for sales_data_engine table.

* You set these parameters during installation.

Oracle recommends that you use the standard names for these tablespaces, as documented in the Oracle Demantra Installation Guide. Then it is easier for you to share your database with Oracle Support Services in case of problems.

Technical Settings

The following parameters should be adjusted only by someone experienced with databases:

Parameter	Description
max_records_for_commit	The number of records that Demantra will insert into the database before performing a COMMIT operation. If you increase this number, the insertion will run more quickly, but you risk losing all uncommitted records in case of a crash.
oracle_optimization_mode*	Oracle only. Optimization mode of the database, either cost-based (most common) or rule-based.
pct_increase_for_analyze	Percentage of data increase for a given table, beyond which Demantra automatically increases the table size.
set_rb*	(Oracle 8i only) Set Rollback Segment command. This is database dependent. See your database documentation.
*For these parameters, see "Engine Parameters".

See also

"Integration"

Date/Time Formats

The following parameters control the formats of date and date/time values throughout Demantra:

Parameter	Description
applicationDateFormat	The system date format.
applicationDateTimeFormat	The system date/time format, used where both a date and time are displayed.
DBDateFormat	Controls the date format used in the database.
format.dates.longFormat	Long date format.
format.dates.shortFormat	Short date format, used in the title bar of Collaborator Workbench.
InsertDateTimeFormat	The date-time format that Demantra uses when writing to the database. When you enter dates in a worksheet or import dates, Demantra converts them to this format before writing them to the database.

Email

If you are using any of the Demantra Web-based software, Demantra can automatically send email on specific occasions, for example, within workflows. To enable this, first set up an administrator email account on an SMTP server; this account will be the originator of all Demantra's automatic messages. You will probably need the help of the IT department to get this account configured correctly, depending on the network security.

Then use the parameters in this section to specify that email account for use by Demantra.

• "Configuring Demantra Email"

• "Strings Used in Demantra Email"

Configuring Demantra Email

First, the following parameters specify the email account from which Demantra Web-based software will send email.

Parameter	Description
mail*	Controls whether email is enabled. Can be set with the Business Modeler at: Parameters > System Parameters > Application Server (tab) > Dp Web (tab).
mail.server*	SMTP server that is hosting the email application to be used by Demantra. Can be set with the Business Modeler at: Parameters > System Parameters > Application Server (tab) > Collaborator (tab).
mailAddress*	Mail address of the designated Demantra administrator. Can be set with the Business Modeler at: Parameters > System Parameters > Application Server (tab) > Dp Web (tab).
mail.strings.from.system	Specifies the title of the sender of Demantra email messages, for example "Demantra Solution Manager". Can be set with the Business Modeler at: Parameters > System Parameters > Application Server (tab) > Workflow (tab).
AuditMailAddress	Mail address of the BCC recipient of Demantra email messages. Can be set with the Business Modeler at: Parameters > System Parameters > Application Server (tab) > Workflow (tab).
*These can be set via the Demantra installer or later. See the Oracle Demantra Installation Guide.

Strings Used in Demantra Email

In addition, the following parameters control the strings used in the email messages that Demantra sends.

Parameter	Description
company.name	Name of your company; the Workflow Engine uses this string in email when a workflow step fails.
mail.strings.internalerror.message	Text of email message sent in case of error.
mail.strings.internalerror.subject	Subject of email message sent in case of error.
mail.strings.from.system	Message sent in a fail-to-execute task description.
mail.strings.processfailuresubject	Message sent when a process is terminated.
mail.strings.processterminated	String included in recovery email message.
mail.strings.recovery	Message sent in a fail-to-execute task subject.
mail.strings.taskfailuresubject	Message sent when a task is timed out.
mail.strings.taskstimedoutsubject	Message sent when a task is timed out in a group step.
mail.strings.timeout.group	Message sent when a task is timed out in a user step.
mail.strings.timeout.user	Text of email message sent in case of error.

Integration

The following parameters control import and integration in Demantra. These parameters apply only to the core Demantra tools

Parameter	Description
accumulatedOrUpdate	For integration, this parameter specifies whether the system adds to the existing data (accumulate) or overwrites the existing data (update).
align_sales_data_levels_in_loading	Specifies whether to maintain matrix information (combination information that is time-independent) within the sales_data table. If requested, this adjustment is made when data is added via loading, integration, or other mechanisms. If you set this parameter to yes, it is also necessary to rewrite some database procedures. For additional configuration steps, see Part , "Reconfiguring the sales_data_engine Table".
ImportBlockSize	The number of rows for each commit, used during import.
InsertDateTimeFormat	The date/time format that Demantra uses when writing to the database. When you enter dates in the worksheet wizard, Demantra converts them to this format.
Insertmissingvalues	Specifies whether to insert zero values for dates that have null values.
LoadDataStop	Specifies whether Demantra should stop loading data when it finds an error in the data.
RunProportInMdp_add	Specifies whether to call the proport mechanism from the MDP_ADD procedure.
UpdateAudit	Specifies whether the MANUALS_INS_INTEGRATION procedure updates the audit tables.
update_units_by_items	Specifies how to update units for the INSERT_UNITS procedure. By items (faster but less accurate) By combinations (slower but accurate)

Item Aggregation

For improved performance, you can configure Demantra to aggregate data by items and use that aggregated data whenever possible. In this case, Demantra maintains the branch_data_items table in addition to the usual tables. Demantra uses this table whenever possible; it does not use the table whenever you need to view specific locations or filter by location. To configure Demantra in this manner, set the UseItemsAggri parameter.

Note: Also be sure the DYNAMIC_SYNC is scheduled to run periodically to keep the branch_data_items table up to date.

Logs and Old Data

The following parameters control how long Demantra keeps various kinds of historical data:

Parameter	Description
audit_history_length	Number of months of audit data to keep.
log.history	The number of days for which workflow history is kept.

Also see "Logging Messages of the Application Server".

Proport Mechanism

Parameters That Control Behavior

Parameter	Purpose
hist_glob_prop	Specifies the maximum number of base time buckets to use in calculating glob_prop, the running average demand for any given item-location combination.
def_delta	Specifies the default value for the delta field in the mdp_matrix table. If delta equals null for a given combination, the system uses the value of this parameter instead. In turn, the delta field specifies the month-to-month smoothing of the weekly proportions.
proport_missing	Specifies what value to use for dates with null sales (zero or average).
proport_threshold	Specifies the number of distinct months needed to compute P1, ... P12 in the usual way.
proport_spread	Specifies what value to use for any month that has null data.
last_date	Last date of actual sales, to be used by the Analytical Engine and the proport mechanism. No dates after this are used towards the forecast or the proport calculation.
quantity_form	Expression that the Analytical Engine uses to select the historical demand from the sales_data table; the result of this expression is the data that the engine uses as input. The default expression transforms negative values to zero and should be modified if business needs require negative demand.
mature_age	Controls the mature_date, which is calculated backwards from the current date using the mature_age parameter. A combination is young (rather than active) if it does not have any non-zero sales data for dates on or before the mature_date.
dying_time	If no sales occurred during the length of time specified by dying_time, the combination will be marked as dead (0 forecast will be issued).
*For these parameters, see "Engine Parameters".

Parameters That Affect Performance

Parameter	Purpose
add_zero_combos_to_mdp*	If true, add combinations to mdp_matrix even if their historical data consists of zeros. This parameter is used by the proport mechanism.
Run_full_matrix_proport	Specifies whether to run the proport mechanism on all the item-location combinations. If no (0), run proport only on the combinations that have prop_changes=1. If yes (1), run proport on all combinations in mdp_matrix. If 2, run proport on all combinations that have new_member=1.
* For these parameters, see "Engine Parameters".

Proport Parallelization

Proport handles large amount of data processing and can require a substantial amount of time and system resources. It is possible to improve run time performance using parallelization and by grouping the Proport process into several iterations.

To do this, define the following parameters in the init_params table for each engine profile:

Parameter	Description
ProportParallelJobs	The number of parallel jobs used when running Proport calculations. This parameter's value should not exceed the number of CPUs on the database server.
ProportTableLabel	The name of the level by which the process is broken down. The total number of members in this level is divided into equally sized groups, and one group is processed each time Proport is run.
ProportRunsInCycle	The number of groups that the Proport process is broken down into.

Example:

ProportTableLabel = 'Item'

ProportRunsInCycle = 10

ProportParallelJobs = 2

When running Proport with these settings in the example above, processing occurs for all combinations associated with 1/10 of the Item level members. Each execution invokes 2 parallel jobs in the DBMS_JOB queue. Proport is called ten times before all combinations have been processed.

Use caution when choosing the level by which Proport will be broken into separate tasks. The process will treat each member as equal and will not be aware that some members contain far more data than others. Selecting an inappropriate level could result in an uneven processing time between different session runs.

Example:

ProportTableLabel = 'Segment'

ProportRunsInCycle = 5

ProportParallelJobs = 4

If there are 10 segments, then each Proport process will execute on 2 (10/5) segments and use 4 parallel processes. If a specific segment contains a much larger number of items than other segments, then processing of this specific segment require more time to run.

EngineOutputThreshold

The forecast for certain combinations may not change significantly between runs, this typically occurs for steady sellers, or extremely slow moving items. Writing out a new forecast in this case would have only marginal benefit to the supply chain. However, it would add cost in:

1. Engine I/O processing

2. The noise of minute variations in the production forecast

The parameter "EngineOutputThreshold" provides control over whether to write the forecast for a combination that has changed very little. Example: If the new value is 3% larger than the old value, and the EngineOutputThreshold is 5%, then the engine will not output the new value, and the old value will remain. In this case the new value would need to be at least 5% larger or smaller than the old value before it replaces the existing forecast value. Note that if either the old value or new value is zero, then the difference will be calculated as 100% (unless they're both zero, in which case the difference would be 0%).

Simulation

When a user starts a large simulation, it is useful to check the size of that simulation and provide a warning if it will take a long time to run. You may also want to prevent too-large simulations from being run at all.

You can configure Demantra to detect large simulations and display a message to the user, to confirm that this is what the user wants to do. You use the following parameters:

Parameter	Purpose
SimWarnSize	Specifies the threshold size of a simulation that is large enough to trigger a warning message to the user. Specify this as a percentage of the total number of combinations.
SimMaxSize	Specifies the threshold size of a simulation that is too large to run. If a user tries to perform a simulation of this size, Demantra displays a message and does not attempt the simulation. Specify this as a percentage of the total number of combinations.
MatrixCombs	Indicates the number of combinations currently in the mdp_matrix table. This information can be useful in helping you to set SimMaxSize and SimWarnSize.

You should run some trial simulations on the solution hardware and set threshold values that are appropriate for the actual users.

Solution Branding

The following parameters control titles throughout the Demantra solution:

Parameter	Description
company.name	Name of your company; the Workflow Engine uses this string in email when a workflow step fails.
general.homepage.title	Title of the Collaborator Workbench home page, as used within the Collaborator Workbench title bar, as follows:
general.title.text	Title of the browser window when it displays Collaborator Workbench. For example:

Threading

Demantra uses threading mechanisms in multiple places. Threading is a general mechanism that uses system resources more effectively to run several tasks in parallel.

• "Threading for the Attribute Update Mechanism"

• "Threading for the Update Mechanism"

• "Threading for Updating Parallel Values"

• "Threading for Promotion Copy/Paste"

• "Threading for Methods"

• "Threading in the Web Worksheets"

• "Threading in the Business Logic Engine"

Threading for the Attribute Update Mechanism

This thread pool uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
threadpool.attributesUpdate.per_comb	Maximum number of threads that a single thread can use.
threadpool.attributesUpdate.size	Maximum number of allowed threads for this thread pool. This should be less than MaxDBConnections.
threadpool.attributesUpdate.time-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Threading for the Update Mechanism

The update mechanism saves data to the database. This thread pool uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
MaxUpdateThreads	Maximum number of allowed threads for the update mechanism. You should set this equal to the number of database server CPUs plus 1.
UpdateThreadtime-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Threading for Updating Parallel Values

This thread pool uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
threadpool.update.size	Maximum number of allowed threads for this thread pool. This should be less than MaxDBConnections.
threadpool.update.time-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Threading for Promotion Copy/Paste

Another thread pool handles copying and pasting promotions. This thread pool uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
threadpool.copy_paste.per_process	Maximum number of allowed threads for the copy/paste mechanism in any given process.
threadpool.copy_paste.size	Maximum number of allowed threads for the copy/paste mechanism. This should be less than MaxDBConnections.
threadpool.copy_paste.time-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a copy/paste thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Threading for Methods

Another thread pool handles level methods. This thread pool uses the following parameters:

Parameter	Description
threadpool.level_method.size	Maximum number of allowed threads for methods. This should be less than MaxDBConnections.
threadpool.level_method.time-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a method thread is left unused before it is ended automatically. Recommended: 300000 (5 minutes).
threadpool.level_method.block	Specifies how the level methods should access this thread pool, either: wait (wait for a free thread) abort (do not wait for a free thread)

Threading in the Web Worksheets

The Web worksheets also use threading

Parameter	Description
threadpool.query_run.size	Maximum number of allowed threads that Demantra can use to run a Web worksheet. If this number is missing or negative, the worksheet run mechanism does not use threads. This should be less than MaxDBConnections. Also be sure to leave room for system processes.
threadpool.query_run.time-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a worksheet thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Threading in the Business Logic Engine

The Business Logic Engine uses threading as follows: The thread pool specifies the number of parallel BLE tasks, each of which loads a different combination of the worksheet, runs the calculation engine on it, and saves the data back to the database. The number of threads in the pool is affected by the system resources, mainly the number of CPUs that the machine has (each thread runs on a different CPU). The following parameters control this threading mechanism:

Parameter	Description
BLEThreadPoolSize	Maximum number of allowed threads for the Business Logic Engine.
BLEtime-out	Idle time-out period. This specifies how long (in milliseconds) a BLE thread is left unused before it is ended automatically.

Workflow

The following parameters control the Workflow module:

Parameter	Description
company.name	Name of your company; the Workflow Engine uses this string in email when a workflow step fails.
execution.shell	Applies to the Executable Step. This parameter specifies any prefix that is needed in order to run executable steps. For example, you may need to specify the following for Unix: ./
log.history	The number of days for which workflow history is kept.
server.generalurl	URL for the workflow server, not including the portal/workflow directory.
workflow.group	Comma-separated list of groups whose users are authorized to log into the Workflow Editor. Use the group names as specified in the Business Modeler. In order to log into the Workflow Editor, these users also must have System Manager permission level. See "Providing Access to the Workflow Editor".

See also

"Solution Branding" "Collaborator Workbench" "Email"

Worksheets

The following parameters affect the Web-based worksheets. They are grouped into several areas:

• "General Worksheet Behavior"

• "Worksheet Performance"

• "Worksheet Designer"

For another way to improve performance, see also "Managing Level Caching".

General Worksheet Behavior

The following parameters control the default behavior of the Web-based worksheets

Parameter	Description
AutoRunMode	Specifies whether a worksheet automatically reruns after any change in its definition. This parameter also specifies whether a worksheet is automatically run when it is opened in any way.
client.enableOpenNoteWithDoubleClick	Specifies whether users can access the notes dialog box by double-clicking within the worksheet table. In any case, it is always possible to access this dialog box by using the right-click menu, as in Microsoft Excel.

Worksheet Performance

The following parameters affect the performance of the Web client:

Parameter	Description
ClientDDCacheCapacity	Specifies the maximum number of distinct dropdown lists per worksheet that any client should cache. These caches are cleared when the worksheet is closed.
EnableWorksheetCaching	Enables or disables the worksheet caching feature.
EnableIncrementalLoading	Enables the Demantra incremental loading feature, for faster worksheet reruns. There is no user impact apart from performance.
client.JREMaxMemory	Maximum amount of memory (in MB) that JRE can use. The Web worksheets (Demand Planner Web, Promotion Effectiveness, and Settlement Management) use JRE.
client.MaxCombsLoadChunkSize	Maximum number of combinations to load each time the user chooses to rerun a worksheet.
UseDateRangeMatrix	Controls whether the system will use new internal data structures to improve the performance of worksheets that include promotions (or other general levels that have population attributes). If you enable this option, the largest benefit occurs in cases where promotions are long (and have many rows of data). The system uses these structures automatically for other purposes.

Worksheet Designer

The following parameters control the defaults in the worksheet/content designer

Parameter	Description
OpenWithContext	Specifies the default setting of the Open With Context setting of the worksheet designer.
client.worksheet.privateAccessType	Specifies the default setting of the public/private option in the worksheet designer.
WorksheetDefaultDateChoiceMethod	Controls the default start date for worksheets, either relative to today or relative to last loaded sales date.
WorksheetDefaultSpan	Specifies the default length of time for a worksheet, in base time units. Must be a positive, even number, 2 or greater.
ManualRefreshAsDefault	Specifies the default setting of the Refresh Type caching option in the worksheet designer.
WorksheetCachingAsDefault	Specifies the default setting of the Cache Worksheet Data check box in the worksheet designer.
PromoDefaultSpan	Specifies the default length of time for promotions created within a worksheet.
PromoDefaultStart	Specifies the default start date for promotions created within a worksheet. Use one of the following values: today (0) last loaded sales date (1) start date of the worksheet (2)
MaxAvailableFilterMembers	Specifies the maximum number of members that can be retrieved in the worksheet filter screen. If the user selects more members than allowed, a message asks the user to add further filtering. This limit helps to prevent users from creating worksheets with too many members (which can adversely affect performance).
SPF_Enable_Worksheet_Calculations	Automatically calculates planning percentages during worksheet updates. Updates to relevant series trigger BOM tree propagation if set to yes. Note: Enabling this parameter may negatively affect worksheet performance. When set to No (disabled), propagation occurs when the user modifies worksheet values. However, the new planning percentages are only displayed after the end user reruns the worksheet.

See also

"Collaborator Workbench"

Parallel Hints for Worksheets

Some worksheets access a large amount of data which can cause them render slowly. A parallel hint can be implemented to improve performance for such worksheets. A hint specifies the number of threads used by the worksheet query and can be applied to two parts of the worksheet: generation of the combinations and retrieval of data to be displayed in the worksheet.

Warning: Use caution when implementing worksheet hints. When a large number of users simultaneously access the database, too many hints can overwhelm the database connection pool and substantially decrease performance.

Setting a hint requires manually adding a row to the WORKSHEET_HINTS table; this task should be performed only by an experienced system or database administrator.

The WORKSHEET¬_HINTS table contains the columns in the table below.

QUERY_ID	USER_ID	CONTEXT_ID	POPULATION_HINT	DATA_HINT
Q	0	0	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with any user and any context in the Population SQL	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with any user and any context in the Population SQL
Q	U	0	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with user U and any context in the Population SQL.For all other users besides U, the generic hint defined above is used, if one exists.	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with user U and any context in the Data SQL.For all other users beyond U, the generic hint defined above is used.
Q	U	C	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with user U and context C in the Population SQL.For all other contexts and for the same user U, the above row is used. For all other users, the generic hint is used, if one exists.	The hint to be used for worksheet Q with user U and context C in the Data SQL.For all other contexts and for the same user U, the hint in the row above is used.For all other users, the generic hint is used.

The POPULATION_HINT and DATA_HINT columns contain the actual hint as an SQL string. For example, to specify that the query should use 8 threads when accessing the branch_data table, this field would be "parallel(branch_data 8)".

The QUERY_ID, USER_ID, and CONTEXT_ID columns specify the circumstances when this hint would be used.

QUERY_ID specifies the internal ID of the worksheet for which the hint should be applied.

USER_ID specifies for which user the hint will apply when opening the worksheet. When this field is set to zero, the hint will apply to all users.

CONTEXT_ID specifies the level member name; it corresponds to the level member that is selected when a worksheet is opened with the "Open With" menu option. If the CONTEXT_ID is zero, then the hint will apply to all contexts. If the worksheet is opened without “Open With,” this setting is ignored.

Languages

Overview

Oracle Demantra is available in multiple languages. At installation, you choose a default language and application objects and platform data appear in that language. For the available languages, see Oracle Demantra Installation Guide.

Important: For non-ascii languages, see the note regarding text editor capability in the section Logging Messages of the Application Server.

These application objects appear in the default language:

• Series

• Series groups

• Series lookup tables

• Levels

• Level members

• Level attributes

• Level methods

• Worksheets

• Workflows

• Workflow messages

These platform data appear in the default language:

• Button labels

• Tool tips

• Object descriptions

• Menu items

• Error messages

• Printed user's guides and web help; non-user's guides are available only in U.S. English

When you are logging in, Oracle Demantra displays the language for your instance. You cannot change it.

Oracle recommends that if you extend the Oracle Demantra model to include additional series, worksheets, and workflows, do so in the default language.

You can edit worksheet data using the offline worksheet mechanism; however, you cannot edit its definition, for example, the displayed series, the applied filters, and the types of graphs.

When you take a worksheet offline, you see its objects, for example, series, levels, and drop-down menus, in the default language; see Oracle Demantra User's Guide.

When you export a worksheet to Microsoft Excel, the data appears in the default language of the user who exported it.

Oracle recommends that you import item master data in the default language. This includes both regular levels, for example, item and location, and general levels, for example, promotions, supply plans, and bills of material. However, there is no requirement that all of your item master data must be in one language.

ASCII-only Fields in the Desktop Application

Most Business Modeler and Demand Planner fields work with non-ASCII characters, for example, characters in languages, Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian. However, some are only available for ASCII characters. Oracle Demantra indicates the fields that are only available for ASCII input by red field titles.

Date Display

Business Modeler series Display Format results in the same number of digits per date element across locales but the order of date elements and the separator complies with the locale.

For example, you operate in a French locale. This table shows how the Business Modeler choice maps to the Web display.

Business Modeler Format	Localized Format
MM/dd/yyyy	dd.MM.yyyy
MM/dd/yy	dd.MM.yy
MM-dd-yyyy	dd.MM.yyyy
dd.MM.yyyy	dd.MM.yyyy
dd.MM.yy	dd.MM.yy
dd/MM/yyyy	dd.MM.yyyy
dd/MM/yy	dd.MM.yy
E, MMM. dd yyyy	E, MMM. dd yyyy
E MM/dd/yyyy	E MM.dd.yyyy
E MM-dd-yyyy	E MM.dd.yyyy
E dd/MM/yyyy	E dd.MM.yyyy
E dd.MM.yyyy	E dd.MM.yyyy
MM-dd-yy	dd.MM.yy

The default language does not typically have an effect on the display of dates, times and numbers.

Oracle Demantra derives the default date display format from the operating system locale. Locale refers to the location where your instance conducts business. For example, you set the locale in operating system Microsoft Windows XP in the Control Panel > Regional and Language Settings.

To refine your date display, use Worksheet Designer, navigate to region Time, click Advanced, and modify the advanced time settings.

Number and Currency Display

Oracle Demantra derives the default number and currency display format from the operating system locale. Locale refers to the location where your instance conducts business. For example, you set the locale in operating system Microsoft Windows XP in the Control Panel > Regional and Language Settings.

The Business Modeler series display format for a number provides a representation of how it is displayed. For example, it provides the standard display formats to reflect the number of decimal places and uses this to determine the need for radix points and thousand separators. Locale controls the delimiters. If a series display property is #,####.##, it displays in:

• North American locales as 1, 234.56

• European locales as either 1.234,56 or 1 234,56

However, determining the currency from the locale may not always be accurate, especially if you report in a currency different from the operating system locale. For example:

• Your default language may be used in multiple areas with different currencies. You have an instance using language Chinese Simplified, but you could report currency in, for example, China Yuan Renminbi (CNY) or Singapore Dollars (SGD).

• If you have a default language that corresponds to one currency, you may want to report it in a different currency. Your language is French (Canada) that corresponds to currency Canadian Dollars (CAD), however, you want to report in United States Dollars (USD)

If your business requires reporting in multiple currencies or a currency different from the locale, Oracle recommends that you:

• Use series titles as a means of clarifying currency, for example, Budget (USD) instead of Budget $.

• Display the currency without a currency indicator or symbol, for example, Budget (USD) = 2,000 instead of Budget = $2,000

Handling Customer-Specific Strings

In order to correctly display customer-specific strings in non-English languages, the operating system client locale, and several database parameters, must be set appropriately. These user-defined strings may include worksheet names, workflow names and messages, and strings for Dynamic Open Link compatibility.

Ensure the following parameters as set as listed below:

• NLS_LENGTH_SEMANTICS = CHAR

• NLS_CHARACTERSET = AL32UTF8

• NLS_LANG = language_territory.characterset

For details about configuring Oracle to support Globalization, see Oracle Database Installation Guide for Microsoft Windows or the Oracle Database Globalization Support Guide.

Configuring User Productivity Kit (UPK)

If you have licensed and installed UPK, perform the following to launch UPK from Oracle Demantra Web help.

1. Install and configure UPK on a Web server. Refer to UPK documentation for details.

2. Launch Business Modeler, and then locate the LaunchUPK parameter.

3. In the Value field, enter a valid URL to launch UPK.

   For example: http://server name/virtual directory name/index.html

4. Save the changes.

5. Log in to Demantra, and then click Help from Collaborator Workbench, Workflow Manager, or from within a worksheet.

6. Click the “UPK” link. The Player should launch successfully.