Other Administration

Demantra provides a Web-based interface to perform other, less common administrative tasks, described here.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Other Web-based Administration Tools
• Logging Messages of the Application Server
• Managing Level Caching
• Viewing and Modifying Cache Properties

Other Web-based Administration Tools

Browse to the following case-sensitive URL:

http://server name/virtual directory/admin

For example:

http://frodo/demantra/admin

The following page appears:

Ignore options 1, 2, and 3, which are currently non functional.

Logging Messages of the Application Server

By default, the Application Server writes logs into the directory Demantra_root/Collaborator/virtual_directory/portal/logs. These logs record activity of the server and clients.

To change the behavior of this logging, edit the file Demantra_root/Collaborator/virtual_directory/portal/conf/logconf.lcf. In this file, you can specify items such as the following:

• Name and location of the log file

• Maximum size of the log file

• Number of log files to keep

For details, see the comments in Demantra_root/Collaborator/virtual_directory/portal/conf/logconf.lcf.

Important: If the default language uses a non-ASCII character set (such as Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian) then the text editor for viewing server log files must support the UTF-8 character set. Otherwise the text may not display correctly.

Managing Level Caching

Because caching is a trade-off between memory and speed, a new caching mechanism allows you to specify the needed caching policy on a level-by-level basis, depending on the size and usage patterns of your levels.

Specifying Level Caching Policies

To specify how to cache a given level, edit the group_tables_cache table, as follows:

Field	Purpose
GROUP_TABLE_ID	Specifies the ID of the level, as given in the group_tables table.
CACHE_CAPACITY	If CACHE_TYPE is LRU, CACHE_CAPACITY specifies the maximum number of members of this level that will be cached at any time. This field is ignored when CACHE_TYPE is set to SIMPLE.
CACHE_IS_LAZY	Setting to control member auto load at server startup time or on demand. Default value is "0" "0" = at startup, cache is loaded on startup "1" = on demand, cache is not loaded on startup CACHE_TYPE and CACHE_CAPACITY work with CACHE_IS_LAZY to specify whether the cache for this level is completely loaded upon server startup: CACHE_TYPE = SIMPLE will hold all members CACHE_TYPE = LRU will load up to CACHE_CAPACITY members
CACHE_TYPE	Specifies the caching policy for this level. Use one of the following values: SIMPLE - The cache is unlimited for this level. Simple will hold all members in memory as long as the server is running. LRU - LRU will hold members in memory up to the limit set in CACHE_CAPACITY. Whenever the server loads a member beyond this limit of CACHE_CAPACITY, the least recently used member is flushed from memory.) The default value is SIMPLE.
CHE_LOAD_EXTRA_FROM	Used to filter startup initialization. See CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_WHERE.
CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_WHERE	Used to filter startup initialization. This field and CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_FROM allow you to define SQL criteria for loading the cache. For example, if the implementation works mostly on current year promotions, then you can add the From part “promotion_dates” and to the Where part “promotion_dates.from_date > ‘1/1/2006'”. In this way, the cache will be initially loaded with promotions from 2006. This does not mean that the cache will be in any way limited to 2006 after its initial load.
ENABLE_STATISTICS	* Specifies whether the server should collect statistics on use of this cache. "0" = false; "1" = true
ENABLE_DEBUG	* Specifies whether the server should record information for possible use in debugging issues related to this cache. "0" = false; "1" = true
* Can be changed later through a Web-based interface.

By default, Demantra uses the following caching policy for each level:

• CACHE_TYPE is SIMPLE (meaning that CACHE_CAPACITY is ignored)

• CACHE_IS_LAZY is "0" = false

• ENABLE_STATISTICS is "0" = false

• ENABLE_DEBUG is "0" = false

Recommended Settings

Any level with more than 10,000 members should be cached. When levels contain 10,000 or more members, system memory may be consumed rapidly and performance significantly affected, especially when retrieving worksheets and data. Therefore, it is recommended that implementations with 10,000 or more members do the following:

• Set CACHE_IS_LAZY to '0'.

• Set CACHE_TYPE to 'LRU'.

• Set CACHE_CAPACITY to the desired number of members to cache per level (i.e. the count of rows returned by CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_WHERE + delta, where delta is the number of expected future members that will be loaded).

• If it is not possible to predefine the range of level members using CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_WHERE, then set CACHE_CAPACITY to a value less than 10,000.

• Define CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_WHERE and CACHE_LOAD_EXTRA_FROM. This will enable level members to be cached in memory when the application server starts up, rather than retrieving them from the database.

Viewing and Modifying Cache Properties

1. Browse to the following case-sensitive URL:

   http://server name/virtual directory/admin

   For example:

   http://frodo/demantra/admin

2. Click Cache Manager.

   A page like the following appears.

   

   This page lists each level in your system, along with the CACHE_TYPE setting for that level.

3. Click a level.

   A page like the following appears.

   

   This screen shows the following details:

   Level ID	Internal Demantra identifier for the level.
   Lazy	Indicates whether the cache for this level is completely loaded upon server startup. If true, the cache is not loaded on startup.
   Size	Indicates the maximum number of members in the cache.
   Statistics	Specifies whether the server should collect statistics on use of this cache. Click the true/false link to change this setting.
   Debug	Specifies whether the server should record information for possible use in debugging issues related to this cache. Click the true/false link to change this setting.
   Capacity	Specifies the maximum number of members of this level that the cache can include. You can enter a new value and click Update to save the new value. This option is shown only if the CACHE_TYPE is LRU.
   Memory Size	Click the Calculate button to see how much memory this cache is currently using.