The Event Generation setting determines whether an empty slot can issue a request for content items.

If you select Never (the default), the slot displays any items that contributing scenarios have currently defined for it. The slot itself does not issue a request for content items. This type of slot is sometimes referred to as a passive slot. The model for passive slots can be summed up as follows:

If you select When Empty, the slot component can act as a scenario event, which allows it to issue its own requests for items. This type of slot is sometimes referred to as an active slot. When a site visitor views a page containing an active slot, the slot component triggers a scenario that tells the system which content items to display. The model for active slots looks like this:

This behavior means that an empty slot can fill itself with content on demand, which can have advantages for larger sites. For example, suppose you have 50 pages on which you want to display the same slot. With the passive model, you would have to specify a page visit to each page as a triggering event in the contributing scenario, or run the scenario for all pages in the site. With the active model, you do not have to specify pages within the scenario because the slot requests its own items when any of those 50 pages is displayed.

For information on creating an active slot, see Creating a Scenario for an Active Slot in the ATG Personalization Guide for Business Users.

The Event Generation option corresponds to generation (property of type int) in the slot component .properties file. For Never, specify 1. For When Empty, specify 0.


Copyright © 1997, 2012 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. Legal Notices