7
Configuring Oracle9iAS Personalization

After you have installed OP and verified that the installation is correct, you can specify certain configuration parameters for OP.

This chapter lists the external OP configuration parameters and their default values, and indicates the parameters that you can change and how to change them. This chapter also describes data synchronization and how to configure it.

You should read this chapter in conjunction with Appendix A, which describes how to determine appropriate parameter values for your installation.

All OP configuration parameters reside on the system where Oracle9i is installed.

Changing OP Configuration Parameters

These parameters are divided into three categories:

Values that are changed using SQL Plus, indicated by Y in the Change column in the summary tables.
Values that you should not change, indicated by N in the Change column in the summary tables.
Values that are changed using the OP Administration UI, indicated by UI in the Change column in the summary tables.

RE Configuration Parameters

Table 7-1 lists the RE configuration parameters, their data types, their default values, and a description for each. These parameters can be found in the RE_CONFIGURATION table.

Table 7-1 Recommendation Engine Configuration Parameters

Parameter Name	Data Type	Default Value	Description	Change
LOG_LEVEL	int	2	0=OFF, 1=INTERNAL ERROR plus Error and Warning, 2=All errors logged for 1 plus notifications, 3=All errors logged for 2 plus trace	Y
RE_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
REAPIRT_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
REAPIDEMO_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
UTIL_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
REAPIBATCH_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
TimeoutInterval	int	1800	Session timeout interval (in seconds)	UI
TimeoutFlag	int	1	Session timeout indicator (1=TRUE, 0=FALSE)	UI
DataSyncInterval	int	1800	Interval on which to synchronize customer data (in seconds)	UI
SyncCustomerNavigationalData	int	0	Is customer navigational data synchronized (boolean)	N
SyncCustomerRatingData	int	0	Is customer rating data synchronized (boolean)	N
SyncVisitorNavigationalData	int	0	Is visitor navigational data synchronized (boolean)	N
SyncVisitorRatingData	int	0	Is visitor rating data synchronized (boolean)	N
SyncPurchasingData	int	0	Is customer purchasing data synchronized (boolean)	N
SyncDemographicData	int	0	Is customer demographic data synchronized (boolean)	N
ConnectionPoolSize	int	128	Java connection pool limit per proxy.	Y^{^{Foot 1}}

¹ Requires restart of OP.

MOR Configuration Parameters

Table 7-2 describes the configuration parameters for the OP Mining Object Repository (MOR). The table shows their data types, their default values, and a description for each. These parameters can be found in the MOR_CONFIGURATION table.

The table includes a column titled Change. If the value in this column is "N," do not change the parameter. If the value in this column is "Y," the value of the parameter must be changed to a value suitable for your environment. The description of these parameters includes the instruction "change value on install."

Table 7-2 MOR Configuration Parameters

Parameter	Data Type	Value	Description	Change
MOR_USERNAME	string	<user name>	User name for Admin UI; change value on install	N
MOR_PASSWORD	string	<password>	Password for Admin UI; change value on install	N
MOR_DBALIAS	string	<alias>	Alias for the MOR database; change value on install	N
MOR_SCHEMA	string	< schema>	MOR schema name	N
WF_SCHEMA	string	<workflow schema>	Workflow schema name	N
MOR_HOST_URL	string	<hostname>	MOR hostname; change value on install	N
MOR_PORT	string	<port>	MOR port; change value on install	N
MOR_SID	string	isab900	MOR system ID; change value on install	N
MOR_VERSION	string	9.0.1	MOR version number	N
scheduleItemGracePeriod	int	60	Number of minutes a scheduled item must have been past due for it to cause an error	Y
browserToBuyerConversion^{Foot 1}	int	20	Maximum number of reports of this type to keep in log	UI
recommendationEffectiveness	int	20	Maximum number of reports of this type to keep in log	UI
mostActiveCrossSellProducts	int	20	Maximum number of reports of this type to keep in log	UI
buildEvents	int	20	Maximum number of events of this type to keep in log	UI
deployEvents	int	20	Maximum number of events of this type to keep in log	UI
reportEvents	int	20	Maximum number of events of this type to keep in log	UI
LOG_LEVEL	int	2		Y
ALGS_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
DMAPI_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
PAR_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
TNB_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
UI_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
UTIL_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
WFJAVA_TRACE	int	0	0=OFF, 1=LOW (detail), 2=MODERATE, 3=HIGH	Y
MAIL_PREFERENCE^{Foot 2}	string	MAILHTML	Alternative value: MAILTEXT	Y
NLS_LANGUAGE^{Foot 3}	string		Supported values: AMERICAN, FRENCH, GERMAN, ITALIAN, SPANISH, BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE, JAPANESE, KOREAN, SIMPLIFIED CHINESE	Y
NLS_TERRITORY^{Foot 4}	string		Supported values: AMERICA, FRANCE, GERMANY, ITALY, SPAIN, BRAZIL, JAPAN, KOREA, CHINA	Y

¹ The term "browserToBuyer" was changed to "visitorToCustomer"; the two terms mean the same thing. The original term persists in some of the code.
² The email notifications sent by OP support either plain text or HTML format. The default setting in the MOR configuration table is HTML. If the incoming mail server that you are using supports only plain text, set this parameter to MAILTEXT.
³ The default value for NLS_LANGUAGE after OP installation is that this is empty (blank). However, if it is edited, OP verifies that the value is supported and uses it instead of the database default language for the server code (it does not affect PL/SQL messages however). If it is not specified, the database default language is used. If neither these values nor the database default indicates one of the supported languages, OP workflow defaults to AMERICAN.
⁴ The default value for NLS_TERRITORY after OP installation is that this is empty (blank). However, if it is edited, OP verifies that the value is supported and uses it instead of the database default language for the server code (it does not affect PL/SQL messages however). If it is not specified, the database default language is used. If neither these values nor the database default indicates one of the supported languages, OP workflow defaults to AMERICA.

MTR Configuration Parameters

Table 7-3 describes the configuration parameters for the OP Mining Table Repository (MTR). The table shows their data types, their default values, and a description for each. These parameters can be found in the MTR_CONFIGURATION table in MTR schema.

These parameters allow selecting different types of data to be synchronized to the MTR. At the end of an OP session, MTR synchronization adds data collected in the RE (during the session) to the data already stored in the MTR. In order for data synchronization to take place, the MTR must be configured to allow the various types of data to be synchronized.

Table 7-3 MTR Configuration Parameters^{Foot 1}

Parameter	Data Type	Value	Description	Change
MTR_ALLOW_SYNC_DEMOGRAPHIC	boolean	T	Allow demographic data to be synchronized to MTR	Y
MTR_ALLOW_SYNC_NAVIGATION	boolean	T	Allow navigational data to be synchronized to MTR	Y
MTR_ALLOW_SYNC_PURCHASING	boolean	T	Allow purchasing data to be synchronized to MTR	Y
MTR_ALLOW_SYNC_RATING	boolean	T	Allow rating data to be synchronized to MTR	Y
ALLOW_MTR_SYNC_VISITOR_NAVIGATION	boolean	T	Allow visitor navigation data to be synchronized to MTR	Y
MTR_ALLOW_SYNC_VISITOR_RATING	boolean	T	Allow visitor rating data to be synchronized to MTR	Y

¹ Change these values only when the MTR is not being used.

Data Synchronization

Data synchronization moves user-specific data that is collected in the RE during a session to permanent storage, that is, to the appropriate table in the mining table repository (MTR). Session and recommendation data are always synchronized; other kinds of data are synchronized according to how the RE Farm and MTR are configured. See "Data to Synchronize", later in this chapter, for configuration instructions. Customer data and visitor data are copied to the appropriate MTR tables. (There is one set of MTR tables for customer data and a different set for visitor data.)

Data is synchronized every DataSyncInterval. DataSyncInterval is a configuration parameter that is specified for an RE Farm. Data synchronization is performed only for users whose sessions are inactive. A session is inactive if there has been no activity for a specified period of time or if the session has been explicitly closed. Note that a user can have more than one session at any time. A customer ID is deleted from RE_PROFILE_DATA only when all of the customer's sessions are inactive.

After the data is copied to the MTR, the data is purged (deleted) from the RE tables. Data that cannot be synchronized for some reason (for example, data that has an invalid item ID) is also purged.

Data is collected in the RE_CURRENT_SESSION_DATA table and the RE_RECOMMENDATION_DETAIL table. The data source type of the data determines the MTR table to which data is copied.

Table 7-4 shows the four data source types and the MTR table for each.

Table 7-4 Data Synchronization for RE_CURRENT_SESSION_DATA

DATA_SOURCE_TYPE	MTR Table
1 (demographic) for customers only	MTR_CUSTOMER
2 (purchasing) for customers only	MTR_PURCHASING_DETAIL
3 (rating) for visitors and customers	MTR_RATING_DETAIL
4 (navigational) for visitors and customers	MTR_NAVIGATIONAL_DATA

RE_RECOMMENDATION_DETAIL data is copied to the MTR_RECOMMENDATION_DETAIL table and appropriate RE_ACTIVE_USER data is copied to MTR_SESSION table. RE_PROFILE_DATA is updated in the MTR_CUSTOMER table.

Configuring Data Synchronization

You specify data synchronization in two places: you specify the synchronization interval for a Farm and exactly what data to synchronized for a specific MTR connection.

Synchronization Interval

In the Farms tab of the Administrative UI, select a farm, select Edit, and then click the Advanced Settings button. Specify an appropriate data synchronization interval for the selected farm. (You can also specify the timeout interval here.)

The default synchronization interval is 300 seconds (5 minutes). The synchronization interval should be adjusted based on the number of users of the application. If there are many users and the synchronization interval is long, the REs will fill with data.

Data to Synchronize

In order for data synchronization to take place, the MTR must allow that type of data to be synchronized. These rules are specified when you install OP.

You configure the MTR connection using the OP Administrative UI. At the top of the Farms tab, click Options, click MTR database connections, click Edit, and finally click the Sync settings button. The synchronization settings for this MTR are displayed. To change a setting click the appropriate checkbox.

The types of data that are allowed to be synchronized are indicated by a checkmark in the corresponding checkbox. If a selection is greyed out, the configuration of the MTR does not allow synchronization of that type of data.

By default, no data is synchronized. You can choose to allow synchronization of any type of data for which the MTR allows synchronization. Any changes apply only to the current MTR connection.

7Configuring Oracle9iAS Personalization