Siebel Field Service Guide > Setting Up and Using Scheduling >

Reloading the ABS and Optimizer Caches

This task is a step in Process of Setting Up Scheduling.

Dispatchers and field service engineers may change the following specifications for service activities:

• Planned Start date for an activity
• Planned End date for an activity
• Engineer assigned to an activity (in the Employees field)

NOTE:  Planned End, Planned Completion, and End are all the same. All these terms appear in the user interface.

All changes require updating an in-memory cache of the activities. If a user changes an activity in the database, it becomes out of sync with the cache in memory. You can reload activity data manually into memory by clicking the Load button in the Administration - Scheduling screen > Service Region List > Activities view. See Loading Activities for Service Regions for more information.

Users can also freeze an activity's scheduled time or assignment. See Locking Schedules and Assignments (End User) for more information.

CAUTION:  Keep manual changes to a minimum. because the Optimizer works on the principles of constraint propagation and domain reduction, which are critical to solving complex schedules quickly. This means that no activity that violates a hard constraint can be loaded into the memory cache. (This includes implicit constraints—for example, using the employees' work schedules or excluding double-booking.)

Therefore, the Optimizer might reject a manual change when it loads the activity. Even if the activity is loaded successfully, the Optimizer may later change the schedule for this activity.

Reloading the ABS cache daily accomplishes the following:

• Old activities are released from the cache.
• Manual activity changes are loaded to the cache.
• Days in the future become available for booking (with any currently existing appointments loaded into them).

To load employee and activity data for the service regions and reload the ABS and Optimizer caches, perform the following tasks:

• Loading Employee Data for Service Regions
• Loading Activities for Service Regions
• Reloading Service Regions to the Appointment Booking System Cache Manually
• Overriding a Row Limit
• Coalescing the Appointment Booking System
• Reloading Service Regions to the Optimizer Cache Manually
• Reloading the Appointment Booking System Cache Using Workflows

Guidelines for Reloading Service Region Data

It is recommended that you follow these guidelines when reloading service region data:

• Reload the caches daily, preferably after hours.

  The ABS - Days to End parameter controls the length of time in the ABS horizon. If this parameter is set to 14 and you do not reload the caches for three days, then you can only book appointments for 11 of the 14 days.

• Reload the ABS before the Optimizer, so that there are no conflicts in scheduling between the ABS and the Optimizer.
• Carry out both reloads in the same day.

See About Loading and Reloading Service Region Data for more background information.