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Administrator Guide

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Managing the Rank Engine Database

This chapter provides information on using the Pathways Administration Utility. It includes the following sections:

 

Performing Incremental Updates of the Rank Engine Database

Use the Incremental Update area to perform a partial update of the Rank Engine database, either on demand or on a schedule. When you run an incremental update, the Rank Engine's database is only updated with the data that has changed since the last Data Gathering phase occurred.

This section discusses:

Performing On-Demand Incremental Updates

To perform an on-demand incremental update:

  1. Click Administration.
  2. From the Select Utility drop-down list, click Pathways Administration.
  3. Click the Rank Factors tab, Schedule And Status page.
  4. In the Incremental Update area, click Run Once Now.
  5. Click one of the following:
    • Start over: Start an incremental update beginning at the Data Gathering phase.
    • Start where we left off: Start an incremental update at the point where the previous incremental update stopped.

      • This option is useful when the BEA AL Pathways Rank Engine Service is stopped in the middle of an incremental update (when this occurs, the incremental update is immediately cancelled). After the BEA AL Pathways Rank Engine Service is restarted, choose this option and click Go. The incremental update restarts at the point at which it was cancelled.

    • Start Over and skip the data gathering phase: Start an incremental update at the beginning of the reshaping phase. This option is only available if the Rank Engine successfully completed the data gathering phase the previous time it ran this phase.

      • This option can save you time when tuning rank factors. For details, see Recommended Process for Tuning Rank Factors

  6. Click Go.

Scheduling Incremental Updates

You can configure Pathways to perform an incremental update of the Rank Engine database on a regular schedule. To do this, you specify the next time you want to run an incremental update and how frequently you want to run incremental updates, after the first update is run.

To schedule an incremental update:

  1. Click Administration.
  2. From the Select Utility drop-down list, click Pathways Administration.
  3. Click the Rank Factors tab, Schedule And Status page.
  4. In the Incremental Update area, click Run On a Schedule.
  5. Click the Calendar icon, then choose the date and time when you want to run the next incremental update.
  6. In the Run every X Day(s) box, type the interval (in days) at which you want to run incremental updates, after the first update is run.

    7. For example: the current date is November 9, 2007. You specify to start the next incremental update on November 12, 2007 at 2:00 am, and you schedule to run incremental updates every 7 days after the first update is run. The Rank Engine will run incremental updates on the following schedule:

    -- November 12, 2007 at 2:00 am

    -- November 19, 2007 at 2:00 am

    -- November 26, 2007 at 2:00 am, and so on.

  7. Click Go.

 

Performing Full Updates of the Rank Engine Database

This section describes how to perform a full update of the Rank Engine database.

Note: During a full rebuild, all of the data from the Rank Engine's database is deleted and rebuilt. This process might be very time-consuming. For this reason, you should only perform this procedure when absolutely necessary.

To perform an on-demand full update of the Rank Engine database:

  1. Click Administration.
  2. From the Select Utility drop-down list, click Pathways Administration.
  3. Click the Rank Factors tab, Schedule And Status page.
  4. In the Full Rebuild area, click Go.

 

Viewing the Status of a Rank Engine Database Update

To view the status of a Rank Engine database update:

  1. Click Administration.
  2. From the Select Utility drop-down list, click Pathways Administration.
  3. Click the Rank Factors tab, Schedule And Status page.
  4. Look at the Status area.

    5. The Status area displays the progress of each stage of an incremental update or full rebuild of the Rank Engine database. This progress information includes the date and time that each stage completed or failed.

 

Stopping Rank Engine Database Updates

Pathways Administration lets you stop a full rebuild of the Rank Engine database when it is occurring, and stop the schedule for running incremental updates of the Rank Engine. To do either:

  1. Click Administration.
  2. From the Select Utility drop-down list, click Pathways Administration.
  3. Click the Rank Factors tab, Schedule And Status page.
  4. In the Status area, click Stop.

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