Working with PeopleSoft Search Framework Utilities

This chapter discusses these Search Framework tasks:

Click to jump to parent topicUsing the Search Test Page

This section contains an overview and discusses:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicUnderstanding the Search Test Page

The search test page enables you to test an index independent of any existing PeopleSoft application PeopleCode or additional APIs. Using the Search Test page, you can isolate various search features and view the behavior, without signing on to the PeopleSoft application or SES. Also, by observing the underlying PeopleCode, the Search Test page can be a useful tool when studying the use and behavior of the query API. If you do not enter any criteria on the Search Test page, and click Search, the system will return all documents indexed in the search engine. Using the criteria on this page, you can test how you anticipate search results to display for your application.

Access the Search Test page by selecting PeopleTools, Search Framework, Utilities, Search Test Page.

Search Text

Enter the free text search request string to test.

Search

Click to initiate the search request against SES.

Start Index

Enables you control which result document displays first. For example, if you set it to 10, the system displays the 10th search result at the top of the search result list.

Docs Requested

Enables you to control the number of search results displayed on the Results tab.

Language

Select the language for which you want to test the search index. Select blank to run against all languages.

Duplicates

Enables you to control how duplicates are displayed:

  • Remove. Duplicates are not displayed.

  • Mark. Duplicates are displayed, but they are marked to indicate the duplicates.

    Important! To emulate the current default PeopleSoft Search Framework behavior, clear both Remove and Mark in the Duplicates group box.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Search Categories

The Search Category to Search in group box enables you to narrow the search only to a specific search category or set of search categories. Add search categories to the grid as needed to increase the scope of the search.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Custom Search Attributes

The Custom Search Attributes group box enables you to identify specific search attributes and display the actual values for a search document in the search results. That is, in addition to the URL and summary in the search results, the results will also display the values for the fields you add to the Custom Search Attributes grid. The search attributes must be indexed fields in the search definition.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Filter Settings

The Filter Settings group box enables you to search specific values of your attributes using the available operators.

If you have multiple attributes in the grid, use Match Any to return results that match any of the filters, and use Match All to display results that meet the criteria for all of the filters.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Facet Requests

The Facet Request group box enables you to test and isolate specific facets. For example, you can find those that contain no search results in certain scenarios, or compare facet counts to attribute counts.

Mimimum Doc Count

Enables you to control the facets that display based on their count. For example, you can display facets that contain zero results, or only those who contain at least 10.

Maximum Facet Children

This applies to all facet requests. This determines the maximum number of facet nodes (facet values) returned by the API.

The default is -1 where in all the children will be displayed.

Facet Name

Select the name of the facet you want to test.

Facet Path

This applies to all facet requests. The results will be filtered by the facet values specified in the path. In the case of hierarchical facets, the path can have the hierarchy information. For example,

United States/CA/Pleasanton

Return Count

Select to display the number of documents the facet contains.

Sort By

You can sort facets alphabetically or by count in ascending or descending order.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Grouping and Sorting Options

The grouping and sorting options are not implemented in current release. These options are reserved for future use.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicTesting Additional Parameters

The additional parameters options are not implemented in current release. These options are reserved for future use.

Click to jump to parent topicDownloading Search Data

If you need to share search definition information with Oracle Global Customer Support (GCS) related to search definitions you are troubleshooting, use the Download Search Data page. The output from this process is encrypted such that it can be decrypted only by internal GCS or development resources.

To download encrypted search data:

  1. PeopleTools, Search Framework, Utilities, Download search data.

  2. Enter a run control ID.

  3. On the Download Search Data page, select the appropriate value from the Search Definition drop-down list.

  4. Click Run.

  5. Monitor the process using Process Monitor.

  6. Retrieve the encrypted output from PS_CFG_HOME\appserv\prcs\<Process Scheduler domain name>\files\sesfeeds\<search_definition_name_date_time>\<segment_number>.xml.

    The encrypted file will appear similar to this example:

Click to jump to parent topicRunning Diagnostics

This section discusses:

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicPerforming a Round-Trip Test

Access the Round-Trip Test page by selecting PeopleTools, Search Framework, Utilities, Diagnostics, Round-Trip Test.

The round-trip test performs a set of diagnostic steps using a test search definition, delivered with PeopleTools named RNTRPTST. It provides end-to-end diagnostic tests to verify and troubleshoot the PeopleSoft and SES integration.

Search Instance

Select the appropriate search instance defined for this PeopleSoft system.

Test Steps

The Test Steps grid contains a series of links that are ordered in a typical troubleshooting sequence. Only one link is active at a time, and each link becomes active only after the previous step has completed successfully.

  1. Ping Test: Runs a ping test against the SES server instance defined for your system.

  2. Deploy: Deploys the RNTRPTST search definition and associated category to the SES server.

  3. Crawl: Runs a test crawl using the RNTRPTST definition.

  4. Search: Runs a sample search based on the index populated by the RNTRPTST search definition.

  5. Cleanup: Click to remove the deployment of the RNTRPTST search definition and run any related cleanup tasks.

Test Log

Indicates whether the system successfully created the feed output, required to populate the index.

Click to jump to top of pageClick to jump to parent topicViewing Event Logs

View event logs on the Events Log page by selecting PeopleTools, Search Framework, Utilities, Diagnostics, Events Log.

Event Type

Displays the status of the index build process just run.

Event Severity

Narrow the event display focus by selecting one of these severity levels:

  • All: Displays all types of even logs (Error, Message, Warning).

  • Error: Displays only error messages.

  • Message: Displays the typical status messages the system records after each event.

  • Warning: Displays only warning messages.

Time Period

Specify the specific time period for which you seek event log information.

View Events

Click to display the events meeting your criteria in the Events grid.