Oracle Commerce Guided Search - Retrieving refinement counts for records that match descriptors

Retrieving refinement counts for records that match descriptors

For each dimension that has been enabled to return refinement counts, the MDEX Engine returns refinement counts for records that match descriptors. Descriptors are selected dimension values in this navigation state.

The refinement counts that the dgraph returns for descriptors are returned with the DGraph.Bins or DGraph.AggrBins property on the descriptor DimVal object returned through the Oracle Commerce navigation API.

The count represents the number of records (or aggregate records, in the case of DGraph.AggrBins) that match this dimension value in the current navigation state.

For a multi-AND or a single-select dimension, this number is the same as the number of matching records.
For a multi-OR dimension, this number is smaller than the total number of matching records if there are multiple selections from that dimension.

This capability of retrieving refinement counts for descriptors is the default behavior of the MDEX Engine. No additional configuration (for example, dgraph command line options) is needed to enable this capability.

To access the refinement counts for descriptors:

Retrieve the list of dimensions with descriptors. To do this use the Navigation.getDescriptorDimensions() method (Java), or the Navigation.DescriptorDimensions property (.NET).
For each dimension, retrieve the dimension value that has been selected from this dimension (the descriptor). To do this, use the Dimension.getDescriptor() method (Java) or Dimension.Descriptor property (.NET).
Retrieve the PropertyMap object which represents the properties of the dimension value. To do this, use the DimVal.getProperties() method (Java) or the DimVal.Properties property (.NET) on that dimension value.
Obtain a list of values associated with that property. Use the PropertyMap.get() method (Java) or PropertyMap object (.NET) with the DGraph.Bins or DGraph.AggrBins argument.
This list should contain a single element which is the number of records (or aggregate records) that match this dimension value in the current navigation state.

Example 47. Java example of getting refinement counts for a descriptor

Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.getNavigation();
// Get the list of dimensions with descriptors
DimensionList dl = nav.getDescriptorDimensions();
// Loop through the list
for (int i = 0; i < dl.size(); i++) {
	// Get a dimension from the list
	Dimension d = (Dimension)dl.get(i);
	// Get the descriptor and then its count(s)
	DimVal desc = d.getDescriptor();
	// Get the map of properties for the descriptor
	PropertyMap pmap = desc.getProperties();
	// Get the record count
	String recordCount = "";
	if (pmap.containsKey("DGraph.Bins")) {
		recordCount = " (" + pmap.get("DGraph.Bins") + ")";
	}
	// Get the aggregate record count
	String aggregateRecordCount = "";
	if (pmap.containsKey("DGraph.AggrBins")) {
		aggregateRecordCount = " (" + pmap.get("DGraph.AggrBins") + ")";
	}
}

Example 48. .NET example of getting refinement counts for a descriptor

Navigation nav = ENEQueryResults.Navigation;
// Get the list of dimensions with descriptors
DimensionList dl = nav.DescriptorDimensions;
// Loop through the list
for(int i = 0; i < dl.Count; i++) {
	// Get a dimension from the list
	Dimension d = (Dimension)dl[i];
	// Get the descriptor and then its count(s)
	DimVal desc = d.Descriptor;
	// Get the map of properties for the descriptor
	PropertyMap pmap = desc.Properties;
	// Get the record count
	String recordCount = "";
	if (pmap["DGraph.Bins"] != null) {
		recordCount = " (" + pmap["DGraph.Bins"] + ")";
	}
	// Get the aggregate record count
	String aggregateRecordCount = "";
	if (pmap["DGraph.AggrBins"] != null) {
		aggregateRecordCount = " (" + pmap["DGraph.Bins"] + ")";
	}
}

Retrieving refinement counts for records that match descriptors

MDEX Engine Developer's Guide