7Testing Personalization Rules

Testing Personalization Rules

This section explains the ways in which you test your personalization rules and includes the following topics:

• Ways to Test Personalization Rules

• About Test Mode

• About Using the Log File

• About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data

• About Clearing and Reloading Siebel Personalization

Ways to Test Personalization Rules

Testing your personalization rules is important for evaluating their effectiveness and correctness. The following table lists the features that allow you to test your personalization rules in a development environment before they are deployed in a production environment.

Feature	Description
Test mode	For evaluating personalization rules. See About Test Mode, Setting Up the Test Mode, and Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules.
Log file	For recording personalization events. See About Using the Log File, Enabling Personalization Event Logging, and Testing Siebel Personalization.
XML export	For exporting personalization objects to an XML file. Later you can export this file into a production environment. See About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data, Exporting Personalization Data as an XML File, and Importing Personalization Data.
Reload personalization	For updating the object manager with changes made to personalization rules. See About Clearing and Reloading Siebel Personalization, Reloading Siebel Personalization for the Current Object Manager, and Reloading Siebel Personalization for Other Object Managers.

About Test Mode

The Test view under Personalization Administration allows you to set up a test mode to test personalization rules. The test mode allows you to set up the profiles of test users, specify the test application name and view, and then launch a new instance of the application to test personalization rules.

This section contains the following:

• Setting Up the Test Mode 

• Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules 

Setting Up the Test Mode

See also About Test Mode and Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules.

The following are the steps involved in testing the personalization setup:

1. Specify the login and password of the primary user.

   The primary user is the person logged into the application, for example a Siebel Call Center agent or Siebel eSales registered user.

   Click Open to load a saved setup file.

2. Specify the login of the secondary user, if desired.

   An example of a secondary user is a customer speaking by telephone with the call center agent.

3. Click Load.

   This loads the persistent user profile attributes of the primary user into the Primary User Attributes list and those of the secondary user into the Secondary User Attributes list.

4. Edit the persistent user profile attributes for both users.

   All changes made to the persistent user profile attributes are written only to the test setup, not to the Siebel database.

5. Enter dynamic user profile attributes for both users.

6. Specify the application to test by filling in the URL for launching the application.

7. If you want to test the personalization of a specific view, specify the view.

8. Click Test to get instructions for opening a new instance of the application to test personalization rules.

9. Test the personalization rules.

10. Click Save.

Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules

See also About Test Mode and Using Test Mode to Test Personalization Rules.

You can test personalization rules in a staging environment before being used in the production environment. This is done in the Test view under Personalization Administration.

To test personalization rules using Test Mode

1. Navigate to the Administration - Personalization screen > Test view.

2. Either:

   • Click Open to use a saved test setup, or

   • Fill in the following fields, and click Load

     Field	Description
     Primary User Login	Required. User who is logged in to the application, such as a call center agent.
     Primary User Password	Required.
     Secondary User Login	Optional. Someone who interacts with the primary user, such as a customer speaking with the call center agent.
     Test Application	Path to the test application. For the Siebel Web Client use a URL, for example: http://<machine_name>/callcenter For the Siebel Mobile Web Client use a command string, for example: D:\<Siebel_install_dir>\BIN\siebel.exe /l language_code /c "D:\<Siebel_install_dir>\bin\ENU\config_file.cfg" /d data_source where: <Siebel_install_dir> is the full path to the client installation directory language_code is the three-letter code for the language, for example, ENU for US English and config_file is the application configuration file, for example, uagent for Siebel Call Center and siebel for Siebel Sales data_source is the database to which to connect: Local, Sample, or ServerDataSrc
     Test View	Optional. If not specified, the screen is blank when the test application launches. You have to navigate to a view.

3. Select an attribute to edit its value.

   • The persistent user profile attributes of the:

     • Primary user are loaded into the Primary User Attributes list with a Me. prefix.

     • Secondary user are loaded into the Secondary User Attributes list with a You. prefix.

     • Name and Source fields are read-only for persistent user profile attributes.

   • Person-related attributes have the value Person in the Source field.

   • Organization-related attributes have the value Organization.

4. Add a new record under Primary User Attributes or Secondary User Attributes to add a new dynamic user profile attribute.

5. Fill in the Name and Value fields.

   The Source field is read-only and has the value Dynamic.

6. Click Test under the Test tab and take the following action.

   If...	Then...
   You are using a connected Web Client (accessed though an appropriate URL).	The Test Mode dialog box appears, which prompts users to open a new browser window (by using a desktop icon or the Start menu, if using Windows). The Test Mode dialog box provides a URL to paste into the new browser window.
   You are using a Mobile Web Client.	A new instance of the application opens. Go to Step 9.

7. Copy the URL shown in the Test Mode dialog box, and then click OK.

8. Open a new browser window, and then paste the URL into it.

   A new instance of the specified application launches.

   If the test view was not specified, the screen is blank and you have to navigate to a view.

9. After testing personalization rules, click Save in the Test view to save the test setup.

About Using the Log File

You can write a record of personalization events that occur to a log file. Use this log for testing and diagnosing personalization rules.

Running personalization with the log turned on does have a performance impact. Also, log files can become extremely large, which has an impact on disk space. You should not enable the log in production environments for longer than it takes to acquire the information or do the testing you need.

This section includes the following topics:

• Enabling Personalization Event Logging

• Testing Siebel Personalization

• Changing the Test Parameters

• Using the Log File to Test Siebel Personalization

Enabling Personalization Event Logging

See also About Using the Log File and Testing Siebel Personalization.

The following procedure describes how to enable Personalization event logging.

To enable Personalization Event logging

1. Take one of the following actions, as appropriate.

   If...	Then...
   You are using the Siebel Mobile Web Client	Add an entry to the [Siebel] section of the configuration file for your application as follows: PersonalizationLog = <directory path for log file + file name> For example, PersonalizationLog = C:\Temp\Personalization.txt
   You are using the Siebel Web Client	Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen > Servers view, and click the Components tab.

2. Select the appropriate object manager from the components list, for example Call Center Object Manager (ENU), then click the Parameters subtab.

3. Select the Application Personal Log parameter from the advanced parameters list, and edit the following fields:

   Note: To display the advanced parameters list, click the Advanced button in the Component Parameters applet.

   Field	Value
   Current Value	Directory path for the log file
   Value on Restart	Directory path for the log file

Hidden Application Personal Log Parameter

In Siebel CRM version 7.8, the Application Personal Log parameter is hidden and can only be accessed from the server manager command line.

You can use following commands for hidden parameters:

• To List: list advanced parameters for comp <comp_alias>

• To Change: change param <ParamName>=<Paramvalue> for comp <comp_alias>

• To Delete: Delete parameter override for comp <comp_alias> param <ParamName>

To make sure personalization and runtime events are on and a log can be obtained, perform the steps in the following procedure.

To enable Personalization Event Logging when the Application Personal Log parameter is hidden

1. Log in to server manager and issue the following commands:

   spool c:\list_of_hidden_parameters.txt
   list advanced parameters for comp UCMObjMgr_enu
   spool off
   

   This generates the following file at the following location:

   c:\list_of_hidden_parameters.txt
   

   You can change the file name and location.

2. Open the file and check the parameter values:

   • Set CFGEnableRuntimeEvents to True:

     change param CFGEnableRuntimeEvents=True for comp UCMObjMgr_enu
     

   • Set tCFGEnablePersonalization to True (this is the equivalent of Application Enable Personalization):

     change param CFGEnablePersonalization=True for comp UCMObjMgr_enu
     

   • Set CFGPersonalLog to the full path and filename to generate the log:

     change param CFGPersonalLog=c:\personalization.log for comp UCMObjMg
     

3. After the changes, restart the server and gateway.

Testing Siebel Personalization

This section includes the following topics:

• Changing the Test Parameters

• Using the Log File to Test Siebel Personalization

See also About Using the Log File and Enabling Personalization Event Logging.

Changing the Test Parameters

You can use the EnablePersonalization and EnableRuntimeEvents object manager parameters to test Siebel Personalization. These parameters are found in the srvrdefs.dat file.

To change these parameters

• Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen > Servers view > Parameters view.

Note: You can also add these parameters to the application configuration file.

Using the Log File to Test Siebel Personalization

The following procedure describes using the log file to test Siebel Personalization.

To test Siebel Personalization using the log file

1. Run the personalized application with the log enabled.

2. Open the log file using the graphical application SSFLOG.EXE, which is located in the Siebel_install_dir\bin directory, and shown in the following illustration.

   
   
   

3. Examine the log file under the following conditions.

   Condition	What to Look For
   EnablePersonalization = FALSE EnableRuntimeEvents = FALSE	Persistent user profile attributes are not loaded. Features based on personalization rules do not work. No run-time events occur.
   EnablePersonalization = FALSE EnableRuntimeEvents = TRUE	Features based on personalization rules do not work. Persistent user profile attributes are not loaded. Run-time events occur.
   EnablePersonalization = TRUE EnableRuntimeEvents = FALSE	Features based on run-time events do not work. Some personalization features also might not work, as they might depend on events. Persistent user profile attributes are loaded. Run-time events do not occur.
   EnablePersonalization = TRUE EnableRuntimeEvents = TRUE	Siebel Personalization works properly. Persistent user profile attributes are loaded. Run-time events occur.

About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data

You can export personalization rules, events, and actions as an XML file for later importation into another Siebel environment.

This section includes the following topics:

• Exporting Personalization Data as an XML File

• Importing Personalization Data

Exporting Personalization Data as an XML File

See also About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data and Importing Personalization Data.

This procedure describes how to export all personalization data rules, events, and actions in one XML file.

To export personalization data as an XML file

1. Navigate to the Administration - Personalization screen > Views view.

2. Select any Personalization Administration view.

3. Click the menu button, and then choose XML Export.

4. Select Save.

   The default file name is personalization.xml.

Importing Personalization Data

This section includes a description of how the XML import works and a procedure on how to import all personalization data rules, events, and actions in one XML file.

Process of How the XML Import Works

The import utility uses the business component’s primary user key sequence to match the record in the XML file and the record in database. For example, for the business component Personalization Rule Set, the user key is Name. The following table lists the consequences if the user key is change or the sequence number is changed.

Note: You can find out the user key column from the table definition. For the Personalization Rule Set business component, the associated table, S_CT_RULE_SET has a single user key column NAME.

If...	Then...
The value for the user key itself (Name field) is changed.	The import utility does not find an existing record matching the Name field in the XML file, thus considering it being a new record. A new record is created.
The sequence number is changed.	It is an update, not an insert, since Sequence number is not part of the user key, and the import utility finds the record matching field Name in the database.

Note: The import utility has an implicit rule, that is, a record is updated only if the LAST_UPD timestamp in the XML file is newer than in the database. This prevents an old XML file from flushing all the newer configurations.

See also About Exporting and Importing Personalization Data and Exporting Personalization Data as an XML File.

Importing Personalization Data from an XML File

The following procedure describes how to import personalization data from an XML file.

Note: This process can take several minutes.

To import personalization data from an XML file

1. Navigate to the Administration - Personalization screen > Views view.

2. Click the menu button, and choose XML Import.

   When the process is finished, a message displays how many records had conflicts and were inserted, updated, and skipped.

About Clearing and Reloading Siebel Personalization

The Siebel object manager caches personalization data for improved performance. You must reload the personalization data into the object manager to see the effect of personalization rule changes.

This section consists of the following topics:

• Reloading Siebel Personalization for the Current Object Manager

• Reloading Siebel Personalization for Other Object Managers

Reloading Siebel Personalization for the Current Object Manager

For the current object manager, reloading Siebel Personalization is performed in the Views, Applets, or Rule Sets view under Administration - Personalization.

See also Reloading Siebel Personalization for Other Object Managers.

To clear and reload Siebel Personalization

1. Navigate to the Administration - Personalization screen > Views view.

2. Click the menu button, and choose Reload Personalization.

Reloading Siebel Personalization for Other Object Managers

To propagate changes in Siebel Personalization to other object managers, use the Enterprise Configuration view under Administration - Server Configuration.

For more information on working with object managers, see the Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

See also Reloading Siebel Personalization for the Current Object Manager.

To clear and reload Siebel Personalization

1. Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen > Enterprises view.

2. Click the Component Definitions view tab.

3. In the Component Definitions list at the beginning of the view, select the object manager for which to clear and reload personalization rules, for example Call Center Object Manager.

4. Click the menu button under the upper Component Definitions list and choose Start Reconfiguration.

   The value of the Definition State field for that object manager changes to Reconfiguring.

5. Select the desired object manager again, click the menu button under the upper Component Definitions list, and then choose Commit Reconfiguration.

   When the definition state changes to Active, the personalization data has been reloaded.