Understanding Analytic Type Definitions

An analytic type definition groups the optimization application records, the optimization transactions, and the Optimization plug-in (OPI) together as one entity. The optimization application records contain the data stored in the database. The data is populated into memory in the optimization engine. The optimization transactions define the interface between the application server and the OPI, which performs the optimization computation. Use PeopleSoft Application Designer to create the analytic type definition for an optimization application.

An Optimization Problem Example

To illustrate the steps of creating an optimization-based application, consider the following example: Create an optimal exercise schedule that makes use of exercise machine availability and satisfies individuals' exercise preferences. To create an optimization application for this problem, you need input data about:

  • Exercises that burn a set number of calories per minute.

  • People who know how long they want to exercise and how many calories they want to burn.

The goal of your application is to generate a list containing an exercise and the duration of exercise appropriate to each person, based on the input data.

To implement the analytic type definition for this example, you would:

  1. Create and populate a set of records containing the input data about the exercises and the participants.

    These are the optimization application records for this application.

  2. Define a set of optimization transactions and their parameters that, when implemented, process the optimization application records to achieve the goal.

Note: For this example, assume that an OPI (QEOPT.DLL) already exists that implements these transactions.