Using the AquaLogic Interaction Analytics 2.0 OpenUsage API
Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Step 2: Register and Configure Events in Analytics Administration

The next step is to register any custom events in Analytics Administration so they will be recognized by the Analytics Collector Service. Portal events are collected automatically. Custom (non-portal) events are called Managed Events in Analytics Administration.

To capture non-numeric data, you must use a dimension table. You can use existing dimension tables or create new ones, called Managed Dimensions in Analytics Administration. After you create a new dimension, you must create a new event parameter of type String, and associate it to the dimension (see Steps 3 to 5 below). To use an existing dimension table, create a parameter of type Integer that maps to the ID column in your dimension table. We recommend that you do not create too many new dimensions, since they slow down the speed of data collection and reporting.

The sample application used in this example displays links in a portlet and tracks which pages are accessed by users. The application also keeps track of which OpenUsage method is used to raise the event. The event model uses one custom event with four parameters, two of which have associated dimension tables. These instructions explain how to register this custom event in Analytics Administration:

  1. Go to AquaLogic Interaction portal Administration. Click the Select Utility drop-down list, and select Analytics Administration.
  2. Go to the Event Registration page in the Analytics Manager as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2
Figure 2. Analytics Manager event registration

  1. Under Managed Dimensions, click Add. Create a new dimension called event method. (Dimension names can be up to 20 characters in length and can only include letters, numbers, spaces, and underscores.) Leave the default table name. If you are expecting a small number of unique values for a dimension, select the "Unique?" checkbox to reduce the size of the table.
  2. Under Managed Dimensions, click Add. Create a new dimension called page name. Leave the default table name.
  3. Under Managed Events, click Add. Create a new event called demo event with the parameters listed in the table below. Leave the default table name and column names as shown in Figure 3. (Event and parameter names can be up to 14 characters in length and can only include letters, numbers, spaces, and underscores.)
    Name Data Type Dimension
    page id
    		 Integer
    -
    page name
    		 String
    page name
    event method
    		 String
    event method
    date
    		 Date
    -

Figure 3
Figure 3. Analytics Manager Create Event editor

  1. Click Finish to save the event.
  2. Select the check box next to the demo event on the Event Registration page, and click Enable. (By default, the Analytics Collector Service starts saving an event's data 30 minutes after you click Enable.)
  3. Click Finish to save your changes. WARNING: You cannot remove or rename an event or its parameters and dimensions after clicking Finish on the Event Registration page.

Note: The Event Registration page lists the names of the tables created in the Analytics database for the custom event and its dimensions (ASCFACT_* for fact tables and ASCDIM_* for dimension tables). These table names are used to query the database only. The OpenUsage API uses the event or dimension name as defined in the UI (that is, "demo event" not "ASCFACT_DEMO_EVENT").

For details on the other pages in Analytics Administration, see the online help or the Administrator Guide for BEA AquaLogic Interaction Analytics.

Pages: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Next Page ยป