time stamp Configuration Items

Did you know that there are configuration items (table_config_itm) that you can update so that the changes to application pop-up lists, user-defined pop-up lists, time zone, role-based authorization, currency, locale, string_db etc. are re-cached on login ? These are the CBO Configuration Items. You do not have to restart the server (weblogic et.al) for the changes to take effect. Give it a try !

Here are the configuration item names:

time stamp of Authorization

time stamp of application lists

time stamp of autodest rules

time stamp of currency

time stamp of flex metadata

time stamp of license

time stamp of locale

time stamp of popup list

time stamp of privclass

time stamp of status transitions

time stamp of string_db

time stamp of status transitions

time stamp of time_zone

time stamp of user lists

Dataex Export Limitation

There is a known issue with dataex that it cannot export more than 15999 records. This has not been fixed with the latest AmdocsCRM7.5.

Workaround:  Split up the records in an object based on objid.  Create multiple .dir files and export/import them in sequence.

For example, create 3 .dir files as below (say object = x_object) so that the number of records exported are less than or equal to 15999. You will have to import these files in sequence.

Dir1:

NO_EXPORT OBJECT ALL;
EXPORT OBJECT x_object
WHERE objid <= 586777
ACTIONS = EXPORT

Dir2:

NO_EXPORT OBJECT ALL;
EXPORT OBJECT x_object
WHERE objid > 586777 and objid <= 600777
ACTIONS = EXPORT

Dir3:

NO_EXPORT OBJECT ALL;
EXPORT OBJECT x_object
WHERE objid > 600777
ACTIONS = EXPORT

adp_comment and Audit Trail

I was recently asked how does one know when a database was upgraded. Answer: adp_comment.

ADP table adp_comment lets you track schema changes, dataex operations and archive operations performed on Amdocs CRM database. The table has a field comment_date that stores the date and time the operation was performed.
 
I think it is worth mentioning about Audit Trail at this juncture. Audit Trail is new with Amdocs CRM7.5 and it let you track changes made to specific objects. The objects for audit trail with the fields that need to be tracked can be configured in table_audit_info. Audit Trails can be turned OFF or ON per object and the audit trails are stored in table_audit_trail. Please note that there might be a performance downside if Audit Trail is turned ON for several objects.

Schema Changes and Big Tables

The schema manager utilitywith ClarifyCRM 12.5 drops and re-creates indexes on all clarify tables during a schema upgrade. If there are big tables with millions of records, the schema upgrade process may take for ever.

Here is a smart way to workaround this:

1. Rename table_big to table_big_temp.

2. Create table_big with 50 records (say) as below

create table_big as select * from table_big_temp where rownum <=50

3. Apply the schema changes using schema manager utility.

4.  Rename table_big_temp to table_big

For step 3 above, if there are schema changes (create, drop, modify) for table_big itself, make those changes manually on table_big_temp using alter command and populate any new columns if needed.

This would greatly reduce the time taken by schema manager utility to apply the schema. Remember to repeat the steps above for any relational tables. For example, if table_site is big, please be sure to perform the steps on related table_address as well.

DateDiff Function

Someone asked me how to compare dates in ClearBasic.

Answer: DateDiff function. It lets you compare 2 dates and returns a Date variant in a specific time interval.

Here is an example:

Date1 = Format(strDate1, “Short Date”)
Date2 = Format(strDate2, “Short Date”)
Dated = DateDiff(“s”, Date1, Date2)

Where strDate1 and strDate2 are date variables.  “s” is the time interval representing seconds. DateDiff returns a negative date/time value if Date1 is greater than Date2. Format like “Short Date” can be used to format date.

Timezone and SmartClient

With AmdocsCRM 7.5 (SmartClient) there is a new java_timezone_id field in table_time_zone. When a user tries to log in to SmartClient, the user’s timezone is looked up in table_time_zone.java_timezone_id. If a match is found, the entry in table_time_zone is selected as the time zone.  If a match is not found, the user is unable to login and error message “cannot recognize your regional settings” or an invalid timezone error message is displayed.

It is critical to have all user timezones identified with proper java_timezone_id and make entries in table_time_zone.  Time zone and country information is usually available in countries.dat out-of-box. Please note that this .dat file may NOT contain all of the timezones.

Is Smart Client really smart ?

For those who do not know what Smart Client is – it is the latest offering from Amdocs ClarifyCRM which boasts of high performance. Starting with AmdocsCRM 7.0, there is a new Java Swing based framework – ASCF (Amdocs Smart Client Framework or UIF – User Interface Framework). This framework has presentation logic and business logic in the same layer compared to MVC model of Thin Client where presentation and business logic are separated.

 

The Smart Client reminds me of the age old Clarify Thick/Classic Client with the client desktop now running a fast lightweight Java client. So Clarify now has three clients – Thick Client, Thin Client and the Smart Client.

 

An Eclipse based designer with plugins makes customization much simpler. The designer again reminds me of the classic UI Editor. You have Form Version Selector in Smart similar to Resource Configuration, User Version in Classic. The Contextual Objects in classic are Data Set and Data Model. You can bind any control the same way you would in Classic Client/Thin Client. A form in Smart Client composes of .uiff, .java and en.properties file. All this means less code and more configuration of forms. When it comes to trouble shooting you just have one language to worry about – Java. Gone are the days where you browse through tons of javascripts and jsps. Isn’t that nice ? Are we going back to the smartest classic client days ? Is Smart Client not smart ?

 

What think you ??

ImportAll

Did you know that you could import all .dat files in one go ? Traditionally, we used to import one file at a time using dataex. I found that there is an undocumented way of importing multiple .dat files together - use -imp file1.dat -imp file2.dat -imp file3.dat. Isn’t that easy ? This would let you import multiple .dat files by logging in to the database only once saving much of the time dataex takes to login each time you import a file.

Clarify on iPhone

Ever thought you could access Clarify from your iPhone ? AppSwing, a company based in the UK has a mobile platform that delivers Clarify application on the iPhone broswer. See it for yourself : http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/appswing-demonstrates-amdocs-clarify-on-an-apple-iphone/4329184/

 

I heard that AppSwing is ready to be acquired by ndl-metascybe – another company based in the UK which specialises in providing integration and mobile working tools to the public sector.

-clfy and -waggle

-clfy used to be the shortcut extension to see Clarify baseline code in UI Editor. Guess what ? Start using -waggle with the newer versions of Clarify !!