Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 5

[Former Member]

This is a continuation in series started with "Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine”.

Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 1, Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 2, Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 3, Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 4.

 

In this article we will go through the distribution rules aspect of Data Orchestration Engine, in particular "Initial Value Rules".

 

Example:

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Let’s take an employee scenario where higher officials would like to get the information about employees in one of the following ways:

1. Get the employees belong to particular region.
2. Get the employees belong to particular department.
3. Get the employees belong to particular region and department.

 

Let’s assume employee data object has region and department associated with employee information.

To achieve the scenario, one may quickly think of modeling distribution rules (Distribution Modeling in Data Orchestration Engine - 3) as follows:

1. Distribute rule which distributes employee data based on the region value provided by device.
2. Distribute rule which distributes employee data based on the department value provided by device.
3. Distribute rule which distributes employee data based on the region and department values provided by device.

But there is a problem by modeling distribution rules as mentioned above. Above model works correctly, when device subscribes for either region or department. But the problem arises when device subscribes for both region and department. In this case, data will be distributed because of all the above rules, region value which satisfies 1^st rule (Distribution by region), department value which satisfies 2^nd rule (Distribution by department) and both the values which satisfies 3^rd rule (Distribution by region and department). But this is not the actual data which device is requested for.

 

Let’s see how this scenario can be achieved by using “Initial Value rules” with device attribute mapping.

 

Modeling in DOE:

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DOE always maps physical device to logical device and SAP ships only standard attributes for the logical device. So, we need to create a device attribute named REGION and DEPARTMENT using SDOE_RMM01 transaction. In this transaction, first custom group has to be created and then the REGION and DEPARTMENT attributes need to be created in the created custom group. While modeling distribution rule using rule wizard:

1. To mark the distribution rule as Initial value rule, you should check “Selectable for Initial Value” option in “Rule Details” section.
2. Data object node attributes (REGION and DEPARTMET) should be selected and the required operator in "Criteria fields" section.
3. Choose appropriate option in "Logic Selection" section. For current scenario, "Device Attribute Mapping" should be selected.
4. Select the device attribute REGION and map with the data object attribute REGION and device attribute DEPARTMENT should be mapped with data object attribute DEPARTMENT.
5. Follow other steps in the rule wizard to complete the creation of rule.

 

With the above steps, distribution rule will be created and one should activate the distribution model before working with this rule.

 

How it Works:

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Let’s work with four devices and see how the requirement of distributing different set of data will be satisfied based on the device subscriptions. Organization works in two regions INDIA and USA, and has two departments SALES and SERVICES. Four devices are subscribed as follows:

 

Device Name	REGION (Device Attribute)	DEPARTMENT (Device Attribute)
DEV_REGION	INDIA
DEV_DEPARTMENT		SALES
DEV_REGION_DEPARTMENT	INDIA	SALES
DEV_RECEIVE_NONE

 

With these subscriptions, distribution rule works differently for each device.

For device DEV_REGION, only REGION attribute of the data object is considered for the data distribution. All the employees belong to INDIA region (Department of the employee can be either SALES / SERVICES) will be distributed to the device.

For device DEV_DEPARTMENT, only DEPARTMENT attribute of the data object is considered for the data distribution. All the employees belong to SALES department (Region of the employee can be either INDIA / USA) will be distributed to the device.

For device DEV_REGION_DEPARTMENT, both REGION and DEPARTMENT attributes of the data object will be considered for data distribution. All the employees belong to INDIA region and SALES department will be distributed to the device.

For device DEV_RECEIVE_NONE, both REGION and DEPARTMENT attributes will be considered for data distribution. This means, this device will not get any data because REGION and DEPARTMENT of the employee will always be maintained in CDS and device attribute values are initial.

 

Initial Value rule evaluation will take place in following scenarios:

1. Rule is activated or de-activated

2. Whenever the DM-SWCV for the assigned receiver is changed

3. Whenever device status is changed to Enabled / Disabled.

4. Whenever receiver's attribute mapped to the rule is modified.

 

In all the above cases, after the rule is activated in the portal, any insert or delete message for the data object will be evaluated for updating mapping information to relevant receivers.

 

NOTE: Mapping all data object attributes to static values makes the behavior of Initial Value rules as Normal Rules. So, avoid mapping all data object attributes selected in rule to static values or date patterns.