Audience definition actions
Create New Audience Definition
This is carried out using the Create new Audience Definition toolbar button. A new audience definition is added to the list of definitions displayed at the top of the Audience Definitions configuration interface. Its name is New Definition. If New Definition exists already, its name is New Definition 2 (this number can be incremented if required). The new audience definition's state is Added.
Delete Selected Audience Definition
This is carried out within the toolbar.
If you delete an Edited or Unchanged audience definition, its state is set to Deleted, and its accompanying text shown in the list is displayed in red. If you delete an Added definition, it is removed from display immediately. Deleted audience definitions are removed when you invoke Save.
Note that deleting an audience definition does not delete any of the tables to which it is configured to write data.
Save Changes to Audience Definitions
This is carried out using the Save changes to Audience Definitions toolbar button. Any changes you have made to definitions are validated, and any validation errors are advised in a dialog. You may not proceed with the Save until they are resolved.
Following a successful save, all audience definition changes you have made are persisted. All audience definitions' states are updated to Unchanged. Any Deleted audience definitions are removed from display.
A validation error is raised at save if offer history tables are unable to be created.
When a save occurs, and the orange informational message is displayed above the audience definition’s properties, a warning message is shown.
If you elect to proceed with the save, create or modify actions may be undertaken against the following database tables as defined within the audience definition:
Offer History
Offer History Meta
If you have specified that one or more of an audience definition's table names are the same as existing data warehouse tables, the columns specified within the audience definition are added to the existing tables.
In addition to the creation of offer history and offer history meta tables, two extra ‘sandbox’ tables are created at the same time (being named in accordance with the other tables, but with the suffix ‘_SandBox’ appended to the table name). These tables store the results of interaction execution in test mode (in contrast to production mode, in which results are stored in the original three tables).
The following tables are also created for a new audience definition:
[Offer History Table Name]_Content: used for email and SMS offers; stores the specific version of offer content received by an offer target.
[Offer History Table Name]_Details: provides a synopsis of a specific fulfillment activity’s execution (useful for reporting purposes).
[Offer History Table Name]_States: persists historical details of any events undertaken by an offer target post-receipt of the offer: e.g. clicking on a hyperlink, sharing to a social site.
Note that, if you make changes to an audience definition’s tables’ name(s), new tables are created alongside the existing tables – the original tables are not renamed.
Joins are also created to link the new offer history tables to the resolution level's table.
If any database updates fail then the audience definition is not saved and you are advised accordingly.
The actions above are carried out by a Validate audience definitions job, which is displayed in the My Jobs Dialog on invocation of Save. Full details of the job and Dialog can be found in the My Jobs documentation.
Note that any changes to links to files from the audience definition will be picked up by the Execution Service within an hour of being saved (or immediately at service restart).
Refresh
This option reloads the contents of the interface from the operational database. If changes have been made, a ‘Save Changes?’ dialog is shown.
Clone Selected Definition
This option allows you to create a copy of an existing audience definition. The button is only enabled when an Unchanged audience definition is selected.
On invocation, the copy is created and selected automatically. All properties are per the original definition (however, if you clone the default definition, the newly-created clone is not marked as default).
The orange ‘The database will be validated…’ message is shown at the top of the Audience Definitions configuration interface, and a Validate audience definitions job is created and executed on subsequent invocation of Save.
Validate
Clicking this button creates a Validate audience definitions job and displays it in the My Jobs Dialog (for more information, please see that interface’s documentation). On its completion, an orange message is displayed at the top of the Audience Definitions configuration interface:
Clicking Refresh updates the list of audience definitions and removes the orange message from display.