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Introducing Clickstream Intelligence

This chapter provides an overview of Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence, briefly outlines its architecture, and describes the contents of this Administrator's Guide.

It contains the following sections:

• Introduction to Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence

• Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Architecture

• Contents of This Administrator's Guide

Introduction to Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence

Welcome to Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence!

Clickstream Intelligence is a Web-based, comprehensive analytical tool that enables you to to acquire, analyze, and report on Web interactions with customers, suppliers, and employees. It is one of the key Business Intelligence components of Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle9iAS), a comprehensive and integrated application server that manages the technical complexity of assembling a complete middle-tier Internet infrastructure that can scale with your business. Clickstream Intelligence leverages the business intelligence tools in Oracle9iAS and Oracle9iDS -- Oracle9i Warehouse Builder, Oracle9iAS Discoverer, and Oracle9i database -- to provide an integrated and extensible solution for measuring Web traffic and improving Web site effectiveness.

The Runtime Administrator simplifies the setup, management, and deployment of clickstream data sources. This Web-based tool enables you to define how Clickstream Intelligence interprets Web log file data, determine which types of data you want to track, and configure and populate the database for optimal storage of clickstream data. The Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Administrator's Guide describes how to use the Runtime Administrator.

Clickstream Analytics provides more than 150 pre-configured reports that display data acquired from your Web sites. Clickstream reports, called worksheets, are grouped with other reports of a similar nature to form workbooks that can be accessed and viewed with Oracle9iAS Discoverer Viewer and Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus. To learn more about Clickstream Analytics, please reference the Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence User's Guide.

Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence can be installed into the Oracle9i database included in Oracle9i Application Server, or can be installed into a standalone Oracle9i Enterprise Edition database. For more information about installing a dedicated Clickstream database, see Appendix B, "Installing a Dedicated Clickstream Database", located in this Administrator's Guide.

The Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence database model is built via Oracle9i Warehouse Builder, a tool for designing and deploying databases, and from which it also derives its extensible platform. For further information about the Clickstream Intelligence data model, see the Oracle9i Clickstream Intelligence Data Model Reference.

Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Architecture

A graphical representation of Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence architecture is displayed in the figure that follows. The blue arrows (1) represent overall data flow from the Oracle9iAS environment (Oracle HTTP servers) to the Clickstream Intelligence environment. Log files containing Web data are produced by Oracle9i Application Server. The Clickstream Collector Agent, which resides on the server machine, breaks the log files into data packets. The packets are compressed to facilitate transfer to the Collector Server, which subsequently uncompresses the log file data. The Clickstream Loader then parses, transforms, and filters the raw log files as they are loaded into the database.

Figure 1-1 Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Architecture

Text description of the illustration ch1arch.gif

The green arrows (2) illustrate the flow of information during Clickstream Intelligence configuration and management. The Runtime Administrator's Web-based interface enables your company's System Administrator to manage and configure parameters that handle the collection and processing of data for your Clickstream sites. This configuration data is stored in the database. Your Clickstream Intelligence Administrator can access and modify all stored configuration data with a Web browser.

The red arrows (3) represent data flow between your Web browser, Oracle9iAS Discoverer, and clickstream data stored in the database each time you run Clickstream Analytics. Both Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus and Oracle9iAS Discoverer Viewer enable you to view analytical reports based on data from your Web sites. When using Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus, your client machine must run a Java-enabled Web browser (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator with Oracle JInitiator). In the case of Oracle9iAS Discoverer Viewer, the only requirement for the client machine is that it can run HTML and JavaScript through a Web browser. For more information about the capabilities and functionality of Oracle9iAS Discoverer, please reference the Oracle9iAS Discoverer Configuration Guide and the Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus User's Guide.

Contents of This Administrator's Guide

The Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Administrator's Guide describes how to use the Clickstream Intelligence Runtime Administrator. Specifically, you'll learn how to:

• Launch and log in to the Runtime Administrator. (Chapter 2, "Getting Started")

• Interpret the Clickstream Intelligence architecture in the context of Oracle9i Application Server, the product suite to which it belongs. A more detailed description of the architecture also describes the characteristics and functionality of all Clickstream components. (Chapter 2, "Getting Started")

• Navigate and understand all user interface (UI) components of the Runtime Administrator. (Chapter 2, "Getting Started")

• Define and configure the way that Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence acquires, processes, and stores data acquired from your Web site(s). (Chapter 3, "Configuring Clickstream Intelligence")

• Load data into the Clickstream Intelligence database. (Chapter 4, "Loading the Clickstream Database")

• Run and monitor specific processes related to the Clickstream Intelligence database. (Chapter 4, "Loading the Clickstream Database")

• Identify the log formats supported by Clickstream Intelligence. (Appendix A, "Log File Types Supported by Clickstream Intelligence")

• Install a dedicated Oracle9i Enterprise Edition database for storage of all log data collected from your Web sites. (Appendix B, "Installing a Dedicated Clickstream Database")

• Install a standalone Collector Agent for use with Web servers other than Oracle9i Application Server. (Appendix C, "Installing a Standalone Collector Agent")

• Interpret and understand error messages that may be displayed when using Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence. (Appendix D, "Error Messages")

• Perform the post-installation tasks that enable use of Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence with the infrastructure database (metadata repository) included with Oracle9iAS. (Appendix E, "Metadata Repository Postinstallation and Configuration")

• Understand the concepts and terminology used in the Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence documentation set. (Glossary)