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Introduction

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

It contains the following sections:

• Introduction to Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence

• Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Architecture

• Contents of This User'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 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 in detail how to use the Runtime Administrator.

Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Analytics (Clickstream Analytics) provides more than 150 pre-configured reports that display data acquired from your Web sites. Clickstream Analytics reports, called worksheets, are grouped with other reports of a similar nature to form workbooks that can be accessed and viewed with Oracle9iAS Discoverer. You can use Oracle9iAS Discoverer Viewer as well as Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus to view and analyze data related to Web site traffic. This guide describes Clickstream Analytics.

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

The Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence User's Guide describes how to use Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Analytics. Specifically, you'll learn how to:

• Launch and log in to Clickstream Analytics. (Chapter 2, "Getting Started")

• Navigate and understand the User Interface (UI) of the Oracle9iAS Discoverer tools used to view Clickstream Analytics. (Chapter 2, "Getting Started")

• Find the information you need in the workbooks and worksheets that comprise Clickstream Analytics. (Chapter 3, "Working with Workbooks and Worksheets")

• Understand the purpose of each report available in Clickstream Analytics. (Chapter 4, "Understanding Worksheet Data")

• Understand the information displayed in the column headings that appear in Clickstream Analytics worksheets. (Chapter A, "Column Descriptions")

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