HCM Extracts Design and Run Time Diagnostics Reports

Navigate to Tools > Scheduled Processes
Search for “Extracts Process Diagnostics Report” and submit

Click OK.

Scope has two values now:
Design Time Diagnostics – This is new from 20C.
Runtime Diagnostics – This is already existing from old releases.

Design Time Diagnostics Report

The process will analyze the current extract, data groups used, threading dbi, joins between data groups, etc. and will present a readable output

• Usage of RESET UEs in the extracts definition
• Threading DBI usage for incremental and changes-only extracts
• Usage of historic UEs in threading data groups
• Delivery options and the associated BIP reports, if any
• Design practices that are commonly seen to impact extracts performance including usage of advanced conditions, override conditions, and record the sort order

Let’s run the Design Time Diagnostics Report for a sample extract and look at the output:

After the Scope is selected, we need to select the Scope Value as HCM Extract Name and then click Submit.

Once the process is complete, download the log file to check the design recommendations set by Oracle.

Here is how the sample Design Diagnostics Report would look like:

This provides an overview of the totals of attributes, report categories, records, etc.

Here is the list of possible solutions for the issues in the extract. It also lists the User Entities last updated date which gives us an option to check if the UEs have changed recently.

It also lists the Data Groups, Parameters, Data Groups which have been modified in the last 15 days. If someone has modified them inadvertently then you can take some action based on this report.

In the extract there was an XML delivery option, so the report suggested to remove the ‘XML’ delivery option in production. It also mentions the usage of Predictive DBIs. not sure what predictive dbi means.

Hope it makes sense to run the Design Time Diagnostics Report after the Extract is developed and implement the possible solutions for the issues.

Runtime Diagnostics Report:

This report will present the stats for the extract run and compares timings with the previous runs.

For this Scope, we need to select the Scope Value as the Flow Instance Name of the Extract. Here is what the sample output will look like:

It will list the parameters that were used to run the extract. Including the number of threads if multi-threading has been used. It will also break the total extract run time into phase wise timings.

Overall Timing Summary Explained

Preprocessing : Processes the objects for the data group with threading DBI and for the data groups below in the extracts data hierarchy. Use threading database item, review the Fast Formula or array DBI or optimize filter criteria to improve throughput.

Archive processes : Number of process threads, volume of data processed, usage of array DBI and functions in rule formula may impact the run time for this phase. Review user entities you use in your extract definition.

Root data group extract : Processes the data for the data groups above the data group with the threading DBI in the extracts data hierarchy. Improve the throughput by reviewing the filter criteria or criteria formula.

XML Generation : Generates the XML file for the extracted data. Improve throughput by running extracts in incremental or changes only mode and by using XML multi-threading, without summary or grouping functions.

XML Delivery : XML with None Delivery is targeted in this phase. Customer should not use None+XML in production.

Formatting in BIP : Formats the generated XML file using the report templates in the extract definition. The volume of data being formatted, template design, and grouping and sorting functions in the reports template impacts the throughput.

Report delivery : Delivers the formatted extract output files to the content server.

XML Delivery to UCM :Delivers the generated XML to the content server. Use compress option to improve the throughput.

This also compares the last 5 runs timings and counts which gives us a fair idea on if something has changed in the last 5 runs to figure out any issues.

It also lists the output XML size and the content ID from UCM.

Attachments:
Design Time Diagnostics Report – Click Here
Run Time Diagnostics Report – Click Here

Hope this article gives you a fair understanding and the benefits of using the Design Time and Runtime Diagnostics Options for HCM Extracts.