Otimizar session troubleshooting tips

Many issues that you might encounter in Otimizar sessions can be resolved by obtaining details from the session logs. You can then fix the specific problems that are identified.

Troubleshooting Otimizar

Error

Description of Problem

Action to Take

Could not connect to the IBM® Unica® Otimizar server

This error indicates that IBM® Unica Marketing cannot connect or communicate with the Otimizar server.

Confirm that the Otimizar listener is running. If it is not running, start the Otimizar listener. If the problem still persists, confirm all configuration properties that define the connection properties are configured properly, including: Campaign|unicaACOListener|serverHost, Campaign|unicaACOListener|serverPort, and Campaign|unicaACOListener|useSSL.

Failure to start Solver engine

This error usually indicates a missing or invalid license file.

Check for the license file in the bin directory under your Otimizar installation for xpauth.xpr

The LP solver was unable to find an optimal solution to the chunk problem

The outer algorithm (the part that handles the capacity rules) found that the problem given to it for a customer sample is not solvable. This error might mean that one of two conditions:

There is a logical contradiction in the capacity rules.

A solution to those rules is not possible with the existing data.

This error can also occur if the scores used for the proposed contacts exceed the numerical precision of the floating point math used. In general, do not exceed a range of 1.0 to 1.0e+11.

Look for problems with the logic of the capacity rules, and for mismatches with the rules and the proposed contact data. For instance, if a capacity rule requires a minimum of something, make sure that the PCT has at least that many of that item.

Also check for sample-related provisioning problems. If there seems to be no problem with the rules and data, collect the following files from the log directory of your Otimizar installation:

Otimizar session log

All files starting with ACO_

Send these files to IBM® Unica® Technical Support so that they can analyze them.

The generation loop was unable to eliminate all slack and surplus variables

The outer algorithm (the part that handles the capacity rules) progresses by creating alternative solutions to the per customer rules generated by the inner (core) algorithm. It creates alternatives by temporarily changing offers scores, and looking for solutions that have not yet been generated. You receive this error if the following two conditions are met:

The outer algorithm cannot satisfy the capacity rules with any of its alternate solutions.

The core algorithm is not creating alternative solutions.

This error might mean either of the following conditions:

The per customer rules and the capacity rules are inherently in conflict, so no solution is possible.

The data is such that a solution is not possible.

Look for problems with the logic of the rules, and for mismatches with the rules and the proposed contact data. For instance, You have a per customer minimum of 1 on all offers, channels, and segments. This rule results in at least as many offers as there are customers in the results. If you also have a capacity rule with a maximum value that was less than the number of customers, this rule causes an inherent logical conflict between the per customer rule and the capacity rule.

Also check for sample-related provisioning problems. If there seems to be no problem with the rules and data, collect the following files from the log directory of your Otimizar installation:

Otimizar session log

All files starting with ACO_

Send these files to IBM® Unica® Technical Support so that they can analyze them.

Unprocessable customer

At the end of each session run, there are some log entries that summarize the results. One of the entries is: "Total # of Unprocessable Customers". This error indicates that no solution can be found for the per customer rules for the number of customers shown. When this error occurs, it is not an unrecoverable error. The result is that the "unprocessable" customers receive no offers.

You can get a separate file containing details of unprocessable customers in comma-separated values (CSV) format in the Otimizar server log directory by setting the Optimize|logging|enableBailoutLogging property to TRUE. This file is unprocessables_10-digit-session-ID.csv and is located in the OptimizeInstallationDirectory/partition/partition[n]/logs directory.

Unprocessable customers can occur either because the rules and data make it impossible to get a solution, or because the algorithm exceeded the number of alternatives to solve the problem. The number of alternatives is configured by the Optimize|AlgorithmTuning| MaxAlternativesPerCustomerEvaluated property in the session level advanced settings and the configuration properties. Setting the value of this property to a higher number lowers the likelihood of the customer being unprocessable (assuming that it is not inherently unsolvable). However, but when it occurs, it also makes the performance penalty higher.

No offers

If a particular customer receives no offers, it is not necessarily an error. Unless a per customer minimum is found in the per customer rules, it is perfectly legal to reject all offers of some customers, as long as no rules are violated and the overall score is maximized. It can also be a side-effect of an error, as when there is no legal combination of offers given the rules, or when the customer is unprocessable.

Check the following conditions:

Whether a per customer minimum exists in the rules

Ensure that given the rules, all combinations are legal

Whether there are any unprocessable customers

Invalid size provided to the init count table. (1,0): CODE 5: Internal Error 5

No channel offer attribute values are defined.

You must define some channel offer attribute values.

Otimizar session takes a long time to run

Sample-related Provisioning Problems

To display Otimizar listener output to a console

ACOServer reference