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<AmbientData> element

The <AmbientData> element in the smarttarget_conf.xml file allows you to map the long Claim URIs stored in the Ambient Data Framework to unique prefixes used in the trigger-types.xml. The <AmbientData> element is a Presentation Server setting.

Before you begin

You need to have installed the Content Delivery API server role in the web application in which your website is running and configured it for the Ambient Data Framework.

About this task

To use ambient data as criteria in promotions in Experience Optimization effectively, you also need to perform configuration to reduce the size of the query strings generated. Application Servers place a restriction on the length of a query string of between 2000-4000 characters depending on the Application Server you are using.

As all values in the Claim Store are potential values that you can use to define triggers, by default Experience Optimization sends all these name-value pairs as URL parameters in the query string. As the Claim Store can contain a very large number of Claims, the query string limit can be quickly reached. To reduce the size of the query string, you need to configure <Prefixes> in the <AmbientData> section of the smarttarget_conf.xml configuration file. The prefixes are matched and resolved by Experience Optimization when the query is processed.

The trigger-types.xml determines the types of triggers users can use to define promotions. It is recommended to use prefixes to simplify the use of Claim URIs and reduce the size of the query strings generated.

Procedure

In the <AmbientData> section, in the <Prefixes> subsection, map the URI of Claims to a unique prefix using the format <ClaimURI>prefix</ClaimURI> where:
  • <ClaimURI> is the URI up to the last subpart of the string separated by underscores: the pattern that matches the prefix to the URI of a resource matches everything but the last term in the URI string.
  • prefix is the prefix value used instead of the full Claim URI: when you define Trigger Types, you specify the url-param attribute, which consists of the Claim URI prefix and the last subpart of the URI string.
<AmbientData>
  <Prefixes>
     <taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact>am</taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact>
     <taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact_extendeddetail>am_ex</taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact_extendeddetail>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge>sc</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_session>sc_session</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_session>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent>sc_ua</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_browser>sc_ua_browser</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_browser>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_os>sc_ua_os</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_os>
     <taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_authorization>sc_auth</taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_authorization>
  </Prefixes>
</AmbientData>
Example
In Audience Manager, for example, where a full Claim URI for a Contact extended detail such as Age is:
taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact_extendeddetail_age
in the Claim Store, the Claim Prefix am_ex is mapped to the generic part of the URI taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact_extendeddetail so that you just need to add the specific field to the Claim prefix, in this case am_ex_age, to address that field.
Default prefixes for Audience Manager
The following default prefixes are configured in the smarttarget_conf.xml file for Claim URIs inserted by the Audience Manager cartridge:
<taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact>am
Maps to Claim URIs containing a Contact's regular details, for example BounceStatus.
<taf_claim_audiencemanager_contact_extendeddetail>am_ex
Maps to Claim URIs containing a Contact's Extended Details, for example name.
Default prefixes for session data
The following default prefixes are configured in the smarttarget_conf.xml file for Claim URIs inserted by the Session cartridge:
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge>sc
Maps the generic part of Claim URIs inserted by a Session cartridge to a prefix.
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_session>sc_session
Maps to a Claim URI containing the value of the session length (the maximum duration of the user session specified in minutes).
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent>sc_ua
Maps to the following Claim URIs.
  • The visitor browser used when making the HTTP request.
  • The visitor search engine (whether the client application making the request is a web robot).
  • The visitor operating system used by the client application making the HTTP request.
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_browser>sc_ua_browser
Maps to a Claim URI containing the value of the web browser that was used when making the HTTP request.
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_useragent_os>sc_ua_os
Maps to a Claim URI containing the value of the operating system used by the client application making the HTTP request.
<taf_claim_ambientdata_sessioncartridge_authorization>sc_auth
Maps to the following Claim URIs:
  • Whether the user has been authenticated (they are who they claim to be).
  • The authorization mechanism used for communication.