Define Broadcast
Explanation
This activity is used to define scheduling broadcasts. Broadcasts are company
specific and each company can have one or more broadcasts defined for it. The
broadcast tells the Scheduling Engine how and when a plan is to be returned to
IFS Applications. Broadcasts can be set up per allocation type, i.e. Dynamic
Scheduling Engine (DSE), Appointment Booking Engine (ABE), Schedule
Dispatch Service(SDS)
or Scheduling Workbench (ISWB). The connection between the broadcast
and allocation type is made on the applicable dataset. For more information on
setting up a dataset, refer to the activity Define Dataset.
Note: There can be one broadcast set up for both DSE and SDS broadcasts,
whereas a separate broadcast is required for a ISWB and ABE broadcast.
- For DSE broadcasts, the DSE produces a plan which
you can choose to assign or unassign directly on the work task.
- For ABE broadcast, the ABE returns a plan with a set of suggested
appointment offers, in which you can select one of them as the booked appointment for the
work task.
- For SDS broadcasts, the SDS will return the
suggested dispatches, i.e. the work task activities and resources that are
suggested to be assigned, to IFS Applications. The allocation suggestions that are returned
will automaticall create a work assignment for the work task and the work
assignment is created in status Assigned and the Allocated To
field on the work assignment is set to the suggested resource's ID.
- For ISWB broadcasts, IFS Applications will be
synchronized with the changes made to the data in the Scheduling Workbench.
For DSE broadcasts, how the plan is to be returned is determined by the
broadcast type that is selected. If the broadcast is set up with the File
broadcast type, the plan is returned and stored using File transfer. If the Webservice broadcast type is selected, the
plans will be returned using HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) services.
The
parameters for each broadcast type must be entered when defining the broadcast.
For the File broadcast type, the "file_path" parameter
will define the relevant output path for the File messages. The Schedule Broadcast Manager can either;
- Write to the file input folder in IFS Connect on the IFS Applications
server for processing files from PSO.
- Write to a local folder on the PSO server and configure IFS Connect
with a remote file reader agent that reads that folder.
The file_path must be set from the viewpoint of the Schedule Broadcast
Manager. When a File broadcast type is created the "file_path"
parameter will be automatically created with the value #BROADCAST_FILE_PATH#
specified in Scheduling Dataset Parameters. If the
#BROADCAST_FILE_PATH# is not specified in the Scheduling Dataset
Parameters the
value in Scheduling Configuration will be used. The value can also be
specified on the broadcast parameter.
When a Webservice broadcast type is created the "username"
"password", "url" and "wsid' parameters will be automatically created with the
value #BROADCAST_USERNAME#, #BROADCAST_PASSWORD#, #BROADCAST_URL# and
#BROADCAST_WSID# specified in Scheduling Dataset Parameters. If the
parameters #BROADCAST_USERNAME#, #BROADCAST_PASSWORD#, #BROADCAST_URL# and
#BROADCAST_WSID# are not specified in the Scheduling Dataset
Parameters the value in Scheduling Configuration
will be used. The value can also be specified on the broadcast parameter.
When the plan is to be returned is determined by
several values, i.e. the minimum plan quality, maximum wait and maximum
frequency. The minimum plan quality determines the minimum quality of the plan
that is to be returned while the maximum wait determines the maximum time to
wait before returning the plan (in minutes). The plan will be returned when
either the minimum plan quality is reached or when the maximum wait time is
reached, whichever occurs first. The maximum frequency determines the frequency
(in minutes) at which the plans should be returned. You can choose the type of
plan that should be returned, i.e. a complete plan, change plan or a workbench plan. When
setting up an ISWB or ABE broadcast, the minimum plan quality, maximum wait minutes and
maximum frequency should be set to "0" or left blank.
Broadcast Parameter Values
The value of the selected broadcast parameter. Valid values are:
File:
- file_path - The output path of the broadcast as seen from the Schedule Broadcast Manager service on the Planning and Scheduling Optimization (PSO) server, e.g. "C:\IFS\Scheduling\Output". The path should correspond to the file reader input folder in IFS Connect on the IFS Applications server for processing files from PSO. The recommended setting is to use the substitution variable
#BROADCAST_FILE_PATH#.
Http:
- username - Name of the user that is allowed to access the Planning and Scheduling Optimization Integration (user granted to the permission set SCH360_WEBSERVICE). The recommended setting is to use the substitution variable
#BROADCAST_USERNAME#
- If IFS Middleware Server is setup to use Single Sign-On (SSO), in addition to the above requisites the user also has to be an Active Directory (AD) user and the username has to be specified in the DOMAIN\USERNAME format.
- password - Password of the user that is allowed to access the Planning and
Scheduling Optimization Integration (password of user granted to the permission
set SCH360_WEBSERVICE). The recommended setting is to use the substitution
variable #BROADCAST_PASSWORD#
- If the user is an AD user, enter the AD password of the user.
- url - Address of the Web Service (SOAP Gateway) in IFS Applications (e.g.
http://SERVERNAME:58080/int/soapgateway). The recommended setting is to use the
substitution variable #BROADCAST_URL#. It also allows using other substitution
variables (e.g., #URL#/int/soapgateway). For more information on substitution
variables please refer to the Define Scheduling Configuration section
in the Online Documentation.
- wsid - Identifier of the Web Service (IFS should be used for all broadcast
plan types, except for Workbench where IFSWORKBENCH should be used). The
recommended setting is to use the substitution variable #BROADCAST_WSID#. It
will then automatically use the correct wsid for the broadcast plan type.
Prerequisites
To perform this activity, the company must have been
defined in IFS/Enterprise.
System Effects
- Scheduling broadcasts are defined for the company and the applicable broadcast can be activated.
- The broadcasts can be connected to scheduling
datasets.
Window
Scheduling Broadcast
Related Window Descriptions
Scheduling Broadcast
Procedure
Follow this procedure to define a DSE or SDS broadcast:
- Open the Scheduling Broadcast
window.
- Verify that the correct company is in use. If not,
right-click and click Change Company to change the company.
- Create a new record (F5).
- In the Broadcast ID field, enter the
identity of the broadcast.
- In the Description field, enter a
description of this broadcast.
- In the Minimum Plan Quality (%) field,
enter the plan quality as a percentage.
- In the Broadcast Type field, enter the
broadcast type. Note:
For iSWB broadcasts, this field should be set to Webservice.
- In the Plan Type field, select "Change".
- In the Maximum Wait Minutes field, enter
the maximum time in minutes to wait before a plan to be returned.
- In the Maximum Frequency Minutes field,
enter the frequency in minutes for the plan to be generated.
- In the Parameter Value field, enter the
valid value of the parameter. For instance, for the wsid parameter,
you need to enter the parameter value IFS.
- Save the information (F12).
Follow this procedure to define an ISWB broadcast:
- Open the Scheduling Broadcast
window.
- Verify that the correct company is in use. If not,
right-click and click Change Company to change the company.
- Create a new record (F5).
- In the Broadcast ID field, enter the
identity of the broadcast.
- In the Description field, enter a
description of this broadcast.
- In the Minimum Plan Quality (%) field,
enter 0. This value is not used for ISWB broadcasts.
- In the Broadcast Type field, enter the
broadcast type.
- In the Plan Type field, select "Workbench".
- In the Maximum Wait Minutes field, enter
0 or leave the field blank. This value is not used for ISWB broadcasts.
- In the Maximum Frequency Minutes field,
enter 0 or leave the field blank. This value is not used for ISWB
broadcasts.
- In the Parameter Value field, enter the
valid
value of the parameter. For instance, for the wsid parameter, you
need to enter the parameter value IFSWORKBENCH.
- Save the information (F12).
Follow this procedure to define an ABE broadcast:
- Open the Scheduling Broadcast
window.
- Verify that the correct company is in use. If not,
right-click and click Change Company to change the company.
- Create a new record (F5).
- In the Broadcast ID field, enter the
identity of the broadcast.
- In the Description field, enter a
description of this broadcast.
- In the Minimum Plan Quality (%) field,
enter 0. This value is not used for ABE broadcasts.
- In the Broadcast Type field, select the
broadcast type Webservice.
- In the Plan Type field, select "Complete".
- In the Maximum Wait Minutes field, enter
0 or leave the field blank. This value is not used for ABE broadcasts.
- In the Maximum Frequency Minutes field,
enter 0 or leave the field blank. This value is not used for ABE
broadcasts.
- In the Parameter Value field, enter the
valid
value of the parameter. For instance, for the wsid parameter,
you
need to enter the value IFS.
- Save the information (F12).