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SAP Portal UWL refresh does not occur for some items.

Former Member
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Hello, we are having a strange problem with the EP installed in our landscape. For some users, a particular task item is taking days to come into the UWL, but another work-item of the same task type, for the same user, sometimes comes immediately. This is happening intermittently and randomly. Infact when checking the backend for the missing task item, it is there in the SAP inbox(backend) as per SWI5. but not there in the UWL. However the missing task item does come into the UWL finally but after may be 13 days !!!
task item has been properly configured in the uwl xml (or it may not have worked properly sometimes)

Background jobs - rswnuwlsel are also configured for delta and full mode.

for other task items, it is working fine.

Please note :- this problem is associated with a task item(task group , eg: ts9xxxxx9) and not work item.
Where could be the problem?

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

troy_cronin2
Active Contributor
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Dear Sumeet

I hope you are well and many thanks for using the SAP Discussion Threads .

Based upon your description of the scenario it does indeed seem a little strange and behaviour with reference to the issue you are describing:

  • Particular task item is taking days to appear in the UWL
  • But another work-item of the same task type, for the same user, sometimes comes immediately.
  • This is happening intermittently and randomly.
  • When checking the backend for the missing task item, it appears in the SAP inbox(backend) as per SWI5. but not there in the UWL.
  • However the missing task item does come into the UWL finally but after may be 13 days !!!

Ok now the first point to reference here is what you mentioned about the configuration in the XML file.

  • After you configured the task item in the XML did you clear the UWL Cache and reupload the XML with a priority of "High"?

Secondly regarding the issue in its entirety could you kindly confirm if the UWL Destination Service is configured correctly and there are no exceptions displayed in the status columns of the UWL associated connectors?

  • Note 1133821 - UWL Destination Service Configuration

Check that after applying Note 1133821 the destination names and the UWL connector names exactly match, even considering case-sensitiveness.If your portal system alias (=UWL connector name) is for example  XYZCLNT100, then the rfc destination name should be exactly XYZCLNT100$WebFlowConnector. Please correct the rfc destinationaccordingly. (If Required)

  • Lastly if you capture a default trace of the scenario are there any error/exceptions thrown which reference the custom task item?

Kindly update me as per your findings.

Kind Regards

Troy Cronin - Enterprise Portal Support Engineer

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Former Member
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Hi Troy, problem has started again.

Can someone explain me the difference between the various refreshes we are having related to UWL, and how do those affect the refresh process, eg : - page refresh, delta pull, cache validity, etc. I am a bit confused between all these. Also how do these affect the automatic refresh of the UWL(not just for completed items, but for all items coming in UWL like a  leave request for approval).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Sumeet

troy_cronin2
Active Contributor
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Hi Sumeet

I hope you are well and things are good and its unfortunate to hear that the issue is occuring again.

Let us work together in an effort to solve it and get everything operating accordingly and as desired.

Now in terms of the refresh types and the UWL allow me to provide clarification in summary form.

The following equation is what the UWL optimal performance setup ideally follows:

  • Cache Validity >  Page Refresh Rate > Delta Pull Refresh Period

1: Type: Cache Validity Period > System Admin, system config, uwl and workflow, Universal worklist  administration, scroll halfway down the page and open the tray for Optional Universal Worklist Service Configuration

Consideration

Check the default cache validity period 5 minutes.  It should not be less than 1 minute.

2: Type: Page Refresh Rate > UWL iview: click on the dropdown.  The dropdown will have an option to personalize. Select Personalize view.  Check the page refresh rate time.

Function

The Page Refresh Rate specifies how often UI will be refreshed with data from the cache. 

3: Type: Delta Pull Refresh Period > System Admin, system config, select the system, click edit

Consideration

delta pull refresh period, it should not be less than 1 minute.

With the UWL and any type of refresh value configurations it is about striking balance. For example Parameter: "Wait duration before calling providers on loading of UWL" iff you expect UWL to show the most up to date workitems as soon as the user arrives in the UWL without having to wait, then 0 must be informed in this parameter. In case a value other than 0 is defined for it, the information in the UWL Cache for the user will be shown before the time configured is reached, when the retrieval from the providers will be made.

Let us take a sample work scenario and (for the sake of an workplace example) let us assume that a user group receives 50/100 workitems each day.

Therefore upon initial UWL loading and operation these workitems are loaded twice tasks are pulled from the backend into the UWL cache and they (ii) are then pulled a second time from the cache into the UWL User Interface.

A few suggestions and recommendations....

1. Make sure that the UWL is NOT on the landing page. What I mean by this is to ensure that there is at least one page before the endusers see the UWL and they have to for example, click on Home --> Work, then the UWL appears, rather than having the users log on to the portal and the UWL is the first screen that they see. The reason for this is for each logon, there are calls to the backend made for EVERY system that is set up in the UWL ADMIN UI.

2. What version are you using? There were performance enhancements (many, actually) in the newer versions and SP's for the UWLJWF component.

3. If you are using Delta Pull, please ensure that you DO NOT maintain the snapshot pull period and the value in this field (again a parameter on the portal in the UWL Admin UI for the webflow connector) should be deleted. In other words, it should be left empty as it just creates another temp channel for user which is not required, thus impacting performance.

In regards to the pull and performance for the UWL:

1. The delta pull period should be no longer than the time that task is required to be updated in the UWL for all new items from the backend. If the items are created more frequently, the period should be shortened and the opposite. Better results for performance will be with greater values, but in this case, the items may not be always up to date.The minimal value is 60 seconds, which is also the default. This corresponds to the following parameter on the portal in the UWL Admin UI for the webflow connector - Delta Pull Channel Refresh Period (in Seconds): 60

2. The number of users per channel can be increased with caution. The default value is 40 users per channel. (You will find this parameter within the Optional Universal Worklist Service Configuration tray) Increasing this number will decrease the number of the invocations to the backend. This value depends on the number of the users that are using the portal. Larger number of users should = larger number of users per pull channel. The higher the number of users per channel, the higher volume of data per invocation will be transferred. Increasing this number too high without the necessary amount of memory needed could cause OOM (Out of memory issues) on the portal.

Let me know if you require any additional clarification or assistance.

Kindly update me as per your findings.

Kind Regards

Troy Cronin - Enterprise Portal Support Engineer

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Former Member
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Hi Troy,


Hope you are doing good.


We are still getting calls over this issue, as users are not getting the work-items, but they are getting the workflow mails associated with the work-items (justified as the workitems are there in the backend).

I wanted to share the refresh parameters existing in our Portal.


Cahe validity - 5 minutes
Page refresh - 300 seconds. (as per xml's), personalisation is disabled for end user.

delta pull - 60 seconds

delta pull background jobs - 3 minutes.

initial uwl time before calling providers - 20 seconds.


these settings were existing since long time. Do you see any problems which would be causing such abnormal and inconsistant behaviour ?


Please feel free to ask any other parameter if you want.

troy_cronin2
Active Contributor
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Hi Sumeet

Many thanks for the response and it is no problem at all I'm happy to help out .

Regarding your current configurations and settings that you have outlined from the perspective of "recommended parameters" the baseline concept to follow is that of balance.

Obviously between different organizations and different work enviornments workloads will differ and vary.

Therefore when we are dealing with the recommended parameter settings for business setup (in the UWL) the focus should be on what is better for your company.

Lets take the following into consideration:

  • How big is the UWL User Base
  • How many workitems are distributed on a daily basis and to how many users
  • Workflow and UWL association.

Now lets review your current parameter settings:

  • Cahe validity - 5 minutes
  • Page refresh - 300 seconds. (as per xml's), personalisation is disabled for end user.
  • delta pull - 60 seconds
  • delta pull background jobs - 3 minutes.
  • initial uwl time before calling providers - 20 seconds.

Cache Validty (Ok)

The value is in minutes; after this expiration time, the current item list is updated from the provider system. Default: 5 minutes.

Page Refresh (Ok)

The Page Refresh Rate specifies how often UI will be refreshed with data from the cache. Your current setting is that of 300 so that is 5 minutes. You can make a change here with the smallest possible value being 1 minute.

Delta Pull (Ok)

The Delta Pull mechanism of UWL enables new items to be fetched from the back end SAP systems every minute by default every 60 seconds, and every 30 seconds for alerts. However, this can be configured. The user does not need to use the refresh function to update the inbox. Once items are retrieved, timestamps are updated for the users whose items are successfully retrieved. These retrieved items are updated in the UWL cache.

UWL Wait Duration

In case of you expected the UWL to show the most up to date workitems as soon as the user arrives in the UWL without having to wait, then 0 must be informed in this parameter. In case a value other than 0 is defined for it, the information in the UWL Cache for the user will be shown before the time configured is reached, when the retrieval from the providers will be made.

- SAP Note: 1886490: UWL does not show the most up-to-date items after logon

Based upon your response you mentioned that the workflow notification mails are indeed flowing as required and operating accordingly although the workitems themselves are intermittently not appearing.

This indicates a discrepancy in the configuration somwhere (SAP Note: 1133821 - UWL Destination Service Configuration).

Kindly update me as per your findings.

Kind Regards

Troy Cronin - Enterprise Portal Support Engineer

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Answers (2)

Answers (2)

Former Member
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Hi Sumeet,

We are also facing the similar issue. Is your issue has been resolved? if yes, could you please let me know how it got resolved.

Regards,

Rahul.

troy_cronin2
Active Contributor
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Hi Rahul

If you could open a thread and provide an overview of the issue/scenario you are encountering I'll be glad to help out.

Just notify me when the thread is posted.

Kind Regards

Troy

Former Member
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Hi Rahul,

Unfortunately, we are still facing this issue. Configuration does not seem to be the cause right now. But this might also be occurring due to performance issues between ECC and Portal, or the Portal itself. If it does, then nothing  much could be done I suppose.

What exactly are you facing Rahul ? Could you share with me ?

Thanks,

Sumeet

Former Member
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Hi Troy,


Thanks for the swift response !
Currently, we have cleared the cache, and UWL seems to be working fine. But I would be monitoring, if issue comes again. Will keep this thread posted.

Regarding the xml file, when it was uploaded, long back, cahe was refreshed, and this issue was not present at that time. It has started to come recently. So we did a cache refresh. Hopefully this solves it.

Thanks

Sumeet

bharathi_ponnusamy
Active Participant
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HI

Could you please advise whether this issue has reoccured once again since I am facing exactly the same issue and clearing the cache hasn't helped to resolve the issue.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Best Regards,

Bharathi

Former Member
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Hi Bharathi,

Yes, this issue occurred again. But the main problem is, this occurrence is erratic. Sometimes it works properly, and sometimes we face this issue. We are still investigating this. I will post when I find a solution.

Thanks

Sumeet

bharathi_ponnusamy
Active Participant
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Hi Sumeet,

Thank you so much for your update.We are having this concern in our SRM system and the version is SRM 7 EHP 2 SP 13. Are you facing the same concern in SRM system or any other system?

If possible, can you please share me your EP version also. Thanks in advance for your help.

Best Regards,

Bharathi

Former Member
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Hello Bharathi,

No we are not facing any problem with SRM provider systems for UWL.

We have Netweaver portal 7.31 installed.

What problem are you facing exactly? Like work-items are not getting into the UWL at all, or an erratic behavior of UWL as I described.

Thanks

Sumeet

bharathi_ponnusamy
Active Participant
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Hi Sumeet,

Sorry for the delay. We have the erratic behavior of UWL as you described where the items were not displaying for some time and it has started displaying after some time.

Best Regards,

Bharathi