Sessionization

When you are working with Experience Event data originating from a website, mobile application, interactive voice response system, or any other customer interaction channel, it helps if events can be grouped around a related period of activity. Typically, you have a specific intent driving your activity like researching a product, paying a bill, checking account balance, filling out an application, and so on.

This grouping, or sessionization of data, helps associate the events to uncover more context about the customer experience.

For more information about sessionization in Adobe Analytics, see the documentation on context-aware sessions.

Query syntax

SESS_TIMEOUT({TIMESTAMP}, {EXPIRATION_IN_SECONDS}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{TIMESTAMP}The timestamp field found in the dataset.
{EXPIRATION_IN_SECONDS}The number of seconds needed between events to qualify the end of the current session and the start of a new session.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT
  endUserIds._experience.mcid.id as id,
  timestamp,
  SESS_TIMEOUT(timestamp, 60 * 30)
    OVER (PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
        ORDER BY timestamp
        ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
    AS session
FROM experience_events
ORDER BY id, timestamp ASC
LIMIT 10

Results

                id                |       timestamp       |      session
----------------------------------+-----------------------+--------------------
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:55:53.0 | (0,1,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:56:51.0 | (58,1,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:57:47.0 | (56,1,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:58:27.0 | (40,1,false,4)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:59:22.0 | (55,1,false,5)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:16:23.0 | (1361821,2,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:17:17.0 | (54,2,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:06.0 | (49,2,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:39.0 | (33,2,false,4)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:19:10.0 | (31,2,false,5)
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the session column. The session column is made up of the following components:

({TIMESTAMP_DIFF}, {NUM}, {IS_NEW}, {DEPTH})
ParametersDescription
{TIMESTAMP_DIFF}The difference in time, in seconds, between the current record and the prior record.
{NUM}A unique session number, starting at 1, for the key defined in the PARTITION BY of the window function.
{IS_NEW}A boolean used to identify whether a record is the first of a session.
{DEPTH}The depth of the current record within the session.

SESS_START_IF

This query returns the state of the session for the current row, based on the current timestamp and the expression given and starts a new session with the current row.

Query syntax

SESS_START_IF({TIMESTAMP}, {TEST_EXPRESSION}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{TIMESTAMP}The timestamp field found in the dataset.
{TEST_EXPRESSION}An expression that you want to check the fields of the data against. For example, application.launches > 0.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT
    endUserIds._experience.mcid.id AS id,
    timestamp,
    IF(application.launches.value > 0, true, false) AS isLaunch,
    SESS_START_IF(timestamp, application.launches.value > 0)
        OVER (PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
            ORDER BY timestamp
            ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
        AS session
    FROM experience_events
    ORDER BY id, timestamp ASC
    LIMIT 10

Results

                id                |       timestamp       | isLaunch |      session
----------------------------------+-----------------------+----------+--------------------
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:55:53.0 | true     | (0,1,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:56:51.0 | false    | (58,1,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:57:47.0 | false    | (56,1,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:58:27.0 | true     | (40,2,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:59:22.0 | false    | (55,2,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:16:23.0 | false    | (1361821,2,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:17:17.0 | false    | (54,2,false,4)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:06.0 | false    | (49,2,false,5)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:39.0 | false    | (33,2,false,6)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:19:10.0 | false    | (31,2,false,7)
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the session column. The session column is made up of the following components:

({TIMESTAMP_DIFF}, {NUM}, {IS_NEW}, {DEPTH})
ParametersDescription
{TIMESTAMP_DIFF}The difference in time, in seconds, between the current record and the prior record.
{NUM}A unique session number, starting at 1, for the key defined in the PARTITION BY of the window function.
{IS_NEW}A boolean used to identify whether a record is the first of a session.
{DEPTH}The depth of the current record within the session.

SESS_END_IF

This query returns the state of the session for the current row, based on the current timestamp and the expression given, ends the current session, and starts a new session on the next row.

Query syntax

SESS_END_IF({TIMESTAMP}, {TEST_EXPRESSION}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{TIMESTAMP}The timestamp field found in the dataset.
{TEST_EXPRESSION}An expression that you want to check the fields of the data against. For example, application.launches > 0.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT
    endUserIds._experience.mcid.id AS id,
    timestamp,
    IF(application.applicationCloses.value > 0 OR application.crashes.value > 0, true, false) AS isExit,
    SESS_END_IF(timestamp, application.applicationCloses.value > 0 OR application.crashes.value > 0)
        OVER (PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
            ORDER BY timestamp
            ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
        AS session
    FROM experience_events
    ORDER BY id, timestamp ASC
    LIMIT 10

Results

                id                |       timestamp       | isExit   |      session
----------------------------------+-----------------------+----------+--------------------
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:55:53.0 | false    | (0,1,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:56:51.0 | false    | (58,1,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:57:47.0 | true     | (56,1,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:58:27.0 | false    | (40,2,true,1)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-01-18 06:59:22.0 | false    | (55,2,false,2)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:16:23.0 | false    | (1361821,2,false,3)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:17:17.0 | false    | (54,2,false,4)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:06.0 | false    | (49,2,false,5)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:18:39.0 | false    | (33,2,false,6)
 100080F22A45CB40-3A2B7A8E11096B6 | 2018-02-03 01:19:10.0 | false    | (31,2,false,7)
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the session column. The session column is made up of the following components:

({TIMESTAMP_DIFF}, {NUM}, {IS_NEW}, {DEPTH})
ParametersDescription
{TIMESTAMP_DIFF}The difference in time, in seconds, between the current record and the prior record.
{NUM}A unique session number, starting at 1, for the key defined in the PARTITION BY of the window function.
{IS_NEW}A boolean used to identify whether a record is the first of a session.
{DEPTH}The depth of the current record within the session.

Pathing

Pathing can be used to understand the customer’s depth of engagement, confirm the intended steps of an experience are working as designed, and identify potential pain points impacting the customer.

The following ADFs support establishing pathing views from their previous and next relationships. You’ll be able to create previous pages and next pages, or step through multiple events to create pathing.

Previous page

Determines the previous value of a particular field a defined number of steps away within the window. Notice in the example that the WINDOW function is configured with a frame of ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW setting the ADF to look at the current row and all subsequent rows.

Query syntax

PREVIOUS({KEY}, {SHIFT}, {IGNORE_NULLS}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{KEY}The column or field from the event.
{SHIFT}(Optional) The number of events away from the current event. By default, the value is 1.
{IGNORE_NULLS}(Optional) A boolean that indicates if null {KEY} values should be ignored. By default, the value is false.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT endUserIds._experience.mcid.id, timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name
    PREVIOUS(web.webPageDetails.name, 3)
      OVER(PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
           ORDER BY timestamp
           ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
      AS previous_page
FROM experience_events
ORDER BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id, timestamp ASC

Results

                id                 |       timestamp       |                 name                |                    previous_page
-----------------------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:15:28.0 |                                     |
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:53:05.0 | Home                                |
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:53:45.0 | Kids                                | (Home)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 19:22:34.0 |                                     | (Kids)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:01:12.0 | Home                                |
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:01:57.0 | Kids                                | (Home)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:03:36.0 | Search Results                      | (Kids)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:04:30.0 | Product Details: Pemmican Power Bar | (Search Results)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:05:27.0 | Shopping Cart: Cart Details         | (Product Details: Pemmican Power Bar)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:06:07.0 | Shopping Cart: Shipping Information | (Shopping Cart: Cart Details)
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the previous_page column. The value within the previous_page column is based on the {KEY} used in the ADF.

Next page

Determines the next value of a particular field a defined number of steps away within the window. Notice in the example that the WINDOW function is configured with a frame of ROWS BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING setting the ADF to look at the current row and all subsequent rows.

Query syntax

NEXT({KEY}, {SHIFT}, {IGNORE_NULLS}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{KEY}The column or field from the event.
{SHIFT}(Optional) The number of events away from the current event. By default, the value is 1.
{IGNORE_NULLS}(Optional) A boolean that indicates if null {KEY} values should be ignored. By default, the value is false.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT endUserIds._experience.aaid.id, timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name,
    NEXT(web.webPageDetails.name, 1, true)
      OVER(PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.aaid.id
           ORDER BY timestamp
           ROWS BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING)
      AS next_page
FROM experience_events
ORDER BY endUserIds._experience.aaid.id, timestamp ASC
LIMIT 10

Results

                id                 |       timestamp       |                name                 |             previous_page
-----------------------------------+-----------------------+-------------------------------------+---------------------------------------
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:15:28.0 |                                     | (Home)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:53:05.0 | Home                                | (Kids)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 17:53:45.0 | Kids                                | (Home)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 19:22:34.0 |                                     | (Home)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:01:12.0 | Home                                | (Kids)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:01:57.0 | Kids                                | (Search Results)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:03:36.0 | Search Results                      | (Product Details: Pemmican Power Bar)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:04:30.0 | Product Details: Pemmican Power Bar | (Shopping Cart: Cart Details)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:05:27.0 | Shopping Cart: Cart Details         | (Shopping Cart: Shipping Information)
 457C3510571E5930-69AA721C4CBF9339 | 2017-11-08 20:06:07.0 | Shopping Cart: Shipping Information | (Shopping Cart: Billing Information)
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the previous_page column. The value within the previous_page column is based on the {KEY} used in the ADF.

Time-between

Time-between allows you to explore latent customer behavior within a certain time period before or after an event occurs.

Time-between previous match

This query returns a number representing the unit of time since the previous matching event was seen. If no matching event was found, it returns null.

Query syntax

TIME_BETWEEN_PREVIOUS_MATCH(
    {TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT_DEFINITION}, {TIME_UNIT})
    OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{TIMESTAMP}A timestamp field found in the dataset populated on all events.
{EVENT_DEFINITION}The expression to qualify the previous event.
{TIME_UNIT}The unit of output. Possible value include days, hours, minutes, and seconds. By default, the value is seconds.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT
  page_name,
  SUM (time_between_previous_match) / COUNT(page_name) as average_minutes_since_registration
FROM
(
SELECT
  endUserIds._experience.mcid.id as id,
  timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name as page_name,
  TIME_BETWEEN_PREVIOUS_MATCH(timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name='Account Registration|Confirmation', 'minutes')
    OVER(PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
       ORDER BY timestamp
       ROWS BETWEEN UNBOUNDED PRECEDING AND CURRENT ROW)
    AS time_between_previous_match
FROM experience_events
)
WHERE time_between_previous_match IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY page_name
ORDER BY average_minutes_since_registration
LIMIT 10

Results

             page_name             | average_minutes_since_registration
-----------------------------------+------------------------------------
                                   |
 Account Registration|Confirmation |                                0.0
 Seasonal                          |                   5.47029702970297
 Equipment                         |                  6.532110091743119
 Women                             |                  7.287081339712919
 Men                               |                  7.640918580375783
 Product List                      |                  9.387459807073954
 Unlimited Blog|February           |                  9.954545454545455
 Product Details|Buffalo           |                 13.304347826086957
 Unlimited Blog|June               |                  770.4285714285714
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the average_minutes_since_registration column. The value within the average_minutes_since_registration column is the difference in time between the current and previous events. The unit of time was defined previously in the {TIME_UNIT}.

Time-between next match

This query returns a negative number representing the unit of time behind the next matching event. If a matching event is not found, null is returned.

Query syntax

TIME_BETWEEN_NEXT_MATCH({TIMESTAMP}, {EVENT_DEFINITION}, {TIME_UNIT}) OVER ({PARTITION} {ORDER} {FRAME})
ParameterDescription
{TIMESTAMP}A timestamp field found in the dataset populated on all events.
{EVENT_DEFINITION}The expression to qualify the next event.
{TIME_UNIT}(Optional) The unit of output. Possible value include days, hours, minutes, and seconds. By default, the value is seconds.

An explanation of the parameters within the OVER() function can be found in the window functions section.

Example query

SELECT
  page_name,
  SUM (time_between_next_match) / COUNT(page_name) as average_minutes_until_order_confirmation
FROM
(
SELECT
  endUserIds._experience.mcid.id as id,
  timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name as page_name,
  TIME_BETWEEN_NEXT_MATCH(timestamp, web.webPageDetails.name='Shopping Cart|Order Confirmation', 'minutes')
    OVER(PARTITION BY endUserIds._experience.mcid.id
       ORDER BY timestamp
       ROWS BETWEEN CURRENT ROW AND UNBOUNDED FOLLOWING)
    AS time_between_next_match
FROM experience_events
)
WHERE time_between_next_match IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY page_name
ORDER BY average_minutes_until_order_confirmation DESC
LIMIT 10

Results

             page_name             | average_minutes_until_order_confirmation
-----------------------------------+------------------------------------------
 Shopping Cart|Order Confirmation  |                                      0.0
 Men                               |                       -9.465295629820051
 Equipment                         |                       -9.682098765432098
 Product List                      |                       -9.690661478599221
 Women                             |                       -9.759459459459459
 Seasonal                          |                                  -10.295
 Shopping Cart|Order Review        |                      -366.33567364956144
 Unlimited Blog|February           |                       -615.0327868852459
 Shopping Cart|Billing Information |                       -775.6200495367711
 Product Details|Buffalo           |                      -1274.9571428571428
(10 rows)

For the sample query given, the results are given in the average_minutes_until_order_confirmation column. The value within the average_minutes_until_order_confirmation column is the difference in time between the current and next events. The unit of time was defined previously in the {TIME_UNIT}.