Graph Simulation UI guide
Graph Simulation is a tool in the Identity Service UI that you can use to simulate how an identity graph behaves given a particular combination of identities and how you configure the identity optimization algorithm.
Read this document to learn how you can use Graph Simulation to better understand identity graph behavior and how the graph algorithm functions.
Get to know the Graph Simulation interface interface
You can access Graph Simulation in the Adobe Experience Platform UI. Select Identities from the left navigation and then select Graph Simulation from the top header.
The Graph Simulation interface can be divided into three sections:
Events: Use the Events panel to add identities to simulate a graph. A fully qualified identity must have an identity namespace and its corresponding identity value. You must add at least two identities in order to simulate a graph. You can also select Load Example to input a pre-configured event and algorithm setup.
Algorithm configuration: Use the Algorithm configuration panel to add and configure the optimization algorithm for your namespaces. You can drag and drop a namespace to modify their respective priority ranking. You can also select Unique Per Graph to determine if a namespace is unique.
Simulated graph viewer: The simulated graph viewer displays the resulting graph based on the events you added and the algorithm that you configured. A straight line between two identities means that a link is established. A dotted line indicates that a link has been removed.
Add events add-events
To begin, select Add events.
A pop-up window appears for Event #1. From here, input your identity namespace and identity value combination. You can use the dropdown menu to select an identity namespace. Alternatively, you can type in the first few letters of a namespace and then select the options provided in the dropdown menu. Once you have selected your namespace, provide an identity value that corresponds with your namespace.
Once your first identity is complete, select the add icon (+) to add a second identity.
Next, repeat the same steps and add a second identity. Two fully qualified identities are required in order to generate an identity graph. In the example below, an ECID is added as a namespace and is provided with a value of 111. When finished, select Save.
The Events interface updates to display your first event, which in this case is: {Email: tom@acme.com, ECID: 111}.
Next, repeat the same steps to add a second event. For Event #2, add {Email: summer@acme.com} as your first identity and then add the same {ECID: 111} as the second identity, thus creating a second event of: {Email: summer@acme.com}, {ECID: 111}. When finished, you should have two events, one for {Email: tom@acme.com, ECID: 111} and one for {Email: summer@acme.com}, {ECID: 111}.
Load example load-example
Select Load example to set up an example graph with a pre-set algorithm and event configuration.
A pop-up window appears, providing you with available graph scenarios you can choose from:
user_null value for every event due to code implementation issues.
Select any of the options to load Graph Simulation with pre-configured events and algorithm. You can still make further configurations to any pre-loaded graph scenario examples.
When finished, select Simulate.
Use text version use-text-version
You can also use text mode to configure events. To use text mode, select the settings icon, and then select Text (Advanced users).
You can manually input your identities with text mode. Use a colon (:) to distinguish the identity value that corresponds with the namespace that you input, and then use a comma (,) to separate your identities. To distinguish different events from one another, use a new line for each event.
Edit event edit-event
To edit an event, select the ellipses (...) beside a given event, and then select Edit.
Delete event delete-event
To delete an event, select the ellipses (...) beside a given event, and then select Delete.
Configure algorithm configure-algorithm
Once you have added your events, you can now configure the algorithm that will be used to simulate your graph. To begin, select Add config.
An empty configuration row appears. First, input the same namespace that you used for your events. In this case, begin by inputting Email. Once you enter your namespace, the columns for Identity Symbol and Identity Type auto-populates.
Next, repeat the same steps and add your second namespace, which in this case is the ECID. Once all of your namespaces have been entered, you can begin configuring their priorities and uniqueness.
- Namespace priority: The priority of a namespace determines its relative importance compared to the other namespaces in a given identity graph. For example, if your identity graph has four different namespaces: CRMID, ECID, Email and Apple IDFA, you can configure priorities to determine an order of importance for the four namespace.
- Unique namespace: If a namespace is designated as unique, then Identity Service will generate graphs with the caveat that only one identity with a given unique namespace can exist. For example, if the Email namespace is designated as a unique namespace, then a graph can only have one identity with Email. If there is more than one identity with the Email namespace, then the oldest link will be removed.
To configure namespace priority, select and drag the namespace rows to the priority ordering that you want, with the top row representing higher priority and the bottom row representing lower priority. To designate a namespace as unique, select the Unique Per Graph checkbox.
When finished, select Simulate.
View simulated graph
The Simulated Graph section displays the identity graph(s) generated based on the events that you added and the algorithm that you configured.
In the example graph below, a dotted line exists between {Email: tom@acme.com} and {ECID: 111} because of the following reasons:
- Email was designated as unique during the algorithm configuration step. Therefore, only one identity with an Email namespace may exist in a graph.
- The link between
{Email: tom@acme.com}and{ECID: 111}was the first established identity (Event #1). It is the oldest link and is therefore removed.
Next steps
By reading this document, you now know how to use the Graph Simulation tool to better understand how your identity data is treated given a particular set of rules and configurations. For more information, read the following documents: