Improving custom macro performance in marketing conditions

This page describes two ways in which you can improve macro performance in the conditions of scores, contact groups and marketing automation triggers:

Create a custom macro rule translator

By default, custom macro rules that you use in the conditions of scores, contact groups and time-based marketing automation triggers evaluate individually for each contact. You can improve the recalculation performance by implementing and registering translators for these macro rules. Once a macro rule has a translator registered, a database query is constructed that then selects only the contacts that fit the given macro condition.

Limit unnecessary recalculations

You can further improve performance by making sure your custom macro rules are recalculated only when users perform activity types that are relevant to the macro rule.

Creating a custom macro rule translator

1. Create a class that implements the IMacroRuleInstanceTranslator interface (we recommend adding the class into a custom Class Library).

2. Implement the logic of the macro rule in a method that returns a query of the ObjectQuery<ContactInfo> type. The returned object needs to contain the contacts that fulfill the condition. Note that you do not have to handle contextual information, such as site context, in the query.

   C#Example of an implemented ContactIsFemaleMacro rule translator

   Copy

   using System;
   
   using CMS.DataEngine;
   using CMS.Membership;
   using CMS.ContactManagement;
   
   internal class ContactIsFemaleInstanceTranslator: IMacroRuleInstanceTranslator
   {
       /// <summary>
       /// Translates ContactIsFemaleMacro rule.
       /// </summary>
       public ObjectQuery<ContactInfo> Translate(MacroRuleInstance macroRuleInstance)
       {
           if (macroRuleInstance == null)
           {
               throw new ArgumentNullException("macroRuleInstance");
           }
           if (macroRuleInstance.MacroRuleName != "ContactIsFemaleMacro")
           {
               throw new ArgumentException("[ContactIsFemaleTranslator.Translate]: Only macro rule instances of type ContactIsFemaleMacro can be translated");
           }
   
           var ruleParameters = macroRuleInstance.Parameters;
           // ruleParameters contains the data users enter in macro fields
           string paramIs = ruleParameters["_is"].Value;
           QueryOperator queryOperator = paramIs == "!" ? QueryOperator.NotEquals : QueryOperator.Equals;
   
           return ContactInfo.Provider.Get().Where("ContactGender", queryOperator, (int)UserGenderEnum.Female);
       }
   }

3. Register an instance of the MacroRuleMetadata class by calling the MacroRuleMetadataContainer.RegisterMetadata method.

   • To register the class at the beginning of the application's lifecycle, create a custom module class and override the OnInit method.

   • Add the module class into a custom Class Library project within the Xperience solution.

     C#

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     using System.Collections.Generic;
     
     using CMS;
     using CMS.Base;
     using CMS.DataEngine;
     using CMS.ContactManagement;
     
     // Registers the custom module into the system
     [assembly: RegisterModule(typeof(CustomInitializationModule))]
     
     public class CustomInitializationModule : Module
     {
         // Module class constructor, the system registers the module under the name "CustomInit"
         public CustomInitializationModule()
             : base("CustomInit")
         {
         }
     
         // Contains initialization code that is executed when the application starts
         protected override void OnInit()
         {
             base.OnInit();
     
             MacroRuleMetadata metadata = new MacroRuleMetadata(
                 "ContactIsFemaleMacro",
                 new ContactIsFemaleInstanceTranslator(),
                 affectingActivities: new List<string>(0),
                 affectingAttributes: new List<string>(0));
     
             MacroRuleMetadataContainer.RegisterMetadata(metadata);
         }
     }

4. Save the files and rebuild your solution.

Important: Note that with this macro rule metadata registered, the recalculation is not performed for any contact activity or attribute change. You can make the rule recalculate for a specific set of activities and attribute changes.

Now, when you use the translated macro rule in a scoring, contact group or time-based marketing automation trigger condition, the query is only performed once when you run recalculation.

Recalculating contact group and scoring rules only for specific activities and attributes

Another way of improving your site performance is by making sure that contact groups and scores are recalculated only when necessary. You can make sure your custom contact group and scoring macro rules are only recalculated for specified activities or when specific contact attributes change.

Examples:

• The "ContactIsFemale" macro doesn't need to be rebuilt by any contact activity that the visitor performs on a site. Instead, it only needs to be rebuilt by a change in the contact's "contactgender" attribute.
• A rule that checks whether a contact has visited a page ("CMSContactHasVisitedSpecifiedPageInLastXDays" macro by default) only needs to be rebuilt when a visitor performs a page visit activity on a site ("PAGE_VISIT" activity by default).

To specify the activities and attribute changes that rebuild your custom macro rule:

1. Create a custom macro rule translator.

2. Extend the metadata instantiation by the following parameters:

   1. IList<string> affectingActivities – a list of activities for which you want the macro to rebuild.
   2. IList<string> affectingAttributes – a list of attributes for which you want the macro to rebuild.

protected override void OnInit()
{
    ...
    MacroRuleMetadata metadata = new MacroRuleMetadata(
        "CustomMacroRule", 
        new CustomMacroRuleTranslator(), 
        affectingActivities: new List<string>
        {
            // Recalculate for a predefined activity
            PredefinedActivityType.PAGE_VISIT,
            // Recalculate for a custom activity
            "custom_activity_codename"
        }
        affectingAttributes: new List<string>
        {
            // Recalculate when specific attributes change
            "contactgender",
            "contactcountryid"
        }); 
    MacroRuleMetadataContainer.RegisterMetadata(metadata);
    ...
}

protected override void OnInit()
{
    ...
    var noNeedToRecalculate = new List<string>(0);

    MacroRuleMetadata metadata = new MacroRuleMetadata(
        "CustomMacroRule",
        new CustomMacroRuleTranslator(),
        affectingActivities : noNeedToRecalculate,
        affectingAttributes : noNeedToRecalculate
        );
    MacroRuleMetadataContainer.RegisterMetadata(metadata);
    ...
}

protected override void OnInit()
{
    ...
    MacroRuleMetadata metadata = new MacroRuleMetadata(
        "CustomMacroRule",
        new CustomMacroRuleTranslator(),
        affectingActivities: new List<string>
        {
            MacroRuleMetadata.ALL_ACTIVITIES
        },
        affectingAttributes: new List<string>
        {
            MacroRuleMetadata.ALL_ATTRIBUTES
        });
    MacroRuleMetadataContainer.RegisterMetadata(metadata);
    ...
}

Note: You can also combine the parameters as you see fit. 3. Save the files and rebuild your solution.

Now, only the specified contact activities or changes in contact attributes will trigger a recalculation of the custom macro rule.