Bulk upload images via Integration Framework

In the previous post, I have provided an example on how we can customize Object Structure to enable import/export binary data via MIF. In Maximo 7.6, the automation scripting framework has been greatly extended to support integration. With this update, we can enable import/export of binary data by adding a simple script without having to write and deploy custom java code. Below is an example how we can configure Maximo 7.6 to bulk upload images to Item Master application:

Step 1: Add an Object Structure integration script

• Open System Configuration > Platform Configuration > Automation Script application
• On Select Action menu, choose Create > Script for Integration
• On the Create Script for Integration pop-up, enter the following details:
• Select “Object Structure”
• Choose “MXITEM” for Object Structure
• Select “Inbound Processing”
• Language: Python
• Paste the following piece of code to the  Source Code text area:

• Click on Create. Then save the script

Creating high performance service using MaximoCache

Sometimes in our application, we need to build custom services that run when Maximo starts. We can extend the psdi.server.AppService class and register it with MXServer by inserting a new entry into the MAXSERVICE table. If the service executes slow running queries, it is a good idea to cache the data in memory to improve performance. We can implement MaximoCache interface for this purpose. By doing this, we can initialize the service when MXServer starts and pre-load all data required by the service into JVM memory. When the service is called, it will only use cached data to provide instant response which gives a much better user experience. 

Below are the steps to create a sample service that loads all Location’s description into memory. The service will provide a function to check if an input string matches with a location’s description or not. We will call this check when user entering an Item’s description and it will throw an error whenever  the input matches with the description of any existing Location. This is not a very good use-case. But for the sake of simplicity, I hope it gives you an idea on how it can be implemented.

MboSet performance, Memory Cache, and DB Call

I recently had to look at ways to improve performance of a custom built operation in Maximo. Essentially, it is one of the many validation operations taken place after a user uploads a PO with a few hundred thousand lines.  The team here already built a high performance engine to handle the process, but even with it, this particular operation still take around 15-17 milliseconds to process each line which is too slow to their current standard. Imagine to process 200,000 PO lines, it will take nearly an hour just for this operation alone. There are a few dozen of these operations need to be executed, plus other standard basic Maximo operations like status change or save, the whole process takes up many hours.

With this millisecond operation, many assumptions or standard recommendations on improving performance may not work. In some instances, following the standard recommendations actually make it slower.