Features can be created and edited within the Workflow tab in a Features Editor interface.
Creating a New Features File
Click on the "add a new file" icon inside the file explorer (Alternatively: right click > new file)
Next, enter the name of the features file and be sure to give it a '.feature.yaml' extension, so that it's recognised as a features file.
Double click the new file to launch the Features Editor (Alternatively: right click features file > open with > Darwinium Features)
What is happening when I use this interface?
The interface is a more business friendly and intuitive way of creating a .features yaml file.
The underlying text view can be accessed and edited if you prefer by: right click features file in File Explorer > open with > Text Editor.
It is reccomended to start with the interface though, as this will not lead to invalid configuration errors.
Features Editor Operations
Create
Use the Add Feature button to add new Feature.
This will allow configuring of a Feature, that will be processed, compute a value (number) in real-time and be returned within a Features map of Feature Name: Feature Value pairs when the Feature set is ran on an event.
Save
When the Feature properties are configured in the interface, clicking Update will save the Feature to the file and appear in the list of Features.
Edit
Double clicking, or clicking the box with the pen on any feature will re-open its interface to make changes.
Deleting
The rubbish icon on the right hand side of each feature will delete that feature.
Ordering
The features can be reordered and moved up or down in the list by holding and dragging the dotted icon on the far left of any feature.
Note that order is cosmetic only; while the Features are executed from top to bottom, dependincies are managed within the journey configuration.
Feature Interface
The feature name is a free-text field and acts as a key for the map of Feature Name: Feature Value pairs.
It is best practice for the name to reflect what is being computed e.g., device_velocity_day
Uniqueness is enforced.
Default Value
Numeric field (accepting decimals) which the feature will evaluate to if:
There are no events in the criteria
There is an invalid expression or error when attempting to process
Find the
Drop down of the fixed list of Feature Types. This is the fundamental computation being performed over the criteria.
The choice will restrict the interface to show the parameters available for that Feature Type.
Specific Event Types
Toggle.
If off, criteria will not be restricted by event type.
If on, criteria will be restricted to only include the event types in the multi-select box.
Include Current Event
Toggle. When off, the current event will not be in criteria. When on it will be.
Condition
Query box. Allows for any additional restrictions of the criteria using Darwinium Query Syntax.
For example. restricting to a certain device type or geography.
With the Same
Multi select box of Darwinium entities and attributes to restrict the criteria to the same values as on the current event.
For all but the Approximate features, an Entity must be specified within the With the Same for performance.
Time Window
Drop down for the time unit (or behaviour) and numeric box for the amount of time units that the criteria should be over.
Determines the length of time window (e.g., 24 hours, 3 months) to search for matching events to perform computation on.
Time Window | Description |
all | No time restriction will be imposed; any event or request matching the criteria will be included in the computation, since the start of traffic. |
mins, hours, days, months | Minutes, Hours, Days, Months respectively. Months are taken as 30 days. All are full, unrounded timeframes. |
events | Will only look back over a fixed number of events, starting with most recent and going back until the number is reached. |
since last event | Enables a toggle to specify an event type to stop the lookback at. The criteria will include all matching events between the current and the most recent event matching the event type(s) listed. Example: Number of Failed Logins since last successful Login. |
since beginning of calender month/day | Stops the lookback time window at start of month or day. Time zone can be specified. Note: time window will therefore be different lengths depending on when in a month or day the event is processed. |
Starting
Specifies if a lag should be added over most recent time frame.
Allows ignoring of most recent (and possibly abnormal) behaviour to produce a Feature that better tracks normal behaviour for reference.
Q: Does the Starting lag eat into the Time Window?
A: No. The Time Window starts after the Starting lag has been taken into account.
The Time Window slides back accordingly and stays the same length it would have been without the Starting lag
In other words, the earliest valid time of the criteria will move back when there is a starting lag.
Starting | Description |
immediately | No Starting lag will be used; time window will start from this event looking back |
mins/hours/days/months in the past | Starting lag will be the time period stated |
events | Time window will start after ignoring the most recent number of events specified. |
Attributes
Needed for: Count Distinct
Multi-select box of attributes to count unique combinations of in the criteria. Note if multiple selected, uniqueness will be counted as unique combinations of attribute values.
Numeric Attribute
Needed for: Statistic of Numeric
Same as attributes but restricted to numeric attributes only.
Coordinate Attribute
Needed for: Distance Features
Same as attributes but restricted to longitude/latitude points from profiling data.
In Units
Needed for: Distance Features
Drop down box for Kilometer or Miles distances.
Into Features (and secondary features)
Into Features is a special property that allows defining 'secondary' or follow on statistic features.
The text box of any statistic computed over the attributes and criteria mentioned can be performed.
Text boxes next to each statistic are used to name these features.
Leaving some stat boxes blank is valid; these won't be computed.
