Processes taking input from a table

If a process takes input from a table or strategic segment, the Cell size limit tab includes the options described below. Use these options to limit the number of IDs that are output by the process in production or test runs.

Use the Specify output cell size limitation options to control production runs of the process. The key difference between the two Limit options is their impact on resources and the final number of records when your data source is non-normalized.

  • Unlimited cell size: Returns all IDs that meet the query or selection criteria. This option is the default.
  • Limit output cell size to: Returns no more than the specified number of unique IDs, selected randomly from all IDs that meet the query criteria. In the text box, enter the maximum number of IDs that you want returned. Unica Campaign deduplicates the complete set of IDs before random selection, then retains only the specified number of records, so that a list of unique IDs is returned even when duplicates exist on the ID fields. This option uses a large amount of temporary space and takes the most time because all IDs must be retrieved to the Unica Campaign server. Use this option only when the data is not normalized on the ID field and if it is important that exactly N records are returned.
  • Limit selection based on: Use this option to limit records that meet your query criteria. This option reduces the time and memory that are required to select the final set of records. However, it can result in fewer than the specified number of unique IDs.
    • First N (fastest): Unica Campaign retrieves from the database only the first N records that meet your query criteria. Unica Campaign then deduplicates these IDs. If the data is not normalized, then the final result contains fewer than the requested number of unique records. This method is the fastest because it takes less time to retrieve data and uses less temporary space.
    • Random: Unica Campaign retrieves from the database all records that meet your query criteria, then randomly selects the number of records requested. Unica Campaign then deduplicates those IDs. If the data is not normalized, the final result contains fewer than the requested number of unique records. This option uses less temporary space because only the randomly selected records are retrieved and stored by Unica Campaign.

Use the Test run output cell size limitations options to control test runs.

In some processes, including Audience and Select, you can limit cell size specifically for test runs. Use these options to control the amount of data returned and processed during test runs. For information, see Applying test run output cell size limitations.