FAS 19.3 Upgrade Notes

FAS 19.3 is compatible with the previous release.

FAS, Insights and CRU 19.3 introduce A/B testing capabilities for rankings.

FAS 19.3 also presents performance improvement for Visual Merchandising, improved logging for Merchandising studio, security enhancement and bug fixes.

CRU 19.3's default garbage collector options were changed.

A/B Testing for Rankings

FAS 19.3 adds the possibility to perform A/B testing on Rankings, requiring both CRU and our new Fredhopper Insights. Access Insights via a link in the Merchandising Studio to track the results of the tests.

The A/B tests are available on their page in the Merchandising Studio and can be used to split traffic among multiple ranking rules and campaigns. The A/B tests can be edited and published just like other triggered entities. They will also appear on the Ranking Rules page, so their priority can be set relative to other rankings.

Once a winning option is identified, you can convert the test to a standalone ranking rule.

Known Limitations

It is not possible to choose the ranking applied on Preview Pages in a prepublished environment.

CRU GC configuration

The default option for CRU garbage collection is back to G1 GC. The reason was performance degradation with some customers. If other options are needed on an instance, they can be set in a configuration file java.options.cru. Exemplary contents:

-XX:+UseG1GC

Changes in default system settings (system.xml)

Both changes are available with FAS 19.3.1.

Render facet aliases in breadcrumbs

FAS 19.3.1 introduces the capability to render in breadcrumbs the aliases of facet ranges or lists of attribute values, just like in the facets on the left in Preview Pages.

The respective boolean parameter is render-facets-aliases-in-breadcrumbs, and it is false by default for this version, which keeps the feature turned off.

More detail about this functionality can be seen on the feature's page, Facets Aliases in Breadcrumbs.

	<node name="com">
		<map />
		<node name="fredhopper">
			<map />
                        <node name="features">
				<map>
					<!--Render facets aliases in breadcrumbs, for triggered facets' ranges, including for lists and sets. -->
					<entry key="render-facets-aliases-in-breadcrumbs" value="false" />
				</map>
			</node>

		</node>
	</node>

Login attempts rate limiter

FAS 19.3.1 also introduces the capability to limit the login attempts in Merchandising Studio - per second, per user's IP address (note that multiple users can use the same IP in some environments).

The parameter is login_attempt_rate_limiter_per_second. It takes integer values. When its value equals "0", the feature is disabled.

	<node name="com">
		<map />
		<node name="fredhopper">
			<map />
                        <node name="bm">
				<map>
					<!-- Zero or positive number. In case of zero, the feature is disabled -->
					<entry key="login_attempt_rate_limiter_per_second" value="0" />
				</map>
			</node>

		</node>
         </node>

Migration

Migrating from FAS 19.2 to 19.3 requires no specific migration steps.