About the Clickstream Sessionize Transformation

The Clickstream Sessionize transformation reads data from the input transformation (typically the Clickstream Parse transformation). Once the input data is clean and you have identified a Visitor ID, then you need to identify sessions. A session consists of the series of the user's clicks from the time that the user enters the Web site, clicks on certain pages, and then exits at another point.

The Clickstream Sessionize transformation enables you to identify the user sessions, identify spiders and other non-human visitors, and manage sessions that span Web logs. The output goes to a table or continues within the job for additional processing. The Clickstream Sessionize transformation is shown in the following display.

Clickstream Sessionize Transformation

The Clickstream Sessionize transformation passes the same set of columns it receives on the input to the output. The transformation also adds the following columns:

Clickstream Sessionize Generated Columns

Column Name	Description	Completion Method	Label	Length	SAS Format
Session_ID*	Specifies the assigned session identifier for this visitor session. * Default name for the column identified as holding or representing the Session ID.	If the Session_ID column is present on the input table and has a value, then this value is used as the identifier for this visitor's session. If the Session_ID value is blank or the Session_ID column is not present in the incoming table, then it is derived from User-Defined Rules or the default configuration option (combines CLK_Client_IP , CLK_cs_UserAgent, and date time).	Session ID	245	$245
Session_Closed	Specifies whether the record belongs to an open or closed session. When this value is set to `1`, it indicates that this record belongs to a closed session. A value of `0` indicates that this record belongs to an open session.	Is set to `1` when a session has exceeded the session timeout value. Otherwise, this value is set to `0`.	Session Closed	3	1.
Entry_Point	Specifies whether this is the first click of the visitor's session. When this value is set to `1`, it indicates that this is the first click of the visitor’s session. Otherwise, this value is set to `0`.	Examines in date_time order. The first click entry_point is set to `1`; all others are set to `0`.	Entry Point	3	1.
Exit_Point	Specifies whether this is the last click of the visitor's session and whether it belongs to an open or closed session. When this value is set to `1`, it indicates that this is the last click of the visitor’s session and it belongs to a closed session. When this value is set to `2`, it indicates that this is the last click of the visitor’s session and it belongs to an open session. Otherwise, this value is set to `0`.	Examines clicks in date_time order. The final click exit_point is set to `1`; all others are set to `0` or `2`.	Exit Point	3	1.
Eyeball_Time	Specifies the amount of time the visitor spent on the page before the next click.	Subtracts date_time of current click from date_time of subsequent click. The last click in a session is set to missing.	Eyeball Time	8	TIME.

Note: Extra columns that are on the input to the Clickstream Sessionize transformation are passed through. The generated columns are added to the output detail data table.

Typical user tasks for the Clickstream Sessionize transformation include the following:

specifying the way that non-human visitors are detected and handled
managing sessions that span Web logs
specifying options for the Clickstream Sessionize transformation