How to Debug an Adobe Launch Implementation

Table of Contents

Updated: October 23, 2024

When we are done with the configuration and setup, we need to know if this is right or not, which requires testing/debugging.

Combining with Click Tracking Implementation from the previous section, suppose we have configured the click tracking, and now we need to test it. What should we do?

There are many tools and plugins for testing, such as the officially recommended Adobe Experience Cloud Debugger and Launch Switch, the Monitoring Hooks solution provided by Launch, and Tagtician provided by third parties.

In fact, Browser Developer Tools can also do testing.

Browser Developer Tools

The browser developer tools also have a variety of testing methods, open the browser developer tools:

Console

Analytics Server Call

The Adobe Analytics Server Call under the Console is the data sent to Adobe Analytics, which contains specific data information:

_satellite.getVar(Data Element)

We can also use the developer console of the browser to test whether the relevant data elements have accurately obtained the value. After simulating the behavior that needs to be tracked, enter _satellite.getVar (“element”) directly in the console. The desired data element, such as the Page Name:

_satellite.setDebug (true)

We can also add _satellite.setDebug (true) to see which Rules fired. Enter it in the console and refresh it:

You can see that there is a small ? , it will show what operation was performed and what rules triggered.

Network

It can also be judged by the Network of the browser developer tool, because the request sent to Adobe Analytics will carry the AQB key word, which can be filtered by AQB:

Click on this request, and then look at its header, you can see the specific data it sends:

You can find out whether the data you want to track has been sent.

The way of developing tools through the browser is not suitable for testing events that have jumps, because the page is refreshed after clicking, and the time is too short, and you have no time to look at the data at all.

Adobe Experience Cloud Debugger

This tool has been discontinued.

Adobe Experience Platform Debugger

Adobe Experience Platform Debugger is actually an upgraded version of Adobe Experience Cloud Debugger.

The usage is the same. First open the website, then open the Adobe Experience Platform Debugger, and then refresh or simulate the behavior, Adobe Experience Platform Debugger will automatically collect the data.

It looks very similar to the previous one, but the UI is different.

If you want to test a different product, click on the corresponding product. It seems that the data sent is correct. Let’s take a look at Adobe Analytics, this is the data sent to Adobe Analytics:

Launch Switch

Launch Switch is also called Launch and DTM Switch. This is a test tool developed by Search Discover. It is an Extensions on Chrome and can be used after installation.

The usage is: open the website, then open the Launch Switch, select the corresponding environment, and click Debug on:

If we want to see the data, we also need to open the Console of the browser developer tool, refresh it, and you will see a lot of ?, which means the opening is successful:

Is this interface rarely familiar?

In fact, you can also directly enter _satellite.setDebug (true) in the console to open it. The functions of Launch Switch and _satellite.setDebug (true) are the same.

Here you can see more launch execution messages that can help you determine whether the rule is triggered, but you need to find the rule yourself. If there is no rule you are looking for, it means that it is not triggered and you need to modify the event in the rule.

Tagtician

Tagtician is a test tool developed by 33 Stick, It is an Extensions on Chrome and can be used after installation.

The usage is: open the developer tools (F12) and click on the Tagtician tab.

You can see which rules are triggered. You can know what data is passed.

Omnibug

Omnibug is a Chrome extension built to ease developing and QAing today’s marketing technologies. It is an Extensions on Chrome and can be used after installation.

The usage is: open the developer tools (F12) and click on the Omnibug tab.

Click on it to see the specific information sent:

Monitoring Hooks

This method is provided by Adobe Launch, you need to add a piece of code before the launch library，This will allow the monitor to catch even the earliest system events that occur in the Launch library，The code to be added is as follows:

<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><script>
    window._satellite = window._satellite || {};
    window._satellite._monitors = window._satellite._monitors || [];
    window._satellite._monitors.push({
      ruleTriggered: function (event) {
        console.log(
          'rule triggered', 
          event.rule
        );
      },
      ruleCompleted: function (event) {
        console.log(
          'rule completed', 
          event.rule
        );
      },
      ruleConditionFailed: function (event) {
        console.log(
          'rule condition failed', 
          event.rule, 
          event.condition
        );
      }
    });
  </script>
</span>

The monitor object can specify the following methods, which will later be called by the Launch library at certain points in time:

ruleTriggered will be called after an event triggers a rule but before the rule’s conditions and actions have been processed. The event object passed to ruleTriggered will contain information about the rule that was triggered.
ruleCompleted will be called after a rule has been fully processed. In other words, the event has occurred, all conditions have passed, and all actions have executed. The event object passed to ruleCompleted will contain information about the rule that completed.
ruleConditionFailed will be called after a rule has been triggered and one of its conditions has failed. The event object passed to ruleConditionFailed will contain information about the rule that was triggered and the condition that failed.

As you might surmise, if ruleTriggered gets called, either ruleCompleted or ruleConditionFailed will be called shortly thereafter.

Let’s try how to use it. After deploying which piece of code, directly open the console of the developer tools of the browser, and then you can directly simulate the test, and you will see the following interface:

It will prompt you which rules are triggered, what are the results of the trigger, success or failure. This is more convenient than the previous need to find out if the Rule is triggered by yourself.

Referral

https://medium.com/adobetech/launch-library-monitoring-hooks-c674d16deae3

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