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Please use the following category to raise ideas for these offerings for all environments (traditional on premises, containers, on cloud):

  • Cloud Pak for Business Automation - including Business Automation Studio and App Designer, Business Automation Insights

  • Business Automation Workflow (BAW) - including BAW, Business Process Manager, Workstream Services, Business Performance Center, Advanced Case Management

  • Content Services - FileNet Content Manager

  • Content Services - Content Manager OnDemand

  • Content Services - Daeja Virtual Viewer

  • Content Services - Navigator

  • Content Services - Content Collector for Email, Sharepoint, Files

  • Content Services - Content Collector for SAP

  • Content Services - Enterprise Records

  • Content Services - Content Manager (CM8)

  • Datacap

  • Automation Document Processing

  • Automation Decision Services (ADS)

  • Operational Decision Manager

  • Robotic Process Automation

  • Robotic Process Automation with Automation Anywhere

  • Blueworks Live

  • Business Automation Manager Open Edition

  • IBM Process Mining


Specific links you will want to bookmark for future use

Welcome to the IBM Ideas Portal (https://www.ibm.com/ideas) - Use this site to find out additional information and details about the IBM Ideas process and statuses.

IBM Unified Ideas Portal (https://ideas.ibm.com) - Use this site to view all of your ideas, create new ideas for any IBM product, or search for ideas across all of IBM.

ideasibm@us.ibm.com - Use this email to suggest enhancements to the Ideas process or request help from IBM for submitting your Ideas.


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Status Under review
Workspace Operational Decision Manager
Created by Guest
Created on May 18, 2026

RELATED IDEAS

Improve clarity and root-cause visibility in RuleApp deployment error messages

Product: IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM)
Version: 9.0.0.1 (Observed post iFix IF024)

Background / Problem Statement:
Following the resolution of defect DT463767 (delivered via iFix IF024), improvements were expected in deployment validation. While early validation during RuleApp build has improved, the deployment error messages remain unclear and insufficient for effective troubleshooting.

During deployment failures caused by incorrectly defined variables (e.g., improperly initialized or syntactically invalid variables), the system produces verbose and cryptic exception messages. These messages do not explicitly highlight the root cause (such as the specific variable causing the issue). Instead, users are presented with long stack traces that are difficult to interpret.

Observed Behavior:

  • Deployment fails as expected when variables are incorrectly defined.

  • Error output contains lengthy exception logs without clearly identifying the problematic variable.

  • No direct indication of root cause (e.g., variable name like “badVariable”).

Expected Behavior:

  • Deployment error messages should explicitly identify:

    • The exact variable causing the failure

    • The nature of the issue (e.g., syntax error, unclosed string, invalid initialization)

  • Error messages should be concise, user-friendly, and actionable, especially for business users.

Business Impact:

  • Business users are unable to self-diagnose issues and must rely on IT teams.

  • Increased time for troubleshooting and delayed deployments.

  • Reduced usability of ODM for non-technical stakeholders.

Requested Enhancement:
Enhance deployment error reporting to:

  • Clearly highlight the root cause (variable name and issue)

  • Provide structured, readable error messages instead of raw stack traces

  • Ensure consistency between expected improvements and actual behavior across all variable-related errors

Additional Context:
Test cases and supporting evidence (screenshots and logs) demonstrate that the current behavior does not align with the improvements described in the iFix documentation.

Evidence_the_de...
Evidence_the_deployment_error_does_not_show_the_root_cause_of_the_error.pdf
 Evidence_the_deployment_error_does_not_show_the_root_cause_of_the_error.pdf
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Idea priority High

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