Hyperion Essbase Audit Logs Turning Off Without Notification

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1 Hyperion Essbase Audit Logs Turning Off Without Notification Audit logs, or SSAUDIT, are a crucial component of backing up Hyperion Essbase applications in many environments. It is the equivalent of a transaction log in a relational database. To use this effectively, the audit log has to consistently log database changes. If the audit feature in Hyperion Essbase is used, the following information is absolutely critical to know to effectively manage this feature. If the application is on a shared environment where multiple groups/people are administering the applications, it is critical that everybody understands this, and plays nicely together! The audit logs are turned off without any notification when the following actions occur on an Essbase server. To turn the audit feature back on, the Essbase application in question has to be stopped and started. It is not required to cycle the Essbase service. Any operation that causes a database restructure. The creation of a new application The creation a new database Copying a database Renaming a database After any of these operations occurs on the server, stop and start all applications that use the audit feature.

2 Why NOT Using the Currency Option with Hyperion Planning has Benefits Hyperion Planning applications often require multiple currencies. Hyperion Planning includes a currency option that easily allows multiple currencies to be managed. Allowing Planning to manage this introduces a couple of limitations and inherent costs. These can be avoided if currency is managed manually. When the Hyperion Planning currency option is enabled, an additional 2 dimensions are required. This raises the required dimensions from 6 to 8. Most planning applications have a need for at least 2 to 3 custom dimensions. Even smaller applications suffer greatly when adding the additional 2 dimensions. So, by using the currency option, the ability to use custom dimensions is limited. By adding a few accounts to hold the currency conversion and adding one dimension that has members for all the currencies, multi-currency applications can be handled with only one additional dimension. If the currency option is not used, the currency calculations may be written more efficiently than the default calculations introduced with the currency option. Another drawback with the currency option is that is only allows data input to the base currency. The majority of the applications I have built that require multiple currencies require the input at more than base currency. Assume a retail company has stores in a number of countries with different currencies. Salaries may be budgeted in the local currencies, but the cost of the bags used by customers to carry

3 merchandise out of the store is budgeted in USD. The costs are distributed in USD based on units, and converted to the local currencies. Lastly, using the currency option, because of the number of dense dimensions, limits the number of time periods. Executing calculations is limited to using 64k of memory. Applications that use something other than month (like week, or day) can regularly hit this limit. Essbase Add-in Ribbon, Version 2 Is Here Thanks for all the great feedback on our Essbase Add-in Ribbon! I have seen praise and thanks on the Oracle forums, network54, and a number of other popular hotspots. I am constantly getting s of gratitude. Hundreds, if not thousands, of Hyperion customers are using the ribbon. With the accolades, I am also getting some great suggestions for additional functionality. In the spirit of giving back to the Hyperion community, I have every intention of implementing these requests. What is new for the second release of the ribbon? For those of you who used the Essbase Powerbar, you are aware of the option to save commonly used server connections. I am happy to announce that it is now part of the In2Hyperion Essbase Add-in Ribbon feature set! We moved the connection button that existed on the right, to the first button on the ribbon and renamed it Quick Connect. From this menu button, users can select connect, add quick connection, or remove quick connection. As connections are

4 added, they will appear automatically in the Quick Connect menu. The benefit of this option is that a user can select a quick connection, which remembers the server, application, database, username, and password. Connecting to an Essbase application requires fewer clicks and less typing. After quick connections are added, a file in My Documents named In2Hyperion.txt will exist. This is where the connection information is stored. The password is encrypted to ensure your information is not made available to other parties. Download version 2. To stay informed about future releases by signing up for our newsletter. If you have any feedback, send us an through the contact page. Thanks again for all your support! Why Does Workspace Log You Out? Many clients have issues with Workspace logging users out when attempting to open/export certain types of documents. For example, a user logged into Hyperion Workspace attempts to open a Supporting Detail document, only to be prompted with a logout warning message before the document opens. The same can happen when a user attempts to export an FR report file (.DES file) from Workspace. After being logged out of Workspace, the user is able to log back into the application and open/export the necessary document. This issue can easily fixed by adjusting a few browser settings as shown below. NOTE: Microsoft documents typically cause this logout issue (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

5 1. Open your web browser (This blog entry will assume IE). 2. Select Tools -> Internet Options from the menu bar. 3. Select the Internet option inside the Security tab. Select Custom Level. 4. Navigate to the Downloads section and Enable Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click OK.

6 5. Now select the Local Internet option inside the Security tab. Select Custom Level.

7 6. Navigate to the Downloads section and Enable Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click OK. 7. Finally, select the Trusted sites option inside the Security tab. Select Custom Level.

8 8. Navigate to the Downloads section and Enable Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click OK.

9 9. Now that the settings have been set properly, Click OK on the Internet Options dialog box. 10. Close and re-open your web browser for the settings to take effect. Test these settings by logging into Workspace and opening a Supporting Detail document. Dynamically Referencing Members in Business Rules Often times with a Hyperion Essbase or Planning application, an allocation of data will be required. Many times, the allocation is simply moving data from one member to another. When the number of members involved is large, developing the script can be time consuming. When the members frequently change, the maintenance of the calculation can be a nuisance. When the members involved in the allocation are similar on both sides (the from and the to), the following method can be employed to speed the development and limit, or eliminate, any maintenance required. Requirement The application has 50 members in which the data needs to be moved. The data originates from an account coming from the general ledger. The data needs to be moved to a new member that doesn t exist in the chart of accounts. The new member will exist in a different part of the hierarchy. Solution The first step is to create a corresponding member for each of

10 the 50 accounts that need allocated. These accounts will be identical to the original 50, except they will be prefixed with a D identifying them as a dummy, or made up, account. Each of these new accounts will have a UDA of allocation. The prefix of the member and the UDA are not critical. They will likely be something more meaningful to the requirements. GL Acct Dummy Account D D D Once the hierarchy is ready to handle the allocation, the following function can be used. In layman s terms, this only executes on the new members added (identified by the unique UDA) and makes them equal to the corresponding member without the added prefix. We will assume that this is being executed on a scenario that equals Actuals. FIX(@UDA( allocation )) /* Make the new member equal to the old member */ Actuals Account )), 1)); /* Clear the old member Account )), 1)) = #Missing; ENDFIX Let s assume that the UDA is NOT added to the new, or dummy, member. If the UDA is on the originating member, the calculation would look like this. FIX(@UDA( allocation )) /* Make the new member equal to the old member D,@NAME(@CURRMBR( Account )))) = Actuals ; /* Clear the old member */ Actuals = #Missing;

11 ENDFIX Now we can break down these functions. Remember, the calculations loop through all members in all dimensions. In this example, setting the result equal to Actuals is simply making the account that the calculation is looking at, at that particular point in the loop, equal to whatever is on the other side of the Account )), 1)) There are four functions used in this will convert a string to a member requires 2 parameters (3 optional). The first is the larger string from which you want to take a smaller string. The second is where to start, with 0 being the first character. The third is how many characters to include. If this is left blank, it will take all the characters to the right of the second will convert a member to a gets the current member of a specified dimension. Putting this all together, this calculation (from inside out) is getting the current member of the Accounts dimension ( d ). It converts that member to a string. It takes all the characters to the right of the first character ( ). Then it converts the string back to a member. At this point, we can set that member equal to D,@NAME(@CURRMBR( Account )))) The functions here are the same as above, except we are not removing the d. We are adding accepts two parameters and will combine those two in to one string Putting this all together, this calculation (from inside out)

12 is concatenating two strings, a D and the current member of the Accounts dimension ( d ). It then converts the string to a member. At this point, we can set that member equal to something. Benefits By using these functions, the calculations can be much smaller, quicker to develop, and completely maintained by the outline. This effectively gives the user community ownership on the maintenance. Calculating Custom Functions in Microsoft Excel Microsoft Excel does a great job of calculating only what is needed. If automatic calculation is turned on (and is by default), it only calculates formulas that have changed since the last calculations. If automatic calculation is turned off, F9 will accomplish the same thing. CTRL F9 goes one step further and calculates formulas that have changed, as well as the formulas dependent on them. CTRL ALT F9 calculates all formulas in the workbook, regardless of whether they changed since the last calculation. When custom functions are used, Microsoft Excel doesn t always know the dependencies because the function can reference cells outside those provided in the function arguments. When this occurs, using CTRL SHIFT ALT F9 is critical to ensure that all cells are calculated correctly. This rechecks dependent cells and calculates all formulas regardless of whether they have

13 changed since the last calculation. This is the only way to ensure that all data is calculated. Long Live The Essbase Add-In! Many of the Hyperion Planning and Essbase users still prefer to use the Essbase Add-In in conjunction with, or in place of, SmartView. As you probably already know, deploying the Essbase Add-In in version 11 has challenges. There is over 2GB of data that is required and the installtool.cmd file is not a simple installation that most users can administer without help. Because of the size, deploying it in a distributed package is extremely challenging. There are some instructions on various BLOGs that explain a way to deploy it manually, with edits to the registry. Any time I work with a client and mention editing the registry outside an automated install, this option is quickly disregarded. In version , Oracle Hyperion has added a self contained executable for the Essbase Add-In! The download is located in the Hyperion Essbase s download page. Why is the maximum number of returnable rows in SmartView

14 only 5,000? Regardless of whether the perception of using SmartView for large queries is good or bad, the reality is that finance and accounting users require the ability to pull large volumes of information out of Essbase. The only limit that I am aware of in the days of the Excel Add-In was the maximum number of rows Excel would allow (assuming the Essbase application cache settings were high enough to support it). With SmartView, there is a limit. The limit is controllable very easily, however. The error that users may question an administrator follows. Cannot perform cube view operation. OLAP error ( ): Maximum number of rows [5000] exceeded. To increase the maximum number of rows a user can retrieve, or submit, edit the service.olap.dataquery.grid.maxrows property in the essbase.properties file. The default is While editing this property, it may be benefitial to evaluate the size if the columns (.olap.dataquery.grid.maxcolumns), which is set to 255 by default. Once this is updated, restart the Hyperion services. The location of the essbase.properties file is dependent on the version of Essbase installed. Start by going to the server with APS installed. Location for version 9.3 %HYPERION_HOME%\AnalyticProviderServices\bin directory Location for version 11 %HYPERION_HOME%\products\Essbase\aps\bin\

15 Adding Font Types in Financial Reporting The ability to import font types into Hyperion Financial Reporting is a common request by many companies, typically a request resulting from corporate reporting standards. Not only is this possible, it s a quick and easy exercise that is detailed out below. Step 1: Locate the Font Folder. The font type files (normally identified by a.ttf or.ttf extension) can be found in the Fonts folder located in your Windows directory (Likely on your C drive). The key here is locating this folder on the server where Hyperion Financial Reporting has been installed. Step 2: Copying& Pasting the New Font File. This is as easy as it sounds just copy and paste the new file into this directory. Step 3: Creating a Report. Opening Hyperion Financial Reporting and create/modify a report. When selecting the font type, notice the new Font Type

16 that was just added in Step 2 above. Note that it s best to close the Financial Reporting client before importing the new Font file onto the server; this will insure that the client will recognize the new file. Financial Reporting Bottom 10 KPI Reporting solutions often require companies to filter out a top range of Key Performance Indicators; for example, the top 10 expenses related to marketing. Hyperion Financial Reporting makes this type of reporting easy for developers by providing the Top properties checkbox. The difficulty arises when a company requires a solution to display the bottom 10 those 10 expenses that account for a majority of marketing related expense. Hyperion Financial Reporting has nothing built to provide this type of information.

17 As you might expect knowing your smaller expenses is important but knowing the largest; those where you can improve margin, is vital. A solution to display the bottom 10 is detailed below; this solution displays the 10 largest negative values vs. displaying the 10 largest positive values. The high-level solution includes the following functionality: a. Inserting a Rank column. b. Sorting on the Rank column. c. Adding conditional suppression for bottom 10. Step 1: Create a report grid with a formula column as the first column (Column A below). Step 2: Insert the Rank function on the Formula Column. Be sure to choose the Ascending property. Adding Rank will order the rows from High-to-Low based on the data returned. The example below provides ranking off of Column A. The ranking is used on Step 4 when adding conditional suppression.

18 Step 3: Apply row Sort to the grid. You find the Sort property by placing focus on the entire grid (left clicking the upper left-most cell). Choose to apply sorting to the Rows, Sort by Column A, and sort in Ascending order. Sorting will determine the order in which the data is displayed, Ascending or Descending. The Sorting is used on Step 4 when adding conditional suppression. Step 4: Add Conditional Suppression to the row(s). This logic will determine which data rows are ultimately displayed to the user. To add conditional suppression, highlight the row and click Advanced Options. Because the requirement is to show the bottom 10, suppression should hide any row with a Rank value greater than 10 (You will also want to suppress rows where No Data is returned).

19 When this report is run, only the bottom 10 will be displayed to the user those marketing expenses with the largest negative values. The solution above will essentially do what a Bottom checkbox would have provided had Hyperion programmed this functionality into the application.