Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P58 ppsx

Zooming in on sample dataThis function allows you to return only sample subsets of the actual data that a retrieve may return.. The Essbase | Sample Data Zoom In function depends on how

Zooming in on sample data

This function allows you to return only sample subsets of the actual data that a

retrieve may return The Essbase | Sample Data (Zoom In) function depends on

how you have two Essbase | Options set First, is the sampling percentage setting

on the Zoom tab of the Essbase | Options screen Whatever percentage this is set to

is the amount of data which will be returned when you Zoom In using this function How much you Zoom In is determined by the Zoom setting, also on the Zoom tab of the Essbase | Options screen.

For example, if you click on a member name on your spreadsheet and then click

the Sample Data (Zoom In) function, your data will be returned as follows: Let's

say there are 200 children members under the member you selected for the Sample Data (Zoom In) function and your Zoom In function is set to Bottom Level, and

your Sampling setting is set to 100% This Zoom In will return all 200 children

members into your spreadsheet

Let's now say that you have the Zoom In function still set to Bottom Level but this

time you have the Sampling setting set to 10% This Zoom In will only return the

first 20 children members into your spreadsheet These 20 members are 10% of the

200 that are available

The Sample Data (Zoom In) function works very well for Zoom Ins on particularly

large dimensions if you are just checking the data and do not need to see all of it

Linking objects to your data

In Essbase it is possible to link an object, such as a file object, to a specific data cell

in the database This object can contain information or explanations on or about

the data or it can be whatever you want it to be

The Essbase | Linked Objects… command displays the Linked Objects Browser

dialog box The Linked Objects Browser allows you to create or access linked

objects and displays the objects currently linked to the data cell you have selected

You cannot create linked objects for member combinations containing attributes

Also, you cannot use the Linked Objects Browser dialog box in Free Form mode.

Creating graphical data representations

When you click on Essbase | Visualize & Explore… it will launch the Hyperion

Visual Explorer (HVE) This option does require a separate license but is about as

close to an off-the-shelf data dashboard as you can get

The HVE helps you explore and analyze data in an Essbase database But more

specifically, it provides an easy to use interface for creating graphical summaries and reports of your data in a highly interactive user interface These graphical summaries answer questions about market totals, scenario versus scenario comparisons, regional rankings, and buying trends You can answer with visual representation, any questions there may be regarding the data stored in your company's Essbase databases The

results are high impact and impressive The biggest difference between the Microsoft Excel add-in and HVE is the Microsoft Excel add-in uses the traditional native

connection, where as the HVE uses the specialized multidimensional database query

language known as MDX We will explain MDX in greater detail in a future chapter

Best of all you will look like a hero using this tool and no one but you will know

how easy it was to use

Using the currency conversion tool

To use the Essbase | Currency Report… function you must purchase a separate

license for the Essbase currency conversion tool Unless you have extensive currency conversion needs there are ways to create financial data without it

The Essbase | Currency Report… function enables you to perform ad hoc currency conversions during data retrieval When you select Essbase | Currency Report…

the Essbase Currency Report dialog box is displayed If you have implemented

a currency conversion application you can use the Currency Report command to

dynamically perform currency retrievals and currency conversions

Custom Microsoft Excel workbook reporting

The Essbase | Cascade… command allows you to replicate Microsoft Excel

worksheets using member combinations You can have retrieved data flow across

multiple Microsoft Excel worksheets in the same Microsoft Excel workbook, or you can create multiple cascaded Microsoft Excel workbooks stored in different locations

When you select Essbase | Cascade… the Essbase Cascade Options dialog box

is displayed

The Essbase Cascade Options dialog box has three tabs that allow you to set

the formatting and storage options for the cascaded reports you will create:

• Cascade Information: On this tab, you select what outline members

you want to cascade on and the zoom level you wish to zoom to

There are options for either opening existing files or overwriting them

with new ones You can make your choices as to creating worksheets in

a workbook or creating new workbooks themselves

Finally, there are naming options for you to take advantage of, including

prefix and suffix designations, to be used while naming your workbooks

• Format Options: This tab allows you to choose your workbook

formatting options

The formatting options include choosing whether to copy the existing

workbook formatting, adding custom page headers and footers,

suppressing rows that don't contain data from your reports, and including

a table of contents with each workbook

A final word on the Essbase add-in

After reading all of this you can see that the Essbase Add-in for Microsoft Excel is

an incredibly powerful tool The only thing more amazing than how powerful the

Essbase add-in really is is how easy it is to use

Except for a few functions which require a bit of practice to become good at, every

function included in the Essbase add-in is intuitive and has comprehensive help that

is readily available

It's also a good idea to keep in mind that as seamless as the add-in is with Microsoft Excel, the Essbase add-in can be controlled that seamlessly using Microsoft Excel's

built-in and powerful Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) You can create powerful

applications quickly and easily with nothing more than a basic Essbase installation

and Microsoft Excel

Using the Essbase Query Designer

The EQD is a wonderful tool within a tool that allows you to set up reports and

spreadsheets with the aid of an easy to use visual interface tool Once you have

a query designed just the way you want it you can save it off and use it over and

over again to retrieve your data

As mentioned earlier, one huge side benefit of the EQD is that when saving your

custom designed query, you have the option to tell the EQD to also save the query

as an Essbase report script file Like we mentioned in the previous chapter, this

option lets you utilize the powerful and easy to use data selection functionality

of the EQD to create complicated and specific report scripts as well Apart from

the complicated selection criteria, you can also sort the data in either ascending

or descending order, rank your data, and also filter your data based on your own

needs It is with these report scripts and a little editing that you will find yourself

in possession of complex data extraction abilities which will allow you to feed

data to downstream systems efficiently and reliably

Where do I find the Essbase Query Designer