IBM Cognos TM1

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Cell Level Security Defaults

October 1, 2019 by Lee Lazarow Leave a Comment

Did you know that you can have TM1 / Planning Analytics security always use your cell security definitions … even when the security definition cell is blank?

Values in a cell security cube override all other security. But if an intersection in the cell security cube is blank then, by default, other definitions such as cube, element and dimension security will be used.

In TM1 version 10.2, a new cube was created that allows you to override this approach. The cube is called }CubeSecurityProperties and it contains a setting called CELLSECURITYDEFAULTVALUE. The initial setting is blank, which allows the standard approach of “use the other definitions” to still apply. However, you can change this approach by populating a value into the cube.

If you change the value in the }CubeSecurityProperties cube then all cells with an empty value in the cell security cube will use that setting. Values in the }CubeSecurityProperties cube can be set to NONE, READ or WRITE.

In the example below, blank cell security intersections will be set to READ

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Cell Security Defaults

When using this, be sure to think about any ripple effects associated with your existing security. For example, if you set a cube to READ then you will need to explicitly set cells to NONE that you don’t want users to see (whereas it may have already defaulted to NONE before the cube was populated).

This approach gives you more options to determine how cell security interacts with the rest of your security model.

IBM Planning Analytics, which TM1 is the engine for, is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

New Video Series: IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

September 24, 2019 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

Every Tuesday we publish written blog posts sharing IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks from our PSG team. Today, we’re adding to our tips & tricks with a series of videos!

Watch this short video from FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, to learn what regions are, and how and why you’ll want to use them in Planning Analytics.

You’ll see and hear Lee explain:

Why regions are different from comments
How to create regions
How to shrink and expand regions

The best part about regions is that they enable quick and easy navigation!

New Video Demo – Creating Dashboards in IBM Planning Analytics

September 18, 2019 by Lisa Minneci Leave a Comment

In the third video of our series Creating a Cube in IBM Planning Analytics, Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, demonstrates how to create a dashboard in IBM Planning Analytics. Watch this short video demo to learn how to create a dashboard from the sales cube built in the second video, using both a drag and drop methodology and Planning Analytics’ built-in wizard.

In this video, Lee demonstrates the results of sales commissions in the dashboard, as well as how to:

Change views
Create simplistic views of data for quick analysis
Visualize a set of numbers
Build different types of charts
Merge separate sets of data

Lee also demonstrates Planning Analytics’ built-in intelligence that shows which charts are best for your particular data.

Did you miss the first two videos in this series? Watch Creating Dimensions Planning Analytics and Creating a Cube in Planning Analytics.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel and follow our playlist to watch the entire series How to Create a Cube in IBM Planning Analytics.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Three Reserved Local Variables in TurboIntegrator

July 3, 2018 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a guest post from Revelwood’s Jay Apwah.

Did you know that there are reserved local variables that you can use in TurboIntegrator scripts?

Reserved local variables are variables that do not need to be defined and are destroyed when the process finishes executing. This blog will describe three variables: Value_is_String, nValue, and sValue. You will not find these on the variables tab and you cannot re-define them, but they are accessible. These three variables can be accessed within the Metadata or Data tabs of TurboIntegrator.

Value_is_String

This local variable can be used to test if the value of the data source cube view record that is currently being processed is a number. Value_is_String returns 0 (zero) if the value is a number. Otherwise, the value is a string.

NValue and SValue

In the variables tab of a standard TurboIntegrator process, you can define each variable as numeric or string. With this approach, however, you must set the variable type of the value to string. This is shown in variable #7 of the image below:

Example

In this example, assume the source view contains string and numeric measures. Rather than creating separate views that contain only numeric values or only string values, you can check to see if each value is a string or number. Line 7 in the image below shows an example of the check. Lines 8 and 10 show the appropriate functions and reserved variables to use. Note the distinction between sValue and nValue.

Reserved local variables in TurboIntegrator

In the variables tab, it was ok to set the variable type as string because TM1 knows that “sValue” means string and “nValue” means numeric and will therefore perform any required conversions.

As you can see, you can utilize the Value_is_String, nValue, and sValue local variables described above to create a more compact, efficient and less error-prone approach.

IBM Planning Analytics is full of new features and functionality. Not sure where to start? Our team here at Revelwood can help. Contact us for more information at info@revelwood.com. And stay tuned for more Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks weekly in our Knowledge Center and in upcoming newsletters!

Tech Bulletin: PAx Incompatibility Caused by Latest Microsoft Office Update

June 18, 2018 by Revelwood Leave a Comment

This is a technical bulletin from Revelwood’s Steve Ellis.

Did you know that the latest version of Microsoft Office 365 caused Planning Analytics for Microsoft Excel (PAx) to become unusable? I will show you how to determine if you have been impacted and how to resolve this.

Root Cause: This is not an issue with PAx. This incompatibility was caused by the latest Microsoft Office update in May 2018. IBM has logged the issue with Microsoft, and although Microsoft is working on a fix, there is not a resolution date at this time.

Symptoms: After connecting, your Task Pane will appear completely grey. You will not be able to navigate the Task Pane in any way. Please see the image below that illustrates the issue:

PAx Incompatibility Caused by Latest Microsoft Office Update

Resolution: You will need to revert your version of Microsoft Office 365 to the latest stable copy. To do so, please follow the below directions:

Turn off Automatic Excel Updates (File > Options > Update Options > Click “Disable Updates”)
Open the Command Prompt as Administrator
Paste this into the Command Prompt and then hit Enter: cd %programfiles%\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\ClickToRun
Paste this into command prompt and then Enter: exe /update user updatetoversion=16.0.9029.2253

The above actions will revert your Microsoft Office 365 to the last stable version, and PAx will now work as intended.

Need help resolving this issue? Revelwood is standing by and ready to assist you! Please contact us at info@revelwood.com.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Cell Level Security Defaults

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

New Video Series: IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

New Video Demo – Creating Dashboards in IBM Planning Analytics