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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Run TI Processes from PAx Task Pane

May 9, 2023 by Revelwood

Did you know that you can run TurboIntegrator (TI) processes via the task pane in Planning Analytics for Excel (Pax)? Within the task pane, you can choose to display processes by clicking on the “Show and Hide” button and selecting the option to “Show processes.”

Once enabled, the processes will appear at the bottom of the task pane.

You can run the scripts by right-clicking on a process and selecting the option to “Run process.”

If any parameters are needed, a popup box will appear.

After the process has completed, you can expand the details by hitting the drop-down symbol on the right. This will summarize whether the process ran successfully or whether there were any errors. You can then get further details about the error(s) via the message log.

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!

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: TI Dimension Functions

May 2, 2023 by Marc Assenza

Have you ever updated a dimension in the Prolog of your TurboIntegrator (TI) script and then received errors when making further changes to the dimension in the Metadata section? This is because certain dimension altering functions such as DIMENSIONELEMENTINSERT are not evaluated until the Data Procedure runs.

Dimension updates in IBM Planning Analytics / TM1 follow a specific pattern: duplicate the current dimension, make changes to the duplicated dimension, and then apply the changes to the actual dimension. The applied changes to the actual dimension do not occur until the Data procedure begins (e.g., when all Metadata scripting is completed).

Let’s say that you placed code in the Prolog to add elements using the DIMENSIONELEMENTINSERT function. If you then try to interrogate or manipulate those elements in the Metadata tab, the script would not be successful because the changes have not been fully completed. This can be resolved by instead using the DIRECT version of dimension manipulation functions, such as DIMENSIONELEMENTINSERTDIRECT. The direct version of the functions applies changes immediately to the current dimension and does not require the entire Metadata processing to be completed.

This approach will allow you to properly manipulate dimension in both the Prolog section and the Metadata section of the same script.

Revelwood Partners IBM and Workday Named Market Leaders in BARC Score – Integrated Planning & Analytics 2023

April 28, 2023 by Revelwood

Revelwood’s partners IBM and Workday have been named Market Leaders in the recent BARC Score – Integrated Planning & Analytics 2023.

BARC defines Market Leaders as “well-established vendors that drive strong market adoption, supported by technology innovation and strategic acquisitions and by leveraging robust account management and a solid track record. Their portfolio enjoys high brand awareness in the market and covers an extensive range of technologies and services with only few gaps. Market Leaders typically have a large market share, making them a viable contender in almost all implementation scenarios.”

BARC is one of Europe’s leading analyst firms for business software, focusing on the areas of data, business intelligence (BI) and analytics. This year’s BARC Score for Integrated Planning & Analytics assessed Anaplan, Board International, IBM, insightsoftware, Jedox, OneStream Software, Oracle, Planful, Prophix, SAP, Unit4, Wolters Kluwer and Workday.

“Today, the reality in many companies is that IP&A is an often proclaimed but seldom achieved goal,” writes BARC. “BARC research studies continuously reveal that companies consider the improvement of the software they use to be an important investment for optimizing planning, forecasting and analytics.”

BARC notes that “the software market for IP&A is highly competitive.” Read and download the full report here.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Tips, Part 2

February 28, 2023 by Revelwood

Revelwood’s IBM Planning Analytics team has created numerous tips & tricks focused on helping people use Excel. Over the next few weeks we’ll be highlighting some of the most popular and interesting posts on Excel. You can read part 1 here.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s NETWORKDAYS Function

Have you ever wanted to define the number of working days between two calendar dates? Do you define “working days” simply as non-weekend days or do you also include holidays? Did you know that you can calculate this information using Excel’s NETWORKDAYS function?

The NETWORKDAYS function is used to determine the number of whole working days between start_date and end_date. This blog post explains how to use it.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel TYPE Function

Have you ever referenced a list in Excel and needed to know whether each value was a number or a string? This may be required when another function depends on the type of value in each cell.

Excel has a function called TYPE that will give you this information. The function contains a single parameter, which is simply the cell you want to check. Learn more about using the TYPE function in this blog post.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel OFFSET Function

Have you ever wanted to reference a cell based on its placement compared to another cell? Maybe you want to create a formula where each cell looks at the value 2 columns to the right or maybe you want to compare a value to the cell above. This information can be determined using Excel’s OFFSET function.

The OFFSET function is used to reference a range that is a specified number of rows and columns from a cell. We detail the syntax of the OFFSET function in this blog post.

Revelwood has worked with IBM Planning Analytics / TM1 for more than 27 years. We’ve partnered with hundreds of companies on the design, development, maintenance and updates of IBM Planning Analytics applications, across every industry. Have a challenge with Planning Analytics / TM1? We can help you!

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel EOMONTH

February 21, 2023 by Lee Lazarow

Thirty days has September …

Do you sing that out loud every time you want to determine the number of days in a month? If so, do you have to pause and think about the end when defining the last day of February? More importantly, do you have to write complex logic into your spreadsheet to define this? If so, you may want to learn more about the EOMONTH function in Excel!

The EOMONTH function is designed to tell you the last day of a month – either the current month, a future month, or a historical month. The function has two parameters:

=EOMONTH(start_date, months)

The start_date parameter defines the initial date of your calculation
- Microsoft recommends using the DATE function for this value
The months parameter defines the number of months from the start date
- A zero value results in the current month
- A positive value results in a future month
- A negative value results in a previous month

Graphical user interface, application, table, Excel

Description automatically generated

This approach will help you in various planning models such as …

Workforce planning – when to start calculating benefits
Asset planning – when to begin the depreciation calculations

This can also be used to define start dates by simply adding 1 to the result and determining the first day of the next month. Now we just need a formula to help us when someone obnoxiously tells us to “just perform the task on each day that ends in Y.”

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Tips, Part 1

February 14, 2023 by Revelwood

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel MAXIFS and MINIFS

Many of you know that Excel’s MAX function will define the largest value within a range. And many of you also know that Excel’s SUMIFS function will allow you to merge IF checks into your sum formulas. But did you know that Excel has a function called MAXIFS, which merges these two concepts together?

Read this blog post to learn more about MAXIFS.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s FILTER Function

Have you ever wanted to filter a list of data to look at a subset of the entire table? Many of you know that you can use the filter button within Excel’s data section to do this.

But what if you wanted to create a filter that users can change without having to navigate through ribbons? Did you know that you can do this using Excel’s FILTER function?

Take a look at this blog post to learn how to use Excel’s FILTER function to do this.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel’s XMATCH Function

Have you ever wanted to search a list and define the position where it appears in the list? Maybe you want to know how many sales reps exceeded their quota or want to define how many products cost more than an approved purchase price. This information can be calculated using Excel’s XMATCH function.

Read this blog post to learn how to use Excel’s XMATCH function.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel TEXTSPLIT

February 7, 2023 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever needed to parse a text string into different columns in Excel? This is easy to do via the text-to-columns wizard, but what if you wanted to do this via a formula? The TEXTSPLIT function allows you to split a text value across columns. It even lets you split values across rows!

The function has two required parameters:

=TEXTSPLIT(text,col_delimiter)

The text parameter defines the string value you are searching for
The column delimiter parameter defines the character(s) used for each split

In addition, there are optional parameters that can be used to determine case sensitivity, determine a row delimiter, and define what to do if two matches in a row are found

The following example shows how to use the function by searching for a space between each word and then putting each word into a new column. The source value is in cell A1 and a single TEXTSPLIT formula has been created in cell A2 (note: the text of the formula has been replicated onto cell A6 to show it in this image).

This next example shows a similar concept but uses a different parameter to instead put each word into a new row.

Table

Description automatically generated

This approach will simplify your searches by eliminating the need to create multiple functions to parse the same set of data.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Charts in Planning Analytics Workspace, Part 2

January 31, 2023 by Revelwood

Did you know IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) gives you many options for showing data in charts? We recently shared a few tips and tricks for visualizing your data in charts. Here are some more.

Pie Chart Sizing

Did you know that PAW allows you to “split” your pie chart widget to define how much of the space is allocated to the legend and how much of the space is allocated to the chart?

In this blog post, we explain how to view and modify the split.

PAW Chart Multicolors

One of the visualizations in Planning Analytics is a column chart. This type of chart is a good way to compare items since all the lines are in proportion to each other.

Read this blog post to learn an easy way to create a column chart via an exploration. We then explain how to change that visualization into a column chart.

Mekko Charts

PAW offers many visualization options to allow you to show and analyze your data in creative ways. This includes standard chart types such as bar, line and pie. But it also includes some reports that are not always understood. One of these report types is a Mekko chart.

A Mekko chart (also sometimes called a Marimekko chart) is used to extend a stacked column chart by using the width of each column to show the overall importance of that section. Read our blog post on using Mekko charts.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Approaches in Planning Analytics’ New Set Editor

January 17, 2023 by Revelwood

In Revelwood’s latest IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks video, Lee Lazarow demonstrates three different ways to change a drop-down menu in Planning Analytics’ new set editor.

Watch this video to learn the three approaches:

1. Change the drop-down by doubling clicking the dimension, which opens the set editor

2. Click on the three dots on the right side to open the set editor

3. Click on the drop-down to see the elements currently in the set (note: you need to enable this when you are creating your Exploration)

Watch more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: 2022’s Top 3 Tips & Tricks Videos

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to Set Up Action Buttons in Planning Analytics for Excel

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to Set Up Synchronizations in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Run TI Processes from PAx Task Pane

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: TI Dimension Functions

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

Revelwood Partners IBM and Workday Named Market Leaders in BARC Score – Integrated Planning & Analytics 2023

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Tips, Part 2

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel EOMONTH

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Tips, Part 1

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel TEXTSPLIT

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Charts in Planning Analytics Workspace, Part 2

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Approaches in Planning Analytics’ New Set Editor

Watch more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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