IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Substitute Function

October 31, 2023 by Ivan Cepero

Are you familiar with the SUBSTITUTE function in Excel? The SUBSTITUTE function in Excel replaces one value with another. This is similar to the REPLACE function, but SUBSTITUTE provides more flexibility.

The syntax of the SUBSTITUTE function is:

=SUBSTITUTE(text,old_text,new_text,instance_num)

Text: This is the text to be evaluated and changed
Old_text: This is the subtext to be replaced.
New_text: This will be used as the replacement.
Instance_num (optional): This defines which occurrence of old_text to replace. If this value is blank then all occurrences of old_text will be replaced.

Here are two examples of the substitute function:

Example 1:

This formula removes the second dash from the account string.

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Example 2:

To count the number of dashes in a cell, this formula subtracts the length of the cell without dashes from the original length of the cell.

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: Cell Security in Planning Analytics Workspace

October 17, 2023 by Revelwood

In our latest IBM Planning Analytics tips & tricks video, Lee Lazarow, Revelwood’s IBM Planning Analytics practice lead, explains and demonstrates cell security in IBM Planning Analytics (PAW). Cell security is a critical aspect of data management, providing control access to specific data points within PAW cubes.

Watch this video and learn how to:

Determine the cube you want to add security to
Choose the dimensions
Create the cell security
Define security manually
Automate security with rules
Save and apply rules
Make modifications

In conclusion, cell security in IBM Planning Analytics is a powerful tool for managing data access. By following these steps, you can efficiently define and implement security measures that align with your specific needs. PAW offers a versatile platform for ensuring data integrity, whether through manual adjustments or automated rules.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips and Tricks: Trusting the Directory where the Planning Analytics for Excel xll file resides

October 3, 2023 by Marc Assenza

Have you ever received a notification from Excel stating that it was having an issue trusting the Planning Analytics for Excel (PAfe) Add-In? If so, you are not alone!

From time to time, it seems Excel needs to be reminded that the .xll file is a trusted file. To do this you will need to take the following steps:

Open Microsoft Excel and click on File, Options.

When the next screen appears, select “Trust Center” on the left-hand side pane and then “Trust Center Settings” on the right-hand side.

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Next, click on the link that reads “Trusted Locations.”

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On the bottom right of the screen, click the button that says “Add new location.”

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Browse to the drive and folder where your PAX xll file is located and define this as your path. Within the same window, also click the checkbox that allows subfolders to also be trusted.

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Once complete, your Planning Analytics for Excel .xll file will be trusted.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Adding Images to Charts

September 12, 2023 by Ivan Cepero

Charts are an excellent way to use visuals to convey information. Did you know that you can increase the effect of charts in Excel by adding custom images?

Consider this plain pie chart.

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We can insert a corporate logo to give the chart a greater visual appeal and branding.

1 – Click on the chart to select it

2 – Right click and select “Format Chart Area”

3 – Select “Picture or texture fill”

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4 – Select “Insert” to insert an image from your computer or “Clipboard” to insert a previously copied image

When clicking “Insert” you will see a pop up letting you pick various image sources.

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5 – You can further refine the options by having the image tile, offset or scale.

Here is the updated chart with the Revelwood logo applied, tiled and set with transparency level 80%:

You can also apply custom images to a specific data point (e.g. a pie slice in this example) by initially selecting the data point instead of the entire chart, then following the steps outlined above.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 3

August 29, 2023 by Ivan Cepero

Here are two more popular IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks videos. Did you know we have an entire library of video tips & tricks for IBM Planning Analytics?

The Aggregate Function

In this video, Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, demonstrates the aggregate function. The aggregate function allows you to summarize values that cannot be added up or averaged.

Creating Multi-Level Dimensions

Watch this video to learn how to create multi-level dimensions in Planning Analytics. This approach will let you create brand-new dimensions by simply dragging a file onto the screen. You’ll learn how to create a brand-new dimension using a file created in Notepad. See how Planning Analytics recognizes that the list is more than a list of leaf levels and more than just a parent/child relationship. You’ll also learn how to map the levels and add attributes.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Counting Hidden Rows in Excel

August 22, 2023 by Ivan Cepero

With a clever combination of formulas, you can have Excel calculate the number of hidden rows in a data set. This trick will work on both manually hidden rows and autotfilter hidden rows.

There are two ways to count hidden rows, depending on how your data is structured. Both methods use the AGGREGATE function.

The syntax of AGGREGATE is:

=AGGREGATE(function_num,options,array)

Where

Function_num is one of the following:

Function_num	Function
1	AVERAGE
2	COUNT
3	COUNTA
4	MAX
5	MIN
6	PRODUCT
7	STDEV.S
8	STDEV.P
9	SUM
10	VAR.S
11	VAR.P
12	MEDIAN
13	MODE.SNGL
14	LARGE
15	SMALL
16	PERCENTILE.INC
17	QUARTILE.INC
18	PERCENTILE.EXC
19	QUARTILE.EXC

And options are one of the following:

Option	Behavior
Default	Ignore nested SUBTOTAL and AGGREGATE functions
1	Ignore hidden rows, nested SUBTOTAL and AGGREGATE functions
2	Ignore error values, nested SUBTOTAL and AGGREGATE functions
3	Ignore hidden rows, error values, nested SUBTOTAL and AGGREGATE functions
4	Ignore nothing
5	Ignore hidden rows
6	Ignore error values
7	Ignore hidden rows and error values

We will be leveraging option 5: Ignore hidden rows

Consider the example data set:

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Blank cells merit special treatment and will determine which method you use.

No Blanks in Data

If your data will have no blank (zeros are ok) like column D in the sample data set, you can use this formula to count the hidden rows:

=AGGREGATE(2,4,Table1[Feb])-AGGREGATE(2,5,Table1[Feb])

Blanks in Data

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If there are blanks in the data (as in column C), you will need to add a helper column in Excel. The helper column will use AGGREGATE for the cell in the same row and this converts a blank into a 0. Use the same formula as the first method but use the helper column instead of the original data.

=AGGREGATE(2,4,G3:G7)-AGGREGATE(2,5,G3:G7)

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 2

August 15, 2023 by Revelwood

We’re continuing to highlight some of our most popular video tips & tricks for IBM Planning Analytics.

Creating Buttons for TI Scripts

In this video, Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, demonstrates how to create a button in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) for a TurboIntegrator (TI) script. Creating buttons like this will simplify tasks for your end users and create a much better end user experience.

You’ll learn how to go into properties, determine the button target, make that into a process, and then select and choose that process. The features in PAW allow you to select if you want prompts to appear and what controls you have over those prompts.

Formatting Views in PAW

Watch this video to see Lee demonstrate how to format views in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW). You’ll learn how to manipulate your views by:

Making columns wider
Changing row heights
Changing fonts and text styles
Adding shading, and more

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Performance Monitoring

August 8, 2023 by Andrew Chaves

IBM Planning Analytics contains a series of Performance Monitoring Control Cubes that let you record performance statistics for various aspects of your environment.

In Perspectives, this feature was enabled by right-clicking on the name of the server. But did you know that you can also control this in Planning Analytics Workspace via the tm1s.cfg control settings?

To enable the monitoring, go to the Administration area and then select the option for Databases. Once you have selected your database, click on “configuration.”

The performance monitor settings are found within the Administration settings and the Default sub area.

Once enabled (be aware that there may be an impact on performance when you use this), you will be able to use the results to help analyze your server performance.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 1

August 1, 2023 by Revelwood

Did you know we have a library of video tips & tricks for IBM Planning Analytics? Over the next few weeks we’re going to highlight some of our most popular videos for IBM Planning Analytics / TM1.

Filtering in IBM Planning Analytics

In this video, Revelwood’s FP&A Technology Director, Lee Lazarow, demonstrates how the Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) interface enables you to manipulate elements in your subsets. The PAW interface allows for wild card searches and attribute searches. You’ll learn how PAW takes this a step further so that you can make your search criteria more structured, enabling you to filter by name, level, attribute and more.

Formatting Views in PAW

Watch this video to see Lee demonstrate how to format views in Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW). You’ll learn how to manipulate your views by:

Making columns wider
Changing row heights
Changing fonts and text styles
Adding shading, and more

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel Substitute Function

Example 1:

Example 2:

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Cell Security in Planning Analytics Workspace

Watch this video and learn how to:

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips and Tricks: Trusting the Directory where the Planning Analytics for Excel xll file resides

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Adding Images to Charts

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 3

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Counting Hidden Rows in Excel

No Blanks in Data

Blanks in Data

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 2

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Performance Monitoring

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Popular Video Tips, Part 1

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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No Blanks in Data

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