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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks

IBM Planning Analytics Tips and Tricks: Upgrading to Planning Analytics for Excel 2.0.65 or later

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As of version IBM Planning Analytics version 2.0.65, you can choose to either launch IBM Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx) as a single session (by double-clicking the .XLL file) or load it as an add-in (and have it available for all Excel sessions).

To install the latest version of PAx, first uninstall any version prior to 2.0.65. Once completed, download the.xll file associated with the version you want to install. Be sure to use a file that correlates with either your 32-bit version of Microsoft Excel or your 64-bit version of Microsoft Excel. You can check which version of Excel you have by clicking on File, Account:

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Within that menu, click on the link that reads “About Excel.”

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Details about your version will then appear, including the bit version. Here is an example of what you may see:

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Once downloaded, you can configure the .xll file as an Excel add-in or you can simply double-click the file to run PAx. I prefer to launch the .xll file individually for a single session of Excel and not allow it to persist across all my Excel sessions. Therefore, I created a folder named “PAfe” and placed the .xll file in the folder. I then created a shortcut from my desktop pointing to the file. This approach allows me to perform future upgrades by simply replacing a single file!

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel EOMONTH

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

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: On-Demand Webinars, Part 1

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So many webinars, so little time! If you are like me, you probably receive invitations to webinars on a regular basis. Some of them even make it onto my calendar. Unfortunately, more often than not, I have the best intentions of attending a webinar, but then can’t make the live event. 

That’s what on-demand webinars are for! 

Did you know Revelwood has a YouTube playlist of all our IBM Planning Analytics / TM1 webinars? To date, we have 27 webinars available for viewing when convenient for you. 

Let’s take a look at two of our more popular webinars.

Best Practices When Using Planning Analytics Workspace Charts

Charts and graphs are an excellent way to illustrate relationships in data and to highlight trends. They are visualizations of data that allow end users to quickly analyze a large amount of data. To make the biggest impact, it is important to choose the right chart for the use case of the data.

Watch this on-demand webinar to learn about using the following charts in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW):

  • Area charts
  • Bar charts
  • Stacked bar charts
  • Column charts
  • Stacked column charts
  • Line charts
  • Map charts
  • Packed bubble charts
  • Pie charts
  • Point utilization charts
  • Radial charts

Creating PAW Charts Using the New Experience

The new experience in IBM Planning Analytics introduced new visualizations in PAW. In this webinar we review various methods to create a chart. We also offer recommendations on building dashboards and reporting pages. 

During this webinar we explain and demonstrate:

  • The types of charts that are available and when to use each
  • How to create a chart from an existing exploration
  • How to create a chart from scratch
  • How to customize your charts
  • Recommendations when creating charts and dashboards

Learn More About Charts in IBM Planning Analytics

We have even more resources for you on creating charts in Planning Analytics! On Wednesday, March 15, 2023 at 1:00pm ET we will be hosting a live webinar on waterfall charts in Planning Analytics. 

A waterfall chart is a form of data visualization that helps in understanding the cumulative effect of sequentially introduced positive or negative values. 

Join Lee Lazarow and Terry Kerans to learn:

  • What a waterfall chart can tell you
  • When to use a waterfall chart
  • How to create a waterfall chart in PAW

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

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

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel EOMONTH

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

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

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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.

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. 

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to Make an MDX Statement Dynamic

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

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Charts in Planning Analytics Workspace, Part 1

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

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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, 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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Charts in Planning Analytics Workspace, Part 1

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: DefineCalc

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Top 3 Blog Posts of 2022

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: How to Make an MDX Statement Dynamic

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Did you know we have a number of resources available to learn more about MDX? We hosted a two-part series on How to Use MDX in Your IBM Planning Analytics Series. We also published a blog post, IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: MDX Syntax Explained, to accompany part 1 of the webinar series. 

In part 2 of our MDX webinar series, we demonstrate how to make an MDX dynamic by using the power of Excel.

You’ll see we start with a basic Excel report, generated out of IBM Planning Analytics for Excel (PAx). We then take the static, base MDX and turn it into a concatenation of parts of the index statement and the cell reference. In turn, that enables us to change the root account, thereby changing the data that shows in the report.

Watch the full webinar to learn more about working with MDX.

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks on MDX:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: An Approach to Strengthening your MDX Skills

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Using MDX to Compare Dimension Hierarchies

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Making Default Cube Views Dynamic with MDX

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Charts in Planning Analytics Workspace, Part 1

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Did you know IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) gives you many options for showing data in charts? Here are some tips and tricks for working with charts in PAW.

Scatter Chart vs Bubble Chart

A scatter chart is used to show relationships within your data. This type of chart is great to see patterns and groupings over a large set of values. A bubble chart is also used to show relationships and it is also great to see patterns. So what is the difference between the two types of charts? 

In this blog post, we explain the difference between the two types of charts. As you’ll learn, the type of chart makes a difference when reviewing your data. How to decide which chart to use? It’s simple – ask yourself how many details you want to see at once. 

The Waterfall Chart

PAW includes various visualizations that can be used to view your data. One of these visualizations entails a chart called a waterfall chart. This type of chart will help you show the components of a summarized number. It is very helpful in determining which values are beneficial to the total and which values are detrimental.

This blog post shows an exploration in PAW and its corresponding waterfall chart. 

Lines vs Area for Multiple Elements

A line chart is typically used to show values over time. This type of chart is great to see trends with your data. An area chart is also used to show values over time and is sometimes referenced as a line chart with the area below the line filled. While this is the case in PAW for a chart that contains a single line, it is not the case for a chart with multiple lines. 

Read this blog post to learn about a line chart versus an area chart. 

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: DefineCalc

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Top 3 Blog Posts of 2022

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

Home » IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks » Page 4

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Excel SEQUENCE

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Have you ever needed to quickly generate a list of numbers? Maybe you need to create a list from 1-100. Maybe you want to create a list of the first 100 even numbers. Maybe you want to create those same lists in descending order. Did you know that Excel has a function called SEQUENCE which allows you to quickly create these lists?

The SEQUENCE function is used to generate an array of sequential numbers.  The syntax of the function is:

=SEQUENCE (rows, [columns], [start], [step])

  • Rows (required)
    • This is the number of rows to be filled
  • Columns (optional)
    • This is the number of columns to be filled
    • If skipped, this defaults to 1
  • Start (optional)
    • This is the starting number in the sequence
    • If skipped, this defaults to 1
  • Step (optional)
    • This is the increment for each subsequent value
    • If skipped, this defaults to 1
    • This can be negative to provide a descending list

The following example shows a single column list from 1-10

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The same formula doubles the result when the column parameter is defined. Note that the results read from right to left (e.g., the entire row) and then goes down.

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Here is the same formula when adding both a starting value and an increment.

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Not only can this formula be used to quickly generate lists, but it can also be used as part of a combination:

  • With the DATE formula to define a calendar
  • With the TIME formula to create a daily schedule
  • With data from another column to create unique IDs for items like products or employees

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Creating Control Objects from the Modeling Workbench

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Shortcuts in PAW Models

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Customizing Background Colors for Data and Header Cells

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Go To Line in Process

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Sometimes your TurboIntegrator scripts can become very long. While it’s nice to be able to scroll up and down throughout your code, there are times that you may want to go directly to a specific line. IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) version 79 allows this via the “Go to Line” button.

Once clicked, you are prompted to select a section and a line within the section.  

When defining a line, note that the line numbers restart within each section. In the example below, each set of generated statement lines begin at line 2 (since I like to skip a line for easy reading) and the first line of code in the Data section begins at line 5.

This approach will help you speed up your navigation as you write code in TurboIntegrator.

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace Borders in Preview

IBM Planning Analytics Tips &Tricks: Rounded Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: MDX Syntax Explained

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Planning Analytics Workspace Borders in Preview

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IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) allows you to easily create selector widgets that can be used for updating the data in your PAW book. This is done by adding a dimension as a selector widget.

You can edit the list of elements (e.g., the set) and the way the list appears. The selector widget allows you to easily select an element that is synchronized to your charts and explorations. When selecting the element, a border appears around the widget.

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While this border offers features such as the ability to expand the screen, it clearly makes the list into a separate section of the page. You can remove the border by using the property called “Show selected border in preview” (within the area called General, Appearance). Here is the same list without the border enabled:

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This property will allow you to create the perception of a single page and not a set of independent objects.

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!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips &Tricks: Rounded Buttons in Planning Analytics Workspace

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: MDX Syntax Explained

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Global Settings in Overview Area of Exploration

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