TM1

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

February 18, 2025 by Ivan Cepero

Excel’s AGGREGATE function lets you manage complex reports and ensure they foot correctly.

For example, suppose you are building a sales report by product and region.

A screenshot of a table

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Building the Grand Total calculation for a multi-level report like this is error-prone. You would need to use the SUM function and select every individual region while ensuring that no totals were included.

You can use instead use the AGGREGATE function to define all the totals … both the subtotal and the grand total. AGGREGATE can sum (among other things) and you can set the option to ignore other AGGREGATE formulas.

The AGREGATE function requires three parameters:

A function number to define Average, Count, Max, Sum, etc. Function number 9 is sum.
An option to define how to interact with other subtotals, hidden rows, etc. Option 0 ignores other subtotals and aggregate functions.
The range to perform the function.

The image below shows the same report along with the formulas used.

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Notice how the formula in C17 can include all the cells above it. You can now insert rows in any region and not have to update the grand total.

Additionally, you can have AGGREGATE ignore hidden rows. Hide a particular SKU, see the results and unhide the row. Very easy for on the fly what-if scenarios. The ignore hidden rows feature works very well when trying to derive a sum of an Autofiltered list.

Revelwood is an IBM Gold Business Partner with 25+ years of experience designing, developing, implementing and maintaining IBM Planning Analytics environments. Revelwood has helped clients in all sizes across all industries optimize and grow their use of Planning Analytics. Revelwood’s Planning Analytics team consists of experienced PA experts, including a multi-year IBM Champion.

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Update on Planning Analytics’ Deprecation

February 4, 2025 by Revelwood

IBM recently made the End of Support dates for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x official.

As we mentioned in our previous blog post on the deprecation of Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x, IBM is extending the general support period for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x until October 31, 2025. This includes IBM Planning Analytics Local, IBM Planning Analytics Advanced and IBM Planning Analytics Express.

Now is the time for you to start thinking about your migration plan. The next ten months will pass by quickly.

Our team has created a few resources for you regarding the upcoming changes. They include:

We’re happy to work with you on your migration. Email us at info@revelwood.com.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Unpivot

January 21, 2025 by Ivan Cepero

Did you know you can unpivot data in IBM Planning Analytics?

Sometimes you’ll find yourself in a situation where you need to change the layout of data from a grid format to a vertical table format, this is called unpivoting the data.

I’ll show you how to do this via some new Excel formulas.

Consider this sample data set:

The goal is to have a table with three columns: Invoice, Month, Data. Here’s how to do that step-by-step.

Step 1

Use the EXPAND formula to create an array of Invoices. In this case, we are creating a 5 x 12 array (5 rows x 12 columns).

=EXPAND($A$2:$A$6,5,12)

This will generate this:

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Step 2

EXPAND doesn’t know what to do with the other columns, so we can use IFERROR to fill in the errors with a specified value. In this case, if there’s an error then we want to replace the error with the first column value.

=IFERROR(EXPAND($A$2:$A$6,5,12),$A$2:$A$6)

Now we have this:

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Step 3

Now we use the TOCOL function to make the grid of invoice numbers into a column

=TOCOL(IFERROR(EXPAND($A$2:$A$6,5,12),$A$2:$A$6))

That generates:

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Step 4

We repeat the previous steps for the months. We want an array of 12 x 5 for the months. The end formula is:

=TOCOL(IFERROR(EXPAND($B$1:$M$1,5),$B$1:$M$1))

Step 5

Use TOCOL on the data points to pivot them into a columnar format.

=TOCOL($B$2:$M$6)

Now we have a live, formula-based unpivot model that will refresh when the data is changed.

Bonus Tip!

You can make the formulas more dynamic by using COUNTA instead of hard coding the number of rows/columns in the EXPAND function.

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Data

January 14, 2025 by Lee Lazarow

While IBM Planning Analytics is an excellent database that allows you to easily slice and dice your data, there may be situations where you want to export data from the model. Maybe you want to share information with someone who uses different software or maybe you want to use your data in another tool? PAW version 99 introduced the ability to export a data set from the PAW interface.

To export data, right-click on a cube within a modeling workbench, select the option to Import/Export and then select the option to Export Data.

Once selected, you will be prompted to define the name of the .csv file that will be created. You then can define the data to be exported by using an existing view and/or by defining the dimension details. For each dimension, you can define a hierarchy to use, a subset to use, or an element to use.

You also have the ability to define filters for your numeric and string data (example: only show values greater than or equal to 100) and the ability to skip consolidated values, rule calculated values, and zero/blank values.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

A Resolution You Should Actually Keep: Upgrade Your IBM Planning Analytics Environment

January 7, 2025 by Revelwood

Did you know that almost 80% of all New Year’s resolutions are associated with health? As an IBM Planning Analytics user, it’s important to also think about your system’s health! This is why you should put “upgrading Planning Analytics” on your list of resolutions. Here’s why …

IBM recently announced some changing timelines to the forthcoming deprecation of Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x. For background, read our blog post, IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Upcoming Changes to Planning Analytics, or watch our on-demand webinar, Understanding the Migration from Legacy TM1 to Planning Analytics.

Key Updates

IBM is extending the general support period for Planning Analytics 2.0.9.x until October 31, 2025.
Users can purchase extended support from IBM for an additional year through October 31, 2026.
Planning Analytics 2.1.x is now supported until April 30, 2027.

Implications for Users

Staying on unsupported versions can expose organizations to security vulnerabilities, lack of technical support and missed opportunities for leveraging new functionalities. You should assess your current Planning Analytics environment and develop a roadmap for upgrading to supported versions.

Recommended Actions

1. Evaluate Current Usage: Understand how your organization uses Planning Analytics and identify any customizations or dependencies that may affect the upgrade process.
2. Plan the Upgrade: Develop a comprehensive plan that includes timelines, resource allocation and testing phases to ensure a smooth transition.
3. Engage with Revelwood: We can help you access support resources and documentation to assist with the upgrade process and address any challenges that come up.

By proactively addressing these end-of-support dates, organizations can maintain the integrity of their financial planning systems and continue to benefit from IBM’s advancements in Planning Analytics.Need help?

Send a quick note to: info@revelwood.com.

Once selected, you will be prompted to define which hierarchy to export and the name of the csv file that will be created. The resulting file will contain the following information for each element:

Name
Parent (root elements will have a blank parent field)
Type
Weight
All defined attribute names and values (the attribute name will be prefixed with ATTR_N or ATTR_S to define the attribute as numeric or string)

Here is a snippet of an export file that shows a header record, a consolidated element, and two children:

“Member”,”Parent”,”Type”,”Weight”,ATTR_S_Manager”,”ATTR_S_Currency”

“Total Company”,””,”Consolidated”,”0″,”Total”,””

“001”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”John Smith”,”USD”

“002”,”Total Company”,”Numeric”,”1″,”Jane Doe”,”USD”

This feature will allow you to export your dimensional structures to files that can be used for reporting, auditing, and other areas where you need to display your structural information.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Selector Menu

December 10, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

You may already know that you can create a selector widget in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) by simply dragging a context dimension outside your existing view. Once synchronized, this approach provides an easy way to create independent selectors that can be used with your existing PAW data pulls.

But what do you do in a situation when you have already hidden your exploration overview or converted your exploration into a chart? One approach is to reset the visualization into a fully expanded exploration, drag the dimension, and re-format the visualization. But did you know that an easier way exists?

PAW version 99 introduced an option to add a selector directly from the data tree (e.g., the left pane). This can be accessed by simply right-clicking on a dimension in the tree. Once selected, there will be two options: add selector tile and add selector list.

There are three types of tiles: single tile, multiple tiles, and range selection tile. There are three types of lists: single list, multiple lists and multiple selection list.

Once created, the properties area will allow you to define appearance aspects such as colors, fonts, and header information.

This approach will allow you to create easy-to-use selectors without having to undo any existing formatting that has been created.

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IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Thumb Cell Formatting

December 3, 2024 by Lee Lazarow

Have you ever created an exploration in IBM Planning Analytics Workspace (PAW) and noticed the arrows at the beginning of your rows and columns? These are called thumb cells and are used as the equivalent of a “select all” button. For example, if I click on the down arrow at the top of my rows, then all elements in the rows will be highlighted.

Below is an example of a view with two thumb cells: a row thumb that I clicked on (note the arrow pointing down) and a column thumb that I did not click on (note the arrow pointing right).

Sometimes a thumb cell is great since it allows you to reference all of the elements in your exploration, but sometimes you may not want to see these additional gray boxes on the screen. PAW version 99 introduced formatting options to modify the appearance of the thumb cells.

Within the format manager, you can modify the thumb options in both the column header and row header settings.

Below is the same view with the row thumbs not showing and the column thumbs not showing the icon. You can see that that there is no longer a gray box above the rows and there is no longer an arrow icon to the left of the columns.

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These formatting settings will allow you to customize the appearance of an exploration and, if preferred, eliminate boxes that may confuse your end users.

Stay up to date with PA – sign up for our weekly Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks newsletter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, and join our IBM Planning Analytics All-Stars group on LinkedIn.

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

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Update on Planning Analytics’ Deprecation

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: Unpivot

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Bonus Tip!

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks:

IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: PAW Export Data

Read more IBM Planning Analytics Tips & Tricks: