SV WP Oracle Toc Revrec 2012 Ea 1722850 PDF

Moving from
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to

Oracle Hyperion Smart View for
Office, Fusion Edition
An Oracle White Paper
July, 2012
NOTE:
This paper assumes the reader has a basic understanding of Smart View, since this
paper focuses on features available in the latest releases of Smart View.
Reference to future plan is intended to outline our general product direction. It is
intended for information purposes only, and may not be incorporated into any
contract. It is not a commitment to deliver any material, code, or functionality, and
should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions. The development,
release, and timing of any features or functionality described for Oracles products
remains at the sole discretion of Oracle.
Moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office, Fusion Edition Page 2
Moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to
Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office,
Fusion Edition
NOTE: ................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 5
Smart View Usage Scenarios ........................................................................... 5
Ad Hoc Analysis ........................................................................................... 5
Pre-defined Form Interaction ..................................................................... 6
Pre-created Content Access ........................................................................ 6
Reporting........................................................................................................ 6
Functions........................................................................................................ 6
Reasons to Move to Smart View..................................................................... 6
Statement of Direction Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in ............................... 7
Planning for the Move ...................................................................................... 7
Platform Support .......................................................................................... 7
Essbase and Provider Services .................................................................... 7
Understanding the New Features ............................................................... 8
Re-using Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Content (without VBA) ............ 8
Converting Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in VBA ........................................ 8
User Training ................................................................................................. 8
Feature Highlights ............................................................................................. 9
POV Toggle ................................................................................................... 9
Formula Preservation ................................................................................. 10
Formula Fill on Zoom Operations .......................................................... 11
Sheet Level Options ................................................................................... 12
Member Name and Alias on Rows .......................................................... 12
Resolve Alias Name.................................................................................... 13
Zoom Options ............................................................................................ 14
Submit without Refresh ............................................................................. 14
Duplicate Member Name .......................................................................... 14
Member Information.................................................................................. 15
Range-Based Operations ........................................................................... 15
Multi-Cell Based Operations ..................................................................... 16
Retain Excel Formatting ............................................................................ 16
Butterfly Report .......................................................................................... 18
Substitution Variable Cell Function ......................................................... 18
Linked Reporting Objects ......................................................................... 19
Cascade ......................................................................................................... 20
Smart Query................................................................................................. 20
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 21
Moving from
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Oracle
Hyperion Smart View for Office, Fusion Edition
INTRODUCTION
Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office, Fusion Edition (Smart View) provides a
common Microsoft Office interface for the Oracle Enterprise Performance
Management (EPM) suite of products along with Oracle Business Intelligence
(BI) data sources. Using Smart View, you can view, import, manipulate, distribute
and share data in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint interfaces.
Release 11.1.2.1.102 of Smart View added major features to make it compelling for
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in users to move to Smart View. Smart View, unlike
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in, is an integrated office add-in that works across the
Microsoft Office Suite and not just Excel. The usage scenarios below outline the
areas of usage for Smart View, which is the strategic Office integration add-in for
Smart View provides the promise of Office
integration today.
Oracle EPM and Oracle BI.
This paper provides information on the capabilities of Smart View that have been
.
introduced keeping in mind the users of and the functionality that existed in
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in. As such the intent is to provide guidance to users as
they move into the world of Smart View.
Note: Screenshots in this document are based on Office 2007 although Smart
View is supported for other Office versions.
SMART VIEW USAGE SCENARIOS

The Office environment is one of the predominant interfaces that power EPM and
BI users. Smart View usage can be classified as described below.
Ad Hoc Analysis
Ad hoc analysis lets Excel users interactively investigate the data contained in the
source(s), where they slice and dice the data. They may start with templates
(such as East > Cola > Sales) or a blank sheet where they begin shaping and
altering the grids of data as they work. Typically, users retrieve the data from
Oracle EPM sourcessuch as Essbase, Planning, Profitability or Financial
Managementusing mouse clicks or drag-and-drop. Free form analysis is a
variant of ad hoc analysis where users can type in member names from a
dimension directly on a spreadsheet and refresh the data.
Pre-defined Form Interaction
EPM application users who execute predefined input or reporting forms find
Smart View a convenient way of completing tasks within Office. Such users are
planners, consolidators and others who want to work in Excel for a consistent
experience compared to a web application or to tie other spreadsheet-based
models into their process. For example, customers use Smart View for Planning to
incorporate data that is still housed in spreadsheet- and workbook-based models.
Pre-created Content Access

Another area of use is for importing pre-created contentfor example, charts or
grids from Reporting & Analysis products to PowerPoint, Word, or Excel. The
imported content can be refreshed from the Office environment.
Reporting
Reporting is another dimension of Smart View usage which leverages the
capabilities of EPM and Oracle BI data retrievals. Once the data is available
within Office, you can create reports as needed based on a combination of data
sources. For example, Planning and Financial Management data could be used to
compare actual to budget. The ability to compare multiple scenarios, for different
periods, products, locations, etc., enables more complex reports. The power of
Office can be used to create Reports in the Office environment, which can be
refreshed as needed.
Functions
Users can customize and automate common tasks by using Visual Basic for
Applications (VBA) functions in Smart View. Functions are meant for advanced
users who know exactly what they need (for example, Actual profit for month of
January for Eastern Region for all products) and want to create custom
When accessing EPM sources, end users like applications. These users typically build VB Applications and incorporate Smart
to see the same type and quality of chart View functions to get relevant information. Functions also allow combining
across all Office products. multiple data sources on a single grid. For example, it is possible to display
Essbase and Planning data on the same worksheet using functions.
The new release of Smart View allows users
accessing EPM sources from an Office Outlined above were the general capabilities of Smart View. The next few sections
environment to render the same type and specifically focus on various aspects of moving from the Essbase Spreadsheet
quality of charts across Office products - Excel, Add-in to Smart View.
Word, or PowerPoint.
REASONS TO MOVE TO SMART VIEW
Smart View is the Strategic Office Add-in for Oracle EPM and Oracle BI
products including Oracle Essbase. Smart View is vastly improved from the
Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in many ways. Here are some reasons to
consider for moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Smart View:
Improved feature functionality over Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in
Single add-in for multiple products as opposed to only Essbase

Rich functionality specific to the data source (Essbase, Planning etc.)
Support for Word and PowerPoint
64-bit Office support
Support for newer versions of Office and Windows O/Ss
Improved architecture keeping pace with newer trends in Office and
Analysis
HTTP(s) makes access possible via internet/intranet and is the standard
protocol for modern applications
STATEMENT OF DIRECTION ESSBASE SPREADSHEET ADD-IN

Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in will be in maintenance mode starting January, 2013.
As such, platform updates for Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in will no longer be done,
which means newer versions of Office or Windows will not be supported. New
features will only be added to Smart View and not the Essbase Spreadsheet add-in.
Releases prior to 1st January, 2013 should be considered terminal releases for the
Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in.
Official Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in statement of direction:

https://support.us.oracle.com/oip/faces/secure/km/DocumentDisplay.jspx?id=1466700.1
PLANNING FOR THE MOVE

Moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Smart View involves some planning.
There are various aspects to consider in order to make this a successful transition.
Outlined below are the areas that you will need to be informed about or
implement prior to the move.
Platform Support
Smart View is supported for Microsoft Office 2007 and 2010. At the time of
writing this paper Release 11.1.2.2.000 of Smart View is available and it supports
the 64-bit version of Microsoft Office. For exact version support and related
details, please refer to the support matrix.
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/hyperion-
supported-platforms-085957.html
Essbase and Provider Services

In order to take advantage of the new features added to Smart View 11.1.2.1.102
(and higher), it is required that Essbase (Essbase Server) and Oracle Hyperion
Provider Services also be release 11.1.2.1.102 (or higher). Please make sure that
necessary upgrades to the new version have been completed by the Essbase
administrator before trying out the new features using Smart View. While Smart
View can connect to older versions of Essbase (9.3.3 and up), most of the features
introduced in 11.1.2.1.102 will not be available unless Essbase and Hyperion
Provider Services are upgraded as well.
Note: Smart View accesses Essbase data sources, via a middle tier. Hyperion
Provider Services is commonly referred to as a provider or as APS (Analytic
Provider Services).
Understanding the New Features
Understanding the new features is very important in order to either use Smart
View or guide others who are moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in. The new
features are explained in the feature highlights section below.
Re-using Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Content (without VBA)

By and large, workbooks created in Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in should be usable
in Smart View without any changes. The spreadsheet needs to be connected to the
right data source and refreshed. Thereafter, any Smart View operations should be
possible on those workbooks. Remember, the appropriate sheet options should be
applied as they will not be applied automatically in Smart View. While there is no
way to test all combinations and spread sheets, 99% of spreadsheets (without
VBA) can be refreshed in Smart View without any changes on the grid itself. It is
possible that the spreadsheet has some grid combinations rarely used (most users
are unaware of those), which may have to be re-created in Smart View based on
supported features or functionality.
Converting Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in VBA

It is common for Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in users to create and use Visual Basic
Applications. This will involve redesign and rewrite of functions or applications to
work with Smart View. Prior to going down that path, an evaluation will be
needed. This is to identify if the custom code has been replaced with a feature in
Smart View, calls that have been deprecated, and more. To help in this process,
you can use the Smart View VBA Conversion Tool:
http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/smart-view-for-
office/downloads/index-088403.html
This will assist in the conversion of Legacy (Classic) Add-In VBA code to
equivalent Smart View VBA code. Please be aware that Oracle Technology
Network (OTN) Developer License Terms apply. You can read the OTN License
agreement prior to download. Also, keep in mind that Oracles technical support
organization will not provide technical support, phone support, or updates to you
for the Smart View VBA Conversion Tool. It is intended for providing guidance
to developers who are otherwise adept in building Visual Basic Applications.
Useful Link: http://essbaselabs.blogspot.com/2010/07/converting-legacy-add-in-
vba-to-smart.html
User Training
Many parts of the Smart View user interface are self-explanatory; however, there
are specific areas where users will need some hand holding to understand the new
functionality. For example, establishing a data source connection in Smart View is
different from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in. It is a good idea to give a brief Smart
View introduction to users in case they have never used it before. The Smart View
Users Guide (in PDF and online help format) will act as additional resources.
Note: Oracle University also provides training classes for Smart View.
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
A number of features have been introduced especially keeping in mind the Essbase
Spreadsheet Add-in users. Each of the features listed below are explained in the
following sections.
POV Toggle
Formula Preservation
Formula Fill on Zoom Operations
Sheet Level Options
Member Name and Alias on Rows
Resolve Alias Name
Zoom Options
Submit without Refresh
Duplicate Member Name
Member Information
Range-based Operations
Multi-cell-based Operations
Retain Excel Formatting
Butterfly Report
Substitution Variable Cell Function
Linked Reporting Objects
Cascade
Smart Query
POV Toggle
The ability to show the POV Toolbar or bring POV members from the POV
Toolbar to the grid is now available in Smart View. It can be accomplished by a
single click on the POV icon in the Essbase Ribbon shown below.
When the POV members are on the grid, the POV Toolbar is hidden. This capability
allows POV member cells to be formatted like any other member or data cells.
Additionally users can show or hide the POV Toolbar.
Note: By default, all the POV members are on the grid. Once the POV toggle switch
on the Ribbon is used, the row in the grid with POV members is hidden.
Smart View users who prefer the POV drop-down can invoke that by clicking on the
POV toggle on the Ribbon.
Dropdown Toggle
The latest releases of Smart View, starting with 11.1.2.2.300, support cell-based POV,
shown here. Users can directly type in member names or search from the list
maintained from previous selections in the grid itself. Users can invoke the member
selector if the member they are looking for is not already part of the list.
Formula Preservation
If a member has an Excel formula associated with it, it can be retained when ad hoc
operations are performed on it. To do this, the option to preserve formulas should be
turned on. The exact option is shown in the screen below.
With the option turned on, the formula on Cell D3 will be preserved for ad hoc
operations such as Zoom or Refresh.
Formula Fill on Zoom Operations

If a member has a formula associated with it, it can be retained when zoom operations
(zoom in or out) are performed on it. For example, when drilling down on Year,
Essbase replicates the formula for each child of Year (Qtr1, Qtr2, Qtr3, and Qtr4). It
can also be passed on to the descendents if the appropriate Zoom option is chosen for
zooming in.
The option to be selected is highlighted in the screen shot below.
Sheet Level Options

Sheet level settings, once changed, can be
stored as default for any newer Sheet options are specific to the sheet where the options were created. Changes to
sheets/workbooks that are created, until they these option settings do not affect any other existing workbooks or worksheets, which
are changed again.
have their own sheet options.
Hint: Select Save As Default Options in the
OK button drop-down of the Options dialog The sheet level settings are applicable for following Options tabs:
box.
Member Options
Data Options
. Formatting
All remaining options are global and apply to the entire workbook including newer
sheets or workbooks created. They are found in the following options tabs:
Advanced
Cell Styles
Extensions
Member Name and Alias on Rows

Smart View resolves alias tables not
associated with the current grid. Aliases are alternate names for database members. You can create reports that use the
database member name, which is often a stock number or product code, and display the
member's alias name, which can be more descriptive than the member name, in your
worksheet reports. For example, in the Sample Basic database, the alias name for the
Product member 100 is Colas. The Smart View user can display the member name and
.
alias together on the rows in the same grid, as shown below.
To do this, set the Member Name Display option to Member name and Alias prior to
retrieving data for a grid.
Resolve Alias Name

A dimension can have multiple Alias tables associated with it. Even if a grid is
associated with a particular Alias, it is now be possible to resolve a member for any
Alias table not currently associated with the grid.
Zoom Options
Zoom In choices are available on the Ribbon
and can be used directly as opposed to New Zoom options have now been added to Smart View.
changing the Options dialog prior to the
operation.
Sibling Level
Same Level
Same Generation
Formulas
These are in addition to the existing ones (Next Level, All Levels, Bottom Level).
Submit without Refresh
. When a member name in a grid is modified, it is no longer necessary to refresh before

submitting. Users can work on their spreadsheets offline. Once done, the numbers can
be submitted easily. Users will be prompted for credentials if not already connected to
the data source. In case a user chooses to connect to the data source before submitting
the data, then they will not be prompted for credentials.
Duplicate Member Name

This refers to multiple occurrence of a member name in a database, with each
occurrence representing a different member. For example, a database has two members
named New York. One member represents New York State and the other member
represents New York City. Duplicate member name is also referred to as non-unique
member name.
Member name display option has been modified in Smart View to accommodate
duplicate member names where applicable.
Options now available are:
Member Name Only

Member Name and Alias
Distinct Member Name Only
Choosing the Distinct Member Name Only option against a database with a duplicate
member name outline returns the grid shown below.
Member Information
Member information such as consolidation operator, alias, attributes, formula,
and more are now available using the Member Information dialog box.
Range-Based Operations
Smart View allows users to create multiple independent grids on one worksheet. These
grids, which occupy a range of cells, can be connected to the same data source or to
different Essbase data sources. You can also change the connection of a grid from
Smart View.
Worksheets that support multiple ranges can be created from blank worksheets or by
converting existing ad hoc worksheets. These ranges, which correspond to individual
grids, can have ad-hoc operations such as Zoom In or Zoom Out. The grids move
relative to the operation on the currently active grid. It is possible to refresh selected
grids or all grids on the sheet. Formatting can also be retained during operations.
Multi-Cell Based Operations
Smart View now allows multi-cell-based operations; for example, highlight multiple cells
and zoom in. You can do other operations such as Keep Only, Remove Only, or Zoom
Out.
For example, connect to Sample/Basic and create a grid with Quarters 1-4 on the rows;
and Profit, Inventory, and Ratios on the columns. Select cells Qtr1 and Qtr2 along with
Profit on the column. Below is the output from the zoom in (next level) operation.
Before After
Retain Excel Formatting

Smart View provides an option to enable Excel formatting. When enabled, Excel
formatting overrides Smart View Cell Styles. Excel formatting is also retained for all ad
hoc operations except for pivoting. We have improved this feature starting with the last
few releases so that the formatting applied by users is retained when doing a Refresh or
Refresh All.
Note: Remember that Excel will retain formatting on individual cells. Users should be
aware that Excel will not track Smart View ad hoc operations and hence may end up
with unintended number formats in a cell; for example, $ signs for Margin %.
However, if used properly, Excel formatting will add value to Smart View ad hoc
operations.
Butterfly Report
Typically, Smart View grids are comprised of member names on top rows and columns
on the left. Data cells corresponding to the row and column member cell combinations
are displayed in the grid. An alternative to this approach is to have member names in
rows, in the middle of a grid with data on both sides. This is referred to as a butterfly
report since the output resembles the shape of a butterfly with wings spread out.
Alternatively, a reverse butterfly is close to a butterfly with wings folded.
Butterfly Reverse Butterfly
Substitution Variable Cell Function

The Essbase application designer uses substitution variables to define global variables to
represent values that are specific to Essbase. You can take advantage of the predefined
substitution variables in Smart View. For example, say the application designer sets a
substitution variable on Essbase server for the current month. The variable is called
CurMnth and has a value of August. If you use the substitution variable in the
worksheet, a refresh returns values for August, because August is set as the current
month on the server. If, at a later date, the application designer changes the value of the
CurMnth substitution variable to October, a refresh returns data for October.
A cell function, hsgetvariable(), has also been added which retains a reference to the
variable. As the variable value changes on the server, it is reflected in the grid cells
where hsgetvariable()is used. This function was not available in Essbase Spreadsheet
Add-in.
Before refresh After refresh
Linked Reporting Objects

A linked reporting object (LRO) is an external file, cell note, or World Wide Web
resource that you link to a cell in an Essbase database. The file, note, or URL can then
be retrieved by the Smart View users who have access to the database.
Additionally, if the Essbase Partitioning option has been implemented, linked partitions
can also be accessed from cells using Smart View along with the other linked reporting
objects.
Cascade
Cascade allows data to be displayed for a
particular member from a chosen dimension
This enables end users to create a report in Excel and cascade it to separate sheets
on a single Worksheet. based on members of a single dimension not included as part of the report. This
Cascade can be invoked for both ad hoc
has been part of the Smart View prior to Release 11.1.2.1.102, but is important to
operations as well as for formatted reports. mention in the context of Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in users. There are some
variations that are allowed as well.
Smart Query
Smart Query is a Smart View Extension that allows users to define one or more
sets of members and apply composite filters to the member sets created. Using
these sets and their filters, you can create a highly complex query by defining
unions, complements, and intersections of data from the different sets. Once a
Smart Query is created, it can be saved, reused, and shared. Sets and filters can be
saved individually for use in other Smart Queries. The ability to deal with multiple
sets and filters was not available in Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in.
CONCLUSION
Historically speaking, many Excel-based add-ins were available to access Oracle
EPM and Oracle BI suites of products. Smart View provides a convergence of
these technologies into a single client with which Office users can leverage EPM
data and is the strategic add-in for Oracle EPM and Oracle BI.
Smart View allows for application access (for example, HFM or Planning), ad hoc
analysis queries (for example, Essbase or Planning) and existing Reporting &
Analysis content import. Unlike Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in, Smart View is not
just limited to Excel. Instead it is an Office add-in with functionality in:
Excel
Word
PowerPoint
Outlook (applies to Planning and HFM)
The ability to copy and paste data points across Microsoft Office (Excel, Word,
PowerPoint) provides an easy mechanism for moving relevant data points from
one application to another.
Smart View makes Oracle EPM and Oracle BI data available via Microsoft
Office in a useful manner. Providing information within the productivity
applications, where users spend most of the day, allows everyone in an enterprise
to do their jobs better.
Moving from Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to Oracle Hyperion Smart View for Office, Fusion Edition
Author: Shubhomoy Bhattacharya
July, 2012
Oracle Corporation
World Headquarters
500 Oracle Parkway
Redwood Shores, CA 94065
U.S.A.
Worldwide Inquiries:
Phone: +1.650.506.7000
Fax: +1.650.506.7200
oracle.com
Copyright 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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Moving from

Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in to

SMART VIEW USAGE SCENARIOS

Pre-created Content Access

Single add-in for multiple products as opposed to only Essbase

STATEMENT OF DIRECTION ESSBASE SPREADSHEET ADD-IN

Official Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in statement of direction:

PLANNING FOR THE MOVE

Essbase and Provider Services

Re-using Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Content (without VBA)

Converting Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in VBA

Formula Fill on Zoom Operations

Sheet Level Options

Member Name and Alias on Rows

Resolve Alias Name

Submit without Refresh

. When a member name in a grid is modified, it is no longer necessary to refresh before

Duplicate Member Name

Options now available are:

Member Name Only

Retain Excel Formatting

Butterfly Reverse Butterfly

Substitution Variable Cell Function

Before refresh After refresh

Linked Reporting Objects

Copyright 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

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