Writing back values

Report cells can be made writable so that users can enter or change values in the database. Two pairs of functions can be used to make cells writable: RWC/WBC write back values and RWA/WBA write back attributes.

Use RWC (Read Write Cell) formulas to retrieve values from the database and enable users to update and save them.

See RWC.

Use WBC (Write Back Cell) formulas where there is no existing value in the database, but users need to be able to enter values. It provides a blank cell for data entry. We recommend that you use WBC and WBA formulas within actions using the Edited Cell action mode.

See these topics:

RWC formulas can be created in the Edit OLAP Formula dialog. The default formula created by the dialog is ROC (Read Only Cell). Selecting the Allow writeback of values check box automatically removes write protection from the cell and creates an RWC formula.

If you specify RWC or WBC formulas manually, you must also manually remove write protection from the cell. Right-click the cell and select Format Cells. On the Protection tab, clear the Cells check box.

See Formatting cells.

You can write back directly to base elements but not to consolidated elements. For example, you could change the value of an individual product element but not the value of an ’All Products’ element. You can update consolidated values by using the Splasher. This distributes a value amongst the base elements which comprise the consolidated element. By default, weighted distribution is used. You can use other methods to distribute values by using the Splasher dialog or by entering commands directly into cells.

See Methods of distributing values to consolidated cell values.

The Splasher dialog is enabled if writeback is enabled in any cell of a report.

When you write back a value to a base element, the values of any consolidated elements that reference the base element are recalculated. For example, January, February and March can be defined as base elements of the 1st Quarter consolidated element. If you write back a value to January, the value for the 1st Quarter is updated.

Note: When writing back strings (for example, attributes) you may need to include reference numbers as part of the string. To force numbers to be written as strings, prefix them with an apostrophe. For example, 007 writes back 7 but '007 writes back 007.