Infor BI Splasher - writing back in Alea Ad-hoc reports

To write back data in Alea Ad-hoc reports, you enter commands which are actioned by Infor BI Splasher. Data at any level can be entered into a cube and modified.

See Write back methods and commands.

Infor BI Splasher prevents the immediate writing of data into the database. It analyses the value and the cell coordinates and applies algorithms. This modifies the data of the base elements that define the input cell.

If you try to enter a value in an aggregated cell (and Infor BI Splasher is not enabled) "You cannot write to a calculated cell" is displayed.

Splasher buttons

The buttons related to the Infor BI Splasher are:

Options: Opens the Options dialog.
Copy Values: Displays the Copy Values dialog where you can copy data and structures from one data area to another.
Undo: Undoes the last splashing operation.
Undo with Options: Opens a dialog with a list of the recent splashing operations which can be selected and undone individually.

Splasher options

Click Options in the Splasher group on the ribbon.

The dialog provides these options:


Option	Description
Enable splashing	Activates the splashing mode
Recalculate sheet after splashing operation	New calculation after each input that triggers a splashing operation
Rounding	Calculated values are rounded
Decimal places	Number of decimal places used for the calculation (maximum:6)
Error correction	Correction of rounding errors
Enable Undo buffer for	Activates the Undo and Undo with Options functions and enables a specified number of splashing operations to be undone.

Note: If you write 0, or press Delete, zero is written to all base cells. That is, to all child elements of the calculated cell. The commands, &@-100%" and "&w-100% also write zero to all base cells. This could significantly inflate the database by writing millions of zero values. Consider using Ctrl+Del instead.

See Emptying Cells

Copying structures

With the Copy Values option, you copy from one area of a cube to another. In doing so, you can apply a multiplication factor to the values being copied (for example, you could copy values from the current year and increase them by a percentage to create a budget).

To use the dialog, select a data cell. It may be a cell in an Alea Ad-hoc report or a DBGET cell in a formula report. Click Copy Values in the Splasher group on the ribbon.

The dimensions and elements that form the current slice of data are displayed as the Source area. At the right, the same dimensions and elements are displayed as in the Destination area. You can select an entire dimension or single elements. Select dimensions and elements to define both the source and target slices of data.


Function	Description
Select Elements	Click Select Elements to open the Dimension Browser and select elements. In the source area you can select base and consolidated elements.
Selection of a consolidated element in the source area	If you select a consolidated element in the source area, the values of all subordinate base elements will be copied. The structure of the source and target areas must be identical.
Select Entire Dimension	The top-level elements of the dimension will be copied. Top-level elements are those without parents. Children of the top-level elements are copied if they contribute to the value of the top-level element. Source and target areas are identical.
Input of a calculation factor	In the Source x Factor: field, enter factors for calculation

Copying is done from the bottom up. Every base cell which contains values is read out from the source area, multiplied by the factor, and written back to the corresponding position of the target area.

Note: Before the Copy procedure starts, the target area is automatically deleted.

The Undo function

If this function is enabled, you can undo the most recent splashing operation.

Click Undo on the ribbon.

The Undo with Options function

You can undo multiple several splashing operations if the Undo function has been enabled. The number of splashing operations that can be undone is specified in Splasher Options.

SeeSplasher options.

Select Undo > Undo with Options. All the splashing operations that can be undone are listed.

The undo options are:

Select splashing operations from a list: You can select one or more splashing operations from the list.
Select the marked entry and all subsequent splashing operations: Click the first entry to undo. It, and subsequent splashing operations, will be undone.
Select splashing operations: Select of the last minute, of the last hour or since the last undo action from the drop-down list.
Splashing operations that match: Enter a string to indentify the operation to undo.

Note: The temporary undo files are deleted when OLAP Server Server starts.

Browser events ('*')

You can change the view of an Alea Ad-hoc report with the *Norm, *Delta, *Delta% and *Sort commands. To use these commands, enable splashing (Splasher Options, p. 123) and enter *Norm, *Delta or *Sort in a data cell.

*Norm (normalized)

This expresses a selected value as 100% and shows the size of the other values relative to it as a percentage. In this example, *Norm is entered in the cell containing the Revenue figure and shows that Gross Margin (net profit) is 51.98% of total revenue:


Measure	Absolute value	Normalized value
Revenue	633,211,847	100.00%
Discounts	89,120,377	14.07%
Net Revenue	511,101,883	80.72%
Cost of Sales	24,949,933	3.94%
Production Costs	157,010,776	24.80%
Gross Margin	329,141,174	51.98%

Delta and Delta%

*Delta shows the difference between the value of each visible cell, and the value of the cell into which the command is entered. The command *Delta% shows the difference in per cent.

Here, *Delta% is entered in the cell containing the Revenue figure.


Measure	Absolute value	Normalized value	Delta%
Revenue	633,211,847	100%	0.00%
Discounts	89,120,377	14.07%	85.93%
SD	32,989,587	5.21%	94.79%
Net Revenue	511,101,883	80.72%	19.28%
Cost of Sales	24,949,933	3.94%	96.06%
Production Costs	157,010,776	24.80%	75.20%
Gross Margin	329,141,174	51.98%	48.02%

*Sort

Sorts the data in the column in which the command is entered, in descending order of size. All rows containing values of the same level of element are sorted. So, if you enter the command in a cell containing the value of a base element, the values of other base elements in the column are sorted but values of aggregate elements in the same column are not.

Note: After using these commands, press <F9> to return the report to its initial state.

Deleting cell values

Actions to empty cells of values vary according to the type of report and the type of formula in the cell.

This table displays the effect of different actions on different types of report and formula.


Action	Ad-hoc/Base cell	Ad-hoc/Calc.cell	Alea ad-hoc/Base cell	Alea ad-hoc/Calc.cell	Cell.GetC/Base cell	Cell.GetC/Calc.cell	DBGetC/Base cell	DBGetC/Calc.cell
Ctrl+Del	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL
Del	0	NULL	0	NULL	Delete formula	Delete formula	Delete formula	Delete formula
#NA	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL	NULL
0	0	NULL	0	NULL	0	NULL	0	NULL

User permissions

For the basic operation of the Splasher you need at least general import/export permissions. Before each splashing operation the user’s permissions are checked.

If an input at the consolidated level is concerned, all the base cells below the input cell are checked for the respective permissions. Only if the user has write permission for all these elements does the splashing operation start