Data entry forms and views

Data entry forms are used to enter data into the application. These forms are based on views created in View Manager that define the slice of data to be used and its display characteristics. There are predefined views and forms in the sample database. If you are using the CTrain database, these should work without modification. For a customized database, delete the existing CTrain forms or use View Manager to create new data entry forms.

When creating a view to be used as a form:

The data entry forms detect which off-grid dimensions should not be displayed, show the selected member, or let the user change the selected member. This is controlled by the Display options in the Off-Grid Appearance tab of the Dimension Properties dialog box.
Writeback is defined on a separate dialog box. Writeback settings must be enabled in all dimensions in order for a cell to be editable in the browser. It is generally good practice to enable writeback to match each off-grid member and at least a subset of the on-grid members for every dimension, so that users bringing up a data entry form will see at least some writeback-enabled cells without having to do member selections. The Unit dimension is typically an exception to this, since due to security settings, different users will see different units, and the administrator wants each user to pick one of their units before beginning to specify data. In such a case, the Unit off-grid member might be the root member for one of the Unit hierarchies, but the writeback-enabled members would be the set of leaf-level members.
Dimension groups are supported on data entry views. For example, you can set up a view with Total Year 2011 for the Actual version followed by Total Year 2012, Jan 2012, Feb 2012, etc. for the Budget version. But if a Period or Year dimension is in a dimension group, and the dimension's off-grid member is outside the range of the Period or Year on-grid members, then the database slice corresponding to the off-grid member is not automatically consolidated.
Nesting dimensions is supported in data entry views. For example, you can create a view with columns for different years and sub-columns for different versions.
If any of the Period, Year, or Period Year dimensions are on-grid, then that dimension's members should not be reordered. They should remain in their default chronological order.

Sample settings for a data entry view are shown in the table below. This is an example, you can change which dimensions are off-grid and on-grid. This table is different from the other views due to the number of differences between dimension settings for data entry views.

Dimension specifications

Do not forget to enable writeback on the members of each dimension that are used for data entry.


Dimension	Settings
Schedule	Required Settings Only members of the Schedule.Master hierarchy are allowed. This is because when CPM is trying to determine what schedule to consolidate during automatic local consolidation and the Schedule dimension is on-grid, it is assumed that the parent schedule of the first on-grid line is also the parent of all on-grid schedules. This is always true if the on-grid line is a descendant of Schedule.Master; but if the line is a child of ScheduleItem.Master and the line is a member of multiple schedules, then CPM Workstation may select the wrong parent schedule to consolidate, and some on-grid lines may not be included in the consolidation. Select a single schedule and its children as on-grid members. Only children of a single schedule should appear on the grid. If you are using the view with Financial Reporting, it also requires the schedule to be on the grid. Only leaf-level members of Schedule.Master should be writeback-enabled. We recommend that only these writeback-enabled members be on-grid or allowed for the Schedule dimension. If any lines of a schedule are allowed, then that schedule must be allowed, as well. Recommended Settings For top down spreading, define writeback for any data or downfoot members you want users to be able to run a top down spread on. Other account types are not supported. Typically set as the down dimension. Disable drill-down for the on-grid behavior. But it may not always be a good idea to disable drill-down. A possible configuration might be to allow all children of a particular schedule, but show only a subset of those children on the grid at one time. In this case, you would want to set the drill down mode to member select. If the Schedule dimension is off-grid, make the selected schedule the off-grid member. This is the default schedule that is displayed when the view is loaded.
Period	Recommended Settings Typically set as the across dimension. Select the desired periods as on-grid members. Disable drill-down for the on-grid behavior. Allow writeback for the schedule's leaf periods only. Leaf periods depend on the schedule's periodicity. For top down spreading, allow writeback for all periods where you want the users to perform a Top Down Spread, usually Total Year and descendants.
Merged Period Year	Recommended Settings For applications with merged Period and Year dimensions, this is typically set as the across dimension. Select the desired periods as on-grid members. Disable drill-down for the on-grid behavior. For top down spreading, allow writeback for all periods where you want the users to perform a Top Down Spread, usually Total Year 200X and descendants.
Year	Recommended Settings Set the off-grid member to the current year. Set the off-grid appearance to label only. For top down spreading, allow writeback for all years that you want the users to perform a Top Down Spread.
Unit	Recommended Settings Limit user selection options with user security in Architect (relational databases). Set the off-grid member to select a default unit. Enable both button and label for the off-grid appearance. For top down spreading with local currency: Allow writeback only for leaf level members. For top down spreading with consolidated currency: Allow writeback only on members you want included in top down spreading.
Currency	Required Settings Set the off-grid member to the local currency member. By default, this member is called Local. Disable both button and label for the off-grid appearance. For top down spreading with consolidated currency: Enable writeback for all currencies you want to do top down spreading with. Enable the button and label as desired.
Version	Recommended Settings Set the off-grid member to the desired version. Set the off-grid appearance to label only.
Rate Set	Required Settings Set the off-grid member to the untranslated currency member. By default, this member is called Untranslated. Disable both button and label for the off-grid appearance. For top down spreading with consolidated currency: Enable writeback for all Rate Sets you want to do top down spreading with. Enable the button and label as desired.
Accumulation Method	Recommended Settings Set the off-grid member to the periodic accumulation member. By default, this member is called Periodic. Year-to-date data entry is also supported. Disable both button and label for the off-grid appearance.
Other	Recommended Settings Optional. For top down spreading, allow writeback for all members where you want the users to perform a Top Down Spread, usually Total Year and descendants. For top down spreading, if the dimension is a Financial & Exchange dimension then only leaf level members can have writeback for top down spreading in local currency.
Category	Recommended Settings Optional. Use allowed members to limit user selection options. Set the off-grid member to select the default category. Enable both button and label for the off-grid appearance.
Adjusted State	Recommended Settings Set the off-grid member to the member representing reported data. By default, this member is named Reported. Disable both button and label for the off-grid appearance.