Essbase Was Invented by Who? When?

With a filing date of April 5, 1990 - Google Patent listing

It appears that there were co-inventors: Wesley C. Sampson & Michael J. Olan

Take a look at a few of the images! Looks like a cube to me!

Let me clear with this post. In my mind there is a difference between who invented Essbase versus who founded/established Arbor Software Corporation.


The Arbor co-founders were Bob Earle and Jim Dorian in 1991. Their company shipped the first version of Essbase (or eSSbase) Online Analytical processing OLAP software. Their company became publicly held on the NASDAQ by 1995. In 1997, Arbor acquired Orlando, Florida-based Appsource. In 1998, Hyperion Software merged with Arbor and combined the company, and renamed it Hyperion Solutions. They sold products called Essbase, Hyperion Enterprise and Hyperion Pillar. In 1999, Hyperion acquired Sapling Corporation, and added products called Hyperion Performance Scorecard and Hyperion Business Modeling. In 2000, Hyperion introduced 2 web based packaged products, Hyperion Planning (same name as today) and Hyperion Financial Management (same as today HFM) and also partnered with WebTrends Corporation along the way. In 2002, Hyperion introduced a new product called Hyperion Business Performance Management Suite. In 2003, Hyperion acquired Brio Technology (which started with DataPivot on the Apple Macintosh.. why has "Hyperion" not given love to the Mac community yet!), Data Prism as well as The Alcar Group. In 2005, Hyperion acquired Razza Solutions (today we call it DRM). In 2006, Hyperion acquired UpStream (today we call it FDMEE). In 2007, Hyperion acquired Decisioneering (Crystal Ball). And also in 2007, Oracle announced the agreement to acquire Hyperion for $3.3B.

It's Here! Smart View Release 11.1.2.5.700

Well, just randomly today I tried the URL .. https://docs.oracle.com/applications/smartview/700/index.html

And it looks like it is available :)

The Read Me is available, let's see what it has to say.

Looks like my HFM friends are getting some new features and functionality for Journals, journals, and more journals!

New Features in this Release - Subtopics

• Inserting Charts Based on Planning Forms
• View Journal Reports in Smart View
• New VBAs to Support Oracle Journals Extension
• New HsAlias Function
• Additional Provider Support for HsDescription
• New Cell Styles Category for Oracle Profitability and Cost Management Cloud
• Additional Features for PowerPoint-based Report Packages

Guess it is time to install, if I could only locate it. Everything so far takes me to downloading 11.2.5.620.

Keep looking. Oracle Docs shows .700 listed -> https://docs.oracle.com/en/applications/?tab=8

Elapsed time between that previous sentence and the next was close to 8 minutes!

Phew, that took forever. But I think that I may have finally found it on Oracle Support -> here.

Looks like I am the second All-Time to download at the time of writing this post. But also guessing that I am the 1st to Blog about it ;)

Why it says 11125000 in the file name, I still don't really understand???

Time to install!!

Downloaded Zip file. Extracted. Looks like 11.1.2.5.700, and yesterday was the day that it was packaged for GA release. Just after 8AM in sunny California.

Msg Box says it installed successfully .. and .. time to start up Excel and find out ..

Well, there it is. Oracle Smart View for Office Version 11.1.2.5.700!

Time to go take it for a test drive vvvvvvrrrrroooooomm vroom

Noticed a new section in the documentation for OAC - Essbase

Finding a new Member Name Display setting???
I don't remember this being there before.
Options/Member Options.Distinct Member Name Only

And, well, that is because that is a setting for Oracle Fusion Financials GL Essbase. From one of my prior posts -> here

On that, I am working on a follow up to the Fusion GL blog post. Continue to stay tuned.

Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.700

Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.700 will be available in early April, 2017. Stay Tuned.

This is according to the Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud April 2017 Update.

http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/tutorial/cloud/pbcs/1704-pbcs-wn.htm#_Toc478544601

Per the Update - NEW SMART VIEW FOR OFFICE VERSION
Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.700 will be available in early April, 2017. This version will contain new features such as PowerPoint chart support for forms, and a new HsAlias function. Additionally, it extends HsDescription function support to Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud. The Smart View 11.1.2.5.700 Readme, available on the Help Center, contains a complete list of new features in this version.

Oracle Fusion Financial GL is an Essbase Cube!

Let me start by saying.
I am only slightly surprised at the time I am writing up this blog post.

Why? Good question. I found that there is little to no talk, chatter, blog, twitter, media buzz or hype about this topic.

But, back in the spring of 2007, Oracle bought a company called Hyperion or more formally Hyperion Solutions Corporation and known on the NASDAQ as HYSL for approx. $3.3B. Press Release - Oracle. Many would, can and will continue to speculate as to the answers of why. But this blog post is going to focus on one good reason as to why Oracle bought Hyperion. And this EPM guy is happy to share.. let's take a closer look.

Setting the stage and getting into the background. We are going to look into the Oracle Cloud ERP. Stop! Yes, I said ERP and NOT EPM! But please, keep reading, because I think that you as an EPM-er, just like me, will get a kick out of what I am going to share.

Basic facts. A search on Oracle.com of this phrase "Oracle Fusion Financials Release 11" returns 1 result. Huh? Stop the presses, 1 result. Not sure why.

Anyway, if you follow the link there is an Implementation Guide, wonder what is in there? Nothing I found very interesting in the "Common Implementation Guide".
Let's keep looking. And I am going to look at the "Financials Implementation Guide".

Well, look at that, in the Overview section, there is something called "Financial Business Intelligence Analytics", and has a sub-section "General Ledger Business Intelligence Analytics" .. wonder if there is more on this???

Going back to the Contents, this is interesting, "35 Define Financial Reporting", what is this?

This is it. I am hooked in. Hook. Line. And Sinker!

Like an FDMEE fish swimming upstream >o

*wink* <insert EPM joke here> *wink*

Well, and now you had me at hello .. Smart View! My dear, dear, good ole' friend. I didn’t know you also spent time with the General Ledger, ERP??!

Who is this that you have not told me about??

But even better, many of your other EPM reporting friends are here with you! Financial Reporting, Financial Reporting Workspace, Financial Reporting Studio.. tell me more!

Components

Financial Reporting Center is comprised of numerous components:

• Financial Reporting: Financial users and analysts access live reports and books or published snapshot reports and books from previously scheduled batches in a variety of formats. Other functionality includes:

• Refreshing report data using runtime points of view or parameters
• Drill through capability from parents to other parents
• Drill down to detail balances, journal lines, and subledger transactions.

• Smart View: Financial analysts view, import, manipulate, distribute, and share data from your Oracle Fusion General Ledger balances in Microsoft Excel.
• Account Monitor and Account Inspector: Financial analysts monitor and track key account balances in real time at every level of your dimensions and hierarchies. These tools provide multidimensional account analysis and drill down capability.
• Financial Reporting Workspace: Reporting administrators create, open, save, and delete folders and store report objects, reports, and snapshot reports.
• Financial Reporting Studio: Report authors use an object-oriented graphical report layout with report objects, such as text boxes, grids, images, and charts, to design reports.

Okay, so now we are done. Not yet. Although this led us to a little bit of a dead end. I am working currently on Oracle Financials Cloud Release 11. And what I just found makes me want to find out and learn more!

Wonder what is new for Oracle Applications Release 11? Video Spotlight on Financials

Am I seeing this right in the video!? Multidimensional analysis..

And at 2 minutes and 37 seconds of this video, did i hear what I think I just heard?!?! ".. these are based on multidimensional cubes.. they can be updated on demand..".

And then a minute later at 3 minutes and 30 seconds, ".. with Release 11 we are also delivering powerful modern reporting and analytics.. analytical applications for mobile devices using BI mobile app designer.."

And then we get to the "Analyze | One Location for Reporting and Analytics" at approx. 3 minutes and 55 seconds. ".. reports based on .. BI Publisher, Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence, Hyperion Financial Reporting, General Ledger Sunburst, and BI mobile App Designer.."

Also, an interesting fun fact to note. The name of the Application that is used in that video is the same as .. well .. this one! :)

Which one is that you ask since you didn't click on the link to watch the video.

That was the video for Oracle PBCS. Yes, I said. PBCS! The sample application for PBCS is called Vision.

PBCS: Vision

Fusion Financials: VISION

Well, that is fun, nice and interesting all at the same time.

But I am not easily getting to the rabbit that I am chasing.. until I stumble onto, this, the "Financial Reporting Center: How It Works". I am mentally turned around for a second because for a brief moment I forgot if I was researching an EPM something or another, and remember that I was looking into and researching Fusion Financials Cloud ERP. And notice, it uses the word "cube"!

This to me is the EPM Hyperion reporting toolset that I am familiar with, plain as day. The configuring Financial Reporting section is all of the classics that I have seen for years before, Hyperion Financial Reporting (HFR) Studio, BI Publisher, Smart View, words like Workspace.

Now, being a Smart View kind of guy. I had to see or try to see if I could see this for myself. We have an Oracle Fusion Cloud ERP, so why not try.

I already have Smart View installed, latest version 11.1.2.5.620. Now what do I need? The Configure Smart Client View for Users says that I should be able to take the Workspace URL that ends in /workspace/index.jsp and replace that ending with what I know to be the common Smart View suffix of /workspace/SmartViewProviders

And, there you have it. Open the Smart View Panel. Click on the Shared Connections. After the login. The Panel choices look like this..

I am going to pick my friend Oracle Essbase. And this is what I see..

And sorry for the blur but I have to make sure to protect the innocent.

This is only the first post of many on this topic as I have only scratched the surface.

Hint: If you now know that the GL Balances are in an Essbase cube. And you have many of the same reporting tools to use. What other shared bits are there between this Cloud ERP and the EPM world.. stay tuned!

Oracle Smart View for Office - Query Designer

Oracle Smart View for Office has had a powerful, dynamic but yet user friendly feature built-in for Ad-hoc analysis (queries) since version 9.3.1.2.0 called Query Designer.

Query Designer can be used for both Essbase & HFM data sources!
At a high level, query designer allows users to design queries from a default reporting grid. Or extract the query from an existing report. Or create and run MDX queries. And provide the ability to share a query by simply saving and sending to another user, just like any other Smart View workbook.

Let's take a look.

Query Designer can be found in a few places. From the Essbase Ribbon once an active connection is established. Or from the Connection Panel.

In this example, we are using Sample Basic.

Once Query Designer is selected, a few things happen.
First, a new worksheet within the same workbook is created.

When this new sheet gets created you can observe..

The new sheet makes a copy of the sheet where the connection has been established and appends " - Query" to the sheet name. This is highlighted in the screen capture in Yellow.







In addition, there is now a panel that appears with the POV consisting of the query (report) Columns, Rows, POV and any attributes if applicable.

By clicking on the Columns or Rows Dimension Names below each, you get to the Member Selection window and can proceed like usual. Or you have the ability to create dynamic query criteria.

In this example, we want only the level-0 members, of the Year dimension, to appear on this report. By selecting the Dimension-Member "Year" we can then either click on the drop-down for the filter or use the "right >" drop-down to apply a dynamic query to only, and always bring back all level-0 members.

This is a powerful feature. This allows for members to be added or removed from the database-application-outline-dimension without having to modify, your existing query (report) to ensure that you have the proper members and/or result set.

When you click OK.
This is the result in the Excel grid.




By making a few more selections for the query, measures, scenario, etc. the query is now ready based on the design you have provided.

To send the query and retrieve data. Click the button 'Apply Query'.

Once the query is 'applied' a few things happen

1) The query designed is sent to the server.
When the query is complete the result set retrieved is ready to be delivered back to the workbook.

2) The sheet with " - Query" appended is hidden within the workbook.

3) And a new sheet is then created with " - Report" appended
instead of " - Query"

Now, let's modify this query to make it even more dynamic and specific.
We want results for Market parents, East, West, South and level-0 of Central.

Notice how in the member selection, selected window, there is now a plus sign next to the member Central and also with syntax ", Level, 0" trailing the member.











Note: If you also wanted to show the Central total, you could also member select that into the selected members window pane, in addition to the level-0 members of Central. This is a great way to create a dynamic report that uses the query designer to now provide a natural Subtotal or validation check of the details in the report, making sure the parts equal the total in this case.


Let's see what the grid shows.

The syntax is also now added to run the query designed for Markets.

Once again, 'Apply Query'. The "Query" sheet hides. And the "Report" sheet re-appears with the designed, requested query and the set of data results.


A few more fun things to note.

a) If you would like to edit-modify a query already built using query designer or an turn an existing report grid into a query designed report.

Simply go to the Ribbon button 'Query' and select 'Query Designer'. Either the pre-existing 'Query' sheet will re-appear or a new 'Query' sheet will be created.

b) If you are comfortable with the syntax the query designer provides in the sheet "Query" on the Excel sheet-grid. You are able to free-form type in the desired query. Make sure you have the syntax correct, if not, Smart View will throw an error that there was an error in the syntax detected and attempt to tell you where is possible.

c) Once the Query Designer results have been retrieved. This new sheet can be used like any other Ad-hoc analysis worksheet.

Note: If when using Ad-hoc analysis on a query designer 'report' this is now a desired report I would suggest that you use the Excel functionality of making a copy of that worksheet. If you don't, and the query designer is again going to be used, this report will be overwritten with the newly requested result set of the query.


Many times users describe reports that they have created and are concerned about having to redo and spend time when members as mentioned get added and or moved. Or when the member description-alias is updated. In these cases, query designer is a great way to ensure that the report and the desired results are accurate and dynamic to pick up changes without having to re-create reports from scratch or get Smart View Ad-hoc errors that members or description-alias are not recognized, etc.

Excel Filters Now Retained During Ad Hoc Analysis - SV 11.1.2.5.620

A new feature added to the latest version of Oracle Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.620 released in January of 2017

Excel Filters Now Retained During Ad Hoc Analysis!

Let's take a look to see how it works..

Our favorite, Sample Basic.








Let's say we now want to know all of the Product(s) that made a Profit in the 4th Quarter for a particular region, in this case, Wisconsin.

With this version you can now add your Excel data filters to your Ad-hoc grid and the retrieve will honor the filter.

Filter added to Qtr4->Profit data greater than 0. (Column E)











So far, connect, Ad-hoc and retrieve as usual.
Now let's see if the filter is indeed honored with an Ad-hoc in tandem.

Ad-hoc -> Zoom Out -> Wisconsin.
That should Zoom Out to Central, which it does. But in addition, the filter added prior to return those products that made a Profit in Qtr4 is still intact!







Just to make sure, let's remove the filter.

With the filter removed, we can see the products that didn’t make a Profit in Qtr4 for the Central region.

Oracle Smart View for Office 11.1.2.5.620 - Patch Set Update (Patch 25242360)

What a nice way to start off the new year in 2017 with a release of Smart View!

This is version 11.1.2.5.620 and can be downloaded from Oracle Support here

 

 
New Features in This Release

• New VBA Functions
• Support for Selectively Deleting Connections
• Excel Filters Now Retained During Ad Hoc Analysis
• New Option for Sorting Items in Smart View Panel
•  Planning and Budgeting Cloud, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Features
• Oracle BI EE Enhancements

Great new features for VBA, EPRCS, PBCS and Drop-down Member Selection on Row Dimensions in Forms! But I am going to focus on a few that caught my eye since .. maybe Oracle Open World, right {names have been removed to protect the innocent}? ;)

First is the VBA Function to now quickly 'retrieve' the sheet information as a Formula. You can use the formula builder, this is what it looks like

   














HypGetSheetInfo: retrieves detailed information about the requested worksheet. This function is supported by all providers.

• Connected
• Sheet Type
• Server
• Application
• Cube
• URL
• Provider
• Provider URL
• Friendly Name
• Alias Table
• User
• Description

And another feature that I like to see, and I know, some of the simple things..
Support for Selectively Deleting Connections

You can now select specific shared and private connection URLs, as well as extension update URLs, using the new Delete Connection URLs command.

You access this command from the private connection panel in Smart View. The Delete Connection URLs dialog allows you to select specific private connections, shared connections, and extension update URLs for deletion.

Note: You can only delete private connections that were created using the quick connection method. Connections created using the private connection wizard will not be available for deletion in the Delete Connection URLs dialog.


And this is what it looks like