There are a lot of reasons one might loop through children in a Groovy Calculation. On my journeys with Groovy, I have run into a few roadblocks where this has been helpful. Some of these were related to limits in PBCS. Looping through sets of members allowed us to get around some of the limitations. Read more
Introduction
Before we jump in, there are a number of questions you are going to have at the conclusion of this article. Please post comments and I will answer them, but keep in mind, this is an example. Are there different ways to accomplish this? You bet. Should the data sync directly to the rFin database? Probably not, as there are calculations in the fin database that likely need to happen. This could be so complicated that nobody would follow it, so some liberties have been taken to simplify the explanation. The hope is that you can take this, as it has all the pieces required, and modify, add pieces, alter others, and be able to create something that meets your needs. This is a continuation of Part 18. Please read that before you continue.
Introduction
One of the challenges with Hyperion Planning is the ability to move data between applications in real time. A classic example of this is a P&L application with other modules that have greater detail. The following is an example. Read more
Challenge Accepted
When I asked visitors to try to come up with a situation that Groovy Calculation might be able to solve, this was a good one. One visitor asked if they could require a cell comment if certain parameters were not met. It is actually relatively easy.
The following requirement exist in this example. If any month holds more than 30% of the full year, that cell requires the user to enter a cell comment. If no comment exists, the user won’t be able to save the form.
The User Experience
If any month is more than 30% of the full year, and the user doesn’t add a comment to a cell, the form will not save. The following shows what happens when the above fails, and what happens after the user enters a comment into the cell.
The Code
def backErrColor = 16755370 //Red
def caseTotal = 0
def accountName = ""
// Loop through the months
operation.grid.dataCellIterator('Jan','Feb','Mar','Apr','May','Jun','Jul','Aug','Sep','Oct','Nov','Dec').each {
// Get a total for all 12 months every time the row changes
if(it.getAccountName() != accountName) {
accountName = it.getAccountName();
caseTotal = it.data + it.crossDimCell('Feb').data + it.crossDimCell('Mar').data + it.crossDimCell('Apr').data + it.crossDimCell('May').data + it.crossDimCell('Jun').data + it.crossDimCell('Jul').data + it.crossDimCell('Aug').data + it.crossDimCell('Sep').data + it.crossDimCell('Oct').data + it.crossDimCell('Nov').data + it.crossDimCell('Dec').data
}
// If the value is greater than 30% of the total and the cell does NOT have a cell comment, interrupt the form save
if(it.data > 0 && it.data / caseTotal > 0.3 && !it.hasCellNote() ) {
it.addValidationError(backErrColor, "Cases for a single month can't be more than 30% of the total year without an assumption.", false)
}
}
Conclusion
Challenge accepted. This one goes in the win column for Groovy Calculations!
Introduction
I know you can argue this is a user issue and a training issue, but the fact is, sometimes people will save a form without editing any data. There are at least three negative issues as a result. One, the business rules and smart pushes execute, consuming unnecessary resources. Two, users may think they made changes and expect changes in the results. Three, if the processes are time consuming (like applying allocations or currency rates globally), the user will have to wait to correct the issue. There is a very simple way to stop all the processes from executing and inform the user that they haven’t made any changes. Read more
Introduction
One of the huge benefits that available in Groovy Calculations is the ability to interact with a user, validate data, and act on the validation. Now, we can interrupt form saves, stop Run Time Prompts from continuing, and communicate information back to the user.
This may sound repetitive if you have read part 13 and part 14, and you can skip to the code example to learn more about run time prompt validation. If not, you must have an understanding of the validation functions and the components of the messageBundle. Read more
Introduction
One of the huge benefits that available in Groovy Calculations is the ability to interact with a user, validate data, and act on the validation. Now, we can interrupt form saves, stop Run Time Prompts from continuing, and communicate information back to the user. Read more
Introduction
For people that are new to Groovy/Java, testing functions that Groovy provides can be a tedious and time consuming process. Learning anything is. Trying to do this with the wrong tools compounds it. I have seen some people give up and walk away from trying to improve applications because they struggle with the Groovy Calculations and the complexity it introduces to go beyond some of the basics, just because they are using a hammer when they need a screwdriver. Read more
The GroovyDynamicLocalizedException Groovy method should return the message in the user selected local (language) from a messageBundle. This can be used to share the bundles in other situations. Currently, when used, it returns a validation error. Read more
Introduction
Groovy opens up a lot of things above and beyond performance improvements and improving the user experience. One example is the possibility to interact with the metadata. Dimensions and members can be queried for all types of things which can be useful in many situations. Read more