The newest release of Smart View (Release 11.1.2.1.102) includes many helpful, long-awaited features sure to both enhance the end-user experience and increase productivity. Many of the new features are examined below while a complete list and their descriptions can be found here.

Ad Hoc Operations in Multiple Cells

Previous versions of Smart View limited users to cell level ad-hoc operations. For example; say you wanted to ‘Zoom In’ on a member, Smart View limited this action to a single cell (single member). The newest version allows users to select a range of cells before performing an action allowing for quicker answers. Multi-cell actions such as Zoom In, Zoom Out, Keep Only and Remove Only are now permitted.   More...

Many companies have started to push IE8 to their user community, upgrading their users from earlier versions such as IE6 or IE7. As this evolution occurred I’ve noticed many of these same users experiencing timeout issues with Oracle/Hyperion Smart View for Excel. The Smart View application utilizes timeout settings set within the internet browser, IE in this case. The timeout occurs when attempting to perform ‘large’ retrieves or data submissions, any process which takes 30 seconds or more to perform. Users receive this message 30 seconds into an Excel process.

The newer versions of IE (both IE7 and IE8) have reduced timeout settings (30 seconds) vs. what was default in IE6 (60 seconds), thus any Smart View process resulting in activity 30 seconds or longer produces the Smart View timeout message shown above.

In order to resolve the issue, the default timeout settings must be modified. This can be accomplished by making registry modifications (using regedit) on the user’s machine. Three “DWORD (32-bit) Value” environment variables need added with timeout values longer than the default 30 seconds. The location and names of the three DWORD variables needing added are shown below. Keep in mind that these variables can be added to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER or HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE areas. Be sure that no spaces exist in the DWORD variables being added. Caution should be taken when modifying environment variables.

 Registry Path: 

"HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings" OR "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings"

If you have recently upgraded your web browser to IE8 and attempted to use Hyperion Workspace, you’ve likely encountered difficulty in navigating the interface. When a user clicks on the wheel in the upper left hand corner, selects “Applications,” they can’t see the menu as it apearrs to be condensed. 

This issue can be quickly resolved by making a browser modification to the IE security. It is best to run this settings change past your IT department to ensure it will not open holes in your company’s security profile.

To correct this issue, 

1.       Open IE8

2.       select “Tools”->”Internet Options"

3.       Select the “Security” tab and “Custom Level”.

4.       You will have 4 zones where security changes can be performed (Internet, Local Internet, Trusted sites, Restricted sites). The change can be made to each of these 4 zones if necessary, but it’s possible only one zone needs modified. Test the combination that works for your environment and fits your companies IT/security profile.

5.       Select the “Internet” zone and scroll down the menu of options to find “Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints”. This will likely be set to “Disable”… select “Enable” and click “OK”. (If prompted, accept the change just made to the zone security).

6.       Select “OK” from the security tab to finalize the modification.

7.       Test the modification to verify the change worked as intended. As noted above, you might need to enable this setting on multiple zones in order for the setting to take effect.

Many clients have issues with Workspace logging users out when attempting to open/export certain types of documents. For example, a user logged into Hyperion Workspace attempts to open a Supporting Detail document, only to be prompted with a logout warning message before the document opens. The same can happen when a user attempts to export an FR report file (.DES file) from Workspace. After being logged out of Workspace, the user is able to log back into the application and open/export the necessary document. This issue can easily fixed by adjusting a few browser settings as shown below.

NOTE: Microsoft documents typically cause this logout issue (Excel, Word, PowerPoint).

1. Open your web browser (This blog entry will assume IE).

2. Select “Tools” -> “Internet Options…” from the menu bar. 

 
3. Select the "Internet" option inside the “Security” tab. Select “Custom Level…”. 

4. Navigate to the “Downloads” section and “Enable” Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click “OK”.

 
5. Now select the “Local Internet” option inside the “Security” tab. Select “Custom Level…”.

 
6. Navigate to the “Downloads” section and “Enable” Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click “OK”.

 
7. Finally, select the “Trusted sites” option inside the “Security” tab. Select “Custom Level…”.

 
8. Navigate to the “Downloads” section and “Enable” Automatic prompting for file downloads. Click “OK”. 

 
9. Now that the settings have been set properly, Click “OK” on the “Internet Options” dialog box.  

10. Close and re-open your web browser for the settings to take effect. Test these settings by logging into Workspace and opening a Supporting Detail document.

The ability to import font types into Hyperion Financial Reporting is a common request by many companies, typically a request resulting from corporate reporting standards. Not only is this possible, it’s a quick and easy exercise that is detailed out below.

Step 1: Locate the Font Folder.

The font type files (normally identified by a .TTF or .ttf extension) can be found in the “Fonts” folder located in your Windows directory (Likely on your ‘C’ drive). The key here is locating this folder on the server where Hyperion Financial Reporting has been installed.

Step 2: Copying& Pasting the New Font File.

This is as easy as it sounds… just copy and paste the new file into this directory.

Step 3: Creating a Report.

Opening Hyperion Financial Reporting and create/modify a report. When selecting the font type, notice the new Font Type that was just added in Step 2 above. Note that it’s best to close the Financial Reporting client before importing the new Font file onto the server; this will insure that the client will recognize the new file.

Reporting solutions often require companies to filter out a top range of Key Performance Indicators; for example, the top 10 expenses related to marketing. Hyperion Financial Reporting makes this type of reporting easy for developers by providing the “Top” properties checkbox. The difficulty arises when a company requires a solution to display the bottom 10 – those 10 expenses that account for a majority of marketing related expense. Hyperion Financial Reporting has nothing built to provide this type of information.

As you might expect - knowing your smaller expenses is important but knowing the largest; those where you can improve margin, is vital. A solution to display the bottom 10 is detailed below; this solution displays the 10 largest negative values vs. displaying the 10 largest positive values.

The high-level solution includes the following functionality:
a.    Inserting a “Rank” column.
b.    Sorting on the “Rank” column.
c.    Adding conditional suppression for bottom 10.

Step 1:

Create a report grid with a formula column as the first column (Column A below).

Step 2:

Insert the “Rank” function on the Formula Column. Be sure to choose the “Ascending” property. Adding “Rank” will order the rows from High-to-Low based on the data returned. The example below provides ranking off of Column ‘A’. The ranking is used on Step 4 when adding conditional suppression.

Step 3:

Apply row “Sort” to the grid. You find the “Sort” property by placing focus on the entire grid (left clicking the upper left-most cell). Choose to apply sorting to the “Rows”, Sort by “Column A”, and sort in “Ascending” order. Sorting will determine the order in which the data is displayed, Ascending or Descending. The Sorting is used on Step 4 when adding conditional suppression.

Step 4:

Add Conditional Suppression to the row(s). This logic will determine which data rows are ultimately displayed to the user. To add conditional suppression, highlight the row and click “Advanced Options”. Because the requirement is to show the bottom 10, suppression should hide any row with a “Rank” value greater than 10 (You will also want to suppress rows where “No Data” is returned).

When this report is run, only the bottom 10 will be displayed to the user… those marketing expenses with the largest negative values. The solution above will essentially do what a “Bottom” checkbox would have provided had Hyperion programmed this functionality into the application.