BDA Task Editor

Application Summary

The BDA Task Editor extends, enhances, and organizes Cube Views and Dashboards via a graphical interface.

BDA Task Editor Overview

The BDA Task Editor improves native Cube View and Dashboard functionality by presenting and managing an application’s forms and reports in a consistent and structured manner.

A sophisticated user experience is created through configuration without recourse to code. Controls, selectors, Workflow, and calculations are driven through predefined parameters.

Data changes are tracked and calculation scope is limited to those adjustments, significantly improving calculation performance.

Task Editor is central to the development process. Administrators use it on an ongoing basis when creating new content or modifying existing tasks. Application Users live within its framework.

Setup and Installation

The installation process for all BDA Solutions is the same: download the install zip file from Partner Place, import, and run the BDA_FW_Dashboard_Setup dashboard using the purchased product keys. The zip file contains all BDA Solutions; the keys unlock the purchased Solutions.

See the BDA Installation Solution Guide for more information.

BDA Task Editor Manager Solution

Functionality Overview

The Task Editor features two broad components:

The Administrator Interface to create new tasks and select options
The User Interface is a multi-purpose dashboard which is attached to Workflow Profiles where tasks should be displayed

For example, if the Workflow Profile of “Clubs” needs a data entry Cube View and a reporting Dashboard the Administrator would add two tasks, choosing the Cube View and the Dashboard and the end-user would select Clubs and see the two tasks.

Task Editor covers six general functional features:

1) Tasks - Create and attach a collection of cube-view or dashboard based tasks to workflow profiles via User Interface

2) Point-of-View (POV)/Filters - Create dynamic filters based on individual tasks via User Interface. The POV choices are tracked by user and it will remember where the user was last at.

3) Calculations - Attach task-focused data management sequences to a task that can follow dynamic filters via User Interface

4) Instructions - Attach Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or PDF formatted user instructions on a task-by-task basis via User Interface

5) Reporting - Enable dynamic reporting options via User Interface

6) Task Completion - Track task completion status down to the same level as specified in the POV of a task (e.g., if the filter is U1#TotalProduct.Base tasks are tracked for each base-level product)

Additionally, if BDA Drill Down Editor is in use, the formulas generated can be used directly in a Cube View task and if the BDA Cube View Editor is in use the “on-save” logic directly integrates with filters set!

Tasks

The Task Editor is built up on the concept of enabling multiple tasks with varying options within a single Workflow Profile.

All end-user tasks are consumed through a single dashboard: _BDA_Dashboard_Framework (the leading underscore makes it easy to find in a Workflow or Forms setup property box)

To enable tasks for end-users the Task Editor dashboard only needs to be attached once to a workflow Profile and then any changes are made in the Administrator Interface.

Select a Workflow Profile that has a Workspace name of Workspace or Forms

Once attached, the end-user selects a Workflow and will see the configured tasks in a drop down. For example, if Clubs in the GolfStream app is selected as above they would see the below assuming the Administrator created two tasks:

Select the Workflow Profile, click the + and choose a cube view or dashboard to attach

Point-of-View (POV)/Filters

Allows drop down boxes, custom lists or a single POV item to be configured. Generally, these are along dimensions but do not have to be! The resulting boxes can be sorted in several different ways and alternate descriptions, such as using Text1 member properties can also be used.

In the below example an Entity drop down is configured to have the prefix of “Location” and sorted alphabetically.

The base of All Orgs is used

The end-user then sees the list of base entities sorted:

If the filter is based on a dimension, clicking the “magnifying glass” icon will allow for search and can be sorted in an alternate order.

Calculations

Up to two data management sequences can be attached to a given task. This provides a convenient one-click process to run calculations or consolidations that are aware of the current POV.

The list boxes in the General Options of the Administrator Interface allows a “Calculation” and “Consolidation” task to be selected (these do not have to strictly be calculations or consolidations but the typical use case is allow the end-user to recalculate a model and then Aggregate/Consolidate)

The end-user will see a Calculator Button and/or Triangle Button in the User Interface.

Instructions

Instructions, including a URL, text, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF/images and videos, can be attached to an individual task allowing for instructions specific to a task to be quickly accessed.

The User Interface will see an instruction icon. Clicking on it will pop up a box for any attachments.

Reporting

Column and row sets can be specified to create a dynamic cube view experience that can then be fed to Cube Views and any object that relies on a cube view such as a dashboard.

To enable reporting, navigate to the Reporting tab in the Task Editor and select “Enable Reporting Options”. Then select a source Cube View folder for shared row templates and a source Cube View folder for shared column templates.

Task Completion Status

The Task Editor allows tasks to be marked complete similar to marking a Workflow complete but at a more granular level.

Enabling “Show Task Complete Button?” will mark an entire task complete. Enabling “Track task submissions by Drown Down/POV” in addition to the first option will allow tasks to be completed by anything chosen in the POV/Filters section. For example, if UD2 is a Product dimension, adding a filter of U2#TotalProducts.Base will track the task completion by each base-level Product.

Tasks can also quickly enable traditional Workflow completion and block input for completed Workflows.

The task completion status can be reported on via the table BDA_FW_TaskStatus. There is a starter dashboard in the BDA Core Technology Pack in OnePlace.

Use Cases

To enable the User Interface to be accessed, any desired Workflow Profiles must be enabled to use the Task Editor features. In the below example from the GolfStream reference application, the cube view for Revenue Planning will be attached to the Workflow Profile “Clubs” for Budget Scenario types.

The “Clubs” Workflow Profile is set to a Workflow Name value of Workspace under the “Budget” Scenario type.

The “_BDA_Dashboard_Framework” dashboard is selected for Workspace Dashboard Name

Attaching a Cube View

From the Administrator Interface found at OnePlace > Dashboards > BDA Core Technology Pack, click the yellow button and select a Workflow Profile. In this example, using the GolfStream application “Clubs” is selected.
Highlight the desired scenario type to attach the Cube View task to. In this example, Budget is selected (Budget_V1 is an example of a scenario in GolfStream) and click the + icon.
Select the desired Cube View from the dialog box, in this example Product Revenue (1Month View Budget) has been selected.

The task will show up in the listing under Budget.

Administrator Interface - Save Button

Any changes in the Administrator Interface will not be committed until the Save button is pressed.

When the title bar turns red this indicates there are pending changes.

NOTE: Be aware that changes to text fields, such as Title, do not always result in the toolbar turning red! When in doubt click the Save button.

User Interface - Changing the Logo

After initial install the Black Diamond Advisory logo serves as a placeholder.

Upload and image file to the Dashboard Maintenance Unit BDA Framework Client Content and name it ClientLogo_Default

User Interface – Making Selections

When the User Interface has POV selections the interface does not refresh until the refresh icon next to any combo boxes is selected.

It will change to a yellow color and the refresh button will turn Red signaling changes are pending.

This is by design so users can efficiently select from multiple fields with out triggering multiple refreshes.

Unchanged:

Pending changes:

Change Title of a Task

By default the title of a task that displays to the end-user takes on the name of the Cube View or Dashboard added. It is often desirable to give it a different name to flow better with the task.

For example, the Cube View added in the previous example is named “Product Revenue (1 Month View Budget)”. For the end-user just simply “Product Revenue” may be more descriptive!

To rename a task

Choose the General Options tab in the Administrator Interface.
Change the Title field.
Click Save.

The tree view at left will update to show the new title with the actual name in parenthesis:

The User Interface will show the new title:

Changing Point-of-View (POV)/Filters

The BDA Task Editor allows for many different options in creating filters for Cube Views or Drop Downs and each choice is specific to the task. This allows a group of tasks to have different granularity. For example, the first task may be by product and the second task may be a total summary with no product drop down.

Combo Box (a.k.a. “Drop Downs”)
Dimension-based
Workflow-based
Custom List
Up to two rows
Single Value
Hidden from the user but allows a task to drive the value of a parameter used in a POV or dashboard.
- Example would be reusing the cube view for two tasks. Task 1 is set to US and Task 2 is set to Canada
List Box

The contents of most filters can be sorted or use different descriptions. Additionally multiple filters can be combined. For example, you may want U2#Tier1Customers.Base to appear before U2#Tier2Customers.Base regardless of alphabetical order.

The layout of the Drop Down & POV section of the Administrator Interface has two top panes:

The left-hand side are available choices but not yet assigned.
The right-hand side are currently assigned.
The middle pane contains controls to assign (right arrow), unassign (left arrow) or to apply updates (checkmark)

The lower pane contains options for the type of filter applied and will change based on valid options:

Combo Box – Simple Dimension-based Example

NOTE: A drop down is not restricted to the corresponding dimension BUT the default behavior will assume that the settings for the drop down are for the corresponding dimension unless specified otherwise. For example, you could choose U2 but tie it to the Flow dimension or make it a custom list, but if not specified it will assume that the U2 of the current workflow cube is the valid dimension. In this example a drop down for entity (retitled Location) already exists and a second choice for Product using U2 will be added.

Select the desired drop down choice
Click the right arrow to assign it to the task
Choose Combo Box
Choose a title.
1. Titles are optional but if not specified will show the dimension prefix such as E#
Choose a filter.
Click the green check mark icon to commit changes (if updating more than one assigned drop down this queues up changes) or click the Save icon

Once the Combo Box is assigned, the corresponding parameters should be included in the Cube View attached. Parameters are named like “_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_X” where X is the dimension chosen. In the example below using U2 the Parameter would be “_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_U2”

The BDA parameters can be used in cube views or dashboards. The parameters are commonly used in POVs, rows or columns of Cube Views. In the example below the E and U2 drop downs from the example above are included in the POV of the Product Revenue Cube View using the Parameter notation of |! !| surrounding the name. For example, |!_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_E!| corresponds to “E” drop down value.

From the User Interface the end-user would now see two drop downs in the example above:

Combo Box – Using Alternate Descriptions

There are a number of different display options for a combo box including varying combinations of Name and Description of a member. Text fields can also be used.

Consider the example below where the member is actually New York, New Jersey, etc. But in this example location has a manager assigned in Text 1 of the U3 dimension for Sales Region.

Following the “Simple Dimension” example to add a U3 Combo Box then specify

Change the title to Manager
Add the filter, in this case we the filter U3#US.Base is selected
Choose Text 1 (description if missing)

Save Changes by clicking the Save icon

The User Interface will now display the U3 dimension by Text 1 (but feed the member name like Northeast) into a cube view via the parameter _Param_cbx_BDA_FW_U3

Combo Box – Combining Multiple Filters

There may be cases where it is desirable to merge together two or three member filters but keep a select few above others (whereas normally the combo box sorts the filter by hierarchy or alphabetical).

For example, summary level entities may want to be listed at the top while base level at the bottom but within each they should be sorted alphabetically.

This is accomplished using additional filter fields.

The User Interface now shows two groupings combined with the summary levels toward the top

Combo Box – Using Multiple Filters to “Cascade” Drop Down Values

There are many use cases where one drop down should drive the value, or filter, another drop down. For example, if a Product group, like Balls are chosen it should restrict the second drop down to just the individual types of balls.

The first step is to configure the first drop down. In this example U2 is chosen and given a filter of U2#Top.Children. This will result in Accessories, Balls, Clubs, etc. Change the Title to “Product Line”

The second step is to include another drop down, U3 will be chosen and assigned.

Because the newly added U3 dimension is actually going to be tied to the U2 dimension (the U2 combo box is the filter for the second combo box but both are U2 members) the Dimension Override field needs to be set to U2.

The Primary filter should then be set to U2#[|!_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_U2!|].Base

NOTE: It is normal for spaces to be added between the | and ! characters of the parameter inside the Administrator Interface
**

**Because the U3 combo box is actually being used, the if the intent is to use the product in a POV of a Cube View or Dashboard the parameter that should be used is |!_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_U3!|

After everything below matches, Save is clicked.

The result in the User Interface is the Product Line drop down filters down the Product.

Example 1 – Accessories results in Bags, Towels, Travel Gear, etc

Example 2 – Clubs results in Belly, Conventional, Drivers, etc

Combo Box – Custom List

There are times when a combo box should be used that has no relationship to a dimension. For example a simple True or False box.

Select any available combo box. In this example the “V” combo box is assigned.

Choose Custom List
Assign a Title (in this example a Scaling drop down is being created)
Assign values (what are actually sent to the parameter)
1. Comma separated
Assign display values
1. Comma separated
2. This is optional but if not specified uses the value field (so .1 and .01 would be displayed)
3. The values must match the count of the display items

Since the V combo box was used in this example the parameter _Param_cbx_BDA_FW_V would be used in a Cube View or Dashboard

The User Interface would now display the below:

List Box – Simple Example

The combo boxes starting with a “Y” will display as list boxes to the left in Available Combo Boxes.

Tall and Short reference the size of the list box. Multi denotes that it allows multiple selections.

For the below example Y1 Short Multi will add a smaller, multiple-select list box to the left hand side of the User Interface. This example presents an alternative to the U2 Product dimension specified in the Use Case for Combo Box Simple Dimension-based Example.

Choose Combo Box (can be a Custom List as well)
Enter a title
Enter a filter such as U2#Top.Base
Because the Y parameters don’t associate by default with a cube choose the cube to base dimensionality from
Choose the desired Dimension type, in this case the U2 dimension

Update the Cube View or dashboard to use the parameter, in this example _Param_cbx_BDA_FW_Y1

The User Interface will then show a selection box at left:

Second Row Combo Boxes

A second row of combo boxes can be displayed by selecting any of the “X” available combo boxes. The other feature is the second row immediately trigger a refresh (whereas the header only refreshes after the refresh button is used).

A great use case for these is allowing two combo boxes for scenario to create a Scenario 1 vs Scenario 2 drop down.

Choose Combo Box
Set a title like Scenario 1
Set a primary filter such as S#Root.Base
*This may be optional – if the dimension you are choosing is outside of the workflow cube you are using select a cube
Because this type of combo box does not default to a type of dimension one must be set, in this case Scenario.

Repeat the above steps a second time except title it Scenario 2. The Assigned Combo Boxes would look like so:

The User Interface will now display a second row of Drop Downs

Single POV Value

Assign a parameter as in previous sections. For example using “V” as in the prior example.

Choose Single Value (Hidden)
Assign a Value

Click Save

In the example above, the parameter is useful in a Cube View POV section. Using standard parameter notation, |!_Param_cbx_BDA_FW_V!| would be specified in the Cube View. When the user selects the above example Task the Cube View would render as YTD. No drop down shows in the User Interface.

POV – Using the POV Selections From Another Task (Copy & Paste)

Once Combo Boxes, Single Values and/or Custom Lists are defined in one task, those values can be copied to other tasks.

Open the task to source selections from. In this example the Product Revenue Task example used above is selected. Click the Copy Button.

Navigate to another task. In this example a second task has been added into the Clubs workflow. It will initially have no Combo Boxes assigned.

Clicking Paste will populate the assigned combo boxes from the source task!

Click Save to complete the changes.

Attaching a Data Management Sequence – Calculation

Users can click the calculator button to run the predefined calculation based, in this example, on the selected “Location”

What the user sees:

Attaching a Data Management Sequence – Consolidation

What the user sees:

Attaching Instructions

The instructions icon will show on the left hand side of the User Interface. Clicking this button will launch the Instructions dialog box.

In the case of “simple” instructions, the user will see the text entered in the Administrator Interface.

If a file is not currently attached, one can be uploaded from the Administrator Interface. One Word/RTF file, one Excel file, one PowerPoint file, one PDF file and one Video can be uploaded. The below example is a Word file.

Instructions can be changed or removed later by choosing Replace.

Enable Reporting

The “Reporting” feature allows a Cube View folder to be selected for template rows and a Cube View folder to be selected for template columns using the Sharing feature of a cube view.

Change the column sharing to All Columns and use the parameter |!_BDA_FW_C1!|
Change the row sharing to All Rows and use the parameter |!_BDA_FW_R1!|

Navigate to the Reporting tab in the Administrator Interface**

**

Tick the box to Enable Reporting Options.
Choose the desired Cube View folder for Rows
Choose the desired Cube View folder for Columns.

Once enabled the User Interface will have two list boxes at left. After a column set and row set is chosen the Task will redraw with the new selection.

NOTE: The reporting option takes the place of any “Y” parameters that would show on the left hand side (see List Box Use Case Section).

Attaching a Dashboard

Attaching dashboards is functionally no different than attaching cube views. Select a workflow, choose a Scenario type and click the + button.

While Cube Views are the top segment of the available options you can quickly collapse them to see Dashboards in the second segment.

Disabling a Task

It may be desired at times to remove a task temporarily from the Task drop down in the User Interface.

Navigate to the General Options in the Administrator Interface and choose Disable Task. This will retain all the configurations to the task but it will be removed from the User Interface.

Managing Order of Tasks

From the tree at left in the Administrator Interface tasks can be reordered or removed.

Clicking the Up arrow would result in Task 02 becoming Task 01.

Clicking the X Button would result in removing Task 02 from the list of tasks.

Bulk Copying of Tasks

Select a source Workflow profile at left.
Select a target Workflow Profile at right.
Click the center button to complete copy.

Depending on the level

Changing (Repointing) A Task to Different Artifact

If a task needs to point to a different Cube View or Dashboard than it currently points to, clicking the button that has two opposing arrows on the left hand toolbar in the Administrator Interface allows you to reselect a new item.

Enabling Task Status Feature

Checking this box allows a user to mark the entire Task complete. For example, “Product Revenue” is either complete or incomplete.
This takes the task completion down another level – this is based on the POV selections configured. For example, if Product Revenue has an Entity and Product drop down, the completion occurs based on the combination of Entity and Product, for example Houston Heights + Clothing is a combination that can be marked complete.

The User Interface will show a check box on the left-hand toolbar when the Task Complete feature is Enabled.

The Task Complete button has two states: Incomplete and Complete.

An incomplete task will be a faded, almost white color when not complete. Clicking on the icon will mark the task complete and optionally allow for a comment to be submitted with the submission.

When complete it will turn a solid bright green and the task will no longer accept input. If using the Page Caption as outlined in “Recommendations & Best Practices” it is possible to show a read-only view of the Cube View.

A task can be reverted to incomplete by clicking the green checkmark icon. When reverting to incomplete, a comment is required as to why the task is being reverted.

Complete Workflow

Although the Task Editor generally operates at levels below an entire Workflow, for convenience, a button can be enabled in the task editor to allow for the completion of a Workflow, and to revert it.

This can be especially useful in a Import > Validate > Load > Workflow type of Workflow Profile where the Tasks are used to review loaded data then mark the entire Workflow complete.

To enable this feature, tick the checkbox on the bottom of the General Options in the Administrator Interface.

The User Interface will show a button with a green check mark when the workflow is yet to be completed. Clicking this button will prompt the user for a comment, which is optional.

Once the workflow is complete it will show as normal but will enable a new icon on the left-hand toolbar of the User Interface.

Clicking the button will allow the Workflow to be reverted but will prompt the user for a justification note, which is required.

Recommendations & Best Practices

Page Caption

If using a Cube View there is an XFBR that will allow the Cube View to dynamically take on the title of the currently selected task.

Place this line in the Cube View:

XFBR(BDA_DBFramework_XFBR, Description, CV=[|CVName|])

Results in User Interface:

Parameters

Literal parameters can be used as the basis for a parameter. For example if a literal parameter is defined with the name of BasicProductFilter and a value of Clubs.Base

In the filter of a Combo Box it can be references like U2#| !BasicEntityFilter !|

Note the space between the | and ! characters, this allows the Task Editor to use the parameter without OneStream trying to convert it.

Recommendations:

It is not recommended to use parameters other than literal parameters. This may not work or can lead to unpredictable results.
It is not recommended to use parameters that refer to other parameters. This can lead to unpredictable results.
Conservative use of parameters is recommended. The BDA Task Editor already has many parameters in use and adding more complexity can create more overhead and less predictable results.

XFBRs

Similar to parameters XFBR’s can be used as the basis for a parameter.

The key to using an XFBR is to put a space between XF and BR so that OneStream does not try to convert the value inside of the Task Editor. For example:

U2#XF BR(MyRule, ProductListing).Base

U2#XFBR(MyRule, ProductListing).Base

An example in a Custom List is as follows:

Recommendations

It is not recommended to use XFBRs that refer to other parameters outside of the BDA Task Editor rules (e.g. _Param_cbx_BDA_FW_E is OK because it is part of the Task Editor). This can lead to unpredictable results.
Conservative use of XFBR rules is recommended. The BDA Task Editor already has many parameters in use and adding more complexity can create more overhead and less predictable results.