How are the reports created by default and how did you solve the problem of comments?

[LucaR]

Hi, 

I have been working on creating reports for some time and after trying different options I have some questions:

Mainly: how are the reports created by default? How did you solve (usually) the problem of the comments? 

I had originally planned to work with Books but they have (IMHO) limitations in the format or the comments are not displayed well, so I have ended up in Excel where the CVs are retrieved and commented.

However, I have many reports that often only change in the query (MTD, YTD, segments) and I would have to create a CV for each report (I have also done this but it is getting confusing, therefore I would need to save some of them).

How should I most efficiently create reports where I explain deviations in the products, deviations in the P&L at monthly and annual level (and this for several UNITS) and deviations in the balance sheet? BTW What is the best way to upload the comments in Onestream from Excel?

Is there a good PDF manual with all of this information? I don't like the online courses, it takes too long to get an answer (if there is one at all), the documentation on your site mainly introduces the topics but has no examples which is not really hands on or useful.

Thank you!

Regards, 

Luca

[MG]

Hi, 

In terms of resources available, I would be looking at the Design and Reference Guide, there is A LOT of information regarding reporting. The Foundation handbook and the Advanced Reporting Handbook will provide further information and finally, the Building Basic Reports course will give a good foundation in OS reporting options. If you have not completed the Building Basic Reports course which is available both on demand or as a taught class. I think that would be a good starting point to understanding the reporting options in OneStream. 

I'm not sure I completely understand what you mean by when you ask how reports are created by default. Generally, I would expect the first reports to be built using cubeviews and displayed to a user in the application. It sounds like you are using Cubeviews but perhaps have not started using parameters to make the query more dynamic at run-time.  

I note you have tried using books for reporting but these are generally used to combine several reports and/or files into a single document, so you will likely have some reports built before you start using books. 

Thanks

[LucaR]

Hi MG,

Thank you for your answer.

What I meant by default reporting was to understand what is the most popular method of creating reporting, or rather to say what is best practice of creating reporting that covers the standards of the usual reporting business (explanations of variations and business analyses).

The problem I see here is that there are too many options and several don't fulfil my needs.

I understand the different options and have completed the online courses (including Building Basic Reports), but I have a problem that I can't solve because I am missing specific information, and some forgotten information in the courses are not easy to retrieve or you need a lot of time (that’s why I was asking for a document).

Indeed, I am focusing on CV implemented in Excel to generate standard files for different companies, I have also created a different account structure (from our standard one) to cover the requirements of the single entity, but I am missing some instruction/hint to reduce the amount of CV in use.

The most important problem that I have not yet solved from a conceptual point of view is the use and uploading of comments. My plan is to fill in the comments in Excel, correct or complete them there and then upload them back to Onestream at the end

Do you have any suggestions/best practice, or what would be the best way to upload comments? I am investigating the use of an user dimension that is not being used and have created member items to avoid overwriting comments for the different views (variation vs budget or vs previous year), but I need to test it, so far I am not succeeding in uploading the data back to Onestream, so I would need some specific advice, and here my question: “which Excel formula can be used or is there another possible way to perform the Text upload to Onestream? Are there somewhere instruction?” I haven’t found information yet.

Thank you!

Regards,

Luca

P.S.: I will take a look at the Design and Reference Guide too, thanks for the hint.

[LucaR]

I forgot to mention that I use both parameters and CV templates to have some dynamics in my queries, but as I said, something is missing (for me) in the Excel query.

When I refresh the workbook (with multiple queries) it overwrites all the settings for the single worksheet, if I could keep the settings here that would be very helpful.

[MG · Accepted solution]

Hi

I would suggest that you open a ticket with support so that someone can look into your requirements with you and offer advice specific to these requirements. They can also look at the excel file together with the cubeviews you have created and discuss your design approach of using a currently unused UD for your commentary. 

I think you would benefit from being openly able to discuss the specifics of your requirements, details of which wouldn't be appropriate to post on a public forum. 

Thanks

[LucaR]

Hi, 

Thank you for your feedback, I will do so.

Have a nice Day!

Luca