We are happy to deliver the brandnew March 2024 release with the Preview for the new Action Buttons! Try it now!

Remember, the Web Client is the user friendly spreadsheet for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data. The Web App is the tool for the Power User to setup and control your organization’s collection workflows.

(1) Web Client: New Action Buttons (Preview)

Until now, we had only cell-based hyperlinks for navigation purposes. With the preview for the new Action Buttons we introduce

• real buttons
• with two states “enabled” and “disabled”
• which are generated by a cell-based definition (statically or dynamically)
• which support 7 different action types

The new buttons are in preview – that means that you can use this new functionality but there are some known (and maybe unknown) issues and changes are possible.

1a. Action Buttons – Frontend

The new action buttons are generated in the size (but not the format) of the target cell and look like “normal” buttons. You can use them e.g. for page navigation …

… and also as trigger for actions like Drillthrough documents or Iterate Sheet processes:

And here see them in “action” 🙂

1b. Action Buttons – Definition in Excel

The definition of an action button consists of two parts:

• Named Range beginning with “data1_Button“
• JSON like definition of the button:
  { "Title": "Existing Contracts", "Action": "Navigation", "Action Parameter": "HR Contracts", "Status": "Automatic", "Rounded Corners": true, "Background Color Enabled": "#FFC000", "Text Color Enabled": "#000000", "Border Color Enabled": "#FFC000", "Background Color Disabled": "#595959", "Text Color Disabled": "#000000", "Border Color Disabled": "#000000" }

These are the parameters

• Title = text on the button
• Action = action type (see next topic)
• Action Parameter = parameter like sheet name (see next topic)
• Status = Automatic or Disabled
• Rounded Corners = true or false
• Background Color Enabled = color code (hex or text)
• Text Color Enabled = color code (hex or text)
• Border Color Enabled = color code (hex or text)
• Background Color Disabled = color code (hex or text)
• Text Color Disabled = color code (hex or text)
• Border Color Disabled = color code (hex or text)

The order of the parameters does not matter for the functionality and can be set arbitrary.

1c. Action Buttons – Available Actions

At this stage the new Action Buttons support the following action types:

That means you can use the buttons also to trigger the Read and/or Write process.

1d. Action Buttons – Additional functions

There is one more optional parameter:

• Cell Address = target cell for the button (i.e. the definition of the button does not have to be in the cell where the button will be generated):
  { "Cell Address": "B2", "Title": "Existing Contracts", "Action": "Navigation", "Action Parameter": "HR Contracts", "Status": "Automatic", "Rounded Corners": true, "Background Color Enabled": "#FFC000", "Text Color Enabled": "#000000", "Border Color Enabled": "#FFC000", "Background Color Disabled": "#595959", "Text Color Disabled": "#000000", "Border Color Disabled": "#000000" }

Furthermore, the JSON definition for the action button can be changed dynamically with formulas.

(2) Web App: Display of e-mail adresses

We have streamlined the display of user names respectively e-mail adresses in the Web App. From now on, user names are shown always as e-Mail adress (without registration name):

(3) Debugging

We have solved an important issue with the definition of the tenant admin(s) and application admin(s).

We have also solved an issue with the Copy Data trigger in the context menu of the dimension tree.

Furthermore we have solved an issue with the upload dialog for dimension and fact tables.

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We hope you like the new features – we are very curious about your feedback!

Please let us know what you think about data1.io and what kind of planning and data collection processes you evaluate to automate.

we #StandWithUkraine

We are happy to deliver the brandnew January 2024 release with the new copy data feature and our new price plan! Try it now!

Remember, the Web Client is the user friendly spreadsheet for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data. The Web App is the tool for the Power User to setup and control your organization’s collection workflows.

(1) Web Client: New Copy Data Function

The Copy Data function duplicates the existing records in the fact table of the selected element and alters e.g. the scenario. It can be used for the following tasks:

• Freeze the current data status as „Forecast x“ or as a backup (Collector Users)
• Create a new scenario from the current data status (Power Eser)
• Create the default values for the upcoming Forecast out of the Budget or the last Forecast (Power User)

This function is basically designed to be used by the Collector Users (= End Users), but it can also be configured to be used only by Power Users. Please be aware that at this stage the Copy Data function does not support all thinkable functions.

1a. Copy Data – Frontend in the Web Client

The new Copy Data function is triggered in the context menu either on a bottom element or on a sum node level in the dimension tree:

This starts the Copy Data Dialog …

… and you can have a look on the predefined filter and target conditions (which cannot be edited in this scenario):

After clicking the Start button, the 3 existing records were duplicated:

1b. Copy Data – Records created

Here you can see the 3 source records that were filtered by the Copy Data function …

… and were duplicated and modified according to the “target” condition:

Furthermore the “SYSTEM.Delta” field was modified according to the “Dim02 Key” field and of course the “Created UTC” and “User Key” fields filled:

If the (Collector) User repeats the copy data process, then the existing “target records” are replaced by the new duplicates:

In the Copy Data Journal you`ll find a log of every execution of the Copy Data function:

1c. Copy Data – Definitions in the Web App

The Copy Data Processes are defined in the new Copy Data definition dialog …

… where you define the filter conditions and the target values for the records modification:

Furthermore, the Copy Data function has to be activated on the workbook level:

Optionally, the Copy Data function can be allocated to certain users and certain dimension tree nodes with the RLS definition:

1d. Copy Data – License

The new Copy Data function is licensed with an Add-on License (pricing plan). Please contact us, if you want to activate a trial in your individual application:

(2) Web App: New Workbook Editor

The workbook editor became with more and more functions a bit confusing …

… so we streamlined and structured the functions in the new workbook editor:

(3) Web App: Workflow e-Mails and Finish Button only to WRITE-Users

Until now, all users of a workflow got the workflow e-Mails and had a Finish button. With this release, this is differentiated now by the right in the RLS definition – Read/Write or Read Only:

Users with Read/Write permission see of course furthermore the Finish button:

New is, that users with Read Only permissions do not get the Finish button anymore …

… and of course will not get any e-Mail notifications anymore:

(4) Public Showcases now with Workflows

Until now, the Public Showcases did not have an active workflow. We changed that to make the Public Showcases even more realistic:

(5) New Pricing for new Tenants

Until now, we had a very very low price for the Enterprise Plan (EUR 2,50 per month and app). This was a reward for the early adopters of data1.io who used the software in an early stage.

With the maturing of the data1.io software, we increase the price for the Enterprise Plan up to to a more realistic level of EUR 4,50 per month and app. This new price is valid for all new tenants, existing Enterprise Plan customers of course keep their early adopter conditions for lifetime as promised!

Furthermore we decreased the price for the “Copy Data” feature from EUR 30 to EUR 20 per month and app (which is valid of course for all new and also for all existing tenants).

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Hope you like the new features – we are very curious about your feedback!

Please let us know what you think and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io.

we #StandWithUkraine

We are happy to deliver the brandnew October 2023 release with the new drillthrough workbooks and many other new features! Try it now!

Remember, the Web Client is the user friendly spreadsheet for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data. The Web App is the tool for the Power User to setup and control your organization’s collection workflows.

(1) Web Client: New drillthrough workbooks – how it is used

There is a new way to open a workbook: the drillthrough!

It can be used for many workflows, here are some ideas:

• Workbooks with comparison data from the last forecast / last budget
• Additional reports which should not be part of the major workbook

Simply click in the context menue (= right mouse click) of a dimension tree element (or node) and trigger the predefined drillthrough document:

The drillthrough document is loaded in a new browser tab …

… and is automatically switched to the same dimension tree element (or node) where the drillthrough was started:

(2) Web Client: New drillthrough workbooks – how it is defined

At first, the drillthrough document is defined as (normal) workbook in your application:

Secondly, open your major workbook (which is linked to your workflow) and add a new drillthrough workbook:

In this dialog you select

1. The workbook which should be used as drilltrough target
2. The title of the context menue entry
3. An optional filter on which elements in the dimension tree the drillthrough entry should be shown
   e.g. “[DIM001.DIMTYPE.UID] = 23” means that the drillthrough document is only available on elements from type 23; the drilltrough is also shown on sum nodes if only valid elements are below of the selected node …

Usually, the drillthrough workbook is not be allocated to a workflow, therefore no “widget” on the landingpage will be generated. This way, the drillthrough workbook is only accessable via the drillthrough action in the dimension tree.

That`s it – just try it!

(3) Web App: New e-mail sender settings

Until now, workflow e-mails in data1.io were always sent with the default e-mail adress no-reply@data1.io. Unfortunately in some cases those workflow e-mails are classified as spam and never reached the recipients.

We have a solution now for this issue! Now you can setup your own company account at www.sendgrid.com and authorize the cloud service to send e-mails on your behalf. We have documented the creation process in our Help Center, finally you get an API key from SendGrid which is placed here in this new E-Mail Settings dialog:

After activating the new sender e-mail option, all workflow e-mails from your application are sent with the organizer`s e-mail adress on behalf:

Please be aware, that the so called sender authentication in the SendGrid cloud service must fit to all workflow organizer`s e-mail adresses in your application.

(4) Web Client: New “Alternative levels” query parameter

We are happy to present a new query parameter which will be very useful for many applications: the alternative level query. That means in your workbook you want so show values from other elements (or nodes) than the selected element in the dimension tree.

Fields of application:

• Coordination of sub-plans on different levels (see example below)
• Integrated balance sheet planning (which needs the sums from profit center and cost center planning)
• Ratios on benchmark values from a top level
• and many more!

Look at this example:

The metric “Consulting Days” was planned on various profit center elements below the company “Alpha Treasury Services”. In the “HR Capacity Planning” the sum of the planned Consulting Days has to be shown in the workbook, although the element “Capacities” is selected. Therefore the Consulting Days have to be retrieved from the alternative element “Alpha Treasury Services”:

This query on the alternative level is realized with 2 new filter parameters:

• data1_CELLS01_DIM001_Alternative
  In this field put the alternative element name or node name (here: “Alpha Treasury Service”)
  
• data1_CELLS01_DIM001_Alternative_Read_Attribute
  In this field put the attribute information for the query of the alternative element name or node (here: “DIM001.A002”)

Please be aware of the following properties / restrictions:

• In the same sheet queries on the selected element/node can be mixed with queries on alternative elements/nodes
• Rows or columns which are queried from alternative elements/nodes are read-only (no writeback due to the SysDelta algorithm)

(5) Web Client: New “Date Range” query parameters

Until now, you needed 12 hidden columns in order to query the Actual and Plan months in the correct way and then sum up the Actuals and the Plan values. With the new “Date Range” parameters you can directly query the sum of the correct months with Actuals and the sum of the correct months with Plan values:

Just to be clear: we have an application with 3 months Actuals and 9 months Plan values:

This is implemented with 2 new query parameters:

• data1_CELLS01_DATE01_RANGE_FROM
  This date defines the beginning of queried period.
  
• data1_CELLS01_DATE01_RANGE_UNTIL
  This date defines the end of queried period.

Please be aware of the following properties / restrictions:

• You can mix normal date queries with date range queries in the same sheet (the content in the named range data1_CELLS01_DATE01 is not relevant in rows or columns with date ranges, but we recommend to write the text “RANGE” into those fields just to make it clearer)
• Rows or columns which are queried with a date range are read-only (no writeback)
• At the time of release the date ranges cannot be combined with date level queries (YEAR, QUARTER, MONTH, DATE) within the same sheet

Cross-reference:

In special cases you can query the correct annual forecast value with a level query like this. But this only works as long you have only 1 plan scenario per year and as long you do not load new actual months after the planning workflow was finished.

(6) Web Client: New “Treefilter” query parameter

With the new Treefilter query parameter you can filter your read data not only by dimension 1to 10 but also on certain elements in the dimension tree.

Take a look at this report: the first block (“Contracts”) queries metrics from the “green” elements and the second block (“New Hires”) queries the same metrics from the “blue” elements.

Those queries can deliver wrong totals if (1) in the fact table there are also dumped records and (2) this option cannot be activated on the workbook level:

To guarantee correct totals calculated only from visible (= valid) elements with the wright element type you can define now an additional treefilter query parameter within the sheet:

• data1_CELLS01_TreeFilter
  You can define any filter on the dimension tree elements (use the syntax of an SQL where clause)

This new parameter should not be confused with an existing – similar – parameter

• data1_TreeFilter
  This parameter filters only the elements in the dimension tree and has only impact on the queried values if the workbook option “Aggregate only visible elements” is activated.

(7) Infrastructure: Automated Tests

We started to invest in automated tests in our DevOps Pipelines since we learned (the hard tour) that we have reached a level of complexity that cannot handled with manual tests anymore.

The automated tests focus on the correct function of the READ and WRITE process within the workbook. The first level of tests is already in production, our goal is to cover all existing parameters (and their combinations) until the end of this year.

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Hope you like the new features – we are very curious about your feedback!

Please let us know what you think and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io.

we #StandWithUkraine

We are happy to deliver the brandnew July 2023 release with the new calculation wizard and many other new features! Try it now!

Remember, the Web Client is the user friendly spreadsheet for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data. The Web App is the tool for the Power User to setup and control your organization’s collection workflows.

(1) Web Client: New calculation wizard (Add-On)

With the new calculation wizard your users can enter values with the calculation operators +, -, * or /:

How does this work? The definition is very simple:

• Definition of the named range “data1_CELLS01_Calculation“
• Simply type the column letter of the source column for the calculation in this range (only into the desired columns)

Please note that this new feature is licensed as Add-On since it was financed by a single data1.io customer. Please find the current pricing here.

(2) Web Client: New parameter “Application Key”

The ListQuery feature was introduced in the February 2023 release and was improved in the March 2023 release, in the April 2023 release and the May 2023 release.

If you want to connect your ListQuery filter with the Fact table – e.g. to show only elements with current values – then the application key is needed for this SQL filter criteria. Until now this application key had to be hard-coded within the workbook.

With this release you can use a new parameter to retrieve dynamically the application key:

• Named range “data1_ApplicationKey“

Simply connect your application key with the ListQuery Filter using a formula to generate an SQL filter statement like this:

• [DIM005.KEY] IN (SELECT [DIM005.Key] FROM appG5K9KA5DVD.T_FACT01 WHERE [SYSTEM.IsDeleted] = 0 AND MEASURE01 IS NOT NULL AND [Dim003.Key] = ‘MARKET’)

(3) Web Client: New parameter “Read after Write”

From now on you can defined a refresh of your sheet after the WRITE process – e.g. in order to refresh the ListQuery with the customers which have already data:

Simply define

• Named Range “data1_ReadAfterWrite“
• 1 = execute a Read process immediately after the Write process
• 0 = do nothing after the Write process (= default)

(4) Web Client: Debugging for % queries

There were several issues with aggregated “%” queries:

1. Combination of “%” query in 1 dimension and “%” query in another dimension
2. Combination of “%” query in 1 dimension and “-1” query in another dimension
3. Combination of “%” query with the definition of a “DIM001_Alternative” parameter

Those issues are solved now.

(5) Web App: New behaviour of table filters

We have changed the behaviour of table filters in 2 manners:

1. Deactivating the filter button removes now all current filters from the table
2. Deleting records does not remove current filters from the table any more

Think of the fact table with 2 current filters:

First, deactivating the filter button removes now not only the filter symbols from the table header but removes now also all current filters from the table:

Second, deleting records …

… does not change the current filters anymore:

This will help you a lot, if you have to delete records in portions with the variation of only 1 filter criteria and keeping the other filters unchanged. And if you want to remove all the current filters simply press the filter button to do this. 🙂

(6) Technical Improvements and Debugging

We have solved an issue with the error message “Cannot read properties of null (reading ‘findIndex’)” with Sheets that have no READ activated cells.

We have solved another issue with the error message “Sequence contains no elements” with sheets that have no valid date in the named range “data1_CELLS01_DATExx”.

Furthermore there was an issue with the title of workflows using the new type “recurring”.

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Hope you like the new features – we are very curious about your feedback!

Please let us know what you think and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io. 

We`ll be back after the summer break with the September Release!

we #StandWithUkraine

We are happy to deliver the brandnew May 2023 release with important new workflow options in the Web App! Try it now!

Remember, the Web Client is the user friendly spreadsheet for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data. The Web App is the tool for the Power User to setup and control your organization’s collection workflows.

(1) Web App: New workflow type “Continuous Workflow”

We are very happy to present a new workflow type: Continuous Workflows! The workflow type that we had to date is now called “Single Workflow”.

You can change now the workflow type …

… to “Continuous Workflow” then this workflow has no start and no end date any more. That means this workflow will be valid for an indefinate period of time.

The workflow box in the web client does not show any validity date for the collector users and there is no “Finish” button:

(2) Web App: Configure the Finish button in “Single Workflows”

In the “Single Workflow” we had until now the mandatory “Finish” button:

From now on, you can activate or deactivate the Finish button and furthermore you can also configure the message that is shown to your collector user in the workflow box:

Please be aware that the user-specific “Collection Status” becomes irrelevant, if the Finish button is deactivated (the same is true if the workflow type is “Continuous Workflow”):

(3) Web App: Improvements for E-Mail Notifcations

We happy to present the new “E-Mail Send Weekday” option:

Furthermore we have moved the activation / deactivation button for the E-Mail Notifications from the “Invite your users” section directly into the workflow settings (since this is much more intuitive):

(4) Web Client: Definition of mandatory entries

Another important new feature is the definition of mandatory entries like this:

It is very easy to use. Just define the following 2 parameters (= named ranges) in your workbook:

• data1_Write_Validation
  0 = default = Writeback is open
  1 = Writeback is blocked
  
• data1_Write_ValidationMessage
  Use this parameter to define the message for the user, which is displayed if the first parameter has value “1” and the Write button is pressed.

You can simply control the write validation by generating a “1” on the first parameter via a formula which is referenced to the validation rules in your individual workbook:

Furthermore you can define as many write validation “couples” in your workbook as you like:

data1_Write_Validation_1
data1_Write_ValidationMessage_1

data1_Write_Validation_2
data1_Write_ValidationMessage_2

(5) Web Client: Group By for ListQueries

The ListQuery feature was introduced in the February 2023 release and was improved in the March 2023 release and in the April 2023 release.

Until now, it was only possible to define a ListQuery on the bottom level of a dimension table like this:

With the new Group By Feature it is possible to define a ListQuery also on an aggregated attribute in the dimension table like this:

The feature is activated with the new parameter (= named range) “data1_CELLS01_DimensionValues_T_DIM00x_GroupBy”:

• 0 = default = bottom öevel (no group by)
• 1 = aggregated level (group by)

This GroupBy parameter causes all “output parameters” (here on Attribute 15) to deliver grouped lists:

Compare the grouped list above with the dimension table itself:

(6) Web Client: Show workflow box also after validation date

Until now, the organizer of a workflow and its deputy …

… did not see the workflow box in the Web Client after the validation date of a workflow (type “single”) – all other collector users did seet it. This is fixed now, so that also the organizer and the deputy can see the workflow box:

(7) Technical Improvements and debugging

We have solved a bunch of issues:

• Troubles with E-Mail Notifications since SendGrid changed the verification rules for senders on May 1st 2023
• New Write Button: performance issue with the check of writeable values in large sheets
• New Write Button: activation/deactivation also in real time (on formula result changes)

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Hope you like the new features – we are very curious about your feedback!

Please let us know what you think and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io. 

Stay healthy and we #StandWithUkraine