May 2020 Release

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Back to normal – the “corona lockdown” is (hopefully) over now. In the current release we have streamlined the workflows with the new Web Client and have further invested in this new frontend technology for your collector users.

(1) All three Public Showcases now also available in the Web Client

Last month we have launched the full version of the “Group Forecasting” Showcase, this month we are very happy to launch also our “Sales Forecast” and “HR Contracts” Showcase. All 3 Public Showcases are implemented as “dual showcases”, that means you can use both the new Web Client as well as the existing Excel Client.

The special thing in the “Sales Forecast” Showcase is the display of imported Actuals without beeing able to change those values in the fronted (of course):

The “HR Contracts” Showcase shows how HR costs resulting from employment contracts can be projected:

(2) Improved Landingpage for Public Showcases

We have improved the layout of the landingpage for the Public Showcase, added an image to each showcase tile and a link to the Download Page for the Excel Client template file:

Furthermore this page has got not its own URL so that it is easy to share and promote. 🙂

(3) Improved Landingpage for Private Applications

We have also improved the landingpage for the private applications by using a different color for the application tiles than for the Public Showcases (so that it is easy to intuitively to differentate). Furthermore we have added the indvidiual Open/Finished Status of the logged in collector user:

This page has also got now its individual URL.

(4) Web Client: new READ/WRITE Mode “4”

This new READ/WRITE Mode “4” in combination with a “1” or “2” forces the cell to be cleared without reading any data. One major field of application is the deactivation of the aggregation of % and parameter columns: you can use a formula with reference to the IsSumLevel Indicator and this way deactivate the READ of aggregated values for cells that cannot be aggregated.

(5) Web Client: new READ/WRITE exception definitions

Another issue in advanced template files is the mixture of different READ/WRITE types on the same row or column.

Until now, a template like this needed 2 rows for the opening balance since the cell with the entry of the initial value could not be in the same row as the formulas for the following balances:

With the new “exception definitions” you can define a named range called “data1_CELLS01_ExceptionType” with the ending number “1” to “4” to give single cells a fixed READ/WRITE definition. This way we can combine the entry cell with the calculated cell in the same row (which is is defined as Type “3”):

(6) Web Client: switching named ranges to worksheet level

data1.io Spreadsheets work with named range to deliver the so called “data1.io Framework” which is necessary to use an Excel file as READ/WRITE activated spreadsheet in the data1.io Cloud Service. Until now, the Web Client used named ranges on a workbook level. We have changed that now to the worksheet level in order to prepare the Web Client also for the creation of multi-sheet applications:

We are happy that you will be able to realize more sophisticated usecases with the new template features. So 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. 

Hope you will like it – and stay healthy!

April 2020 Release

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This is the second release from the “corona lockdown”. We hope that you and your families are all healthy and keep well and fit. We have developed the new Web Client to “flight height” and proudly present our massively improved public showcase for Group Forecasting.

(1) Improved Showcase “Group Forecast”

We have improved our public showcase “Group Forecast” by adding a period selection, a previous month display column and a 6 month rolling forecast. Comments can be entered seperately for actuals and forecast. In the background we have used all the new features introduced later in this release note.

For comparison reasons here is the showcase from last month:

The showcase is fully compatible with the Excel Client, you can download the Excel Template here.

(2) Blogpost “Group Forecast with data1.io and Power BI” (in german language)

We have published a 2 part blogpost introducing the new Group Forecast:

Part 1: Automatisiertes Sammeln dezentraler Daten mit dem Cloud Service data1.io

Part 2: Visualisierung der gesammelten Daten mit Power BI

(3) Web Client: New cell adressing mode “By Column”

We have developed the new cell adressing mode “By Column” which makes it possible to realize templates with many columns and many rows (and is similar to the adressing mode we have in the Excel Client). Typically for this mode ist a definition row with the definition for the record structure and the target measure / text field in the application.

(4) Web Client: New READ-/WRITE Configuration

Another important feature for building larger spreadsheet templates is the definition row and column for the READ-/WRITE configuration, which is defined by a system of entries of 0, 1, 2 and 3:

(5) Web Client: New “System DELTA” Parameter

The content of this field is used as a “flag” for the set of recordsets written to the application with one WRITE process. It is used to identify those recordsets which have to be replaced when writting back the same data once again. Therefore this parameter is only relevant for the WRITE and not for the READ process.

(6) Web Client: New “Is Sum Level” Parameter

This parameter is set when double clicking the dimension tree and therefore an element is selected. “1” says that the selected element is a sum-level, “0” means that a bottom-level element was selected. This parameter is very useful to make calculations and/or settings dependant on the level selected.

(7) Web Client: Schema table not necessary any more

We are very happy that we do not need the so-called schema table anymore. This was an additional definition table supporting the Excel spreadsheet. Now, the Excel spreadsheet contains all relevant information and there is no further need to maintain that table – just upload your Excel template and use it!

(8) Web Client: Performance Boost on READ Processes

We have dramatically improved the performance of the READ Process by Factor 10! Sure, the Web Client was not optimized until now but now it is already faster than the Excel Client!

The new Web Client has now evolved to a proper level and has nearly reached the feature set of the “old” Excel Client. But nevertheless we will continue our investmenets aiming to make it even five times better! So we are very curious for your feedback! Please let us know what you think about it and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io. 

Hope you will like it – and stay healthy!

March 2020 Release

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This is the first release from the “corona lockdown”. We hope that you and your families are all healthy and keep well and fit. We continue focussing on our new Web Client and we start with the rollout of the first Enterprise Plan features.

(1) New Landingpage available for all user roles

Last month we introduced the new landingpage for the basic role “registered users”, who just get a list of the available public showcase. This month we opened it for all user roles! “Collector users” – these are users who are part of an active collection workflow in an application – now get a list of their currently active workflows:

“Application Owners” are directed to the new langingpage, if they are also collector users in other (foreign) applications. Otherwise they are connected directly to the Web App to configure their own applications.

(2) New Upload Function for XLSX-Files as Web Client

We have added a new tab “Web Client – Upload” with a button to upload a (configured) XLSX file which is then used as Web Client in your application:

We have also redesigned the Info-Page in the section “3. Setup your spreadsheet” so that it is clearer now that there are two clients available.

Please be aware that at this stage of the development the XLSX Template Files are developed by our consulting team for our customers, which then can then be uploaeded by yourself (together with the schema file which is delivered together with the template file).

(3) Activating Workflows in the Web Client

We are happy that the Workflow component ist now also avaible in the new Web Client. Every user starts in the status “Open” and then closes his/her personal collection workflow by clicking the “Finish”-Button …

… and confirming the dialog box:

As a collector user you still have reading access to your data (until the day defined in the collection workflow), but you cannot change the data any more.

(4) Redesign Workflows in the Excel Client

We have redesigned the Workflow Component in the Excel Client as well so that the experience is exactly the same in both Clients:

(5) Enterprise Plan: ODATA-Feed

We introduced the ODATA-Feed as preview with the October 2019 release, now it is general available (GA). Users with an Enterprise Plan (EP) will find a new tab in the section “6. Use your collected data”:

(6) Enterprise Plan: Introducing the Datamodel (Preview)

We are happy to introduce a new section called “Datamodel”. This will customers with an Enterprise Plan (EP) to fuly configure their datamodel. With the next release we will present the features to configure the dimension tables.

Please note that the configuration of the datamodel is not necessary to “simply” run data1.io Collection Workflows but to provide reporting systems like Power BI with complete dimensions.

Sure, the new Web Client is evolving now and we will continue our investmenets aiming to make it even ten times better. So we are very curious for your feedback! Please let us know what you think about it and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io. 

Hope you will like it – and stay healthy!

February 2020 Release

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Again we have fantastic news: the brandnew February 2020 release is out now! We’ve worked hard to make the new Web Client accessable for the public – and we managed it already 1 month earlier than announced! Try it! Remember, the Web Client is the light-weighted alternative to our existing Excel Client, it is the Interface for your Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data.

(1) New Landing Page in the Web App

Login into the the Web App (or register at first for an account) and you will see the new landing page which shows the gallery with the available showcases:

Please note: all users who already have created their own data1.io application are directly connected to the Web App for their individual application and will not see the new Landing Page. We are working on that to deliver the new landing page to all user roles …

(2) New Showcase “Group Controlling 2.0”

Clicking the button Enter on the Landing Page opens the showcase with the new Web Client:

Please note that the button Write is only active if you select a bottom level element from the Dimension Tree. Change the data and try to write them back!

Activating a sum level element shows the aggregated values for this element (sum):

(3) Download as XLSX

The Web Client is based on an Angular Spreadsheet Webpart – the really good thing is that the spreadsheet can be downloaded as an XLSX and opened with normal Excel:

(4) Formatting and Upload the updated XLSX

The file can not only be downloaded and opened in MS Excel but you can also format it, activate sheet protection and use many more well-known features in Excel. After you`ve finished you can upload the updated file into your individual data1.io application.

This way it is possible to make the Spreadsheet looking nice (please compare the current spreadsheet with the one shown in the January 2020 Release).

Please note: with this release the download / upload feature is not yet available in private data1.io applications. This will come soon!

(5) Compatibility with the Excel Client

We presented this feature already in the January 2020 Release, but also in February hard work was necessary to make the 2 clients “under the hood” more compatible (a process that will continue over the next months). This makes more sophisticated templates like the one for the new showcase possible. Here is the “companion Excel Client” for the new showcase:

This Excel Template can be downloaded here or in the “Public Showcases” gallery of the data1.io Excel Client:

As you can see, the established Excel Client provides now 4 Showcases: the first 3 are only available for the Excel Client and the 4th is the first “dual showcase” which is available for both clients.

Hope you will like it!

Sure, the new Web Client is still an early version and we will heavily invest to make it even ten times better. So we are very curious for your feedback! Please let us know what you think about it and what kind of collection processes you would prefer to automate with data1.io. 

January 2020 Release

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The year is starting fantastic with the January 2020 release! It`s all about the brandnew Web Client which will be the main interface for Collector Users to deliver their monthly/weekly/daily data and which is a light-weighted alternative to our existing Excel Client. We saw that it is crucial to provide an easy-to-deploy client to all those companies which not have rolled out Office 365 into every corner of their company.

(1) The spreadsheet in the new Web Client

We use an Angular based webpart as spreadsheet for our new Web Client. Like every spreadsheet it consists of one or more sheets which have rows, columns and cells. Into cells you can type text, figures or formulas:

(2) The Dimension Tree in the new Web Client

As you maybe know from our Excel Client, in data1.io there must be a dimension tree in order to “switch” the spreadsheet through the organizational structure a user is assigned to. Just double click an element to show the (aggregated) data of this element.

(3) The WRITE Process – save your data

Select an element from the dimension tree (by double clicking the element), enter your figures and comments in the unprotected cells of the sheet. Press the WRITE Button and the entries from the spreadsheet are transformed into records …

… and are saved – of course – to the database of your application:

You can connect this “Fact Table” as a datasource for your Dashboards in Power BI and in Excel (via the ODATA datafeed) and you can automatically fuel your SAP (R) or Salesforce (R) with that information in order to trigger value creating processes in your business.

(4) The READ Process – show your data

Double clicking on an element triggers the READ Process and shows the existing data of this element, in the case of a sum level element you will see the sum of the values (and no comments, since they are not aggregateable):

(5) Compatibility with the existing Excel Client

We are proud that the two clients – Excel and Web – are fully compatible, so mixed scenarios also can be realized. Your Collector Users (“outside”) use the easy-to-deploy Web Client and your Managers (“inside”) use the native Excel Client:

Later on we will show, how this new Client will help to realize mixed scenarios also with Power Apps as a further client for forms based data collection processes.

Of course we know that this new Web Client is an early version and lots of effort has to be invested to make it ten times better. So we are very hungry for your feedback! Please let us know what you think about it and what kind of collection processes you would like to automate with data1.io and the new Web Client.

Hope you will like the new client, the first publicly accessable version is planned already for the end of March!