Essbase Calculations: Elements of Style
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The document presents key techniques and best practices for improving Essbase calculations and coding style, emphasizing the importance of readability, maintainability, and design. It discusses strategies for reducing maintenance costs, optimizing code structure, and promoting clear communication through standard naming conventions. The session aims to help participants develop efficient and reliable calculations that enhance the return on investment.
Essbase Calculations: Elements of Style
- 1. Essbase Calculations: Elements of Style Ron Moore Principal Architect, Alithya
- 2. ABOUT THE SPEAKER Ron Moore > Principal Architect at Alithya > Over 20 years Essbase consulting and training experience > Certified in Essbase, Planning and R programming > Many webcasts and KScope sessions > 19 Oracle University Quality Awards [email protected] 2
- 3. Oracle ERP, EPM, & Analytics ARE in our DNA ALITHYA delivers end-to-end ERP, EPM, & Analytics solutions and is a leading Oracle Cloud and On-Premise Partner 4,000+ Oracle Implementations1,000+ Oracle Customers23+ Years Driving Finance Process Improvements for Our Clients 7 Oracle ACEs Seasoned delivery team with avg 8 years serving clients Adaptable Deployment Models Experienced management team with avg 15 years in the company Certified Cloud Resources Diverse Client Portfolio & Industry ExpertiseTeam Highlights Retail Technology CPG and Manufacturing Healthcare AnalyticsEPM Energy/ Utilities Financial Services Hybrid CloudOn-premise ERP
- 4. SESSION OBJECTIVES > MEANINGFUL soft/stylistic techniques that contribute to BETTER calc scripts/business rules > Targeted to Essbase CALC, but parts are relevant outside that domain > NOT about optimization > NOT about “content” best practices > NOT a rigid mandate
- 5. BETTER CALC SCRIPTS: DOES STYLE MATTER AND WHY > Objectives > First, make it correct > Then, make it fast > Then, make it clear > Costs > Development cost > Maintenance cost > Clear, easily understandable code reduces maintenance costs and promotes reusability. That’s an enormous improvement in ROI.
- 6. CALC CODE STYLE IN THREE PARTS Design Great calculation results depend on outline structure, order of processing and a clear understanding of requirements. Great calc code starts with great design. Readability Easier to understand means easier and cheaper to create, modify and maintain. More readable code delivers higher ROI. Mechanics There are a few basic best practices to make your code more reliable, faster and easier to understand. 6
- 7. 7 Design
- 8. GREAT CODE STARTS WITH GREAT DESIGN If you think good architecture is expensive, try bad architecture.“ - Brian Foote > Lay it out in Excel > Control data > Who can run it, how and why? > Specify the treatment of every dimension > Think about processing from a dimensional and block structure point of view
- 9. GROK THE BLOCK > The single best optimization practice is to reduce the number of blocks processed. > Application: > Assuming Accounts is dense do BS and IS in the same script and same FIX rather than separate scripts or separate FIX statements > Think through everything that needs to be done to a set of blocks and if possible do it all in the same pass > (Almost) Always fix on Level 0 blocks for the main calcs, and decide if/what to aggregate later.
- 10. STAY DRY > Don’t Repeat Yourself v Write Every Time > Wet requires multiple points of maintenance which takes more time and increases errors Hunt and Thomas, The Pragmatic Programmer, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_repeat_yourself
- 11. THINK DIMENSIONALLY 11 > He's intelligent but lacks experience. His is pattern indicates, two dimensional thinking.
- 12. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIMENSIONALITY > The members in the fix statement and the member on the Left taken together set the scope of the calculation. You can usually swap them for convenience.
- 13. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIMENSIONALITY: “VIEW” DIMENSION CONCEPT 13 Consider this Accts Dim Add YTD But adding members requires maintenance A “View” dimension requires almost no maintenance
- 14. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF DIMENSIONALITY: WHERE SHOULD I PUT THIS CALCULATION? > Principle: Every member intersects with all members of every other dimension > Application: If you want a member to intersect with specific members you have to locate it on a different dimension than the members it should intersect > Q:Should “CurrMonth v PriorMonth” go on the Scenario or the Period dimension? > A: If you want to see it for Actual, Plan and Forecast it can’t go on the Scenario dimension, so it would have to be Period > Twist: What if you wanted to see “CurrMonth v PriorMonth” for every month? > A: Use a View dimension 14
- 15. 15 Readability
- 16. STANDARDIZE AND USE NAMING CONVENTIONS > What might be ambiguous or cause errors? How can I communicate purpose and requirements? > verb/Noun > Data Type > Case > Abbreviations
- 17. CREATE A STYLE GUIDE FOR YOUR ORGANIZATION > Member names > Variable names > Script names (CALC, MaxL, MDX, Bat, Other) > Other Essbase artifacts Promote Prevent Consistency Collisions when a shared artifact is and used incorrectly Communication Errors when code is reused Reusability
- 18. DATA LOAD RULE NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE 18 File File Name Data Load Source file FY20Acutals.txt Data Load Rule lFY20Act.rul MaxL procedure lFY20Act.mxl Batch file to launch Maxl lFY20Act.bat Err file lFY20Act.err • Dimension Build rules start with b and then include 7 characters of the filename • Data Load rules start with l and then include 7 characters of the filename
- 19. VARIABLE NAMING 19 Variable Type Identification/Ambiguity Suggestions Substitution Variables Run Time Substitution variables • Identified by & • Usually a member name but can be virtually any text • Same name can be used for server, app or db scope Identify scope e.g. finplanCurrYear Identify dimension e.g. scenarioFcst VAR • Single position local variable • No easy identification Identify it as variable e.g. vDaysInMonth ARRAY • Multiple position variable • No easy identification • Inherits size form associated dimension Identify is as an array variable and its dimension e.g. atimeDaysInMonth Run-Time prompts • Identified by {} • 12 different types that require different types of values • Different scope levels Identify the type and for some types the dimension e.g msGeos Identify the scope What might be ambiguous or cause errors? How can I communicate purpose and requirements?
- 20. CALC SCRIPT/BUSINESS RULE NAMING CONVENTION EXAMPLE 20 File Script Name/Rule Name Aggregate 5 business dimensions ag5Dim.csc ag5BusinessDims Clear forecast Note: specific forecast should be parameterized with a SubVar clFcst.csc clForecast Data Copy actuals to forecast dcAct2FC.csc dcActToFcst • Use verbNoun method for common actions • 2 characters for verb followed by meaningful noun
- 21. MAKE PITHY COMMENTS Why – Not What Explain the reasons behind the code that may not be obvious to the reader. Why did you write it that way? Identify Sections Call out the major processes contained within the script. Make it easy to find what happens where. Pseudocode Write pseudocode based on your requirements. Then leave it (or a stripped-down version) there to comment your code. 21 Change Tracking Comment out old code, identifying the beginning and end of the new and old blocks. Identify it with a reason and a date. Start with a Header Include a purpose, when to use it, dependencies (e.g. subvars ) and a change log. Comment ENDFIX Comment the end of a FIX block tying it back to the opening. E.g. /* End FIX on Actual Scenario */
- 22. MAKE SETTINGS EXPLICIT > Make settings explicit. Show them even if they are defaults. /* Housekeeping */ SET UPDATECALC OFF; SET AGGMISSG ON; SET MSG SUMMARY; SET CALCPARALLEL 2; SET EMPTYMEMBERSETS ON; 22
- 23. 23 Mechanics
- 24. MECHANICS BASICS > Always double quote member names > Address all dimensions in FIX statements > Member names not aliases > Capitalize Function/Calc Command names > Indent > Limit lines to 80 characters > Simpler is better 24
- 25. BE DELIBERATE WITH FIX STATEMENT SCOPE > Global Calculation – Essbase calcs everything that is not explicitly excluded > That could result in accidentally touching out of scope data > Address every dimension in scoping calculations (FIX, IF) so you don’t accidentally touch numbers you shouldn’t
- 26. ORGANIZE FIX STATEMENTS BY DIMENSION CATEGORY Dimension Type Examples Examples of different actions Measures Measure Account Time Year Period Historical periods v Forecast/Plan periods Business / Segmentation Entity Product Customer LOB Channel This is the way users break down the business. Version Version Scenario Actuals v. Forecast/Plan Change tracking Scenario analysis System Data type View Currency
- 27. USE CALC MANAGER FEATURES > Design View allows you to visualize calc structure > Script components provide reusable code blocks > 80 character BR names > BR descriptions provide useful information for users
- 28. REDUCE CLUTTER AND ERRORS WITH VARIABLES AND PARAMETERIZATION > Substitution variables > RTSV > RTPs > Var and Array > Global Variables
- 29. ADDITIONAL READING 29 Description Link Story, Oracle CEAL blog, EPM 11.1.2.x Planning/PBCSBest Practices for BSO Business Rule Optimization https://blogs.oracle.com/cealteam/epm-1112x- planningpbcs-best-practices-for-bso-business- rule-optimisation Pattis, CMU Coding Style notes https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~pattis/15-1XX/15- 200/lectures/style/index.html Wikipedia, Elements Of Programming Style https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Elements_of_P rogramming_Style
Editor's Notes
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