Hyperion Essbase Plugins For Excel
Overview
Unlock the full potential of your business analytics with the Hyperion Essbase plugin for Excel, an essential tool designed to seamlessly integrate the robust capabilities of Hyperion Essbase with the familiar interface of Excel. Enhance your financial and operational reporting by leveraging this powerful add-in that simplifies complex data analysis and accelerates your decision-making process. On this page, we'll explore the intricate workings of Hyperion Essbase, delve into the functionalities provided by plugins connecting Hyperion Essbase and Excel, examine common use cases that these plugins facilitate, and answer frequently asked questions to ensure you harness the full value of this integration.
What is Hyperion Essbase?
Hyperion Essbase is a business analytics solution that serves as a Multidimensional Database Management System (MDBMS). It is designed to support the building of analytic and reporting applications, enabling organizations to organize and access data across multiple dimensions. Its flexible architecture facilitates analysis, reporting, and collaboration, making it suitable for both cloud and on-premises deployment, including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
The system is tailored to deliver instant value and enhance productivity for a wide range of users, including business users, analysts, modelers, and decision-makers. It achieves this by enabling the testing and modeling of complex business scenarios, supporting thousands of simultaneous connections, and providing up-to-the-minute information. Additionally, Essbase can automate the management of resources with REST API and integrates with Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse and Excel.
Hyperion Essbase stands out with its powerful calculation engine for complex data computations, hierarchical data structure for intuitive data drill-down and roll-up, and efficient handling of sparse data sets. Its client-server architecture, robust security features, and ability to integrate with various data sources underscore its versatility in financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting processes. Moreover, it offers a multiplatform interface with Smart View and the Cube Designer extension, which can build Essbase cubes from workbooks, further enhancing its analytical capabilities.
Hyperion Essbase Plugins for Excel
Spreadsheet Add-in
The Spreadsheet Add-in is a tool for Excel that introduces an Essbase menu to the Excel menu bar, enhancing the application's functionality for Essbase users. The Excel plugin is found in the directory EPM_ORACLE_HOME/products/Essbase/EssbaseClient/bin. Installation of the plugin involves modifications to the Windows Registry, and upon starting the plugin, an Essbase menu is added to Excel, indicating successful integration.
Best Essbase Plugins for Excel
Historically, the Essbase Add-In for Excel was the go-to plugin until its discontinuation post version 11.1.2.2. Both the Essbase Add-In and its successor, Smart View, offered the ability to drill through member hierarchies and provided functions like Keep-only, Remove-only, Member Selection, Undo, and Pivot. Smart View, compatible with a range of Oracle and Microsoft products, surpasses its predecessor with additional features, including a Submit Data function, enhanced data retrieval size, and improved display options such as the Cascade feature with named tabs.
Essbase Excel Integration
The In2Hyperion Excel ribbon add-in complements the standard Essbase Excel add-in by allowing users to utilize the Excel toolbar. It requires the Essbase Excel add-in to be installed and is reputed for having no known issues. The In2Hyperion Excel ribbon add-in is not only faster than the standard add-in but is also slated for future enhancements including custom preferences.
Common Use Cases
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Quick data analysis by retrieving large amounts of data from Hyperion Essbase into ExcelH
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Efficient data management by using Keep-only and Remove-only functions to filter Essbase data within ExcelH
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Data entry and submission directly from Excel to Essbase using the Submit Data function of Smart ViewH
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Custom reporting through the creation of multiple grids for different data connections on a single Excel sheetH
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Enhanced navigation and organization by saving frequently used connections to favorites and utilizing the Cascade feature for named tabsH
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I integrate the Hyperion Essbase plugin with Microsoft Office 2007?
To integrate the Hyperion Essbase plugin with Microsoft Office 2007, you need to install the Hyperion Essbase add-in. After that, you can download, unzip, and add the new ribbon add-in through the Excel options.
What features were introduced in the Hyperion Essbase plugin for Excel version 3.1?
Version 3.1 introduced the ability to disconnect all connections, manage connection passwords, and added an option to remove zeros with #Missing when using Lock/Send.
Are there any known issues with the current version of the Hyperion Essbase ribbon add-in?
There are no known issues with the current version of the Hyperion Essbase ribbon add-in.
What should I do if I experience a runtime error when opening Excel with the Hyperion Plugin activated?
If you experience a runtime error, it might be related to individual settings, conflicts, or running multiple Essbase plugins. For compatibility issues, especially when using Smart View and Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in concurrently, follow the specific procedure to adjust settings in the Essbase Options dialog box, including selecting the 'Limit to Connected Sheets' checkbox.
Can I maintain my common server connections for quick access in the Hyperion Essbase plugin for Excel?
Yes, version 2 of the Hyperion Essbase plugin for Excel allowed users to save common server connections for quick access, and this functionality has been maintained in subsequent versions.
Conclusion
In summary, the integration of Hyperion Essbase with Excel through plugins like In2Hyperion ribbon add-in enhances the user experience by leveraging the ribbon methodology and requires the Hyperion Essbase Excel add-in to be pre-installed. Although the Essbase Add-In for Excel ceased development after the 11.1.2.2 version, Smart View emerged as a superior alternative compatible with a broader range of Oracle and Microsoft products, offering advanced features such as Submit Data, data forms, task lists, and a more extensive data retrieval capability. However, for a more streamlined and efficient approach to importing data into spreadsheets, consider using Sourcetable. Sign up for Sourcetable to bypass traditional plugins and start importing your data directly into a spreadsheet with ease.
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