Getting started with

Calc Manager for

Hyperion Financial
Management
Chris Barbieri
Practice Director
Edgewater Ranzal
cbarbieri@ranzal.com
Session 7610
Chris Barbieri

Established HFM performance tuning
techniques and statistics widely used today

4+ years as Sr. Product Issues Manager at
Hyperion

HFM, Smart View, Shared Services, MDM

Member of HFM launch team in 2001,
certified in HFM and Enterprise

MBA, Babson College

B.S. Finance & Accounting, Boston College

Co-founded the HFM Performance Tuning
Lab at Ranzal with infrastructure expert
Kurt Schletter

Awarded Oracle ACE status
Calc Manager

Intro: What, where, and why would I use
it?

Object hierarchies
Variables
Rule sets
Objects

Hung up on naming schemes

Deploying, importing, exporting

Troubleshooting
Why Use Calc Manager?

Code and document better
Flow metaphor better describes the decision
process
Enforces structured variables
Easy re-use of objects

New feature in 11.1.1.0: EPMA apps only

11.1.1.3 added support for Classic apps

Very useable
Object Hierarchy

System View: primary view when you
enter Calc Manager

Choose the product
Application

Once you select a product, you will see
the available applications for each
Calculation Type

These are the available HFM subroutines

A rule set is like a playlist

Usually have one main set

One blank set

And one debug set
Add or remove individual rules until you found
the culprit
Revert to the normal one when ready

per calculation type

Rule Sets

View > Deployment
View

Manage which set
will be the deployed
one
Only one can be
checked
All can be unchecked

Deployment View

Double-click on a set to see the contained
rules
Puts you into rule set manager
Drag a rule in, or right-click to remove
Sequence matters!

Manage a Rule Set


How do you define a rule?
A logical grouping of conditions, ranges, and
formulas that perform a distinct task

Rules dont have to be included in a set
They wont run if they are not in a deployed set

And finally Rules!

Variables

Tools > Variables

Replacement

Execution
Replacement Variables

Type less Jim the rules guy Heflin

Type fewer variables
Replacement Variables

Constants
Execution Variables
Some are defined with the variable, so
the same definition can be used by all
rules.
In most cases however, especially string
and number variables, we defined them
inside the rule itself. In these cases, the
variable is part of a common formula,
but the contents are rule specific.
Boolean
String
Number
Execution Variables
Boolean Variables

True/False responses
Variable Scope

Define the scope for each variable

Most are Rule specific

Some, like Tax Rates, are application
specific
Variable Groups

Useful for sorting or associating the
variables
Numeric Variables

Most often populated at the rule level

nData is the most useful, as part of Data
Range (HS.OpenDataUnit)
String Variables

Second most popular

Useful for storing and managing metadata
member names or attributes

Do this before you make changes

Select an application name from System
View and File > Export

Export Rules

Import the
entire
collection,
including
variables, by
choosing File
> Import

Browse for
the .XML file

Import Rules

Choose the target application.

Update Location Details

This has no connection to the application you
highlighted

Click Import

Import Rules, contd


Helpful scheme while looking at various list
views

RS_ for Rule Set
RS_Blank
RS_Calculate
RS_Debug

RO_ for Rule Object
RS_number if they are readily sequenced
RS_ObviousPurposeInTitleCase

Within a rule, provide intuitive Captions for
each object

Object Naming
Be Obvious, Not Cryptic

Does the graphical flow make sense?

Another Rule Example


Use long names

HFM supports up to 50 alphanumeric
characters for the rule name

And feel sorry for Essbase users

Create a New Rule

Select the Calculation Type
1. Condition
2. Formula
3. Data Range
4. Member Range
5. Script
6. Fixed Loop

The Rule Palette


99% of your rules should have some

Most important performance aspect of
your application

Always ask yourself:
Value dimension member?
Which entities?
Which period?

Conditions

Used to populate variables

And for most functions
HS.Exp
HS.SetDataWithPOV
HS.Clear
Many more

Formula
Populate a Variable
HS.Clear

Like Windows, shows a little hand on the
icon

Usage
Check this if you want to change or delete the
formula.

Shared Formulas

Does not appear in graphical
Just set two intersections equal to each other
Still a concept of left and right
 Pull to the left

HS.Exp

Last one in wins!

Multiple Rows

Blank for a dimension implies all base
members with data

Fill in a single parent member

Use lists

Data Range

Evaluate the account
We only want accounts beginning with 3

String Functions

Translate balance sheet accounts at
average rate, using PVA

Translate

Simple example

The only time you can write to another
entity
A sibling
[Proportion] or [Elimination] only
Use a condition to avoid consolidating to a
particular entity

Consolidate

Only accounts flagged Consolidated are
available

Consolidate, contd
Consolidate, contd

Cycle through a list of members within a
given dimension

Can be defined in the rules
Parent,[Base]

Or from custom member lists
OverrideAccounts

Most common inNoInput rules

Member Range
NoInput
Test User Defined Fields

Note the use of a different formula for
each View

Dynamic
NoInput Formula
Zoom

Is the rule running? Did it pass each
condition?

Add a formula {i} = {i}

Enable Logging
Rule Level

Debugging, aka WriteToFile

WriteToFile

Icon indicates you can enter text

Also add variables to see their contents at
that point in the rule

Debugging, contd

Within data
range, but
before account
condition

After the
condition

Debugging Example
Output log sample

Possible, but
chickens way out

Take you just as long to write in script as
it would to use graphical mode
And it would still be better written

Script

No idea

Fixed Loop