xl cubed versión 7 userguide

7/17/2019 XL Cubed versión 7 UserGuide

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XLCubed Ltd 07 August 2014

XLCubed v7 User Guide



Contents

Introduction & Overview ........................................................................................................................ 1

What is XLCubed? ......................................................................................................................................................... 1

Data Sources ................................................................................................................................................................. 1

How is it used? .............................................................................................................................................................. 1XLCubed and Cube Terminology ................................................................................................................................... 1

Ways to retrieve data in XLCubed................................................................................................................................. 4

QuickStart .............................................................................................................................................. 6

Managing Connections ................................................................................................................................................. 6

Connecting to your data ............................................................................................................................................... 6

Book I – Grids ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Grid Reporting Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 11

Grid Components ....................................................................................................................................................... 12Basic Navigation ......................................................................................................................................................... 12

Report Designer .......................................................................................................................................................... 16

Calculations Overview ................................................................................................................................................. 58

Grid Calculations ......................................................................................................................................................... 58

Subtotals ..................................................................................................................................................................... 67

Visual Totals ................................................................................................................................................................ 68

Actions ........................................................................................................................................................................ 73

Outlier Grouping ......................................................................................................................................................... 73Named Ranges ............................................................................................................................................................ 74

Linking Grids ............................................................................................................................................................... 80

Member Properties in Grids ....................................................................................................................................... 83

Active Cell Grid Selections .......................................................................................................................................... 84

Propagate Across Sheets ............................................................................................................................................ 87

Breakout Value ........................................................................................................................................................... 89

Converting Grid Reports ............................................................................................................................................. 93

Copying Grids .............................................................................................................................................................. 95

Deleting Grids .............................................................................................................................................................. 95

Drillthrough ................................................................................................................................................................. 96

Expanding Large Hierarchies ...................................................................................................................................... 97

Grid Charts .................................................................................................................................................................. 98

Book II - Formula Reporting ................................................................................................................ 102

Grid vs. Formula-based Reporting Key Differences ................................................................................................. 103

Drilling in Formula Report ........................................................................................................................................ 103

Insert Value ............................................................................................................................................................... 103

Insert Members ........................................................................................................................................................ 105

Insert Member Property ........................................................................................................................................... 106

OLAP Formulae ......................................................................................................................................................... 107



Tabular Formulae ...................................................................................................................................................... 108

In-Cell Chart Formulae .............................................................................................................................................. 108

Relational Formulae .................................................................................................................................................. 108

Report Management Formulae ................................................................................................................................ 108

Formula wizards ........................................................................................................................................................ 109

XL3Lookup ................................................................................................................................................................. 110

XL3Member ............................................................................................................................................................... 112

Syntax ........................................................................................................................................................................ 112

Other Formulae ......................................................................................................................................................... 115

Flex Reporting ........................................................................................................................................................... 181

Picture Links .............................................................................................................................................................. 186

Book III – Charting & Data Visualisation .............................................................................................. 188

Standard Excel Charts ............................................................................................................................................... 188

XLCubed Grid Charts ................................................................................................................................................. 189

In-Cell Charts ............................................................................................................................................................. 189

Small Multiples .......................................................................................................................................................... 189

Treemaps .................................................................................................................................................................. 190

Mapping .................................................................................................................................................................... 190

In-Cell Charts in Grids ............................................................................................................................................... 191

Small Multiple Charts ............................................................................................................................................... 196

Interactive Charting .................................................................................................................................................. 220

In-Cell Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................... 223

SparkLine Chart Designer ......................................................................................................................................... 224

SparkColumns Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................. 227

SparkWinLose Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................. 229

SparkBar Chart Designer .......................................................................................................................................... 229

SparkBullet Chart Designer....................................................................................................................................... 231

SparkIcon Chart Designer ......................................................................................................................................... 233

SparkPie Chart Designer ........................................................................................................................................... 236

SparkHorizon Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................... 238

SparkBox Chart Designer .......................................................................................................................................... 239

DotPlot Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................. 241

Lollipop Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................ 244

Bandline Chart Designer ........................................................................................................................................... 245

Maps.......................................................................................................................................................................... 248

Treemaps .................................................................................................................................................................. 253

Book IV - Web Edition ......................................................................................................................... 258

Step 1. Design your report ........................................................................................................................................ 258

Step 2. Publish your report ....................................................................................................................................... 258

Step 3. View the report in a browser ........................................................................................................................ 258

Step 4. Enjoy OLAP in a browser ............................................................................................................................... 258



Web Publishing ......................................................................................................................................................... 259

Concurrent Users ...................................................................................................................................................... 274

Analytics books ......................................................................................................................................................... 277

Auto refresh .............................................................................................................................................................. 201

Browsing the XLCubed Web Repository .................................................................................................................. 202

Reporting Services .................................................................................................................................................... 203

Web Development .................................................................................................................................................... 204

HTML ......................................................................................................................................................................... 303

iPhone app ................................................................................................................................................................ 304

Publishing Connections ............................................................................................................................................. 311

Customising web config ............................................................................................................................................ 312

Web Parameters ....................................................................................................................................................... 313

Connection Mapping ................................................................................................................................................ 317

Dual Authentication .................................................................................................................................................. 320

Scheduling ................................................................................................................................................................. 322

Book V - Dimension Slicers ................................................................................................................. 338

Grid Slicers ................................................................................................................................................................ 338

Standalone Slicers ..................................................................................................................................................... 338

Member Selector Slicer ............................................................................................................................................ 340

Date Slicer ................................................................................................................................................................. 341

Updating Excel Ranges .............................................................................................................................................. 345

Excel Range Slicers .................................................................................................................................................... 345

Members with no data / Non empty ...................................................................................................................... 348

Cascading and Advanced Slicers .............................................................................................................................. 348

Initial Value ............................................................................................................................................................... 351

Disabling Slicers ........................................................................................................................................................ 352

Wait for Submit on Web ............................................................................................................................................ 352

Use query restrictions for children (new in v7.6) ..................................................................................................... 352

Book VI - Ranking, Sorting and Filtering............................................................................................... 353

Simple Filtering ......................................................................................................................................................... 354

Axis Ranking .............................................................................................................................................................. 369

Outlier Grouping ....................................................................................................................................................... 375

Book VII - SQL ..................................................................................................................................... 382

SQL Server 2012 ........................................................................................................................................................ 383

SQL Data Tables (Administrators) ............................................................................................................................ 385

SQL Data Tables (Standard Users) ............................................................................................................................ 391

SQL Slicers (Administrators) ..................................................................................................................................... 395

SQL Slicers (Standard Users) .................................................................................................................................... 401

Driving a SQL connection from an Excel range ......................................................................................................... 403

Using SQL Parameters .............................................................................................................................................. 404

Book VIII - Tables ................................................................................................................................ 408



SQL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 408

Multidimensional Table Designer ............................................................................................................................. 408

Tabular ...................................................................................................................................................................... 410

Tabular Designer ....................................................................................................................................................... 413

Formatting Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... 421

Book IX - SharePoint ........................................................................................................................... 434

Installing .................................................................................................................................................................... 434

Uninstalling ............................................................................................................................................................... 440

Using WebPart .......................................................................................................................................................... 445

Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................................ 450

SharePoint Integration .............................................................................................................................................. 451

Book X - Miscellaneous ....................................................................................................................... 463

XLCubed Options ...................................................................................................................................................... 463

Workbook Options .................................................................................................................................................... 467

Data Configuration Settings ...................................................................................................................................... 516

Book XI - Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 518

XLCubed Excel Edition ............................................................................................................................................... 518

Installation Troubleshooting ..................................................................................................................................... 518

XLCubed Web Edition................................................................................................................................................ 526

Book XII - Installation.......................................................................................................................... 541

XLCubed Excel Edition ............................................................................................................................................... 541

XLCubed Excel Edition Installation Logging ............................................................................................................... 542

XLCubed Web Edition................................................................................................................................................ 543

Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 543

Installation Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................................... 543

Server Requirements ................................................................................................................................................ 543

Client Requirements ................................................................................................................................................. 543

Pre-Requisites ........................................................................................................................................................... 543

IIS8/Windows 8 ......................................................................................................................................................... 543

Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................ 544

Setting up the XLCubed Web Edition application manually ..................................................................................... 546

Accessing XLCubed Web reports from SharePoint and other portals ...................................................................... 548

Application Usage ..................................................................................................................................................... 550



1 | P a g e XLCubed v7 User Guide – Introduction, Overview and QuickStart

Introduction & Overview

What is XLCubed?

XLCubed’s products help business users deliver reporting and dashboards and to carry out their own

analysis and data exploration without the need for any programming experience. It can also be used in

planning and budgeting models. The two core products are based in Excel and Web.

Data Sources

A key aspect of XLCubed is that the data itself is not held in Excel. XLCubed’s primary data source is

Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. This can be multidimensional cubes, or the Tabular models

introduced in SQL 2012. XLCubed can also connect directly to relational databases, with a subset of the

overall XLCubed functionality.

How is it used?In most organisations XLCubed is used to provide a managed self-service business intelligence model,

where IT develop and own the cubes or tabular models, and business users are able to develop and

maintain their own reports, dashboards and analysis. This gives the business the flexibility and control they

need in terms of reporting, but retains IT control of corporate data.

XLCubed consists of two core products:

Excel Edition – an add-in for Microsoft Excel (2013 – 2003) which provides a powerful and flexible

reporting analysis and dashboard environment within Excel. The product extends the presentation and

query capabilities of Excel, and offers additional data visualization components. Users can do much more,

and more quickly than in a standard pivot table environment, but are still able to leverage their existing

Excel skills.

Web Edition – Web server based software, providing intranet or internet access to interactive reports

through all standard browsers and with mobile app access. Reports developed in XLCubed Excel Edition can

be published to XLCubed Web for a more widespread distribution. XLCubed Web also provide the ability

for ad-hoc reporting.

XLCubed and Cube Terminology

A cube is a set of data organized into a structure defined by a number of measures and dimensions.

It contains the following:

Measures

Dimensions

Levels

Members

Measures



2 | P a g e XLCubed v7 User Guide –Introduction, Overview and QuickStart

Cubes can be structured in different ways, but in simple terms measures are normally the elements you

want to add up in reporting. Typical measures might include ‘Sales Volume’, ‘Unit Sales’ and ‘Unit Cost’.

Dimensions, Hierarchies and Levels

Dimensions are the bywords of reporting. For example you may want to report sales by Region, by Period,

by Product. Region, Period and Product would each be a dimension within the cube, and XLCubed makesit easy for users to position dimensions within a report and choose the elements they want to see.

Dimensions may consist of one or more hierarchy. Hierarchies are ordered groupings, or drill paths of the

data. For example a Time Dimension may consist of both a Fiscal Date and a Calendar Date hierarchy.

These are different ways to group the days into months, quarters and years.

A Geography hierarchy may have 3 levels: Country, State, and City. Users can easily select items from any

level, or start at a higher level and drill down to detail.

Members

A member is any element, at any level within a hierarchy

Real world cubes typically have more than 3 dimensions, but to visualise an example cube we will use just

three. The diagram above shows a simple sales cube, for a bicycle sales business. The cube contains two

measures, Unit Sales and Profit, and three dimensions:

• Product : The product being sold. All products sold are bicycles, and they are categorised as

either Road or Mountain bikes, with two model types in each category.

• Region: The region the product is sold in, categorised by Hemisphere

• Time: The (simplified) time period the product was sold in. In this case it goes only to the

quarter level, but would typically begin at year level, and go down to month or day.




Each axis of the cube represents one dimension. The texts along the axes of the cube are the members of

the dimensions. Example members are m50, Asia, and 2nd quarter. The individual members aggregate

into the hierarchy structures of the dimension.

The values within the cube represent the measures, Unit Sales and Profit in this case. Each cell within the

cube will contain a value for each of the measures, and is formed by the intersection of the dimension

members. For example, the cell shown in red represents the intersection of (Product: m50, Region: Asia,

Time: 2nd Quarter), and the measure values are Unit Sales: 600, Profit: $217.

End users of a cube can determine each measure’s values for every intersection between the dimensions

by slicing and dicing with a tool such as XLCubed.




Ways to retrieve data in XLCubed

XLCubed offers three ways to bring data into the workbook, which we describe very briefly here, and in

more detail in the relevant sections.

Grids

Grids are the most commonly used approach in XLCubed. At the lowest level grids are similar to a pivot

table. Each Grid is an individual object, with rows and columns, and they can be drilled down to additional

levels of detail and support slice and dice.

Grids remove many of the restrictions of pivot tables, with simple user calculations, rich ranking and

filtering, and can fully leverage the cube hierarchies. Grids can be modified or designed using the report

designer, through the grid task pane, or simply by direct drag and drop of the hierarchy labels.

Grids can connect to multidimensional cubes or tabular models and use MDX as the query language.

Formulae

XLCubed provides formulae to retrieve values and hierarchy members from the cube. The formula

approach gives total control over layout and formatting, and the formulae are easy to understand and

have user dialogs.

Formulae are most often used in dashboards and formal financial reports where the layout is key. The

simplest approach to create a formula report is to create a grid and then convert to formula.

Formulae can connect to multidimensional cubes or Tabular models and use MDX as the query language.

Grids or Formulae?

User preferences vary, and in many cases either reporting approach can be used, but some considerations

are:

Grids are stronger for slice and dice analytics, supporting drag and drop analysis

Grids handle dynamic data in terms of changing numbers of rows and columns

Like for like a grid will be faster than a formula report returning the same data

Formulae offer total flexibility in terms of layout and formatting possibilities

Tables

Tables can connect to multidimensional cubes using MDX, to tabular models using DAX, or relational

databases using SQL.




Tables have similarities to grids, but have no concept of rows – everything is a column.

Tables or Grids?

If your data is in a multidimensional cube, a grid will generally be a better fit as it is more flexible

and dynamic.

For in-memory tabular models (xVelocity) you can use grids or tables. Grids will give more flexibility,in some cases Tables may have a performance benefit due to running a DAX query.

For direct query tabular models you need to use tables as they only support DAX.

For SQL you need to use a table




QuickStart

Managing Connections

The Connections form is available from the XLCubed > Connections ribbon or menu item.

It allows you to view, edit and delete existing connections for the workbook, and to create new

connections when required.

Connecting to your data

One workbook can support multiple connections to different server/database/cube combinations.

Connection Manager

To make a connection select XLCubed, Connections and press Add

The display shows any recent connections, which can quickly be re-used by selecting and

pressing OK

For a new connection, select the New Connection tab, choose the server type and specify the

appropriate detail as below:

Analysis Services Server: Type the server name




Analysis Services Server 2000: Type the AS2000 server name

Analysis Services Cube file: Browse to locate the local cube file

XLCubed Connection: Type the URL of the XLCubed Web Edition server to connect to

Once connected, select the required database on the left, then select relevant cube on

the right to add the connection.

Add additional connections to the workbook as required

Add a Grid

You can quickly and easily create a grid report. From XLCubed ribbon, click on the Grids & Tables icon and

select Grid.




You will be prompted to create a connection or select a recent connection (see Connecting to your Data).

The Report Designer window will then be displayed. It has four main parts, as shown in the diagram

below:

• A: The toolbar allows you to perform various operations and set certain options on the report.

• B: The Available Hierarchies panel contains a tree that allows you to select new hierarchies from

the cube. Expand the dimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be

dragged from this area into Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report. The

different hierarchy types can be distinguished by their icon:

• C: The selected hierarchies’ panels show you what hierarchies are currently selected for the

report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

• D: The member selection panel shows the members selected for a hierarchy, as well as

advanced selections such as rankings and member properties. More information can be found

here.




Moving Hierarchies

Hierarchies can be easily moved between axes by dragging and dropping. The member selections and

options for the hierarchy are preserved for the new position. To remove hierarchies from the report,

drag them to the Available Hierarchies panel (B above).

To select more than one hierarchy for moving, either hold down the Ctrlkey while clicking, or hold down

the Shift key to select a range of hierarchies.

Toolbar

Creating a simple grid report with a slicer

Simply drag and drop hierarchies from the Available Hierarchies area to Headers, Rows and Columns:

This gives a simple grid report with the default Measure, Reseller Sales Amount on Headers and

Product Model Categories and Calendar Date on columns:




Now let’s create a slicer on the Header (Measures) so that the user can report another measure apart from

Reseller Sales Amount.

Simply right-click on the member, Reseller Sales Amount to access XLCubed’s right-click menu and choose

Add Slicer.

You will see that Reseller Sales Amount now has a drop-down:

You can then right-click on the slicer to edit it. From here you can set up the type of slicer that should be

displayed and the choices that should be offered.



11 | P a g e XLCubed v7 User Guide –Book I - Grids

Book I – Grids

Grid Reporting Overview

Grid reports (i.e. those generated using Design Grid option) are treated as a single object by XLCubed. The

report shape will always be rectangular, and some aspects will be familiar to users of Excel's PivotTables.However, much of the power of Grid-based reporting is in the additional functionality not available

through native PivotTables. Grids are well-suited to analytical work, but can also be used in more formal

reporting, depending on the formatting required. For more flexible layout options, formula reports are

also possible.

Grid reports can be modified or designed using the Report Designer, or by simply dragging the hierarchy

labels to the axis where you require them.

More detail about your data can be obtained by double-clicking on the members (known as drilling), and

many other functions, for example Subtotals and Grid Calculations, can be accessed via right-click

menus on the Grid.

Multiple Grids can exist in one worksheet. There are shown in the XLCubed ribbon or toolbar.Formatting, modification and deletion of Grids should be handled through XLCubed rather than native

Excel. Changes will otherwise not be retained when the Grid is next refreshed.




Grid Components The main components of the Grid are listed below:

• Header/Filter Area (C3:D5)

• Dimension Labels (C3:C5, D8, C9)

• Selected Dimension Members (B10:C20, D9:H9)

• Data Area (D10:G20)

Basic Navigation

The XLCubed Grid basic navigation operates in a similar way to Pivot Tables in Excel.

Drilling applies to Members located on either Rows or Columns.

• Drill up / down by double clicking on a Member.

•

Drill all currently selected members by right clicking on a Member and selecting the Drill All optionfrom the XLCubed menu.

• Keep only the selected Member(s) by right clicking on them and selecting the Keep Only

option from the XLCubed menu.

• Exclude only the selected Member(s) by right clicking on them and selecting the Keep All

Except option on the XLCubed menu.

• Drag and Drop applies to any Dimension Labels

• Swap Dimensions in the Grid by dragging one Dimension with the cursor to hover over another

Dimension.

• Add/Remove Dimensions from Rows and Columns by dragging a Dimension with the cursor to

the desired location.




Edit Grid

• At any point it is possible to return to the Report Designer for the current grid by right clicking on

the grid, and choosing XLCubed> Design Grid.




Grid Task Pane (2007 onwards)

The grid Task Pane can be toggled on and off via the Task Pane menu item in the XLCubed ribbon.

• The task pane enables grid selections and the re-positioning / adding / removing of hierarchies

within the grid. Changes are optionally applied instantly or on the Apply button.

• The Task pane displays the content of the currently active grid, and will update accordingly as

each different grid is selected.

Saved Grid Report

When saved Grid Reports are re-opened in Excel, they are not initially connected to their data source and

are effectively static data, unless the Refresh Grid on open option is selected in the Grid Properties form.

This ensures the load time is kept to a minimum, and only those Grids required for the current session need

be activated.

To activate a Grid on a pre-saved spreadsheet you must do one of the following:

Double click on any part of the Grid

Right-click on any part of the Grid Select the Grid from the Grid ribbon/toolbar

The grid is now active and can be used as normal.

Refresh Grid




• Right-clicking on an inactive grid will force a refresh.

• Inserting or deleting rows in a grid will force a refresh.

• Setting the check-boxes in the Refresh panel below will force a refresh. You can uncheck the

Refresh grid on open and Refresh when driving cells change boxes if you do not want this

behaviour

Use the Exclude from display , Keep all except , Keep only functionality of XLCubed to remove rows

if necessary.

If you want to refresh manually you can right-click, XLCubed, refresh grid or choose refresh grid

from the XLCubed ribbon. If the active cell is in a grid you can press CTRL+SHIFT+R to refresh the grid.




Report Designer

The Report Designer dialog can be accessed either when creating a new report (through the XLCubed >

Grid or Formula Report ribbon item), or when editing an existing Grid (via the XLCubed > Design Grid...

right-click menu item). When first creating a Grid or formula report, if the workbook has no connections,

then XLCubed will first prompt you to create a connection.

General Layout

The Report Designer has four main parts, as shown in the diagram below:

• A: The toolbar allows you to perform various operations and set certain options on the report.

• B: The Available Hierarchies panel contains a tree that allows you to select new hierarchies from

the cube. Expand the dimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be

dragged from this area into Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report. The

different hierarchy types can be distinguished by their icon:




• C: The selected hierarchies’ panels show you what hierarchies are currently selected for the

report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

• D: The member selection panel shows the members selected for a hierarchy, as well as

advanced selections such as rankings and member properties. More information can be found

here.

Moving Hierarchies

Hierarchies can be easily moved between axes by dragging and dropping. The member selections and

options for the hierarchy are preserved for the new position. To remove hierarchies from the report,

drag them to the Available Hierarchies panel (B above).

To select more than one hierarchy for moving, either hold down the Ctrlkey while clicking, or hold down

the Shift key to select a range of hierarchies.

Toolbar

These are the toolbar options available within the Report Designer:




Grid Properties

There are many Grid Properties settings available from XLCubed’s right-click menu which give the user

more control over how the grid is displayed.

Behaviour options

Excel

Resize columns/rows after refresh: Automatically adjust the columns and rows to fit the data

Insert/Delete columns/rows when grid size changes: Determines the behaviour when members are added

or removed

Fill Formulae next to Grid: Detect and fill down/across any formulae directly adjacent to the grid as

members are added or removed.

Data

Remove empty columns/rows: Exclude columns/rows with no values from the result set

Replace 0 with null: Allows zeroes to be removed from report using the Exclude Empty options

Feed hierarchy member results: Use the MDX function Generate to allow dynamic ranking and filtering

(note: this option can be slower).

Use NonEmpty on Crossjoins: Use the NonEmptyCrossJoin MDX function

Exclude Calculated Members: by default XLCubed will show calculated members when drilling members to

display their children. This option means those calculations are no longer shown.

Where clause style: When aggregating in a hierarchy, XLCubed can generate MDX that:

With members Extracts each aggregate into a With member

Sets Leaves the aggregates in-lined as a set

Subselect Uses an in-line subselect statement for the

aggregates

Drill Mode: Changes which members are shown when members are drilled

Standard Drilled members are expanded in all

positions

Drill and Replace Drilled members and their children are

shown. Drill the parent member to drill

back up




Asymmetric Drilled members are expanded only in then

location drilled. This applies if you have

more than one dimension on rows, when

the members can be repeated. This feature

was introduced in version 7.2

Refresh

Display error on invalid members: Displays a warning if invalid selections are found on any hierarchy

Refresh Grid on open: Causes the grid to update itself when the workbook is opened

Refresh when driving cells change: If the grid is driven from any Excel range then causes the grid to update

itself whenever any of these changes

Default Grid Options

The defaults for new Grids can be set by using the Save as Defaults button. To set a Grid back to the saved

defaults, use the Load from Defaults button.

Appearance options

General

Title: the title of the Grid, displayed in dialogs and menus whenever the Grid is referred to.

The following parameters can also be used to display information regarding the cube connection: {server}

{database} {cube} {lastupdate}.

Display Grid title: Display the Grid title in the worksheet.

Replace nulls with: Instead of an empty cell, XLCubed inserts the desired value.

Formatting

Apply formatting: Override formats on the Grid, or let you manage them manually.

Format Grid without borders: Exclude borders from the formatting applied to the Grid.

Apply Cube formatting: Retrieve and apply formats that are defined in the cube.

Merge repeating cells: When crossjoining, merge the repeated cells for the outer hierarchies:




Show member properties in separate columns: If any member properties are selected, display each in its

own column, or in the same cell as the member caption:

Group member properties with the same name: Where member properties are being displayed, group

together those with same name.

Drilling

Show drill indicator: If a member is drillable, a symbol is displayed before the member's caption:

Indent members when drilling: The indentation of the members in a Grid reflects what level they are on.

The size of indentation can also be adjusted.

Grid Elements

In this section you can choose not to display sections of the grid. This allow you to place grids in specific

places without needing to hide rows/columns which is useful if they move when drilled.This example screenshot shows the standard view and then below that the effect of hiding all areas except

Row Members on the second grid:




Interaction Options

Track grid's active cell

The current cell in the Grid can be used as input for other Grids and formulae. See Active Cell Grid

Selections for more information.

Named Ranges

XLCubed can create named ranges based on Grid elements that can then be used by other Excel objects,

such as formulae and charts. See Named Grid Ranges for more information.

Lockdown Options

Password protect Grid properties: Before showing the Grid Properties dialog, a password is required.

Apply restrictions in Excel: Enforce the following permissions in Excel. If off, the restrictions are onlyapplied when published to XLCubed Web Edition.

Permissions

Show Grid menus: Show the right-click Grid menu. Note: The Grid properties dialog is always available

unless specifically excluded below.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Web_Publishing

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Web_Edition

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:GridHideAreas2.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:GridHideAreas1.png


http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Web_Publishing




Allow hierarchy navigation: Show the Hierarchy Editor for any hierarchy.

Can change filter/column/row members: Show the Hierarchy Editor for the hierarchies on the given axis.

Can drill columns/rows: Allow drilling on members in the given axis.

Set All to No: Disallows all the above permissions.

Hiding Menu Items

These options allow you to hide specific operations from the Grid's right-click menu.

Writeback Options

See Book IV – Web Edition for more detail about writeback in XLCubed.

MDX Options

Connection: Set the connection for the Grid

Auto-generate MDX (default): XLCubed controls the MDX for the Grid, given the selected options,

hierarchies and members.

Manual MDX: You may type your own MDX in the edit field. Using XL3Parm( Address ) allows you to

substitute parts of the MDX with cells on the worksheet.

Get MDX from Excel range: The entire MDX statement for the Grid is taken from a cell on the worksheet.

Performance Tips for Large Grids

Turn Off:

Apply formatting

Merge repeating cellsTurn On:

Hide draggable hierarchy labels

After making these changes to all the grids use XLCubed -> Connections -> Refresh connections to clear any

remaining hierarchy labels.

Saving Reports

Saving as a File

Using the Open Report and Save Report toolbar options, you can load and save the current report as

.xl3gridfiles, which can then be shared with other users.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Hierarchy_Editor







Favourites

You can add the current report as a favourite by using the Add to Favourites toolbar option, and reload a

saved one by selecting it from the Favourites dropdown.

Saved favourites can be viewed, edited and deleted in the XLCubed > Utilities > Manage Favourites

dialog.




Slicers

Dimension slicers simplify the process of creating cube dynamic drop-downs.

For more information see Book V – Slicers

Ranking, Sorting & Filtering

Ranking, Sorting and Filtering allows the user to control the order of the data displayed.For more information see Book VI – Ranking, Sorting & Filtering

Driving Grids from an Excel Range

For many standard reports, you will want to use data from the Excel workbook to influence your Grids.

Driving dimensions from a range provides a simple way to do this, especially when multiple Grids need to

use the same parameters.

If the input to the Grid can contain members that aren't found in the Cube, then the error message that is

shown for invalid members can be hidden. See the Grid Properties Display error on invalid members

option.

Example (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)

We will create a dropdown to automatically switch the Time dimension of our Grid.

1. Insert a Grid based on the Bicycle Sales demo cube, starting from A7. Select Time and Measures on

Slicers, Region on Columns and Product on Rows.

2. In cells B3 to B5, we enter the years we want to analyse:

3. To create a validation dropdown cell:

a. Select the B2 cell for the dropdown

b. Select the Data Validation ribbon item:




c. Choose a List type validation, and enter as the source:

d. Click OK, and the dropdown will be created in cell B2:

4. Now we need to drive the Grid from the dropdown cell:

a. Double-click on the Time label to display the Hierarchy editor.

b. Click on the Excel Range button, and choose B2 for the driving range:




c. The selected range is added to the list of selections:

d. Click OK

5. The Grid will update to use the new range for the Time hierarchy. Because the range is currently

empty, the Grid seems to be unaffected, but if we now use the dropdown to switch the year

to 2003, we'll see the Grid update:




6. As you can see, the validation list range can be hidden to keep the report tidy.

7. Even after drilling the Grid, the driving cell is still maintained:

Dragging and Dropping in Grids

One of the quickest ways to change a Grid report is to use the drag and drop feature. This allows you to

drag and drop hierarchies between the rows, columns and header axes of the report allowing you toquickly produce detailed reports.

Click and hold the left mouse down on the hierarchy you want to move:




As you move the mouse over the other hierarchies, the cursor will change. In this example, we

are swapping the two hierarchies:

Release the mouse button to complete the operation:

When over other hierarchies, the drop indicator will change to indicate whether the dropped field

will be placed before or after the current field, or whether they will swap positions:




Grid Templates

You can save template reports outside of the XLCubed environment. In Design Grid click on the Save

Report icon

Save to a Windows folder - it will be saved as type XLCubed Grid

To retrieve a saved grid template click the Open Report icon

Open the template from the saved Windows folder:




Saved Member Lists

These are lists of Dimension Members that can be saved and reused. As long as they are used on the same

Dimension/Hierarchy or a Dimension with the same values a Member List can be used by many users, in

different grids.

Note: A member list entered against a Dimension in a Grid will remain saved against the Dimension even

when the Dimension is not being actively used in the Grid. If it is not active i.e. in the Header, Rows or

Columns, the selections will have no effect on the data retrieved.

• Clears the Current Member List

• Save a Member List

• Retrieve a Member List




Advanced Row and Column selections

Named Sets

A named set is a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) expression that returns a set of dimension

members. Named sets can be created at cube level or within an application such as XLCubed. They can be

created combining cube data, arithmetic operators, numbers and functions.

From v6.5 two new options, Between and Manual MDX are available on Advanced tab Member Set when

editing hierarchies.

Between

This option allows the user to report for a particular range on that hierarchy. The only criteria is that both

members have to be at the same level.

For example, we can choose to report all data between 2002 and 2004 as below:

There is also an option to enter an Excel range as below - we will run the grid report based on values in




$I$3 and $I$4. The start range value is in $I$3 and the last range value is $I$4.

Another feature of using the range option is that you can choose to leave one of the ranges blank.

Manual MDX

This option allows you to use MDX code - click on the ellipse to the right of the Manual MDX radio

button and you will be able to enter MDX code in the following window:

For example if you only want to report CY 2002 and CY 2004 you would enter {[CY 2002], {CY 2004]} in

the Manual MDX window. You can also specify an Excel cell range as the MDX source. Once you have

defined your named set you can then select to report Descendants, Lowest Descendants or Descendants

At.




Task Pane

The XLCubed Task Pane is a sidebar designer which is very useful as an interactive drag and drop tool and

can be used as an alternative rather than going into the Report Designer. It can be used on grids, Tabular

Analysis Services reports and small multiples but not on SQL tables. Access the Task Pane on the XLCubed

tab, next to Options and Extras:

In the screenshot below there is a table report at A1 and a grid report at E1.




On the right of the screenshot is the Task Pane. The focus is currently on the grid report so the Task Pane

shows information relating to the grid: Measures on header, ProductModelCategories on rows and

Geography on columns. You can quickly drag and drop as needed. Clicking on the table report makes the

Task Pane refresh to show the table report detail instead.

Inside the Task Pane the behaviour is the same as the Report Designer. For example, clicking on a columninside the Task Pane, such as RegionCountryName displays all its members. You can also search for

members and set up criteria for which members to be retrieved.




Hierarchy Editor

Double-clicking on a Grid's hierarchy label allows you to select the members using the Hierarchy Editor:

The dialog shows the hierarchy and its members. The tree can display either the members directly, or the

members grouped by hierarchy level:




The tree can be expanded to its most detailed level where you can select values such as a specific name of

a customer. To select an item from the tree, either:

• Double click on the item

• Drag and drop the item into the right-hand selection area

To remove an item from the selection area, click on the delete icon at the end of the field. You can

also reorder the selected items by dragging the hand icon.

If you have a large hierarchy you can use the Search toolbar field to allow you to search all levels of the

hierarchy:

Having built a members list you can save it using the Save button. This can then be loaded into other

reports.




Hierarchy Information

The file information dialog displays details about the hierarchy currently selected in the Report Designer or

the Hierarchy Editor dialogs:

Unique Name: The unique identifier for the selected hierarchy

Caption: A label of caption associated with the hierarchy

Type: The type of the hierarchy, for example Date or Measures

Cardinality: An estimate of the number of members in the hierarchy

Default Member: The member that has been chosen as the default for the hierarchy

Description: A description of the hierarchy




Formatting Grids

In v7 formatting is available on XLCubed right-click menu as option, Format This Member.

So if we want to format Accessories row, we right-click on Accessories, XLCubed, Format This Member.

We are presented with the standard Excel Format Cells window from which we can choose any of the

usual settings to change.

We will choose Fill, select a colour and OK. The refreshed grid now looks like this:




The lower half of the XLCubedFormats sheet shows that both Member Accessories and associated row

data will be filled in pink.

If you do not want the data to be filled go to the XLCubedFormats sheet, right-click the Data Format cell

for Accessories and remove the fill colour by setting the backgound to 'No Colour'.

Once refreshed, the grid now looks like:




Formatting Rows and Columns

In v7.2 we now have the ability to set formatting on rows and/or columns for grid members. Here we have

a simple report where we have set formatting at different levels:

The format sheet looks like this:

Change the format sheet to ROWS as below:




This format will now be applied for whichever hierarchy is on rows. Let's put Geography on rows instead:

As you can see this is a very simple way to create standardised reporting within an organisation. This could

easily be included in the master format sheet so that all grids created would have the same row format.

The same applies to columns.

Format this Level

Format this Level allows the user to easily format all members at a particular hierarchy level and is

available on XLCubed’s right-click menu, Formatting, Format this Level. You will be presented with the

standard Excel Format Cells window from which you can choose any of the usual settings to change.

Level based formatting

You can format grid members depending on their level position in the cube structure. In the example

below we have a grid report showing the measure, Reseller Sales Amount with Geography on columns

and Product Model Categories on rows.




We would like to apply some formatting on rows so that each level on the Product Model Categories

hierarchy is displayed in a different shade of blue.

We want to display All Products level in dark blue and then all levels (Category, Subcategory and Model

Name) in that hierarchy in lighter shades of blue. Make the changes to the XLCubedFormats sheet as

below:

[Dimension].[Hierarchy1]: enter the dimension and hierarchy

[Member1 Name]: rather than a member name, here we need to specify a level name. We must put the

asterisk (*) at the end of the level name to ensure that all members at that level are displayed in thedesired format. We can check the full level name by selecting a member at that level, and then going to

Grid Properties to check the MDX generated. We can also edit the hierarchy that we wish to format to

confirm the hierarchy level names.




The report is formatted as below:




Parent Child Dimensions

This method doesn’t currently support parent child dimensions as the member unique names don’t

contain the level name.

If you are using v7 onwards you can also use the syntax – LEVEL: Number eg LEVEL:3

Conditional formatting

Overview

Excel conditional formatting allows the format of a cell to change based on its value or a formula.

Conditional Formatting in Grids

Conditional formatting can be setup on specific members, by using the "Format this member" right-click

option and then adding the conditional format to the data cell for that slice on the format sheet.

Conditional formatting can be applied to the whole grid by formatting the "Data Cell" value on the formatsheet.

XLCubedWeb Edition Restrictions

XLCubedWeb is limited to 3 conditional formats per cell and only supports the conditional formatting

available in Excel 2003, that is:

Format based on cell value




Format based on Formula (the formula must keep all references on the same sheet as the cell being

formatted)

The Colour support is limited to the workbook set of colours, these can be seen in in the Excel Colour

picker under "More" => "Standard Colours":

XLCubedWeb supports "Solid data bars" but not the other options such as Icon Sets or gradient fills.

In cells, though not automatically in the Grid, XLCubedWeb also supports "Solid data bars" but not the

other options such as Icon Sets or gradient fills. In order to use this format in the Grid, you should deselect

the XLCubed > Properties > Appearance > Apply formatting Grid property, then apply it to the Grid area.

Overlapping conditional formats can cause an issue when a report is published. You may need to

rationalize these by going to "Manage Conditional Formatting" and select "Show Formatting rules for:" This

Worksheet

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:StandardColours.png




http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:ManageCondFormatsThisSheet.png




Drilling in Grids

Drilling up and down is probably the simplest OLAP technique to master: it is simply a way of expanding

and collapsing the cells in a Grid report to show their component parts. Row or column members can be

drilled down to show the child members on the level below, or drilled up again to hide them.

To drill down on a cell, double-click on it. The following shows what happens when you double-click on

the All Customer cell:

Double-clicking on the cell again returns the Grid to its previous state.

Drilling Options

GRIDPROPERTIES>APPEARANCE>SHOWDRILLINDICATOR

If a member is drillable, a symbol can be displayed before the member's caption:

GRIDPROPERTIES>APPEARANCE>INDENTMEMBERSWHENDRILLING

The indentation of the members in a Grid reflects what level they are on if this option is selected. The size

of indentation can also be adjusted.

Drill Across

New in Version 7.6

The drill across menu allows you to expand the grid using a dimension that isn't currently in the grid. In this

example we expand the data for 2007 by drilling into the promotions.




The data is filtered to 2007, and drilled into the promotions.




Drilling Multiple Selections

If several members need to be drilled at once, in order to save time the Drill All option can be used.

Select all the members to be drilled:

Select the XLCubed > Drill All right-click menu option:




All the selected members are drilled:




Drill Modes

When drilling down to the next level of detail contained in a hierarchy XLCubed grids can be set to behave

in one of three ways. The setting can be changed either from the grid ribbon as shown below, or in the

properties for the individual grid.

STANDARD

Standard is the default method, and is best described as Drill and Expand . In the example above, drilling

Canada will insert additional rows beneath the Canada member to show the provinces, while still

displaying the other countries. The before and after is shown below:




DRILLANDREPLACE

This mode only shows two levels of hierarchy, the drilled member and the children, as shown below.

ASYMMETRIC

This mode behaves in the same way as standard while there is only one hierarchy on the axis. The

behaviour differs when there are two or more hierarchies on an axis. For Standard, when an inner

hierarchy is drilled, it is expanded for all the outer members, whereas for Asymmetric it is expanded just

for the outer member which was in context. This is shown below, where the Bikes member within Canada

will be drilled.




Asymmetric Grids

ASYMMETRICGRIDS

XLCubed has three quick select options on the right click menu for a grid. Right-click menu and select Keep

followed by This Member, All Other Members or Exclude from Display.

This Member – retains just the highlighted members

All Other Members – will remove the members that are selected Exclude from Display – allows for the creation of asymmetric grids

For example you may want to display only budget for future months and only actuals for historic months.

To achieve this select the items which you want to remove, and on the right click menu select Keep -

Exclude from Display . Note this is only applicable where there are two hierarchies on the axis, and the

user must select elements from both hierarchies. In the example below January 2004 is being excluded

specifically for Australia.

Excluded items can then be viewed in two ways. If items are excluded you will see a red triangle in the

corner of the report. Hover on the cell, right-click and Axis, Edit Axis (or Clear All to delete all exclusions).

If you Edit Axis you will see this window – from here you can also delete exclusions individually or all at

once by clicking the highlighted icon:




You can also view and delete from the report designer via the information icon which appears on the

relevant axis as shown below on columns (highlighted in screenshot below):




Calculations Overview

XLCubed features a few ways to define your own calculations.

Grid Calculation Columns and Rows

Used only in Grid-based reports, Grid Calculations allow you to define your own dynamic calculations

within a Grid report.

They allow Excel formulas to be used within the Grid, based either on the visible data or on other elementson the worksheet. See the Grid Calculations section in this document for more information.

MDX Calculated Members

MDX Calculations are a simple but powerful means to manage calculated members, sets and custom MDX

commands that live in the session, and are executed on connection.

They are more involved to implement than Grid Calculations, but enable more complex and flexible

calculations.

Please see Book X – Miscellaneous and the section on MDX Calculations for more information.

XLCubed OLAP Formulae

XLCubed offers several formulas that allow you to bring Cube data into Excel. This allows you to create

complex workbooks interacting in all the sophisticated ways that Excel allows.

A more detailed description can be found in Book II - Formula Reporting.

MDX: and MDXSet: members

Grids and formulae can both refer to an MDX: calculation defined in an Excel cell. In addition, Grids can useMDXSet: in an Excel cell to define a named set. Information can be found in the section on Mdx in Book X –

Miscellaneous and also XL3Member in Book II – Formula Reporting.

Grid Calculations

The Add Calculation option is available on the Grid's right mouse button pop-up menu.

For example, if you have the Time hierarchy on the columns and right click to add a Grid Calculation to Q2

you can add an additional Q2-Q1 delta column to the Grid. The column is inserted as an empty column towhich you can add a title and formula. The formula can be typed into any of the cells, and will be

propagated to all the other cells in the row or column automatically.

This column will be automatically refreshed as you drill or swap dimensions.

You can view or delete the inserted rows/columns on the XLCubed > Calculation > Manage Calculations

form.




Examples (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)

We want to see the difference between 2004 and 2003 in a Grid.

Insert a Grid based on the Bicycle Sales demo cube, with the Time hierarchy on columns

Drill down Time's Allmember by double-clicking on B5:

Right-click on 2004(E5) and choose XLCubed > Add Calculation




In the title cell (Calc, F5), type a name for the Calculation:

In one of the column's data cells (for example, F6) type the formula for the Calculation, =E6-D6. You may need to resize the column:

The Grid Calculation column will now be used, even if the structure of the Grid is changed:




Then name the grouping as required, and choose the parent element which the group is to appear

under.

The new element will appear as a custom calculation. If you wish to amend or delete it, select the

custom calculation tab on the XLCubed ribbon.

Share to Base: Calculated Value on Measures

For measures, users can add a calculation which will show percentage contribution to specific

levels in a chosen hierarchy. This is available in the member selector for measures, on the right

click menu as shown below.




In this example a calculation is added to show the Reseller sales amount as a percentage of the parent at

the country level in the Geography hierarchy.

Pareto Columns (new in v7.2)

The Pareto Principle is often referred to as the 80-20 rule, that 80% of outcomes are attributable to 20%

of causes. They are named after Vilfredo Pareto who lived in Italy in the 19th century and observed that

80% of the land was owned by 20% of the people. Pareto charts have both bar charts and a line graph

where the bars represent individual values and the l ine represents the cumulative total.




To use Pareto Charts from XLCubed, within a grid, right-click on the column header to access XLCubed’s

right-click menu, Grid Charts and Add Pareto Analysis.

Take this simple grid showing Reseller Sales for Product Model Categories for Canadian cities:

Right-clicking on All Products to Add Pareto Analysis brings up this window:

Click OK to return to the workbook and you will see that we have a chart showing that the top 9 cities

provide some 80% of the sales.




You could also include the rolling total and percentage in your Pareto Chart.

Notice that we now also have some extra columns on the grid showing the cumulative total of all

sales, the sales percentage per category and the cumulative percentage.

So that's Pareto Charts - in a nutshell, an easy to use graphical tool which ties directly into dynamic

XLCubed grids.




Subtotals

Subtotalling by hierarchy is an option in Grid based reports where a crossjoin has been used. Subtotalling

can use any one of the Sum, Avg, Minor Maxfunctions.

To add a Subtotal, right-click on one of the members of the hierarchy you would like to add the Subtotal

to, and choose the function you require under the XLCubed > Apply > Show Subtotals menu:

To remove the Subtotal, select the XLCubed > Apply > Show Subtotals > None menu item.




Cube vs Excel Mode

The default is Excel mode, this will use an Excel formula to calculate the totals - this would mean any

calculated members will be totalled after the query is run and may not return the number you want

(summing the average or percent numbers etc.).

Cube mode performs the sub-totalling as part of the query, such that (if the cube calculations support it)

any "Average" or "Percent" calculations will remain consistent.You can use the "Grid" ribbon to switch between the 2 modes:

See the Grid Calculations section in this document for more information.

Visual Totals

Overview

Visual Totals is a new Grid Property in Version 7.6 - once enabled any parent member will show the total

for the members selected in the report.

For example:

Without Visual Totals enabled:




The value for "All Geographies" is based on all the members in the cube.

With Visual Totals enabled "All Geographies" is based on the selected members only "Canada", "United

Kingdom" and "United States".

Restrictions

The order of the selected members is very important for how the totals are calculated .

For the members to be totalled they must appear in the member selector with the highest member before

the lower level members:

The following selections would total the members correctly to give the aggregate of the 3 countries:

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalCorrectOrderResult.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalCorrectOrder.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:Postvisualtotal.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:PreVisualtotals.png




This example would display the real total for "All Geographies" as it appears underneath its children:

So the following example would give the total for France:

You cannot include the Parent or Ancestor members twice

If you try to include "All Geographies" twice - it will not work be displayed with visual totals enabled (even

if you try using Unions). This is a restriction with Analysis Services

Visual totals are calculated before Sorting and Unions

This means that if you want to display the Visual Total for "All Geographies", you can do this using the

"Reverse" sort:

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalCorrectOrder.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalFranceOrderResult.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalFranceOrder.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalWrongOrderResult.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalWrongOrder.png




This only works if you just have a single member selection and no ranking,filter or exclusions

Visual totals work only with unsorted ranking and filter

So you could setup to show the top 3 countries and the totals:

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalReverseResult.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalReverseSort.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalReverseAdvanced.png




Note we use top 4 to include "All Geographies" and then the top 3 countries

But you couldn't then sort this result to show the total at the bottom.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalRankResult.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalRanking.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalRankAdvanced.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:VisualTotalRankMembers.png




Actions

Actions defined in the Cube can launch applications, perform Drillthroughs, etc.

To launch an Action, right-click the cell in the Grid that you want to launch the Action from and select

XLCubed > Actions....

The following Analysis Services Action types are supported:

• URL

• HTML

• Application

• Drillthrough (2005 and later)

Outlier Grouping

Outlier Grouping allows the user to display a subset of selected members into a common set, often called “Others”.

For more information see Book VI – Ranking, Sorting & Filtering




Named Ranges

From Version 7.6, XLCubed allows the automatic creation of named ranges based on parts of the Grid or

Table. This simplifies many interactions between Excel and XLCubed, such as formulae or charts based on

XLCubed ranges. The feature can be found on the Grid Properties or Table Properties form, on

the Interaction tab. From here, you can see and edit existing ranges or set up new ones.

Named Range properties for Grids

Name

The name to give the named range; this is used to refer to the range in formulae and the chart dialogs

Scope

Where the named range is recognised - either all over the workbook, or tied to the Grid worksheet (for

example, Sheet1!MyRange)

Whole Grid - Members and data

The named range covers all members and data in the entire Grid

Whole Grid - DataThe named range covers all the data in the Grid

Members - Axis

The named range covers the members on the specified axis

Members - Hierarchy

The named range covers the members belonging to the specified hierarchy

Slice - Members and data

The named range covers the members and data belonging to the specified slice

Slice - Members

The named range covers the members belonging to the specified slice

Slice - Data

The named range covers the data belonging to the specified slice

Named Range properties for Tables

Name

The name to give the named range; this is used to refer to the range in formulae and the chart dialogs

Scope

Where the named range is recognised - either all over the workbook, or tied to the Table worksheet (for

example, Sheet1!MyRange)

Table - Headers and data

The named range covers all headers and data in the entire Table

Table - Headers

The named range covers all headers in the entire Table

Table - Data

The named range covers all the data in the Table

Columns - Headers and data

The named range covers the headers and data belonging to the specified column




Columns - Headers

The named range covers the headers belonging to the specified column

Columns - Data

The named range covers the data belonging to the specified column

Example: Calculating an average of all the data shown in the Grid

Add a new named range with the following properties:

1. Name: GridData

2. Scope: Workbook

3. Whole Grid - Data

The formula =Average(GridData) placed anywhere in the workbook will now calculate the average

value of the Grid.

Example: Charting all the data shown for Calendar Year 2002 in the Grid

Based on the Adventure Works demo cube

Create a Grid with the years across columns, and Products on rows & then add three named ranges.

Named ranges are added through the Grid Properties, Interaction tab:


1. Name: CY2002Members

2. Scope: Workbook

3. Slice - Members, then add Date Calendar - CY 2002 to the slice





1. Name: CY2002Data

2. Scope: Workbook

3. Slice - Data, then add Date Calendar - CY 2002 to the slice





1. Name: ProductMembers

2. Scope: Workbook

3. Members - Axis – Rows




You should end up with a list like this:

Insert a new Excel column chart, then right-click on it, and choose Select Data




Add a Legend Entry (Series) as Series name: =Sheet1!CY2002Members; Series

values: =Sheet1!CY2002Data

Edit the Horizontal category labels to =Sheet1!ProductMembers and click OK




The chart looks like this:

The chart will now update its members and data when the Grid changes

Linking Grids

When using Grid reports it is possible to link multiple Grids together to be driven from the same hierarchy.

Insert the two (or more) Grids that you require

Select the Grid Links ribbon item (or in Excel 2003 and below, the XLCubed > Grid Links...

menu item):




Select the Grid that you want to be the master in the dropdown:

Find the Grid that you want to be driven in the table, and click in the cells to select the

hierarchies you want to be linked. Either a Two-Way link (changing either Grid will drive

the other Grid) or a One-Way link (only changing one of the Grids will affect the link) can

be selected.

Linking means that whatever changes are made to the driving Grid's linked hierarchy will

be reflected in the driven Grids. The actual result will depend upon the structure of the

driven Grid. For example, if you linked on the Product hierarchy in the driven Grid and this

appeared as a column in all the linked Grids then drilling down the Product column in the

driving Grid will drill down all the Grids. This also applies to any member selection

operations.




Grids can also be linked to Dimension Slicers and Small Multiple Charts.




Member Properties in Grids

Member properties (also known as attributes) are available in the Hierarchy Editor for the hierarchy that

contains the properties, on the Display tab.

Both user-defined and system member properties are available, although system member properties can

be hidden if desired.

Examples (using the Internet Sales cube)

We want to see the Birth Date of the Customers visible in the Grid.

• Start by inserting a Grid on the Internet Sales Cube. For details see Report Designer.

• Drag Measuresto columns, and Customerto rows.

• Click on the Customer hierarchy to show its details in the bottom-right panel

•

Select the Display tab, and tick the Birth Datemember property:

• Click OK to insert the Grid

• There are no member properties visible yet: because the member property only

applies to members at the Customer Keylevel, they will only be shown when we drill

down, or if we select those members, so drill down until you can see the member

properties

• We can change the display style in the Grid Properties dialog




Active Cell Grid Selections

From XLCubed v7.2, Grid reports can be driven from the current selected range of another Grid.

Example

We would like one Grid to show a high-level summary of time vs. region, then a second Grid to be driven

from the first, showing a breakdown of products vs. month for that region.

Insert the first Grid, with years on columns and countries on rows:

From the Grid's right-click menu, choose XLCubed > Properties, then select Interaction > Track

grid's active cell. Optionally, also turn on Apply tracking formatting

Insert a second Grid. Select the Time hierarchy on columns, and then the Active cell option:




From the Active cell dropdown, select Children:

Select the desired Product members on columns (Lowest Descendants of Mountain Bikes here)

Select the Region hierarchy on headers, selecting the Active cell option as before

The report is complete. Note that clicking on the different data items in the first Grid selects theappropriate members in the second Grid:




Additional Options

Output Row/Column Members to

The selected Grid members will be copied to the selected cells. This allows formulae to be driven from the

active selection, for example. If you have several hierarchies on rows or columns you can select a range

and the members of the cross-join will be put into each cell.

On Click Navigate to

After cells have been selected, the selection is immediately changed to this cell. This allows the results to

be highlighted, or the worksheet to be changed.

Apply Tracking Formatting

The tracked and currently selected cells are highlighted, as specified on the XLCubedFormats worksheet

(see the Tracked Cell and Active Tracking Cell format)




Propagate Across Sheets

Propagate Across Sheets allows the creation of one or more worksheets based on the current worksheet,

with members of one hierarchy swapped for other selections.

To activate the function, right-click on the selected member for the hierarchy you want to propagate (on

either a Grid or an XL3Member formula), and choose the elements which you want to create additional

sheets for. On the new sheets, the formatting and print layout are identical, with the only change being

the selected member on the propagated hierarchy.

There are a few options that affect the results:

Insert as Text

The result will vary depending on what was clicked to perform the propagation:

If a formula was right-clicked, the resulting worksheet(s) will have all their formulae converted

to values

If a Grid was right-clicked, the corresponding Grid on the target worksheet(s) will be converted

to values

Keep all Grids active on new sheet

The target worksheet(s) will have active Grids, otherwise only the values will be copied across

Move Grid references to new sheet

Any copied Grids will have any Excel range references moved to their new worksheet

Advanced Propagate




Version 7.2 introduces advanced propagation - this allows the results to be based on a particular data

query. For example: give me a new sheet for each product with sales greater than x or any of the other

Ranking, Sorting and Filtering options.

Create new Workbook

Version 7.5 adds a new option to propagate to a new workbook. This will create a new workbook and

populate it with all the new Worksheets.




Breakout Value

The Breakout Value option is available on the right mouse button pop-up menu when the currently active

cell contains an XL3Lookup function, an XL3ValueRankLookup function, or a Grid data cell.

The Breakout Value option allows an interesting piece of data to be further explored and broken down into

component parts. For example, if the cell showing Reseller Sales Amount for the United States region in of

2003 is broken out by product, then the result will be the top 10 (or however many items are selected toBreakout by) products for the United States region in 2003. The items broken out can then themselves be

broken out by another hierarchy to analyse more deeply.

Select a cell to analyse

Select Break Out from the right mouse button pop-up menu

The Breakout dialog appears:




The Position to insert breakout is used to specify the starting cell on the spread

sheet where the Breakout values are to be inserted

The Hierarchy to breakout field is used to select a dimension to use to Break out the cell

value

Show top or bottom members and Breakout count determines the number of rows of

Breakout information that are generated, and whether they should be of the highest or

lowest ranked members

The How to breakout hierarchy field (when Breaking out from a Grid), or the Rank by

selection field (when Breaking out a formula) is used to choose a selection from the

Breakout hierarchy

Show percentages include a % column to show that items contribution to the parent

value

Track active cell see section below

Display percentage bar include a incell bar to represent the % value

Include 'Others' grouping If breaking out to display the top 5 members - this option will

create an "Others" grouping to group all the items outside of the top 5

Exclude zeros exclude members with a 0 value from the breakout

Exclude nulls exclude members with no values from the breakout




The result is inserted into the sheet.

An item in the Breakout can then be further broken out.

Track Active Cell

With "Active Cell Tracking" enabled then clicking on another data value in the source grid will update the

breakout values to reflect that selection. The "Active Cell" is highlighted to show the current selection.

Breakout of "United Kingdom", "All Periods"




Breakout of "United States", "CY 2001"




Converting Grid Reports

Convert to Formula

The XLCubed > Convert to > Formula option converts a Grid report into XLCubed formulae. In XLCubed you

can easily convert an existing grid report to a formula report.

To do this right-click on the grid, then select the XLCubed > Convert to > Formula menu item as below:

You will get a message asking you to confirm that you wish to convert to formula.

If you are converting a grid report that contains Slicers you will also get a message that links to any slicers

in the report will be removed and that you can manually recreate these links.

To manually recreate links to slicers you need to follow these steps:




• right-click the slicer and choose edit slicer

• on the settings tab check box ‘Update range with selection’ and point to the cell location

where the slicer choice is located; (if not already set)

• select Caption from the drop-down (if not already set)

Next you will need to edit your formula statement to point to this cell location, right-click on a cell in the

formula report, edit the XL3Lookup statement as below to make sure the cell location which holds the

slicer choice is correct.

Convert to Values

The XLCubed > Convert to > Values option converts an XLCubed Grid report into just its values.




Copying Grids

Selecting the XLCubed > Copy Grid... menu option allows you to quickly replicate Grids. Once this option

has been selected, select the destination cell and click OK to insert the copy.

Deleting Grids

Selecting the XLCubed > Delete Grid... menu option allows you to delete a grid. You will be prompted to

confirm that you do wish to delete the grid.




Drillthrough

Drillthrough is used to list the base data from the database that constitutes the cell on the

spreadsheet. The Drillthrough option is available on the right mouse button pop-up menu

when:

• the currently active cell contains an XL3Lookup formula

• the currently active cell is part of the data area of an active Grid Reporting Overview

To display the Drill Through dialog, select a cell and choose XLCubed > Drillthrough... from the right

mouse button menu.

• The Destination field determines where the Drillthrough information will be placed on the

worksheet.

• The Limit rows field allows you to restrict the returned result set.

• You can create a new worksheet to place the data on by clicking on the New Sheet button and

entering a name for the worksheet.

The Drillthrough places the returned data directly onto the spreadsheet. The values inserted are values

and not formulae.




Expanding Large Hierarchies

When trying to show a very large number of members in the Report Designer or the Hierarchy Editor,

XLCubed will warn you:

You may do three things:

• retrieve all the available members

• retrieve a customisable number of members

• cancel the operation

The limit is configurable by editing the Options > XLCubed Options > Main > Limit number of membersreturned in tree XLCubed option.




Grid Charts

Grid Charts introduce truly dynamic charting to XLCubed. One or more Grid charts can be tied to each

Grid. You have the ability to specify the level being charted (Entire Grid / Specific Level / Lowest Level) as

shown below, and the charts will change, grow and shrink with the Grid. Once created, the Grid chart can

be sized and formatted as with a standard Excel chart.

To create a Grid Chart, right-click on a Grid and choose XLCubed > Grid Charts and then the type of Chart.

Chart Types

Show Lowest Members

This option charts the cross-section of the lowest levels in the Grid:




Show All Members

This option creates a Grid chart which shows details of the entire visible Grid:




Show at Selected Levels

The levels option allows you to select which levels of the Grid hierarchies are used for the chart:




Configuring Existing Charts

Right-clicking a Grid and choosing XLCubed > Grid Charts > Manage Grid Charts... allows you to change the

chart type and what members are being charted.



102 | P a g e XLCubed v7 User Guide –Book II – Formulae Reporting

Book II - Formula Reporting

When using formulae to retrieve information and data from the OLAP cube, each cell contains a formula

rather than the data itself (unlike Grid reports). It is therefore possible to put any value in any cell, and to

have fully disjoint reports.

Most formula reports are built primarily using just two XLCubed formulae:

XL3Lookup: retrieves the cube value from a specified slice, and will normally reference one or more

XL3Member formulae

XL3Member : returns the caption for a specified member

Formula reports will often be preferred where the required formatting is complex, or where existing

'static' financial reports are being replaced.




Grid vs. Formula-based Reporting Key Differences

Grid reports

Grids are good for ad-hoc analysis, where the data needs to be sliced quickly. Drag and drop makes

it easy to quickly change the data on show

The report shape is always rectangular. Elements are always in familiar places

The grid contains comprehensive information about one slice of the data Formats are created and maintained by the grid. Complex OLAP-aware highlighting and conditional

formatting are possible.

Grids can be edited simply by using the Report Designer

Grids are faster for very large numbers of cells

Formulae

Formulae are good for reports with a static layout, where design can be used to emphasize and de-

emphasize information as necessary

Any formula can be in any cell. The shape of the report can be as flexible as is necessary

Formulae can put the most important information in the most prominent position

Formats are maintained by Excel. All of Excel’s formatting options are available

Once inserted, formulae must be edited individually, using the Edit Lookup dialog or by hand

Formulae are slower if the number of formulae is very large

Drilling in Formula Report

A cell that contains an XL3Member formula can be drilled into to show details about its components.

To use the drill down feature, double-click on a cell that contains an XL3Member and depending on the

current state of the workbook, it will:

Drill down: the children of the hierarchy member double-clicked on will be displayed. This is done by

looking at which cells refer to the current cell. This option will drill down to the level beneath the one

selected in the current cell and will attempt to determine the best place to insert the new columns or

rows. Using this option with a heavily disjoint report may not produce expected results!

Drill up: the children of the hierarchy member double-clicked on will be removed from the report

Insert Value

This allows you to insert a value from the cube. XL3Lookupand XL3LookupRWformulae can be inserted

directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Value ribbon or menu option.

To insert a value lookup:

1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Value ribbon or menu option




2. Choose a location for the new formulae

3. Choose the connection to use from the dropdown

4. Use the grid to select the hierarchies and member selections to retrieve the

value for

5. Click OK and the formulae will be inserted

Additional Options

•

If you want to insert the writeable XL3LookupRWformulae instead of

XL3Lookup, select the Insert XL3LookupRW checkbox




Insert Members

This allows you to insert a member or list of members from the cube. XL3Memberformulae can be inserted

directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Members ribbon or menu option.

To insert members:

1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Members ribbon or menu option



4. Select the hierarchy the desired members belong to

5. Select the members to insert. An overview of how to select members can be found here

6. Click OK and the formulae will be inserted

Additional Options

• If you want to just insert the captions of the members instead of XL3Memberformulae, select

the Insert as Text checkbox

• If multiple members are selected, they can be either inserted vertically (Insert down) or

horizontally (Insert right)




Insert Member Property

XL3PropertyLookupformulae can be inserted directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert

Formula

> Member Property ribbon or menu option.

To insert a member property:

1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Member Property ribbon or menu option



4. Select the hierarchy the desired property belong to

5. Select the member to use

6. Choose a member property from the Property dropdown

7. Click OK and the formula will be inserted




OLAP Formulae

XL3Lookup Returns the value for a given cross section of the Cube

XL3Member Returns the caption(s) for a member or members

XL3RankLookup Returns the member at the specified position of a Ranking

XL3ValueRankLookup Returns the Measure value at the specified position of a

Ranking

XL3MemberLookup Returns the caption for a member key or unique name

(superseded by XL3Member)

XL3PropertyLookup Returns the Member Property text for a specified dimension

member

XL3KpiLookup Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube

XL3KpiPropertyLookup Returns a property for a given KPI

XL3DoWriteback Optionally writes a value to a specific cube cross-section

XL3LookupRW Returns the value for a given cross section of the Cube,

allowing a writeback to be performed on the cell

XL3MemberNavigate Returns a member from its relationship to another (e.g.

parents, children, siblings etc)

XL3LastCubeUpdate Returns the time at which the cube was last updated

XL3UserName Returns user id of currently logged in user

XL3GridMember Returns the member uniquename for the specified grid cell

XL3DataSeries Returns a set of cube cell values

XL3DataSeriesLookup Returns a set of cube cell values

XL3HierarchyLookup Returns the Dimension name

XL3KpiLookup Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube

XL3KpiPropertyLookup Returns a property for a given KPI

XL3MdxLookup Returns the value from a specified MDX statement

XL3MdxMemberLookup Returns a member from a specified MDX statement

XL3MdxDataSeries Returns a set of cube cell values from an MDX statement

XL3MemberAlias Allows you to alias a member lookup to return a more readable

name

XL3MemberChildLookup Returns the specified child for a given member

XL3MemberLevelLookup Returns the specified member for a given levelXL3SetProperty Allows the updating of object types properties




Tabular Formulae

XL3LookupTabular Returns the value of a measure for given filters

In-Cell Chart Formulae

XL3SparkLine Creates a line, point or area chart that is rendered

in an Excel cell

XL3SparkLineM Creates a monochrome line or point chart that is

rendered in the Excel cell

XL3SparkColumns Creates a column chart that is rendered in an Excel

cell

XL3SparkColumnsM Creates a monochrome column chart that is


XL3SparkWinLose Creates a win/loss chart that is rendered in an

Excel cellXL3SparkWinLoseM Creates a monochrome win/loss chart that is


XL3SparkBar Creates a bar chart that is rendered in an Excel cell

XL3SparkBarM Creates a monochrome bar chart that is rendered

in the Excel cell

XL3SparkBullet Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel

cell

XL3SparkHorizon Creates a horizon chart that is rendered in an Excel

cell

XL3SparkIcon Creates an indicator icon that is rendered in anExcel cell

XL3SparkPie Creates a pie chart that is rendered in an Excel cell

XL3SparkBox Creates a box plot chart that is rendered in an

Excel cell

Relational Formulae

XL3RunSQLProc Runs specified Stored Procedure

Report Management Formulae




XL3Link Creates a hyperlink that opens a sheet and sets

parameters

XL3RowVisible Shows or hides a row

XL3ColumnVisible Shows or hides a column

XL3DynamicPicture Updates a Picture based on a URL (web address)

XL3RefreshObjects Refreshes objects in the report based on type

XL3RefreshObjectsNamed Refreshes objects in the report based on name

XL3WebReportLink Creates a hyperlink that opens an XLCubed Webreport and optionally sets web parameters

Formula wizards

The XLCubed Excel Add-in provides a menu-driven, graphical user interface to facilitate easy building of reports. The

reports are built by combining XLCubed functions on a spreadsheet page. The following functions are supported by

the GUI:

Ribbon/Menu option Function

Insert Members XL3Member

Insert Value XL3Lookup/XL3LookupRW

Insert Ranking XL3RankLookup

Insert Member Property XL3PropertyLookup

Insert Data Series XL3DataSeriesLookup

Insert Link XL3Link

Insert Picture Link XL3PictureLink




XL3Lookup

Returns a cube cell value for a given cross section of the cube.

Use the Insert Formula > Value menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here for

details.

Syntax

XL3Lookup( Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],?, [Hierarchy14], [Member14] )

Parameters

Parameter Description

Connection Connection number to use

Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the following member

applies to eg “Measures” or

“[Customer].[Customer Geography]”

Member1,……,MemberN Either a single member unique name or an

XL3Member formula


Revenue 2004.

=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Time]", "[Time].[2004]", "[KeyFigures]", "[KeyFigures].[Revenue]" )

Sum of Revenue 2003 and 2004.

=XL3Lookup( 1, "Time", XL3Member(1, "Time", "2003", "2004"), "KeyFigures", "Revenue" )

XL3Lookup using MDX

You can specify an MDX calculation for members using the MDX:syntax.

Variance %.

=XL3Lookup( 1, "Channel", "Direct Sales", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "MDX:(Budget-




Actual)/Budget", "Time", "January 2003" )

% of Previous Year.

=XL3Lookup( 1, "Time", "2003", "Measures", "MDX:((Measures.Revenue,ParallelPeriod(Time.Year))-

(Measures.Revenue))/(Measures.Revenue,ParallelPeriod(Time.Year))”)




XL3Member

Returns a name or caption for a member or members. Multiple members can be specified (as separate

parameters) to allow a multi-member set to be used.

Use the Insert Formula > Members menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.

Syntax

XL3Member( Connection, Hierarchy, Member1, [Member2],….,[MemberN] )

Parameters



Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to

eg “Measures” or “[Customer].[Customer

Geography]”

Member1,……,MemberN Members to use


Member name 'W6000/185'

=XL3Member( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]" )

Multiple Members

You can specify multiple members for an XL3Memberformula by using additional parameters.

When referred to by an XL3Lookup formula, it returns the sum of Allround and Mountain Bikes.

=XL3Member( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[Allround]", "[Product].&[Mountain]" )

XL3Member using MDX

You can specify an MDX calculation for members using the MDX syntax. These cells can then be referenced




by XL3Lookupformulae to use the created calculated members.

Eg the last month in 2005.

=XL3Member( 1, "[Time]", "MDX:[Time].[All].[2005].LastChild" )

Using XL3Member in other Formulae

To allow other formulae to use multiple members for a single hierarchy, it is necessary to use

XL3Member to create a calculated member. You can reference the XL3Member directly in the other

formula, or reference the cell that the XL3Member is in.

Using XL3Member in-line to perform a multiple member XL3Lookup: the sum of Allroundand Road

=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Product]", XL3Member( 1, "[Product]",

"[Product].[All].&[Allround]", "[Product].[All].&[Road]" ) )

Sharing an XL3Member between multiple lookups: the members between Q2 2003and Q1 2004

(inclusive)

In A1:

=XL3Member( 1, "[Time]",

"MDX:[Time].[All].&[2003].&[Q2]:[Time].[All].&[2004].&[Q1]" )

In A4(returns the value of the sum):

=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Time]", A1 )

In A5(returns a chart of products, for that timespan ):

=XL3SparkColumnsM( XL3DataSeriesLookup( 1, XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]",

"[Product].[All]", "Children" ), "[Measures].[Value]","[Time]", A1 ) )




Other Formulae

XL3DataSeries

Returns the set of values from a range of given time members. Often used to provide an

OLAP data source for In-Cell Chart formulae.

Syntax

XL3DataSeries( Connection, TimeHierarchy, PeriodMember, PeriodCount, Measure, Hierarchy1,

Member1,…, Hierarchy12, Member12)

Parameters



TimeHierarchy Name of the time hierarchy to usePeriodMember The time member to use

PeriodCount The number of periods to return

Measure The measure to use

Hierarchy1….HierarchyN Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg

“Measures” or “[Customer].[Customer Geography]”

Member1….MemberN Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member formula


Returns the set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004:

=XL3DataSeries (1, “Time”, “December 2004”, 12, “Value”, “KeyFigures”, “Revenue”)

Returns a column chart for a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004:

=XL3SparkColumnsM(XL3DataSeries (1, “Time”, “December 2004”, 12, “Value”, “KeyFigures”, “Revenue”))




XL3DataSeriesLookup

Returns the set of values from a range of given members. Often used to provide a OLAP

data source for In-Cell Chart formulae.

Use the Insert Formula > Data Series menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here

for details.

Syntax

XL3DataSeriesLookup( Connection, MemberSet, Measure, Hierarchy1, Member1,?,

Hierarchy13, Member13 )

Parameters



MemberSet An XL3MemberSet formula specifying the set to return

Measure The measure to use

Hierarchy1….HierarchyN Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg


Member1….MemberN Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member formula


Returns the a set of 12 Revenues for the months of 2003

=XL3DataSeriesLookup(1,XL3MemberSet(1,"[Time]","[Time].[All].&[2003]","DescendantsAt","[Ti

Returns a line chart for a set of 12 Revenues for the months of 2003

=XL3SparkLineM(

XL3DataSeriesLookup(1,XL3MemberSet(1,"[Time]","[Time].[All].&[2003]","DescendantsAt","[Tim

)




XL3DoWriteback

Allows a writeback to be performed on demand. It can be used in conjunction with XL3Link to trigger the

execution.

This setup is designed to allow the calculation of any number of cells to be separated from the sometimes

slow writeback process. The final calculations for the cells can all be submitted in one batch, without

having to wait for the writeback to occur between each calculation.Syntax

XL3DoWriteback (PerformWriteback, WriteValue, Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],…, [Hierarchy13],

[Member13])


PerfomWriteback A boolean value (TRUE or FALSE) specifying whether to actually

perform the writeback. If this is an Excel Range then that cell's

value will be reset to FALSE following the writeback operationWriteValue The value to be written. Typically an Excel cell reference.


Hierarchy1,…,HierarchyN Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg


Member1,…,MemberN Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member

formula

Example

This example shows an input template that could be achieved using XL3DoWriteback. While this templatehas a single column, and writes back for just 5 members on 3 dimensions, the same concept could be

applied to many members over up to 14 dimensions. To use it:

1. Enter the new values in column C. These could be entered by:

Directly typing the values

Copy and paste from another document

Formula calculations based on other values

XL3Lookup formulae

2. Click the XL3Link in cell A1, which updates B1 to be TRUE

3. The XL3DoWriteback formulae in column E are triggered. The writeback speed can vary depending

on your cube

4. When the writeback is complete, cell B1 is automatically reset to FALSE

A B C D E

1 =XL3Link(,"SubmitWriteback",,XL3Address($B$1),TRUE)

FALSE




23 =XL3Member(1,"[Department]","[Dep

artment].&[0001]")1500 =XL3DoWriteback($B$1,$C3,1,"[Measures]","[Measures

].[Budget Amount]","[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date].&[1128]","[Department]",$A3)

4 =XL3Member(1,"[Department]","[Department].&[0002]")

1400 =XL3DoWriteback($B$1,$C4,1,"[Measures]","[Measures].[Budget

Amount]","[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date].&[1128]","[Department]",$A4)










The finished input template:

Legend

o Control block: used to trigger the XL3DoWritebacks’ writeback action

o New values: these values are written to the cube

o XL3DoWriteback block: these XL3DoWriteback formulae control the cross-section of the cube the values arewritten to

Notes

Writeback for the workbook must be enabled in the Workbook options screen for this to work




XL3HierarchyLookup

Returns a hierarchy caption from a given hierarchy unique name.

Syntax

XL3HierarchyLookup (Connection, Hierarchy)

Parameters



Hierarchy Unique name of the hierarchy to retrieve the caption for


Returns ‘Product’ the caption of the [Product] dimension

=XL3HierarchyLookup( 1, "[Product]")




XL3KpiLookup

Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube.

Syntax

XL3KpiLookup (Connection, KpiName, KpiPart, [Hierarchy1], [Member1,…,[Hierarchy13], [Member13] )

Parameters



KpiName The name of the KPI to use

KpiPart The part of the KPI to display. Possible values are:

o Value

o Goalo Status

o Trend

Hierarchy1,…,HierarchyN Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg


Member1,…,MemberN Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member formula




XL3KpiPropertyLookup

Returns a property of the given KPI.

Syntax

XL3KpiPropertyLookup( Connection, KpiName, KpiProperty )

Parameters



KpiName The name of the KPI to use

KpiProperty The name of the property to return

KPI Properties

XL3KpiPropertyLookupsupports the following properties:


MEASUREGROUP_NAME The associated measure group for the KPI

KPI_NAME The name of the KPI

KPI_CAPTION A label or caption associated with the KPI. Used primarily for display purposes.If a caption does not exist, KPI_NAME is returned

KPI_DESCRIPTION A human-readable description of the KPI

KPI_DISPLAY_FOLDER A string that identifies the path of the display folder that the client applicationuses to show the member

KPI_VALUE The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Value

KPI_GOAL The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Goal

KPI_STATUS The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Status

KPI_TREND The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Trend

KPI_STATUS_GRAPHIC The default graphical representation of the KPI

KPI_TREND_GRAPHIC The default graphical representation of the KPI

KPI_WEIGHT The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPIWeight

KPI_CURRENT_TIME_MEMBER The unique name of the member in the time dimension that defines the

temporal context of the KPIKPI_PARENT_KPI_NAME The name of the parent KPI




XL3LookupRW

Returns a cube cell value for a given cross section of the cube. Allows the formula to be typed on to

perform a writeback operation for the given tuple.

Use the Insert Formula > Value menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here for

details.

Syntax

XL3LookupRW( Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],?, [Hierarchy14], [Member14] )

Parameters

Parameter DescriptionConnection Connection number to use

Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the following member




XL3Member formula


Revenue 2004.

=XL3LookupRW( 1, "[Time]", "[Time].[2004]","[KeyFigures]","[KeyFigures].[Revenue]" )




XL3MdxLookup

Returns the value of an MDX statement.

Syntax

XL3MdxLookup( Connection, MdxExpression, [Column], [Row] )

Parameters



MdxExpression The MDX expression to run

Column The result column to obtain the value from. 1-

based, and defaults to the first column if omitted

Row The result row to obtain the value from. 1-based,

and defaults to the first column if omitted


Returns the level ordinal of the product ‘Mountain’ .

=XL3MdxLookup( 1, "WITH MEMBER [Measures].LevelOrdinal AS'Product.CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL' SELECT {[Measures].LevelOrdinal} ON COLUMNS,

{[Product].&[Mountain]} ON ROWS FROM BicycleSales", 1, 1 )




XL3MdxMemberLookup

Returns the member of a specified position of an MDX statement.

Syntax

XL3MdxMemberLookup( Connection, MdxExpression, [Axis], [Hierarchy], [Position], [Format] )Parameters



MdxExpression The MDX expression to run

Axis The number of the axis to obtain the member

from. 1-based, and defaults to the first axis if

omitted.

Hierarchy The number of the hierarchy on the axis to obtain

the member from. 1-based, and defaults to the

first hierarchy if omitted

Position The number of the member on the hierarchy to

use. 1-based, and defaults to the first member if

omitted.

Format The format to use for the returned member:


Returns the 2nd child of the product group 'Mountain'

=XL3MdxLookup( 1, "WITH MEMBER [Measures].LevelOrdinal AS

'Product.CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL' SELECT {[Measures].LevelOrdinal} ON COLUMNS,{[Product].&[Mountain]} ON ROWS FROM BicycleSales", 1, 1 )




XL3MdxDataSeries

Returns the set of values given by the specified MDX. Often used to provide a OLAP data source for

In-Cell Chart formulae.

Syntax

XL3MdxDataSeries( Connection, MdxExpression, Measure, Hierarchy1, Member1,…, Hierarchy13,

Member13 )

Parameters



MdxExpression The MDX expression to runMeasure The measure to use

Hierarchy1,…,HierarchyN Name of the hierarchy that the following member



Member1,…,MemberN Either a single member unique name or an

XL3Member formula


Returns the a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004

=XL3MdxDataSeries( 1, "{ LASTPERIODS(12,Time.[December 2004])*{KeyFigures.Revenue} }", "Value" )

Returns a column chart for a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004

=XL3SparkColumnsM( XL3MdxDataSeries( 1, "{ LASTPERIODS(12,Time.[December 2004])*{KeyFigures.Revenue} }", "Value" ) )




XL3MemberAlias

Allows you to alias a member lookup to return a more readable name.



Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg“Measures” or “[Customer].[Customer Geography]”

Member Member to use. This will often point to a cell containing an

XL3Member formula

Alias Text that can be used to refer to the member specified. This

will often be used by a cell containing an Xl3Lookup formula




XL3MemberChildLookup

Returns a name or caption of a child of a given member.

Syntax

XL3MemberChildLookup( Connection, Position, Hierarchy, Member )



Position Number of the child to return

Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg


Member Member whose child should be returned


=XL3MemberChildLookup( 1, 2, "Product", "[Product].[Scenario W7000]" )




XL3MemberLevelLookup

Returns a name or caption of a member at a given level.

Syntax

XL3MemberLevelLookup( Connection, Position, Hierarchy, Level)



Position Number of member to return

Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg


Level Level whose child should be returned


Returns ‘Asia’, the 3rd member on level ‘Continent’

=XL3MemberLevelLookup( 1, 3, "Region", "Continent" )




XL3MemberLookup

Note that this formula has now been superseded by XL3Member. It returns a name or caption for a

member or members.

Syntax

XL3MemberLookup( Connection, Hierarchy, Member, [Format] )

Parameters




eg “Measures” or “[Customer].[CustomerGeography]”

Member1,……,MemberN Comma-delimited list of members to use for the

cross section

Format Defines the format of the caption


Member name 'W6000/185'

=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]" )

Unique member name [Product].&[W6000/185]

=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]", 3 )

Multiple Members




You can specify multiple members for the Memberparameter by separating them with a comma.

When referred to by an XL3Lookup formula, it returns the sum of Allround and Mountain Bikes.

=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[Allround],[Product].&[Mountain]", 0)




XL3MemberNavigate

Returns a member based on its relationship to the member passed in. Allows you to navigate a

hierarchy, moving between members and levels using formulae alone.

You can combine formulae, for example to move up a hierarchy, then along the level you get to.

Use the Insert Formula > Member Navigate menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.

Syntax

XL3MemberNavigate( Connection, Hierarchy, Member or Level, Relationship, [Index],

[HierarchyN], [MemberN] )

Parameters



Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to eg


Member or Level Member or Level to use as starting position

Relationship Relationship of the desired member to the Member or Level

passed in, see below

Index Index of the member in the Relationship, meaning depends on

the Relationship

Relationship types

The valid relationship types are as follows, and the meaning of the Index parameter is decribed for each.

Parameter Member or Level Description

FirstMember Level By default returns the first member of the specified

level. If the Index parameter is passed as 'x' it gets the

xth member of the level

LastMember Level By default returns the last member of the specified

level. If the Index parameter is passed as 'x' it gets the

xth member from the end of the level.

Members Level Equivalent to FirstMember or LastMember. If index is

positive it acts like FirstMember, if it is negative it acts

like LastMember




Parent Member Gets the parent of the member passed in. If index is 2,

it will retreive the grandparent (parent of the parent),

3 the great-grandparent etc

Next Member Gets the next member following the member passed

in. If index is greater than one then it skips forwards

that number of members.

Previous Member Gets the previous member preceding the member

passed in. If index is greater than one then it skipsbackwards that number of members

FirstSibling Member Gets the first member with the same parent as the

member passed in. If index is greater than one then it

gets the child at that index

LastSibling Member Gets the last member with the same parent as the

member passed in. If index is greater than one then it

gets the child at that index from the last sibling

Siblings Member Equivalent to FirstSibling or LastSibling. If index is

positive it acts like FirstSibling, if it is negative it acts

like LastSibling.FirstChild Member Gets the first child of the member passed in. If index is

greater than one then it gets the child as that index.

LastChild Member Gets the last child of the member passed in. If index is

greater than one then it gets the child at that index

from the last child.

Children Member Equivalent to FirstChild or LastChild. If index is positive

it acts like FirstChild, if it is negative it acts like

LastChild.

FirstDescendantAtLevel Member Gets the first descendant of the member at a level

specified by index. Index is one based. (new in v7.1)LastDescendantAtLevel Member Gets the last descendant of the member at a level

specified by index. Index is one based. (new in v7.1)

FirstDescendantAtDistance Member Gets the first descendant of the member at a distance

specified by index. An index of one is equivalent of

children. (new in v7.1)

LastDescendantAtDistance Member Gets the last descendant of the member at a distance

specified by index. An index of one is equivalent of

children. (new in v7.1)

DefaultMember Any Gets the default member for the hierarchy (new in

v7.6)

Non-Empty behaviour

Sometimes you need to restrict the members by those with data. To do this you can specify

hierarchy/member pairs for which data must exist.




For example you may want the last date where data exists. To do this you could add a measure to a

XL3MemberNavigate on the LastMember of a level.

For example:

=XL3MemberNavigate(1,"[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date]","LastMember")

August 31, 2004

=XL3MemberNavigate(1,"[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date]","LastMember", 1,

"[Measures]", "[Measures].[Reseller Sales Amount]")

June 1, 2004


Level Relationships

These examples assume that [Time].[Year] is in cell A1

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstMember" )

• 2002

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastMember", 2 )

• 2004

Member Relationships

These examples assume that [Time].[All].&[2003].&[Q2] is in cell A1

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Parent" )

• 2003

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Parent", 2 )

• All

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Next" )




Q3

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Previous", 2 )

• Q4 (from 2002)

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstSibling" )

Q1

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastSibling", 2 )

Q3

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstChild" )

April 2003

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastChild", 2 )

May 2003




HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_NAME The unique name of the hierarchy. If the member belongs to more than

one hierarchy, there is one row for each hierarchy to which it belongs.

For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each

component of this name is delimited

MEMBER_NAME The name of the member

PARENT_LEVEL The distance of the member's parent from the root level of the hierarchy.

The root level is zero (0)

PARENT_UNIQUE_NAME The unique name of the member's parent. NULL is returned for anymembers at the root level

PARENT_COUNT The number of parents that this member has

MEMBER_KEY The value of the member's key column. Returns NULL if the member has

a composite key

IS_PLACEHOLDERMEMBER A Boolean that indicates whether a member is a placeholder member for

an empty position in a dimension hierarchy

IS_DATAMEMBER A Boolean that indicates whether the member is a data member.

Returns True if the member is a data member

MEMBER_TYPE The type of the member. It can be one of the following values:

MEMBER_TYPE_REGULAR (0) MEMBER_TYPE_ALL (1)

MEMBER_TYPE_FORMULA (2)

MEMBER_TYPE_MEASURE (3)

MEMBER_TYPE_UNKNOWN (4)


Returns 3, the distance of 'W6000/185' from the root of the hierarchy.

=XL3PropertyLookup( 1, "[Product]", "[Product].[W6000/185]", "LEVEL_NUMBER" )




XL3RankLookup

Returns the member at the specified position of a ranking. To return the value of the member instead, use

the XL3ValueRankLookup formula.

Use the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See

here for details.

Syntax

XL3RankLookup( Connection, Position, TopOrBottom, MaxCount, Measure, RankHierarchy, RankMembers,

Hierarchy1, Member1,?, [Hierarchy11], [Member11] )

Parameters


Position Position in the ranking to return

RankingType The ranking type. Use the sum of the following

possibilities:

MaxCount The maximum number of members to return in the

ranking

Measure The measure on which to rank

RankHierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to


Geography]”

RankMembers An XL3MemberSet formula to specify what to rank

over

Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies toeg “Measures” or “[Customer].[Customer

Geography]”


XL3Member formula to filter the ranking across





Returns 'AS800/195', the 2nd ranked product in the tuple ([Time].[2003], [KeyFigures].[Revenue],

[Scenario].[Budget]).

=XL3RankLookup( 1, 2, 0, 10, "[Measures].[Value]", "Product", XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]", "",

"DescendantsAt", "[Product].[Product]" ), "Time", "2003", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "Budget" )




XL3SetProperty

This function updates XLCubed objects in the workbook such as grids, slicers and small multiples.

You can use this to update some setting from the properties screen or move hierarchies.

Syntax

XL3SetProperty( ObjectType, ObjectName, Property, Arg1, [Arg2],…, [Arg27] )

Parameters


ObjectType Object Type to update. Valid values are "Workbook", "Grid",

"Slicer", "SmallMultiple" and "Chart".

ObjectName Name of the object to update. You can not update an object

unless you have given it a name in its properties screen

Property Name of the property to update. Valid names depend on theobject type. Details for each are below.

Arg1, [Arg2],…, [Arg27] Value or values to set the property to. Valid values depend on

the object type. Details for each are below.

Workbook

For workbook level properties the object name refers to the area of the product being updated.

Object Name Property Description ValueObjectType “Spreadmethod” Sets the formula spread method Valid values are

"USE_EQUAL_ALLOCATION",

"USE_EQUAL_INCREMENT",

"USE_WEIGHTED_ALLOCATION",

"USE_WEIGHTED_INCREMENT"

Grid

Grid Display

Property Description Value

"RemoveEmptyColumns" Sets the columns to hide or

show members with no data.

TRUE or FALSE

"RemoveEmptyRows" Sets the rows to hide or show

members with no data.

TRUE or FALSE




"HierarchiesOnHeaders" Sets hierarchies on headers.

Will move hierarchies as

required.

Hierarchy name or names.

"HierarchiesOnColumns" Sets hierarchies on columns.


required.


"HierarchiesOnRows" Sets hierarchies on rows. Works

as HierarchiesOnColumns.


"MergeRepeatingCells" Merge cells containing the same

member in cross-joins.

TRUE or FALSE

“MemberSelectionType” Sets the selection type of the

members, e.g. children, parent,

descendants etc

See the Member Selection

Type section for more details

Grid Permissions

See Book I – Grids and the section on Grid Permissions for details of what the following options do:

Property Value"ColumnMembers" TRUE or FALSE" ColumnNavigation" TRUE or FALSE"RowMembers" TRUE or FALSE

"RowNavigation" TRUE or FALSE"DimensionNavigation" TRUE or FALSE"Menus" TRUE or FALSE“SlicerMembers” TRUE or FALSE

Slicer


"RemoveEmpty" Sets the slicer to hide or show


TRUE or FALSE

"Visible" Show or hide the slicer (will only

be applied for published

reports)

TRUE or FALSE

"Multiselect" Allow multi selection on the

slicer, dependant on slicer type

TRUE or FALSE

"MemberSelectionType" Sets the selection type of the

members eg children, parent,

descendants etc

See the Member Selection Type

section for more details

Table





"ColunmDisplay" Sets the column(s) shown and

their order (new in v7.1)

Equivalent to setting up the columns on the ColumnDisplay tab in the table properties. The column displaymust be enabled in the properties for this to take effect.

"Sorting" Sets the column(s) to sort by

(new in v7.1) Pairs of column name and direction. If no direction is

provided ascending is assume. e.g.

=XL3SetProperty("Table", "myTable",

"Sorting", "Product", "asc", "Profit",

"desc")

Small Multiple


"RemoveEmptyCategories" Sets the categories to hide or

show members with no data

TRUE or FALSE

"RemoveEmptySeries" Sets the series to hide or show


TRUE or FALSE

"RemoveEmptyColumns" Sets the columns to hide or

show members with no data.

TRUE or FALSE

"RemoveEmptyRows" Sets the rows to hide or show


TRUE or FALSE

"HierarchiesOnCategories" Sets hierarchies on categories.


required.

Hierarchy name or names

"HierarchiesOnSeries" Sets hierarchies on series.

Works as

HierarchiesOnCategories


"HierarchiesOnColumns" Sets hierarchies on columns.

Works as

HierarchiesOnCategories.


"HierarchiesOnRows" Sets hierarchies on rows. Works

as HierarchiesOnCategories.


"MemberSelectionType" Sets the selection type of the

members, e.g. children, parent,

descendants etc.

See the Member Selection

Type section for more details.

"ChartType" Sets chart type of the series. Valid values are "Column",

"StackedColumn","StackedColumn100", "Bar",

"StackedBar", "StackedBar100",

"Area", "StackedArea",

"StackedArea100", "Line".

"ChartType2" Sets chart type of the series

once moved to the secondary

axis.

Same as ChartType.




Chart

Property Description Value"YMin" or "YMax" Sets the limit of the Y axis Numeric

“Y2Min” or “Y2Max” Sets the limit of the Y2 axis Numeric

“XMin” or “XMax” Sets the limit of the X axis Numeric

“X2Min” or “X2Max” Sets the limit of the X” axis Numeric




XL3ValueRankLookup

Returns the value at the specified position of a ranking. To return the member name instead, use the

XL3RankLookup formula.

Use the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.

See here for details.

Syntax

XL3ValueRankLookup( Connection, Position, TopOrBottom, MaxCount, Measure, RankHierarchy,

RankMembers, Hierarchy1, Member1,?, [Hierarchy11], [Member11] )

Parameters


Position Position in the ranking to return

RankingType The ranking type. Use the sum of the following

possibilities:

MaxCount The maximum number of members to return in the

ranking

Measure The measure on which to rank

RankHierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to


Geography]”

RankMembers An XL3MemberSet formula to specify what to rank

over



Geography]”


XL3Member formula to filter the ranking across





Returns the value of 'AS800/195', the 2nd ranked product in the tuple ([Time].[2003],

[KeyFigures].[Revenue], [Scenario].[Budget]).

=XL3ValueRankLookup( 1, 2, 0, 10, "[Measures].[Value]", "Product", XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]", "",

"DescendantsAt", "[Product].[Product]" ), "Time", "2003", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "Budget"




XL3LastCubeUpdate

Returns the date and time that the cube was last updated.

Syntax

XL3LastCubeUpdate (Connection)

Parameters


Connection Connection number of the cube to retrieve the last update time for




XL3UserName

Returns the user id of currently logged in user, optionally including the domain name

Syntax

XL3UserName (Domain)

Parameters


Domain Boolean value, pass True to return the domain as part of the username

DOMAIN\USER (optional)




XL3GridMember

Returns the member uniquename for the specified grid cell. This can be useful for when you want to get

the unique name of a particular member from a grid for passing as an XL3Link parameter or to use in other

formulae (VLOOKUP, XL3Lookup etc.) - avoiding any issues with duplicate/translated captions etc.

Syntax

XL3GridMember ( )

Parameters

The parameters can take one of two forms:

Parameter DescriptionGrid cell location Shows member uniquename for grid cell

Or


Grid name Name of the grid to get the member for

Axis 1 for columns, 2 for rows

Dimension Dimension on the axis to look at, 1-based

Member Index Member index to look at, 1-based

Examples

Form 1

Used in conjunction with XL3Link, the following formula copies the unique name from the row when the

report user clicks on "..." into the cell $A$14:

=XL3Link(XL3Address($D$7),"...",,XL3Address($A$14),XL3GridMember(A7))

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XL3Link



http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XL3Lookup












Form 2The second structure provides a more dynamic way to address the members that appear on the grid, for

example:

Return the first member from the first hierarchy on columns:

=XL3GridMember("My Grid",1,1,1)

In the above example this is: [Geography].[Geography].[All Geographies]

Return the nth member from the first hierarchy on rows:

=XL3GridMember("My Grid",2,1,nth)

You would only need to consider the hierarchy number if the Axis has cross-joined hierarchies.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:XL3GridMember1.png




XL3LookupTabular

Returns a value for a given measure for a specific filter,

Syntax

XL3LookupTabular( Connection, Measure, [Column1], [Value1],…, [Column14], [Value14] )

Parameters



Measure Measure to calculate

Column1,…, ColumnN Name of the hierarchy that the following value applies to e.g.

"Date[Year]" or "'Customer Geography'[City]"

Value,…..,ValueN Value for the preceding column. Can be text, numeric, date or

boolean.

Examples

Revenue 2004.

=XL3LookupTabular( 1, "Revenue", "'Date'[Year]", 2004 )

Revenue 2004, USA.

=XL3LookupTabular( 1, "Revenue", "'Date'[Year]", 2004, "'Geography'[Country]", "USA" )




XL3Link

Creates a hyperlink that opens a sheet and sets parameters. When you follow the hyperlink, XLCubed

jumps to the sheet stored at LinkLocation and sets the parameters at the specified parameter addresses.

Use the Insert Formula > XL3Link menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.

Syntax

XL3Link( [LinkLocation], [FriendlyName], [LinkType], [Range1], [Value1],…, [Range13], [Value13] )

Parameters


LinkLocation A piece of text, indicating the location to jump to. Can be a

text string enclosed in quotations marks, or more commonly,

an XL3Address formulaLinkType The type of link. If Hyperlink is used, the cell is formatted with

the Excel style Hyperlink:

Range1,…, RangeN A reference to a cell where the following Value is placed when

the jump is executed. Usually an XL3Address formula

Value,…..,ValueN The value that will be passed to the corresponding Range.

Examples

The following XL3Link formula creates an hyperlink to the 'LinkTarget' sheet and shows in the hyperlink the text "Jump

to Target Sheet"

=XL3Link( XL3Address( LinkTarget!A1 ), "Jump to Target Sheet" )

You can use XL3Link to jump from one sheet to another sheet in the workbook, while passing some parameters. The

following formula jumps to the sheet 'LinkTarget' and sets value 'Car and Bike Stores' at LinkTarget!A2.

=XL3Link( XL3Address( LinkTarget!A1 ), "Jump to Target Sheet and pass 'Car and BikeStores'", 1, XL3Address( LinkTarget!A2 ), "Car and Bike Stores" )




XL3RowVisible

Shows and hides the row the formula is in.

Syntax

XL3RowVisible( Visible )

Parameters


Visible If set to TRUE the row is shown; if set to FALSE the row is

hidden

Examples

Hides the row if the value in cell A3is less than or equal to 10000.

=XL3RowVisible( A3 > 10000 )




XL3ColumnVisible

Shows and hides the column the formula is in.

Syntax

XL3ColumnVisible( Visible )

Parameters


Visible If set to TRUE the column is shown; if set to FALSE the column

is hidden

Examples

Shows the column if the value in cell C5contains an error.

=XL3ColumnVisible( IsError( C5 ) )




Insert Ranking

A simple ranking report containing XL3RankLookupand XL3ValueRankLookupformulae can be inserted

directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking ribbon or menu option.

To insert a ranking report:

Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking ribbon or menu option:

• Choose a location for the report

Choose the hierarchy to return a ranking for

Choose the type of selection:

o Rank at level: returns a ranking of the members at the selected level

o Rank by selection: allows you to choose a custom member selection to include in the

report

Click OK and the formulae will be inserted

Additional Options

• Additional filters can be specified in the grid on the right of the dialog

• You can choose whether to get the highest or lowest ranked members by selecting

Rank from Top or Bottom

• The number of members to return in the ranking can be chosen

• Various other options can be selected for the ranking:

Show title A brief summary of the ranking report is displayedShow headings Displays a heading for each column of the report

Show totals Totals are displayed at the foot of each column

Show percentages A column is added showing the percentage contribution for

each row

Show cumulative percentages A column is adding showing the cumulative percentage up to

that row

Exclude zeroes Zero values are excluded from the report

Exclude nulls Null values are excluded from the report




XL3SparkLine

Creates a line, point or area chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.

Double-clicking the chart, or selecting the XLCubed > Format In-Cell Chart... right-click menu item allow

the editing of the chart format using the SparkLine Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkLine( Data, Output, InRows, [LineType], [LineColour], [PointColour], [NegativePointColour],

[PeriodLength], [PeriodColour], [StartColour], [EndColour], [MinColour], [MaxColour], [ReferenceValues],

[ReferenceColour], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale], [NormalLowerBounds],

[NormalUpperBounds], [NormalBandColour], [AreaColour], [ScaleFactor], [MissingValueHandling], [Label] )

Parameters


Data The data to chart. This can be a range or a formula

Output The target range in which to render the chart(s)

InRows Specifies whether the input data are in rows or columns:

LineType Specifies how to plot the data:

LineColour The colour to use for the line

PointColour The default colour to use for the data points

NegativePointColour The default colour to use for negative data points

PeriodLength The length of the period for alternate background shading

PeriodColour The colour of the alternate background shading

StartColour The colour to highlight the first point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

EndColour The colour to highlight the lowest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

MinColour The colour to highlight the lowest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

MaxColour The colour to highlight the highest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for noneReferenceValues A value or range to use for a reference line. To use the mean value instead, use

“Average”

ReferenceColour The colour to use for the reference line, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

Minimum A value to use for the minimum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter to

use an automatic value

Maximum A value to use for the maximum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter to


UseCommonScale Use 1 here to force all charts to use a common scale




NormalLowerBounds A value or range to use for the lower bounds of the normal bands

NormalUpperBounds A value or range to use for the upper bounds of the normal bands

NormalBandColour The colour to use for the normal band, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

AreaColour The colour to fill the chart area under the line, or -1 or an empty parameter for

none

ScaleFactor The horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

MissingValueHandling Specifies how missing values should be rendered:

Label Specifies the text to use in the formula cell

XL3SparkLineM

Creates a monochrome line or point chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.

Syntax

XL3SparkLineM( Data, [LineType], [ScaleFactor], [Minimum], [Maximum], [MissingValueHandling] )

Parameters



LineType Specifies how to plot the data:





use an automatic valueMissingValueHandling Specifies how missing values should be rendered:




XL3SparkColumns

Creates a column chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkColumns Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkColumns( Data, Output, InRows, [ColumnColour], [NegativeColumnColour], [ColumnWidth],

[PeriodLength], [PeriodColour], [NegativePeriodColour], [StartColour], [EndColour], [MinColour],

[MaxColour], [ReferenceValues], [ReferenceColour], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale], [Label] )

Parameters





ColumnColour The default colour to use for the columns

NegativeColumnColour The default colour to use for negative columns

ColumnWidth The width of each column

PeriodLength The length of the period for alternate column shading

PeriodColour The colour of the alternately coloured columns

StartColour The colour to highlight the first point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

EndColour The colour to highlight the lowest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

MinColour The colour to highlight the lowest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

MaxColour The colour to highlight the highest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for

none

ReferenceValues A value or range to use for a reference line. To use the mean value instead, use

“Average”

ReferenceColour The colour to use for the reference line, or -1 or an empty parameter for none


use an automatic valueMaximum A value to use for the maximum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter to







XL3SparkColumnsM

Creates a monochrome column chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.

Syntax

XL3SparkColumnsM( Data, [Minimum], [Maximum] )

Parameters










XL3SparkWinLose

Creates a win/loss chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkWinLose Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkWinLose( Data, Output, InRows, [WinColour], [LossColour], [DrawColour], [Label] )

Parameters





WinColour The colour to use for win columns

LoseColour The colour to use for loss columns

DrawColour The colour to use for draw columns


XL3SparkWinLoseM

Creates a monochrome win/loss chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkWinLose Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkWinLose( Data )

Parameters



XL3SparkBar

Creates a bar chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkLine Chart Designer.




Syntax

XL3SparkBar( Data, Output, InRows, [LongestBarLength], [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4],

[Colour5], [Colour6], [Colour7], [Colour8], [IsStacked100%], [ShowZeros], [Minimum], [Maximum],

[DataLabelAlign], [DataLabelFontName], [DataLabelFontSize], [DataLabelFormatString],

[DataLabelFontStyle], [DataLabelColour], [AxisType], [MajorTickmarkFrequency],[MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )

Parameters





LongestBarLength The length of the longest bar

Colour1 The colour for the bar chart, or the first section in a stacked bar, or -1 or an

empty parameter for default

Colour2 The colour for the second section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour3 The colour for the third section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour4 The colour for the fourth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour5 The colour for the fifth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour6 The colour for the sixth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for defaultColour7 The colour for the seventh section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour8 The colour for the eighth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

IsStacked100% For bars with multiple data points; defines whether the bar length should be

the same for all charts, or whether the bar length should be proportional to the

total for that bar:

0 Total bar width varies according to the total, with the longest bar width

given by the LongestBarLength parameter

1 Bar widths are all equal, with the widths of individual data points

showing their proportion of the total

ShowZeros Specifies whether to draw bars for zero-valued data pointsMinimum A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value, or an empty parameter to


Maximum A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value, or an empty parameter

to use an automatic value

DataLabelAlign Specifies the position of data labels for the bars:

DataLabelFontName The typeface to use for the data labels

DataLabelFontSize The font size for the data labels




DataLabelFormatString The format string for the data labels

DataLabelFontStyle Reserved

DataLabelColour The colour for the data labels, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

AxisType The type of axis to render in the formula cell:

MajorTickmarkFrequency The frequency of the major, labelled tickmarks

MinorTickmarksPerMajor The number of additional labelless tickmarks per major tickmark

TickmarkLabelFormatString The format string for the axis tickmark labels

Label Specifies the text to use in the formula cell, if no axis is used




XL3SparkBarM

Creates a monochrome bar chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.

Syntax

XL3SparkBarM( Data, [Max Value] )

Parameters



Max Value The max value of the data to chart. This can be a range or a formula (new in

v7.2)




XL3SparkBullet

Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkBullet Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkBullet( Data, Output, InRows, [BulletType], [Width], [PerformanceColour], [QualitativeRanges],

[Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [RangeOrder], [ReferenceValues], [ReferenceColour],

[ProjectionValues], [ProjectionColour], [ReferenceValues2], [ReferenceColour2], [AxisType],

[MajorTickmarkFrequency], [MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )

Parameters

Parameter DescriptionData The data to chart. This can be a range or a formula



BulletType Specifies how the performance measure is indicatd on the chart

Width The total length of the bullet chart

PerformanceColour The colour for the performance measure, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

QualitativeRanges Values specifying the ranges to draw on the chart. This can be a range or

an array parameter

Colour1 The colour for the first range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour2 The colour for the second range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour3 The colour for the third range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour4 The colour for the fourth range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour5 The colour for the fifth range, or -1 or an empty parameter for defaultRangeOrder -1 to reverse the range order

ReferenceValues Reference values to indicate on the charts. This can be a range or a value

ReferenceColour The colour for the reference value indicator, or -1 or an empty parameter

for none

ProjectionValues Projection values to indicate on the charts. This can be a range or a value

ProjectionColour The colour for the projection bar, or -1 or an empty parameter for none

ReferenceValues2 A second set of reference values to indicate on the charts. This can be a

range or a value

ReferenceColour2 The colour for the second reference value indicator, or -1 or an empty

parameter for none





XL3SparkHorizon

Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.



Syntax

XL3SparkHorizon( Data, Output, InRows, [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [NegativeColour1],

[NegativeColour2], [NegativeColour3], [ScaleFactor], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale],

[MissingValueHandling], [NegativesFlipped], [Label] )

Parameters




Colour1 The colour to use for the first positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

Colour2 The colour to use for the second positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter

for defaultColour3 The colour to use for the third positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

NegativeColour1 The colour to use for the first negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

NegativeColour2 The colour to use for the second negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter

for default

NegativeColour3 The colour to use for the third negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter

for default


Minimum A value to use for the minimum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter touse an automatic value




MissingValueHandling Specifies how missing values should be rendered:

NegativesFlipped Specifies whether the negative values should be flipped





XL3SparkIcon

Creates an indicator icon that is rendered in an Excel cell.


the editing of the chart format using the SparkIcon Chart Designer.

Syntax

XL3SparkIcon( Data, Output, InRows, [IconSet], [Operators], [RangeCount], [Border1], [Border2], [Border3],

[Border4], [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [RangeOrder], [AltData], [AltOperators],

[AltRangeCount], [AltBorder1], [AltBorder2], [AltBorder3], [AltBorder4], [AltRangeOrder], [Label] )

Parameters




IconSet A pipe (|) delimited list of icons to use. The possible icons are listed below

Operators A pipe (|) delimited list operators to use. The possible values are > and >=

RangeCount The number of icon ranges to use

Border1 The value above which the first icon should be usedBorder2 The value above which the second icon should be used

Border3 The value above which the third icon should be used

Border4 The value above which the fourth icon should be used. Values below this value will use

the last icon

Colour1 The colour for the first range

Colour2 The colour for the second range

Colour3 The colour for the third range

Colour4 The colour for the fourth range

Colour5 The colour for the fifth range

RangeOrder -1 to reverse the icon orderAltData If specified, causes the colours to be driven from this instead of the Data parameter.

This can be a range or a formula

AltOperators If AltData is specified, a pipe (|) delimited list operators to use for the colour ranges

AltRangeCount If AltData is specified, the number of colour ranges to use

AltBorder1 If AltData is specified, the value above which the first colour should be used

AltBorder2 If AltData is specified, the value above which the second colour should be used

AltBorder3 If AltData is specified, the value above which the third colour should be used

AltBorder4 If AltData is specified, the value above which the fourth colour should be used

AltRangeOrder If AltData is specified, -1 to reverse the colour order





Icon Sets




XL3SparkPie

Creates a pie chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.



Syntax

XL3SparkPie( Data, Output, InRows, [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [Colour6],

[Colour7], [Colour8], [Label] )

Parameters


Data The data to chart. This can be a range or a formulaOutput The target range in which to render the chart(s)


Colour1 The colour to use for the first sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour2 The colour to use for the second sector or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

Colour3 The colour to use for the third sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour4 The colour to use for the fourth sector or -1 or an empty parameter fordefault

Colour5 The colour to use for the fifth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour6 The colour to use for the sixth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default

Colour7 The colour to use for the seventh sector or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

Colour8 The colour to use for the eighth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for

default





XL3SparkBox

Creates a BoxPlot (also known as a box-and-whisker diagram) that is rendered in an Excel cell.



Syntax

XL3SparkBox( Data, Output, InRows, [Width], [WhiskerColour], [BarColour], [BoxColour], [MedianColour],

[BorderColour], [MeanDotColour], [UpperQuartileColour], [PercentileBoundary], [Minimum], [Maximum],

[AxisType], [MajorTickmarkFrequency], [MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )

Parameters


Data The data to chart. This can be a range or a formulaOutput The target range in which to render the chart(s)


Width The total length of the box plot

WhiskerColour The colour to use for the whiskers, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

BarColour The colour to use for the bar, or -1 or an empty parameter for default

BoxColour The colour to fill the box representing the lower quartile, or -1 or anempty parameter for default

MedianColour The colour to use for the median line, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

BorderColour The colour to use for border of the box, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

MeanDotColour The colour to use for the mean dot, or -1 or an empty parameter for

default

UpperQuartileColour The colour to fill the box representing the upper quartile, or -1 or an

empty parameter for default

PercentileBoundary **Currently UnknownMinimum A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value, or an empty

parameter to use an automatic value

Maximum A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value, or an empty

parameter to use an automatic value





XL3RunSQLProc

Allows a SQL Stored Procedure to be run when required (used in conjunction with XL3Link to trigger the

execution)

Syntax

XL3RunSQLProc( ExcecuteSQL, ConnectionString, ProcName, [Parameter1],..., [Parameter27])

Parameters


ExecuteSQL A cell reference that contains TRUE when the Stored Procedure should be run.

After execution the cell reference will be set to FALSE or an error message if an

error occurred.

ConnectionString The connection string to use to connect to the database

ProcName The Stored Procedure to run

[Parameter1],...,

[Parameter27]

Optional - The parameter values to use for the Stored Procedure

Examples

XL3RunSqlProc(B3, Variables!C2, C3)

When B3 is set to TRUE (via an XL3Link) then the Stored Procedure in C3 is run using the connection stringspecified in Variables!C2. After completion, B3 will be reset to FALSE - ready for the next update by an

XL3Link. Note that to use this on XLCubed Web Edition, the XL3Link should be of type 3 (HyperLink with

submit changes on web).




XL3DynamicPicture

Updates a Picture or Pictures to an image on the internet.

This allows you to display a Picture based on a parameter in Excel. For example if a report is driven by a

Store parameter, you could use this to display a picture of the store.

This function is primarily for use in reports published to the web where images update automatically. InExcel you can force a refresh of the images by using the XLCubed -> Extra -> Refresh Dynamic Pictures

menu option (please note this will only retrieve a new picture in Excel if the formula has run in the current

session and had a different URL to the last run)

Syntax

XL3DynamicPicture( PictureName, Url )

Parameters


PictureName Alt Text > Alternative text (or the Alt Text > Description in Excel 2010 and

higher) of the Picture to update. If several Pictures have the same name they

will all be updated.

URL Web address of the image to use, in the

form https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aaa28be80a2c/5aaa29547ae

Example

You can setup a named image by inserting a picture using the standard Excel menu option.

Next set the Picture name by right-clicking it, and selecting properties. The name goes in the "Alt Text" box.

http://www.example.com/logo.jpg







Finally set up a formula, e.g.

=XL3DynamicPicture("MyLogo"; "https://reader009.{domain}/reader009/html5/0315/5aaa28be80a2c/5a

Here the URL paramater is fixed, but it could be set to reference another cell or concatenated text.

Scheduling/PDF

For dynamic pictures in reports that are going to be scheduled or downloaded as PDFs/Workbooks, the

URL will need to be for a server that is accessible from the XLCubedWeb server and doesn't required any

authentication. So an internet site URL is fine if the server has internet access, or a local server would be

OK if that was setup to allow Anonymous access.




XL3RefreshObjects

Refreshes objects in the report based on type. (new in v7.1)

This allows you to refresh objects on demand.

This function is for use with the XL3Link function, which can be used to switch the refresh on.

Syntax

XL3RefreshObjects( [RunRefresh], [RefreshGrids], [RefreshTables], [RefreshSlicers],

[RefreshSmallMultiples], [RefreshTreemaps] )

Parameters


RunRefresh Should the refresh fire. This should be a reference to another cell that contains TRUEor FALSE. Once the refresh fires that cell will be reset to FALSE. Use XL3Link to setthe cell to true, causing a refresh.

RefreshGrids TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Grids.

RefreshTables TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Tables.

RefreshSlicers TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Slicers.

RefreshSmallMultiples TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all SmallMultiples.

RefreshTreeMaps TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all TreeMaps.

You may also call the formula with just the RunRefresh parameter to refresh all types.

Examples

This example assumes you are using cell $A$1 to hold the RunRefresh variable. We will refresh just the

grids.

First, create the XL3RefreshObjects, as follows:

=XL3RefreshObjects($A$1, True)

Next set up the link to fire the refresh, as follows:

=XL3Link(XL3Address($A$1),"Refresh All",,XL3Address($A$1),TRUE)

Now clicking the hyperlink will refresh all grids in the workbook.




XL3RefreshObjectsNamed

Refreshes objects in the report based on their name. (new in v7.1)

This allows you to refresh objects on demand. Objects could

be Grids, Tables, Slicers, SmallMultiples or Treemaps.

This function is for use with the XL3Link function, which can be used to switch the refresh on.

Syntax

XL3RefreshObjectsNamed( [RunRefresh], [Name1],…, [Name29] )

Parameters


RunRefresh Should the refresh fire. This should be a reference to another cell that contains

TRUE or FALSE. Once the refresh fires that cell will be reset to FALSE. Use

XL3Link to set the cell to true, causing a refresh.

[Name1],…, [NameN] Names of the objects to refresh

Examples

This example assumes you are using cell $A$1 to hold the RunRefresh variable. We will refresh a grid named

"MyGrid".

First, create the XL3RefreshObjectsNamed, as follows:

=XL3RefreshObjectsNamed($A$1, "MyGrid")

Next set up the link to fire the refresh, as follows:

=XL3Link(XL3Address($A$1),"Refresh My Grid",,XL3Address($A$1),TRUE)

Now clicking the hyperlink will refresh the grid specified.








XL3WebReportLink

Creates a hyperlink that opens an XLCubed Web report and optionally sets web parameters.

Use the Insert Formula > XL3WebReportLink menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.

Syntax

XL3WebReportLink( Report, [Link Text], [Link Type], [Param1], [Value1],…, [Param13], [Value13] )

Parameters


Report A piece of text, indicating the relative path of the report.

Link Text The jump text or numeric value that is displayed in the cell. If Link Text is

omitted, the cell displays the full address as the text

Link Type The type of link. Only used from XLCubed Web Edition:

Param1,…,ParamN The name of the web parameter where the following Value is placed when the

link is followed

Value1,…,ValueN The value that will be passed to the corresponding web parameter

Examples

Create an XLCubed workbook with three XL3WebReportLink statements as below:

Each link has a corresponding XL3WebReportLink:

Test111 =XL3WebReportLink("test111.xml", "test111", 1, "closecopies", "true")

Web1 =XL3WebReportLink("web1.xml", "Web1", 0, "text", $G$2, "closecopies", "true")

Test2 =XL3WebReportLink("test2.xml","test2",1)

Publish this workbook and open in Web Edition:

Click on a link and the report opens. If closecopies is set to true then when you click on a hyperlink to runsubsequent reports, you will find the previous report has been closed. This stops the user having many

windows open that all require closing manually.

Special Parameter Names

You can configure the workbook using parameters with reserved names. You do not add these using

the Web Parameters screen, you simply specify them in the formula.

XL3WebReportLink(…[Standard parameters]…, [SpecialParameterName], [Value] )





XL3ActiveWorksheetName The worksheet to display when the report link is opened

Relative Paths

In v7.5 a relative path can be used by using the syntax “./Book2.xml” – this would load the report “Book2”

from the same source folder as the report containing the XL3WebReportLink.




Clear all data values

New in Version 7.5 it is possible to clear all the data values from a workbook. Go to XLCubed -> Extras ->

Clear all data values. This does the following:

1. Clears all grids

2. Sets any XLCubed Formulae to "Working..."

The workbook can then be saved or published. For a saved workbook the numbers will only be re-

retrieved once the workbook is loaded and the grids & formulae are refreshed. For a published report,

the published file will not contain any data and the numbers will only be retrieved after the report is

viewed in Web Edition.




XL3FlexMember

Returns a name or caption for a member or members used by Flex Reporting.

Syntax

XL3FlexMember( Connection, Hierarchy, Member, Flex Path, [Flexset Level] )

Parameters



Hierarchy Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to eg “Measures” or


Member Comma-delimited list of members to use for the cross-section

Flex Path The name of the flex path to use for drilling this memberFlexset level Used internally to track the current level when drilling


Member name 'W6000/185' set to drill using the "Test" Flex Path

=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]", "Test" )

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/BicycleSales_Demo_Cube







Member Selection Type

Arguments

When setting the member selection type you must pass two or three additional arguments

Argument Description

Hierarchy name The hierarchy that will be

updated.

Selection type The type of selection to be

applied.

Index (Optional) Which member to apply the

selection to. If not passed then

the selection will be applied to

all members.

Selection Types

Value Description

"Member" Only the member itself is returned.

"Children" Children of the member are returned.

"Ancestors" All ancestors of the member are returned.

"Descendants" All descendants of the member are returned."FirstChild" First child of the member is returned.

"FirstSibling" First sibling of the member is returned

"LastChild” Last child of the member is returned.

"LastSibling" Last sibling of the member is returned.

"LowestDescendants" Descendants of the member from the lowest level are returned.

"Parent" Parent of the member is returned.

"SameLevel" All members at the level of the member are returned.

"Siblings" All siblings of the member are returned.

"Next:X" The member and the next "X" members at the level are returned. X must be a

number"Prev:X" The member and the previous "X" members at the level are returned. X must

be a number

“DescendantsAt:X" Descendants of the member from the level "X" are returned. X must be a

number, or level name

Flex Reporting

Introduction

Flex reporting is a new style of Formula Reporting introduced in Version 7.6. It allows a report designer to

define a custom drill path for a report, so the user of the report could drill, for example, from Products =>

Customers => Orders. The user can double-click to follow the defined drill path, or can use a right-click




shortcut to go directly to any defined level in the drill path which gives huge flexibility in a controlled

environment.

Each Drill is performed so that only rows with data are returned, this means drilling into a particular

product would only return customers that have bought that product (this is dependent on the Measure

applying over both hierarchies).

Getting Started

The starting place for any Flex Report is to insert a Grid and define the starting structure, so which

dimensions will be on filters, rows and columns. As with traditional formula reports the structure of the

report is static once converted to formula so it's important to start with a grid that matches the final

structure.

Once the grid is ready, right-click and select "Convert to flex report", this will show the Flex Report form.

Flex Reporting Form

An individual drill level is called a "Flex Set" and a collection of these is a "Flex Path". An individual member

can be assigned a "Flex Path" and as the user drills they will navigate the "Flex Sets" in the path.

Flex Paths

A workbook can contain several Flex Paths, it's also possible to export and import the definitions so they

can be reused. Each flex path has a defined name, and it's this name that links a formula to a particular flex

path.

When converting a grid to a flex report, select or define the default path for the flex report and click OK

(you can always edit the formula to change the flex path later).

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:FlexReportForm1.png




Name

The name given to the path is referenced and in XL3FlexMember formulae that are set to use the path

Filter Members

If set to the filter members in the report then any drilled flex members will automatically update to show

the members with data for the new selection. The formula report will dynamically grow and shrink in a

similar way as grids.

After changing the filter member:

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:FlexExample1.png




Disable 'Drill To' menu

By default any XL3FlexMember will include a "Dill To" menu option, this allows the report's user to drill to

any valid attribute/hierarchy level. You can use this option to disable that functionality for the given path.

Flex Sets

A flex set is the level to drill to you can control the order the flex sets appear in by using the toolbar to

move them:

Each set can be given a name, this will default to the level name (the name will be shown on the right-click

menu) and can be changed to anything suitable.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:FlexExample2.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:FlexReportFormOrder.png




Name

The name given to the Flex Set will be displayed on the "Expand To" menu

Level

You can select a level of a hierarchy or attribute for the set to use.Excel Range

An excel range can be used for the source of the flex set - enter any valid Set MDX in the cell

MDX

You can enter the MDX used to return the set here - enter any valid Set MDX

Auto Expand on Drill

When 'Auto Expand' is enabled then all members returned in this set will be automatically expanded to the

next flex set.

Restrictions

It is only possible to include a Hierarchy in a report once, so if the hierarchy is on the rows, columns or

filter area of the report then it cannot be used in any of the Flex Sets. This also applies within a flex path, so

once a hierarchy has been used it cannot be included again at another level.

This restriction does not apply to attribute hierarchies and as these are single level, then it generally makes

most sense to use the attribute hierarchy when defining the flex sets.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:FlexSetOptions.png




XL3FlexMember

For more information about the XL3FlexMember please see the section on XL3FlexMember in Book II –

Formula Reporting.

Navigating

Once a flex report has been created then drilling will work in the same way as Formula Drilling, but will

follow the Flex Path defined rather than the hierarchy levels.

Expand to

Right-clicking on a Flex report member will give an "Expand To" option, this can be used to skip to a

particular flex set level.

Drill to

The Drill to option allows drilling to any valid hierarchy/attribute in the cube, it's not possible to drill to any

hierarchies included in the report already so these will be disabled

Slicers

To add slicers to a flex report - highlight one or more filter members and select "Add Slicer" - this will addslicers that are automatically cascading (that is they feed into each other top to bottom) and will also

enable the "Auto Filter" option on the flex path.

Picture Links

Version 7.5 added support for Picture Links these are pictures that can be inserted into a workbook that

provide the same functionality as the XL3Link formula.

Inserting

To insert a picture link, go to Insert Formula -> XL3PictureLink.






Picture file to insert

Select the image to display in the picture link

Link To

Select the destination cell for where the user will be taken when the image is clicked on (this can be the

same sheet if the picture link is controlling something on this sheet or a different sheet to allow report

navigation)

Perform a "Submit Changes" on WebWith this enabled and the report has been published any writable cells or "Delayed Slicers" will be

submitted when the picture is clicked on, it acts the same as the "Submit" toolbar button on the web

Hyperlinks to update

You can provide a list of cells to update with either a value or the contents of another cell. This can be used

to drive a selection or copy ranges of values between worksheets or cells on the same sheet.

Editing

To edit an existing Picture Link, hold the "Shift" key when clicking and the standard Picture Link form willbe displayed

Using Camera Objects

To use a camera object as the source for an image, first insert the Picture Link selecting a temporary

picture. Then right-click on the picture to highlight it and then type the source range for the image in the

formula bar, i.e. Sheet2!a1:f10 would change the picture link to show the contents of the range, it can then

resized and re-positioned as required.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide - Book III – Charting & Data Visualisation

Book III – Charting & Data Visualisation

Standard Excel Charts

XLCubed operates within Excel and as such any data retrieved into the workbook using XLCubed can be

charted using any standard Excel chart type. If the data being plotted is static in shape and you need veryfine grain control over the chart formatting this is likely the best approach.



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XLCubed Grid Charts

XLCubed provides a way to tie a chart directly to an XLCubed grid. This caters for when the grid changes in

shape and the number of elements, and lets the user specify the hierarchical level of the data to be

plotted. The available chart types are a subset of the Excel Chart library. For more information see Book I

– Grids and the section on Grid Charts.

In-Cell Charts

In-cell charts are small, focused charts which each fit within one Excel cell. They are designed to be used

within tables of data and allow the mixing of numbers and charts together in tables. They are often a very

space-efficient way to give context to, or highlight outliers in a data table.

In-Cell Charts can be used in two ways within XLCubed:

Formula-based: where an XLCubed formula controls the chart and the data being plotted must first be

returned into Excel.

Embedded in grids: where the charts are generated directly as part of the gird and support data growth.

For more details see the section in this document on In-Cell Charts in Grids

Small Multiples

Small Multiples, often known as Trellis Charts, are highly interactive and use individual charts to display

each slice of a data set. The axes are on a common scale and the only variable is the data set slice being

changed. They make it easy to see shared trend and pattern or outliers across the data set.



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For more information see the section in this document on Small Multiple Charts

Treemaps

A Treemap is a way to display hierarchical information using nesting rectangles or tiles. They are most

often set up where the size of the rectangle depicts one metric and the colour depicts another. They can

often help identify patterns which would otherwise be difficult to see.

For further information see the section in this document on Treemaps.

Mapping

XLCubed provides point and shape-based geospatial mapping. The maps can be zoomed and panned as

needed, and can be used as a selector for a report as well as just a display. For further information see the

section in this document on Maps .



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In-Cell Charts in Grids

In-Cell Charts can be used in two ways within XLCubed. Firstly, they can be selected in the measures

dialog. This is termed a Visual Grid. In this scenario, the In-Cell Charts behave in the same way as a

standard measure, and hierarchies can be dragged and repositioned during analysis with the In-Cell Charts

moving in sequence.

Secondly, in an environment where the hierarchies on rows and columns will not change, In-Cell Charts can

be inserted as Grid Calculations. This allows for the use of spark bars as, for example, deviation analysis, or

bullet charts. These can be configured to cater for row dynamic reporting as outlined below.

Visual Grids for Time Series Analysis

Visual Grids add visualization capability to the dynamic XLCubed Grid. In-Cell Charts add historical context

to the headline numbers and allow fast, effective parallel comparisons of trends and patterns, while fully

retaining the slice and dice environment. So in any XLCubed Grid you can now choose to display just thenumbers, just the historical trend through In-Cell Charts, or indeed both as below:

In this case we can see a revenue fall across all products for Europe in the same time frame, which

should be investigated further and understood. There are a large number of formatting options around

the charts, for example it's possible to use a common chart scale across the whole Grid, which can be

used to good effect with column or area charts.

The process of adding a chart into a Grid is initiated through the measure selection. In the Hierarchy

Editor for Measures, a drop down menu is available which gives the option to display the value (default),

or to chart the trend:



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On selecting InCell Chart, a dialog appears to allow you to configure the chart. The chart types most

relevant for time series analysis are the Line, Area, Column and Win Lose types. Further configuration

options are available depending on the chart type.

Once the chart type is chosen, the time context must be specified. The dialog defaults to the time

hierarchy (or the first time hierarchy if there are several). Choose the required hierarchy, then select the

members you wish to chart:



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Visual Grids for Performance Analysis

We will use Visual Grid charts to show a chart for Gross Profit and when its margin falls below a specified

value.

Start by following the MDX calculations in Book XI - Tutorials to create the initial report.

To create the Gross Profit bar chart:

Open the Hierarchy Editor for Measures by double clicking on the Measures hierarchy label.

Click on the Gross Profit dropdown, and select InCell Chart:

Select Bar as the chart type and choose the one with a value axis as the subtype:



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Select just Current Member for the Hierarchy members to chart.

To create the Gross Profit Margin alert indicator:

Select the Gross Profit Margindropdown, and choose InCell Chart.

Select 3-State Alert Icons (Red Shade) as the chart type

Click the Chart Format button to change the format, and change the first colour's condition to >

0.6 and the second colour's to > 0.55:

• On the Label tab, set the chart label to Alert, then click OK

• Select just Current Member for the Hierarchy members to chart



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Click OK again to accept the chart.

When we run the report, we see all of the Roadproduct group is in a warning state, and Road S8000is

in the alert state:



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Small Multiple Charts

Small multiple charts is a term popularised by Edward Tufte. They allow comparing data series as they are

repeated for different members. In XLCubed they are useful for visualising large amounts of data, as

hundreds of data points can be plotted and compared easily.

This allows users to find trends and outliers in the data more easily than by trying to study a large table of

data.

User Interface

As mentioned previously it can be difficult to understand outliers, trends etc when the data is presented

as just numbers and text as can be seen below. Using Small Multiples with this example below will guide

you through creating meaningful information from the data.

Task Pane: building a set of Charts Example Basic

As you can see the image on the right is a much easier way of viewing the data, compared to the grid.

Let's work through an example.

Category defines the Category (X Axis) within each individual Chart, in this case a Trend over Time



197 | P a g e


The Series defines the number of data series to be charted.

In order to be able to visualise a simple trend this would be easier with Lines rather than Columns. Use

the Chart Type on the Options panel of the Task Pane to change the chart style.

By dragging the Region hierarchy onto columns, and then selecting Children of All, we can split data into

separate charts at Region level.

We can additionally split this by Channel by dragging the Channel hierarchy onto rows,

Now we have a graph for each Region by Sales Channel. The Scales (Y axis) are shared so that the charts

can be easily compared.

More detail is available for each chart by double clicking on the individual chart eg Direct Sales/ Australia

Pacific, where the data is unclear because of low numbers can be further explored like this. The scale is

automatically adjusted to give a clearer picture of the data. Use the back button to return to the higher

level.



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Manipulating the chart to show Each Product by Channel, simply drag the Products from the Series to the

Rows Below you can clearly see the effect of swapping the Product (Rows) and the Channel (Series)

Additionally you can drive the data selection by using Slicers or Excel ranges.

Here we have defined a Slicer on Time at Year level and used it to drive the Categories.



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Small Multiple Chart Designer

Insert a Small Multiples chart by using the Small Multiples option on the ribbon, or the Insert -> Small

Multiples Menu option.

After inserting a Small Multiples Chart the above windows will be displayed. The Small Multiples Charts -

Task Pane is automatically displayed on the right of the sheet. The Task Pane can also be accessed from

the right mouse button pop-up menu.

To delete the Small Multiple chart use the right mouse button pop-up menu -> Delete option.

To Move, Size or Close the Task Pane, drag it using the window bar or use the drop down menu on the

Task Pane Header.

The data within the Charts can be refreshed (like a grid) by using the right mouse button pop-up menu ->

Refresh option There is also an initial Warning displayed on the empty chart as it is essential for the design

of a Small Multiple Chart set that a Category is selected. This warning can also be seen on the Task Pane.

Display Options

Using some of the other features in the Options section of the Task Panel, charts can be made to display

data in order to be able to better view correlations and or outliers



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Note the Warning indicator icon in the bottom left corner of the Chart has now disappeared as all the data

is displayed.



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As there is nothing selected on the Rows, a better way to display this information, given its long narrow

nature would be to turn on Chart wrapping.

The data still has a common scale and is more easily compared



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Move the Legend

Using Right Mouse Menu select the position for the Legend, Right, Bottom or None. If None is selected the

Legend can easily be retrieved by using the Right Mouse button anywhere on the Chart.

Highlight a Series

Using the Legend series on the Charts can be highlighted, this is useful where series overlap. Here the

Reseller Order Count appears brighter. Multiple series can be selected by using Crtl Click.

Drill Into: for a breakdown on the Column



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Using the Right Mouse Menu Drill Into the data for Canada, you can continue drilling as far as the Hierarchy

allows.Using the Back button returns to the previous level of Charts.



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Keep Only: for a closer look at a single Column

Click on the chart you wish to keep and use the Keep

Only menu option to remove the other charts

Keep Except: for a closer Comparison

Using this option you can get a closer comparison between two or more Geographies. Here we have

removed the United States and Canada, in order to get a better look at how the other Geographies

compare to each other. Notice the scales have been adjusted to reflect only the data displayed.



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Relationships between Measures

Colour Coding

Colour Coding can be applied to the data points in order to highlight differences. Colour Coding can be

applied using the plotted Measure, or another selected Measure. Tick the Colour box in the Options area

of the Task Pane; this makes the colour gradient active.

A warning will appear that No Values Hierarchy chosen next to the Values box in the Options area. Drag the

hierarchy to plot, normally the Measures to the Values box and select the Measure to be plotted (Y Axis)

Next select the value to apply the gradient to. This can either be the same Measure that is being charted

or another measure altogether.

On the left, the Reseller Sales Amount is plotted and Chart coloured based on the Reseller Order Quantity .

On the right, the Reseller Sales Amount is plotted and Chart coloured based on the Discount Amount. The

colours used for charting can be changed by using the button to the right of the colour swatch.



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Here by looking at the Sales Amount, coloured by different values we can see that although there werelarge volumes of Sales in the USA they were also the most heavily discounted.

Plotting a second Series, using a second Y Axis

It would be useful to view the Order Numbers vs. the Reseller Sales Amounts; if they are both plotted on

the same scale it is almost impossible to see the Order Count values as they are so small by comparison.

Move to other axis allows you to see two Y Axis scales, one each for Amount and Count.

Using the Right Mouse Menu, whilst positioned on the Legend Entry for the series you wish to move Click

Move to other Axis



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Scatter Charts: plotting a correlation

Plotting a correlation, using a scatter chart option - firstly define the Y axis and then the X axis against which

it is to be plotted. Here we can see how the Sales Amount and Order Count are related - closely in Australia,

but spread out in the United States.

In a second example, for selected Geographies, we can apply colour to the chart using a third measure,

Discount Amount. Additionally the data is split by Product Category on the rows.

Heavily discounted sales can be seen as red data points.

Using the first example the chart type can be changed to a Bubble. Using the Discount Amount to determine

the size of the bubble it can be seen that the greatest discounts occur in the United States.



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Drilling through the individual charts, using the Right Mouse can then provide more details as to where the

actual sales occur. eg. in Australia, most Sales with high Discounts occur in New South Wales in the LaneCove area.

Use the back button to navigate back through the previous charts.

Headers: Filtering the Data

By moving the Measures to the Headers you can add to and or change the currently charted

measure.

By moving any of the other Hierarchies into the Headers area filters can be applied to the data. eg Here we

are looking at Reseller Sales for just Accessories and Clothing Sales.

Versus Sales for Components below: Components are sold in more locations than the Clothing and

Accessories. Note that these selections can be driven from an Excel range or Slicer and could therefore be

preset or selected by the viewer.



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Properties

The Small Multiple Chart Properties can be accessed either from the right mouse button pop-up menu -

> Properties or from the tool bar at the top of the Small Multiple Charts Task Pane

Appearance

Colour Palette: Select the Colour Palette for the Chart

Space chart areas: when ticked creates a space between each chart.

Max charts on Columns: the maximum number of Charts displayed in each Column. Max charts on

Rows: the maximum number of Charts displayed in each Row.



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Note: if the total number of charts exceeds the Number of Rows times the Number of Columns, then

some charts will not be displayed. To display them increase either the number or Rows or Columns or

both.

When Wrapping charts:

• Auto Arrange: XLCubed overrides the Column and Row Counts to give a balanced view of the data.

Note: The Column and Row counts still apply as maximums, so if there are not enough spaces the warning

message will appear .i.e. if there are 3 columns and 1 row only 3 charts will be displayed, and a warning

message given if there are more that number of charts, however the charts will be displayed as a 2 by 2

block.

• Fix Column Count: Uses the Column count first to determine the number of Columns displayed,

then display as many charts as possible given the row count.

Missing values: Defines how the null source values are handled

• Plot missing values as zero: Plots the null values as if they were zeroes

• Don't plot missing values: Leaves a space where the null values are

• Interpolate missing values: Creates a value between neighbouring values to plot

Line chart line width: New in Version 7.5 the thickness of the lines for line charts.

Show Tooltip New in Version 7.5 the tooltip to display when hovering over a point in the chart.

Placeholders may be used to put data into the tooltip text:

• %value%: The numeric vertical value at the point

• %valuex%: The numeric x (horizontal) value at the point, if applicable

• %category%: The category member at the point

• %series%: The series the point belongs

• %column%: The column member at the point

• %row%: The row member at the point

Behaviour

Chart Name the Name of the Chart for easy reference

Output Cells New in Version 7.5 XLCubed places the selected member for the selected point into the

chosen cell. This value can then be used to drive other charts, formulae and/or Grid selections.



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In this example, the Column member Geography - France is placed in $A$26, and Product Categories - [1]

Bikes in

$A$27. This value can then be used to drive other charts, formulas and or grid selections:

Link To New in Version 7.5 when a point on the chart is clicked, this range is selected.

Placement Controls the behaviour of the chart when surrounding cells are moved and resized:

• Free floating: The chart ignores all cell size changes

• Move: The chart is moved together with the surrounding cells, but is not resized by them

• Move and Size: The chart is moved and resized together with the surrounding cells

Show Back/Forward controls Controls whether back and forward controls are displayed on the chart to

undo and redo changes made to it

Enable high performance charts If ticked, high performance charts are used

Axes Controls the minima and maxima of the vertical axes

Titles and Axes

New in Version 7.5

Chart titles: The font used to display the column and row members

Chart axes:

• Label font The font used to display the labels on the axis

• Label angle The angle to show the label text at

• Allow label truncation Allows label text to be shortened in order to display tidily



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• Stagger labels Allows alternate labels to be shifted in order to improve readability

• End label visible Shows or hides the last label

Category Labels: Determines the display of the Category Labels on the Chart.

• Automatic: XLCubed will decide how many labels to display, based on the space available.

•

Every Category: each category will be displayed regardless of the space available.• None: No labels will be displayed.

• Custom: The labels will be shown based on a number you enter.

Colours and Style

From Version 7.6

Chart background: the colour used to fill in the area behind the charts

Chart area background: the colour used to fill the individual charts

Axis colour: the colour used to draw the vertical and horizontal axes

Gridline colour: the colour used to draw any gridlines on each chartShow columns and bars as cylinders: when ticked, column and bar charts are filled with a 3D effect

Marker style: for chart types that use them (e.g. scatter charts), the shape of the markers:

Triangle

Star10

Star6

Star5

Star4

Square

Diamond

Cross

Circle

Marker size: for chart types that use them (e.g. scatter charts, dot charts), the size of the markers

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Circle.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Cross.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Diamond.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Square.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Star4.png




http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SMC_Triangle.png



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Colour and Gradient Picker

The colour gradient picker is used to determine both the colours and the rate at which the colour changes.

This can have a dramatic effect on the impact on the data being displayed and is a valuable tool for making

sure that data becomes information

Here the only change was made to the centre of the colour bar

Chart type

Use the drop-down on chart-type as below to see the many different chart types available within XLCubed

for use within Small Multiples graphing.

Trendlines

New in Version 7.5 - you can right-click on a Series (or the chart for all series) to add a trendline:



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You can then select the type of trendline and formatting in the Trendline Options

Interactive Charting

New in Version 7.5 - charts can be made an interactive, clickable part of the overall report



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Small Multiple Charts based on other data sources

From XLCubed v7.5, you may also insert Small Multiple Charts based on data from sources other than

Analysis Services.

Small Multiple Charts based on SQL

From v7.5, XLCubed has the ability to create Small Multiple Charts from data in relational databases. Toinsert a new chart:

1. Select the XLCubed > Insert > Small Multiples > SQL... ribbon item

2. Select the data source and query, as described in SQL Data Tables (Administrators)

3. XLCubed will then insert an empty chart for you, ready for your columns selections

These small multiple charts are identical to the Analysis Services based charts described on the Small

Multiple Charts page, except for a few differences:

• There is no Header area: the charts are always based on the entire data set, and each returned

column can be placed anywhere on the chart designer.

• Any numeric column can be selected for the Y Axis values. When appropriate, this also applies to

X Axis and Colour values.

• To edit the connection, you may click the Select data source toolbar button in the Task Pane:



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Small Multiple Charts based on Excel Ranges

From v7.5, XLCubed has the ability to create Small Multiple Charts from data found on your Excel

worksheet. To insert a new chart:

Select the XLCubed > Insert > Small Multiples > Excel... ribbon item

Select the data source, if it has not already been selected for you

Tick the Read data in hidden cells option if you would like all rows to be charted, whether they

are visible or not

XLCubed will then insert an empty chart for you, ready for your columns selections

In this example, we can then drag MonthName to Categories, Category yto Columns and Color to

Rows to give this chart:



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These small multiple charts are identical to the Analysis Services based charts described on the Small

Multiple Charts page, except for a few differences:

• There is no Header area: the charts are always based on the entire data set

• Any numeric column can be selected for the Y Axis values. When appropriate, this also applies to X

Axis and

Colour values.• To edit the range, you may click the Select data source toolbar button in the Task Pane:

• To quickly change whether hidden data should be included in the chart, you can use the Read data

in hidden cells toolbar button in the Task Pane:



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Interactive Charting

Version 7.5 provides the ability for more interactive, chart-driven reporting. This is achieved by extending

the existing Small Multiple Charts in the product. Users can now click a chart, or a datapoint within a chart

and have the rest of the report update in context, as in the example below where Road Bikes, Q2 has been

selected and the ranking table beneath has been filtered accordingly.

Small Multiples have been extended in three key areas:

• Full control over selected chart and chart area, with associated formatting

• More control over axis and title formatting

• In addition to cubes, Small Multiple charts can also be built from an Excel Range or directly from

SQL.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book III – Charting & Data Visualisation

Chart Selections

When building reports, it's now possible to track any selected element of a Small Multiple Chart. This

includes an axis element, an individual chart, or any data point in the chart. This information can be

output to a range of Excel cells, and then other parts of the overall report, including grids and formulae,

can be based on the content of these cells. The chart will also indicate by colour which chart or datapoint

is selected. This is handled by all unselected elements being displayed in a much lighter shade, while theselected item retains the original colour.

These output properties are configured in the properties for the chart control, as shown in the

screenshot. To track an element, select the relevant checkbox and chose the desired output cell.

'Link to' is also available as an option, where the focus can be moved to another area of the report in the

context of the selected chart or chart element.



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Chart Formatting

A more granular level of control is now provided for the axis and chart name elements within the chart

control. This is available in properties as shown below.

SQL and Excel sourced Charts

Version 7.5 introduces the capability to build small multiple charts from non-cube data. This can be any

Excel range, or directly from a SQL query or stored procedure. When inserting a small multiple chart from

the XLCubed ribbon, you can now specify which data source this is for.



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In-Cell Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any In-Cell Charts in your report, and can be invoked in several ways:

For In-Cell Chart formulae

While inserting an In-Cell Chart formula, after choosing the desired chart type, clicking the ...button under Chart Format

Right-clicking on an existing In-Cell Chart or formula, then selecting XLCubed > Format In-Cell

Chart...

Double-clicking on an existing In-Cell Chart or formula

For Grid-based In-Cell Charts

While inserting an In-Cell Chart member, after choosing the desired chart type, clicking the ...

button under Chart Format

In the Report Designer or the Hierarchy Editor, existing In-Cell Chart members have a ...button to

format the chart

The specific dialog that is displayed depends on which chart type has been selected for the In-Cell Charts:

• SparkLine Chart Designer (including area charts)

• SparkColumns Chart Designer

• SparkWinLose Chart Designer

• SparkBar Chart Designer

•

SparkBullet Chart Designer• SparkIcon Chart Designer

• SparkPie Chart Designer

• SparkHorizon Chart Designer

• SparkBox Chart Designer

• DotPlot Chart Designer

• Lollipop Chart Designer

• Bandline Chart Designer



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SparkLine Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkLine or SparkArea In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about

how to invoke the dialog, see the section In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

General

Title: Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to use as the member

name (when used in Grids)

Line type: Uses the desired rendering style for the data points

Line colour: The colour to use for the line

Point colour: The default colour to use for the data points

Negative point colour: The default colour to use for negative data points

Stretch factor: The horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

Point highlighting

Minimum value colour: The colour to highlight the lowest point

Maximum value colour: The colour to highlight the highest point

Start value colour: The colour to highlight the first point

End value colour: The colour to highlight the last point



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Missing values

Don't plot missing values: Leave a gap where there is a gap in the source data

Plot missing values as zero: Substitute gaps in the source data with zeros

Interpolate missing values: Fill in missing values with statistically appropriate values



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Axis Options

Vertical Scale

Automatic common scale: If selected, overrides all the other vertical scale options and chooses one set

of scales to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member

Minimum

Automatic: Selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually

Custom: Specifies the minimum for all charts

Maximum

Automatic: Selects a suitable maximum for each chart individually

Custom: Specifies the maximum for all charts

Period

No period colour: Disables alternate background shading

Period colour: Enables alternate background shading, allowing you to specify the

alternate colour and the length of the period

Background Options

No background: Renders the chart as just lines and points (as previously specified), without

additional background

Fill area: Renders the chart as an area chart, with the area below the line filled in the

specified colour

Normal band: Renders a band on the chart, within which normal points are expected to fall

Normal band colour: The colour for the normal band

Standard deviations: Specifies that the normal band should be calculated as plus or minus the

specified number of standard deviations from the mean

Custom: Allows selection of custom values or values for the minimum and maximum

normal values

Reference Line Options

No reference line: Disables the reference line

Reference line: Renders a reference line on each chart, and allows you to specify furtheroptions

Reference line colour : The colour for the reference line

Automatic average: Specifies that the reference line should be calculated as the mean of all the

points in the chart

Custom value: Allows selection of a custom value or values for the reference line data points



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SparkColumns Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkColumns In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to

invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

General

Title: Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to

use as the member name (when used in Grids)

Column colour: The default colour to use for the columns

Negative point colour: The default colour to use for negative columns

Column width: The width of each column

Column highlighting

Minimum value colour: The colour to highlight the lowest column

Maximum value colour: The colour to highlight the highest column

Start value colour: The colour to highlight the first column

End value colour: The colour to highlight the last column

Axis Options

Vertical Scale

Automatic common scale: If selected, overrides all the other vertical scale options and chooses one set

of scales to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member

Minimum

Automatic: Selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually

Custom: Specifies the minimum for all charts

Maximum

Automatic: Selects a suitable maximum for each chart individuallyCustom: Specifies the maximum for all charts

Period

No period colour: Disables alternate column shading

Period colour: Enables alternate column shading, allowing you to specify the alternate

colour for positive and negative columns and period length



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Reference Line Options

No reference line: Disables the reference line

Reference line: Renders a reference line on each chart, and allows you to specify further

options

Reference line colour : The colour for the reference line

Automatic average: Specifies that the reference line should be calculated as the mean of all thepoints in the chart

Custom value: Allows selection of a custom value or values for the reference line data points



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SparkWinLose Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkWinLose In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to

invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

General

Title Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to

use as the member name (when used in Grids)Win column colour the colour to use for win columns

Loss column colour the colour to use for loss columns

Draw column colour the colour to use for draw columns

SparkBar Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBar In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke

the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

Colours 1 to 8 specify the colours used for the bars. If the bar is positive, the data points will

start with colour 1; if the bar is negative, the data points will start with colour

5.

Stacked bar chart the total bar width varies according to the total

100% stacked bar chart the widths are all equal, with the widths of individual data points showing

their proportion of the total

Custom bar length specifies the maximum chart width

Show zero bars Specifies whether to draw bars for zero-valued data points

Value Label Options

Use value labels If selected, each bar is labelled with its total value

Before bar The value label is rendered to the left of the chart itself

After bar The value label is rendered to the right of the chart itself

Number format Specifies the format string for the value labels

Label colour the colour for the value labels

Font Allows you to choose the typeface and size of the value labels

Axis Options

Customise axis Allows you to choose further options defining how the formula cell (for In-

Cell Chart formulae), or the member name (when used in Grids) is rendered

Use title only uses the given text as a caption

Axis with tickmarks above draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis

Axis with tickmarks below draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis

Custom tickmark frequency overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks



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Minor ticks per major tick Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major

tickmark

Show labels on major tick Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis

Number format the format string to be used for the axis labels

Custom axis minimum overrides the automatic minimum for the axis

Custom axis maximum overrides the automatic maximum for the axis



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SparkBullet Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBullet In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke


Chart Options

This page has two modes. When the qualitative ranges are being driven from a range in your Workbook,

some of the controls will be uneditable or hidden, as the values they contain will be predetermined.

Qualitative ranges Specifies how many qualitative ranges should be rendered in the bullet chart.

Available only when not being driven from a range

Reverse range order -1 to cause the qualitative ranges to be reversed when rendering

Use Excel range Specifies that the qualitative ranges should be defined by values in the given range.

Show measure as Specifies whether to render the measure value as a Bar or a Dot:

Measure bar colour the colour to user for the measure bar or dot

Bullet length the width of the bullet chart

When Use Excel range is enabled

Range colour the colour for the given qualitative range

When Use Excel range is disabled

Lower limit gives the lower limit for the first qualitative range

Subsequent rows give the colour and upper limit for each qualitative range.

Reference Value Options

Reference lines

No reference lines: The bullet chart is rendered without reference line

One reference line: The bullet chart has one reference line

Two reference lines: The bullet chart has two reference lines

Colour: The colour to use for the given reference line

Value: The value to use for the given reference line. May be either a value or a

range



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Projection bar

No projection bar: The bullet chart is rendered without a projection bar

Project bar: The bullet chart has an additional bar or dot, showing the projected value for the measure

Colour: The colour to use for the projection bar

Value: The value to use for the projection bar. May be either a value or a range

Axis Options

Customise axis: Allows you to choose further options defining how the formula cell (for In-


Use title only: Uses the given text as a caption

Axis with tickmarks above: Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis

Axis with tickmarks below: Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis

Custom tickmark frequency: Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks

Minor ticks per major tick: Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major

tickmarkShow labels on major tick: Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis

Number format: The format string to be used for the axis labels



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SparkIcon Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkIcon In-Cell Charts in your report. These charts have two ways of

being used:

• Single data source: the colour and icon type are driven from the same data, giving two ways to

see the same information

• Dual data sources: the colour and icon type have independent data sources, giving the

opportunity to increase data density of your reports

For details about how to invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Single Data Source Mode



Icon count specifies how many icon styles to use

Reverse range order -1 to cause the icon ranges to be reversed when renderingIcon type field the icon type to use for the given value range.

Colour field the colour to use for the given value range

Operator and value fields together, these give the boundaries for the given value range. The highest

value range should be at the top

Separate Icons and Colour Converts the SparkIcon Chart to a dual data source chart

Dual Data Source Mode

Icon Options



Icon count specifies how many icon types to use

Reverse range order -1 to cause the icon ranges to be reversed when rendering

Icon type field the icon type to use for the given value range



Merge Icons and Colours Converts the SparkIcon Chart to a single data source chart. Note that the

colour boundaries are discarded when using this option

Colour Options

Colour data specifies the data to use to render the icon colours

Colour count specifies how many colours to use

Reverse range order -1 to cause the colour ranges to be reversed when rendering

Colour field the colour to use for the given value range



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Icon Sets

The following icon types are available for use with the SparkIcon In-Cell Chart.



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SparkPie Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkPie In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke the

dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

Title Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to use as

the member name (when used in Grids)

Colours 1 to 8 Specify the colours used for the pie sector



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SparkHorizon Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkHorizon In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to

invoke the dialog, see the section in this document on In-Cell Chart Designer.

General

Title specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae) or to

use as the member name (when used in Grids)Positive colours the colours to use for the positive regions, highest at the bottom

Negative colours the colours to use for the negative regions, most negative at the bottom

Stretch factor the horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

Missing values

Don’t plot missing values leave a gap where there is a gap in the source data

Plot missing values as zero substitute gaps in the source data with zeroes

Interpolate missing values fill in missing values with statistically appropriate values

Vertical scale

Automatic common scale if selected, overrides all the other scale options and chooses one set of scales

to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member

Minimum

Automatic selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually

Custom specifies the minimum for all charts

Maximum

Automatic selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually

Custom specifies the maximum for all charts



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SparkBox Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBox In-Cell Chart in your report. For details about how to invoke


Chart Options

Length the horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

Use custom percentile boundaries a set of values to define the percentile boundaries for the box plot,these are:

the sample minimum (smallest observation)

the lower quartile or first quartile

the median (middle value)

the upper quartile or third quartile

the sample maximum (largest observation)

Box Plot Anatomy

Colour The following diagram shows the anatomy of the XL3SparkBox

diagram. The letters refer to the names of the colour selecting boxes

in the SparkBox In-Cell Chart Dialogue.

Additional Values



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New in Version 7.5 you can also plot additional values on the box plot, this could be the same

values already

used in the box plot to help visualize the distribution or another set of values to compare

distribution:

Axis Options



Use title only Uses the given text as a caption

Axis with tickmarks above Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis Axis with tickmarks below Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis

Custom tickmark frequency Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks


tickmark

Show labels on major ticks Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis

Number format The format string to be used for the axis labels

Custom axis minimum A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value

Custom axis maximum A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value



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DotPlot Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any Dotplot In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke the

dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

Length The horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

Colour The colour to draw the plots

Plot symbol There are two choices – Dot and Circle

Stacking type Based on the stacking type – the values will be grouped and drawn either

varying the colour or the vertical position



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Stacking value type Defines how dots are stacked - the number of values, an alternate set of

values or a random jitter:

Count, The Y value is defined by the number of values that are the same

Values, provide another range the same shape as the source values and this allows

plotting of specific X & Y values



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Jitter, the Y value is taken from a fixed set of random values to allow dots near each

other to be easily distinguished

Colours

Defines the Colours to use when stacking values

Axis

Use title only Displays the text in the header cell for the charts

Axis with tickmarks above Axis will have tickmarks above the base line

Axis with tickmarks below Axis will have tickmarks below the base line

Custom tickmark frequency Controls how often an axis value will be displayed

Minor tick per major tick Number of ticks to appear inbetween each value

Show labels on major ticks Controls when to display the values

Number format Specify the number format for the tickmarks

Custom x-axis min & Custom x-axis max Controls the horizontal maximums and minimums

Custom y-axis min & Custom y-axis max Controls the maximums and minimums for when stacking isenabled



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Lollipop Chart Designer

This dialog is used add or edit Lollipop In-Cell Charts in your report. This chart type was introduced in

Version 7.1

For details about how to invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.

Chart Options

Length The horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart

Bar Colour The colour to draw the bar for positive values

Pop Colour The colour to draw the "Pop" of the Lollipop for positive values

Negative Bar Colour The colour to draw the bar for negative values

Negative Pop Colour The colour to draw the "Pop" of the Lollipop for negative values

Reference Values This gives you the option to define a reference value for the chart (displayed as avertical bar) and select the colour for the bar

Axis Options



Use title only Uses the given text as a caption

Axis with tickmarks above

Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis

Axis with tickmarks below Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis Custom tickmark frequency Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks


tickmark

Show labels on major ticks Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis

Number format The format string to be used for the axis labels

Custom axis minimum Overrides the automatic minimum for the axis

Custom axis maximum Overrides the automatic maximum for the axis



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Bandline Chart Designer

Bandlines were invented by Stephen Few as an extension to Edward Tufte’s Sparklines. They are intended

to bring context to a column of Sparklines by giving additional information about the scale or the numbers

without the need to use a shared scale, which in many cases will totally flatten out the trendline for the

smaller series.

In XLCubed bandlines are implemented as a background option within the Sparkline Chart Designer.

To add Bandlines to an existing Sparkline, edit the Sparkline to format it and go to the Background tab,

then turn on ‘Banded Fill’.

Bandlines are intended to show the spread of data across a defined set, and exactly how this is displayed

can be defined by the user. The user can set the background colour for Quartile 1, the Midrange (Q2 & Q3),

and Quartile 4, along with the colour of the Median line.

There are several approaches to displaying the band information:

Use the data set being plotted to define the quartile bands (the default)

In this case if you are plotting 28 days data, the trendline itself will be based on the individual row of data,

but the banding detail is worked out from the entire set of data being plotted.

Use an extended / alternate range to define the quartile bands

For example, it may be useful to look at the current month trendline set in the context of the previous 12

months. Here ‘Data for bands’ must be checked and the appropriate range of data selected. This is on a

row by row basis (i.e. the range selected for the banding must have the same number of rows as the

range for the trendline) and the bands vary row by row.



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Use Custom Percentile Boundaries

Rather than use quartiles, it’s possible to define custom percentile bands. This approach still requires

one row of incoming data, specifying 5 ascending percentage values (typically starting with 0% and

ending with 100%).

Include Band data in Scale

There will be higher and lower values in the set of data being used to calculate the bands than in most

individual rows being plotted. The dialogs allow you to choose whether or not to include the defined

bands in the scale. Including the banding data will have the effect of flattening the trendline, so where the

overall values being plotted are fairly close, it may make sense to do include this. However, where there is

significant variance it is generally best not to include it, and to rely on the colour banding to display this

information.

The example below shows the potential difference in this approach, where the Sparkline itself shows the

previous 30 days volumes, and the bands are based on the previous 90 days. Where the bands are

included in the scale the trendlines are much flatter, and everything is on a consistent scale. With

Bandlines excluded from the scale here the individual trends are more obvious, and their position in the

overall spread can still be determined from the background colour of the associated quartile the values

are falling into.



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Maps XLCubed Maps are an optional extension which allow plotting geographic data directly in Excel and

publishing to the XLCubed Web server.

You can plot the data locations, and optionally set the colour and size of the plotted points to show values.

User Interface

To create a Map from Excel simply highlight the relevant data and select Maps from the Visualise drop-

down button in the XLCubed menu.

XLCubed expects your data to be arranged in a particular way to create maps. Generally there should be

several columns of data as described below.

Known Latitude and Longitude

The columns should contain the following:

Column Description

Map Name Title of the map, a map will be created for each different name. (For example to

create a map for each year.)

Location Name Title of the data point, shown when you hover over the point.

Latitude Latitude of the point.



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Longitude Longitude of the point

Colour

(optional)

Defines the colour of the point plotted, can be a number or text. If no column is

selected then all points will be the same colour. See Colours for more information

Size (optional) Defines the size of the point, this must be a number. If no column is selected then all

points will be the same size.

This would be a typical set of mapping data:

If you do not know the latitude/longitude you can look it up using the Extras ->

Lookup Latitude/Longitudemenu item.

Highlight the place names and select the menu item. This can take some time, so is not available as a

function. It is recommended you look up the locations once and then reference them, for example using

the VLookup()formula.



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Named places

Named places uses a predefined set of codes to identify locations. You can then plot either the outline of

the location of a point in its center.

XLCubed comes with defined outlines for

• Countries of the World

• US States

• UK Counties

You may also add custom sets of locations, to do this please contact [email protected].

The columns for the report should contain the following.

Column DescriptionMap Name Title of the map, a map will be created for each different name. (For example

to create a map for each year.)

Location Name Name of the place to plot.

Colour (optional) Defines the colour of the point plotted, can be a number or text. If no

column is selected then all points will be the same colour. See Colours for

more information

Size (optional) Defines the size of the point, this must be a number. If no column is selected

then all points will be the same size. (Does not apply if plotting polygons.)



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Display

For named places you can choose to display the outline of the place rather than just a marker at its centre.

As of Version 7.6 you can customise the transparency of the shape and border.

Map controls

Output cells

In the properties screen you can set up "output cells" for the map and location names.

With these selected clicking a data point will update Excel. This can then be used to drive a detailed

report for the selected point.

If you turn on multi-select and pick an output range rather than a cell you can output multiple values.

Drawing tools appear on the map to allow you to pick many points, and OK the selection.

Colours

This column can contain numbers or text, and there are three ways the values could drive the

colour. Firstly, if you have numbers the colours can be from a colour gradient. E.g. Red-Green

shading.

Secondly, you can categorise the point. For example with stores the colour column could contain the store

type. Each store type would then be plotted a particular colour.

Finally the column could contain specific colours, using named colours or HTML syntax such as #ff0000.

This allows you maximum flexibility to drive the colour using any criteria you choose.

All of these options are configured in the map properties screen. Right click the map to bring up the

screen.



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Pie charts

Starting in Version 7.6 you can plot pie charts instead of simple points. In this case, columns after the

location column will be used as data values for the pie segments.

By default the size of the pie chart will be based on the total of all the data values. You can optionally set

the last column to be the pie chart size. This allows you to control the size based on another parameter, or

make all the charts the same size (by filling the final column with 1s).

Sizes

If no size column is found then all markers will be the default size specified in the map properties.

If a size column is included then the size of the marker will be between the low and High value sizes

specified in the Properties screen. The exact marker size is calculated by interpolating between these

values.

View

These options are new in Version 7.6.

Initial view

Defines the startup view of the map. The options are

Zoom to fit - Matches existing behaviour, map is zoomed and scrolled to show all data points.

Save on close - The zoom and scroll are saved with the workbook.

Custom view - You decide the zoom and scroll, click the "Set" button to select the current view.

Custom style

These settings allow you to customise the map layers, such as road, water and place names.

You can adjust all the layers at once, or individually. Click the "Apply" to see a preview of what the map will

look like.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:MapPie.png

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:MapPie.png



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Treemaps

Treemaps are a new visualization available in Version 7.1 of XLCubed. They can show the relationship

between two measures, and their variance across a dimension.

The above Treemap plots Sales against Profit across the top ten states in the USA. In this example the size

of the area represents the total sales, and the colour shows how profitable the sales in that area were.

In XLCubed Treemaps can be sourced from a Table, and Excel range or from a cube.

Data sources

Table or Excel range

The data sources for tables and Excel ranges are quite similar.

In both cases you select a number of columns. XLCubed will use the last two columns as the size and

colour values to plot, and other columns provide the member values.

You can have several member columns, in which XLCubed will allow drill-down into the data.



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Example

If we start with the following data in Excel:

We can create the following Treemap, which starts at the top level:

We can drill into the areas by double clicking to get more detail:



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Data options

If you edit the Treemap, you get some options to customize its behaviour.

The Show second level option allows you to instantly see the make up of each outer area from its children.

For example, in the above example we see the product category, and how each sub-category contributes

to it. Drill and we can see the products in a sub-category:

The Total Size using and Total Colour using options allow you to choose how the data is aggregated.

By default a parent's number is made up of the sum of its children, but you may want to use another

method, e.g. totalling a percentage using the average of the children.

Finally you can use the number format text boxes to set the number format used on the Treemap. By

default data sourced from an Excel range will use the number format set in Excel.



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Cube

When sourcing a Treemap from a cube you get the usual member selector found throughout

XLCubed. You must put a hierarchy in the Plot area, and this defines the areas to be plotted.

The Header area performs the usual action of slicing the results, e.g. showing only data for a given

time period. The Behaviour tab allow you to control the data displayed.

The Values section allows you to pick the measures used for the size and colour of the Treemap. Althoughmeasures is the default hierarchy, you can drop in a different one if you need to. From v7.5, you can also

select the number formats for the values, although these are overridden by the Apply Cube formatting

option, if that is selected.

The Split by section allows you to define a two level Treemap. The second level can be a lower level of the

hierarchy you chose to plot, or could be a different hierarchy entirely.



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Common Options

• Gradient: Choose the colour scheme for the Treemap. Allow you to reverse the colour order in

cases there low numbers are good, e.g. losses.

•

Layout: Allows you to change the method by which the areas are laid out.o Order by Size - Larger areas come first.

o Natural Order - Attempts to keep the areas in the order they started in. This is the

order they are found in tables and ranges, cube order when the data source is a

cube.

o Squares - Attempts to make the areas as square as possible, makes comparing sizes

easier.

• Parent name position: Choose the title position when showing two levels in the Treemap.

• Output range: Area to output the clicked area name. Allows you to drive another section of the

report from the Treemap. Note that if you have nested areas then you can pick a range of several

cells to contain the names at each level.

• Link to: Use in conjunction with Output range, allows you to jump to the section of the report

updated when the Treemap was clicked.

• Show back/forward controls: Show the arrows used to navigate when drilling.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book IV – Web Edition

Book IV - Web Edition

XLCubed Web Edition allows you to publish your XLCubed reports to the web. It is more than just a

publishing tool, it lets you organise your reports on the web and provides OLAP functionality in your

browser - it is not just Excel running on a server….

Step 1. Design your reportDesign your report in Excel using the XLCubed add-in, visualise the data using In-Cell Charts and standard

Excel Charting. Reports can contain grid and formula based report sections, use multiple sheets, and make

use of standard Excel formulae. Both standard Excel Charting and In Cell Charts are supported for

publication to the web.

Step 2. Publish your report From within Excel you simply select the Publish option from the XLCubed menu and choose the location

on the server where you want it to be located - click publish and the report is published to the web.

Step 3. View the report in a browser It’s as simple as accessing any web page, point your browser at the Repository and you’ll see the report

as it appeared in Excel.

Step 4. Enjoy OLAP in a browser The report isn’t simply published, it contains the OLAP functionality that the XLCubed add-in has

become renowned for. You can perform member selection and drill-down, all within the browser

environment.



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Web Publishing

To publish reports from XLCubed you will need to have the XLCubed Web Edition installed on an

appropriate server. The publication process is very straightforward and any report that can be opened in

your XLCubed enabled version of Excel can be published.

Publication Process

To begin the publication process first open the XLCubed report and select the Publish to Web ribbon

item (or the XLCubed > Publish to Web menu option in Excel 2003 and below) in Excel. This will display

the Publish dialog:

The dialog allows you to connect to an XLCubed Web Edition server and select where the current report

should be published. The detailed steps are outlined below:

Connect to the server you want to publish to:

Enter the name of the XLCubed Web Edition server you want to connect to in the Web

Site field. This will depend on how you have installed the XLCubed Web Edition softwareon your server. Click Connect, and if connection is successful the folders available on the

server will be displayed in the right hand side of the dialog (Folder to publish to).

Enter the Report details:

Type in the Name and Description that you want to give the report. The Name will

appear in the Navigation tree view and on the report's tab. The Description will appear



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in the Repository on detail pages.

Select where to publish:

Navigate through the folders on the server to find the location you want by clicking on the

tree on the right-hand side of the Publisher dialog. The report will be published to the

folder that is currently highlighted.Existing reports are also shown in the tree. If an existing report is highlighted, then

XLCubed will attempt to replace it with the published report.

Depending on how your Administrator has configured the XLCubed Web Server it is quite

possible that although you may be able to see a folder, you may not have the required

security privileges to actually write (publish) to that directory. If this is the case a message

will be displayed informing you that publication was not possible and you must select a

folder to which you do have write permission. Contact your System Administrator to

discuss permissions further.

Choose options:

Check Web Compatibility allows XLCubed to check for some Excel features that are

unsupported in XLCubed Web Edition.

Display after Publish causes XLCubed to open the published report in your web browser

when the publication process is finished.

Publish:

You can click the Preview button to allow you to view the report in a browser without

permanently publishing it to the server. A new browser window is opened when this

option is selected. Click the Publish button to actually publish the report to the server. On

successful completion a message is displayed confirming that the report will now be

available in XLCubed Web Edition’s repository.

If you see a message below please see the Publishing more than 1000 rows page.

"The maximum number of rows that can be published is 1000. Sheet1 has xxx rows".

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Publishing_more_than_1000_rows






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Manage Repository

You can now right-click to manage your Repository folders. The following options are available:

• Rename - renames the currently selected folder

• Add Sub Folder- adds a new sub-folder beneath the currently selected folder

•

Add Top Level Folder - adds a new folder at top level of Repository• Delete - deletes the currently selected folder



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Web Edition

When you first connect to XLCubed Web Edition (the web address will depend upon your installation) you

will see the Homepage:

The Homepage is divided into four main sections:

• Toolbar

• Report Tabs

• Repository

•

Report Area



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Toolbar

The following toolbar options are available.

Toggle Tree: allows you to toggle the screen display

Adhoc Grid: allow the creation of grid report - see section Creating Reports in Web Edition below

Logout: to exit Web Edition

Home: takes user back to Recent Reports

Help: takes you to our Wiki Help

Submit Changes: allows changes to be written back to the XLCubed report

Print: generates report in PDF format

Excel: allows user to save to Excel:

• Fixed will not allow user to use XLCubed functionality

• Live requires XLCubed Excel Edition to be installed on machine and will allow

updating

Save: Saves as an XLCubed Web report



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Refresh: Refreshes connection and report

Report Tabs

The Tabs are found just below the XLCubed Web Edition banner. Initially no tabs are displayed. As you

begin to explore reports you will see that as a report is opened or a new Ad Hoc report is created tabs will

be added, allowing you to switch between reports, without having to return to the Homepage or

Repository tab.

Once opened a report can be closed by clicking on the close icon on the right of the tab.

Report Area

The Report Area forms the bulk of the browser window and is where reports are displayed. Initially the

Report Area displays the last five reports that you viewed. Error messages are also displayed here.

Creating Reports in Web Edition

Connecting

Connecting to the XLCubed web server in a browser window shows a similar display as below. In this case

the right hand side of the window shows a history of reports run.

Creating a report



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This example uses the Adventure Works cube on the Adventure Works Demo database. After connecting,

select a cube and you will be presented with the following screen (the Report Designer screen):

The Report Designer is separated into 5 main areas:

• Available Hierarchies

Lists the available dimensions and hierarchies within the active cube connection. Expand thedimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be dragged from this area into

Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report.

• Headers

The Header area, or filter area, provides a set of hierarchies for user selections, which will be displayed at

the top of the grid. User selections made within hierarchies in the Header area of the grid will determine

the numbers displayed in the report body.

• Rows

The Rows area is a holder for hierarchies to be positioned on rows in the reports

• Columns



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The Columns area is a holder for hierarchies to be positioned on columns in the reports

• Member Selector

This displays the content of the selected hierarchy. The hierarchy tree can be expanded and members

are selected by dragging to the right. Selections can also be based on Excel cells, Slicers or specified as

related sets of data (children / descendants etc); this is covered in detail in the Member Selector section.

Drag items from the Available Hierarchies list to the Headers, Columns and Rows. Next, double-click each

member and in the right-hand area of the window (the Member Selector area) you can drill-down to

select the member to display. In this example I have double-clicked on Measures which has expanded in

the Member Selector area to allow me to select the measure, Reseller Sales Amount. I can double-click or

drag across to the right-hand side to select.



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You can use SHIFT and click or CTRL and click as normal to select members when you are selecting morethan one member.

Having positioned and made selections within the hierarchies as required, press OK to insert the report.

Double-click on entries in the grid to toggle between drill-down to expand and drill-up again. In the

example above double-clicking on Australia will expand to show the rows beneath (at state level). Double-

clicking on Australia again will return to just showing one row for Australia.

You can change the layout of the report by clicking and dragging the hierarchy labels. For example, in theabove report you can drag Geography from rows to columns or drag it to the Headers area. You can do

this with any of the hierarchies being displayed.



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Right-click menu

This report shows sales of products model categories across sales territories. Right-click on the grid and

you will see a menu as below:

Grid Properties: Behaviour, Appearance, Mdx:

These three tabs allow you to change certain aspects of the grid report

•



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.

Design Grid

This takes you into Report Designer as detailed previously.

•



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Number format: This allows you to format the cell values.

Breakout: This option allows you to take a subset of the grid report and display in more detail. In this

example we can set up the breakout options as below:

This result of the breakout shows the 10 highest models in the Product Model Categories:



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Drillthrough

Apply: Sort, Rank, Filter

This option allows you to sort (ascending or descending), rank or filter the grid report.

The screenshot below shows the above report sorted in ascending order on the measure Reseller Sales

Amount.



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New Chart: All

By selecting New Chart, All you can quickly create a chart of the grid report - see example below.



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Improved visuals in v7.2

Web Edition screens have been improve – for example when adding an Adhoc grid in v7.2

.



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Concurrent Users

These are the XLCubed installation level defaults which are applied to any new workbooks opened

during the Excel session

Overview

XLCubedWeb licensing is based on a concurrent user model, a concurrent session is tied to the user's

session managed by IIS. The default timeout of a session is 20 minutes of inactivity, there is also a "LogOut" option which will end the user's session immediately and release them from the concurrent user

count.

If the number of concurrent users exceeds the licensed amount then any additional users will receive a

"Too many users" error message.

Checking license

The Web Configuration tool will show you the number of concurrent users you are currently licensed for

under the "Licensing tab"



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Modifying session duration

To change the default sessions length from 20 minutes, you will need to launch Internet Information

Services Manager on the web server, and go to the XLCubed Website and select "Session State":

You can change the session time out under the "Cookies" section:

Viewing active sessions

The easiest method to monitor currently active users is to use Performance Monitor, you need to select

the event: "ASP.Net Applications" => "Sessions Active". You would need to limit this to the XLCubedWeb

Instance if running more than one website on the same server.



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Analytics books

Analytics books were introduced in Version 7.5, and add give users the capability to create books on the

web to slice, dice and visualise their data.

Creating a new bookTo create a book simply click the button on the web toolbar.

You will be taken to the connection screen to select a cube, and choose the layout of the initial sheet in the

book.

Standard UIAnalytics book are made up of the report area on the left, and the designer on the right

The designer can be minimised by clicking the pin icon.

Hierarchies

In the designer you can drag and drop dimensions to set the layout of your report.



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Dimensions in the Headers area display an extra icon. This allows you to switch between two modes when

multiple members are selected:

• Slice - a drop down is displayed that allows you to choose which member is applied to the data.

• Total - The total for all the members selected is displayed.

Members

If you select a dimension in the designer, it will automatically switch to the members view. Yuo can select

individual members, or multi-select using the Ctrl and Shift keys.

Additionally, you can right click a member and use the menu to select descendants at a given level, as

seen here.



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Report Header The top section of the report area contains two sections.

The first is the Title area. This gives a brief description of the current selection, and contains a few

buttons.

On the left are the back/forward buttons, which allow you to undo any changes you have made to

the report, for example navigating back up the dimension you have been dril ling down into.

On the right is the sheet properties button. This allows you to alter the report layout, and set drill mode.

The second selection contains the slicers for dimensions in the header area. Slicers only apply when there

are multiple selections, so will not appear for single members, or when the header is in Total mode.

If no slicers are visible the section is automatically hidden to give more room to display the data.

Report Types

There are several sheet layouts available when you create a new sheet.

Grid

This is simply a table of data which you can manipulate. You can drill into the data using the drill

indicators, and sort the data by clicking the arrows in columns headers.

Context menus provide access to more complex functions such as ranking and filtering the columns



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Grid and Chart

This adds a chart that visualises the grid. You can set the chart type, and select data to allow you to

highlight outliers.



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Grid and Treemap

Treemaps allow you to visualise two measures at once, and compare their relative sizes. The UI

changes slightly in this mode so that you can easily pick the two measures to represent the size and colour

to the tree segments.

Small Multiple

Small Multiple Charts allow you to slice and display your data by a number of dimensions at once. Here

the UI changes to give you more positions for Hierarchies to exploit this ability.



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Auto refresh

This is an additional setting within XLCubed > Workbook Options which allows the user to determine after

how many minutes the web-published report should be refreshed.



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Browsing the XLCubed Web Repository

When XLCubed requires the selection of an item from the Web Edition repository, it will present you with

the Browse Repository dialog. This dialog will allow you to connect to the Web Edition and select an item:

Type the XLCubed Web Edition address into the Web site text box:

Select the desired item from the repository tree:

Click OK to select the item

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Reporting Services

As of V7 XLCubed can integrate your Reporting Services reports with the XLCubed Repository. The first

step is to install the ReportViewer control, which is available for download from Microsoft’s web site.

Next, to configure this you will need to add the following settings in the web.config file of your

XLCubedWeb installation:

<appSettings>

<!-----Existing settings-- >

<add key="ReportingServicesUrl" value="http://my-server:8080/Reports_SQL2008RS" />

<add key="ReportingServicesServerUrl"value="http://myserver:8080/ReportServer_SQL2008RS"

/>

</appSettings>

Remove the comments around sections of the web.config labeled:

<!----ReportingServices Integration-- >

Once this is done XLCubed will query the Reporting Services report list when a user logs in, and create

folders for the reports found. These can then be opened directly in the XLCubedWeb application.



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Web Development

XLCubed Web Edition allows application developers to embed XLCubed reports in their own web

pages.

Several reports can be embedded in a single page and linked together using parameters as

required, allowing you to build custom pages out of existing published workbooks.

This page describes the web API, and the html and JavaScript required to embed reports.



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Direct report linking

It is possible to link to a published report directly using the following URL syntax:

http://Server/XLCubedWeb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=report.xml

This can also include any Web Parameters to allow specific criteria to be passed.

Embedding Workbooks

Standards Mode

XLCubed does not support “Quirks Mode” in Internet Explorer. To ensure that IE renders your page in

Standards Mode you will need to put a suitable doctype at the top of your page. Sample doctypes can be

found on Wikipedia.

Required Includes

Embedded XLCubed reports reference various JavaScript libraries which must be included in your page. You

should change the references to "MyServerName" to the name of the XLCubed web site, eg:

"WebServer01/XLCubedWeb"

Required Css:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/XLCubedWeb.css" />

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"

href="http://MyServerName/Css/XLCubed.Workbook.css" />

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/redmond/jquery-ui-

1.8.custom.css" />

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/redmond/jquery.treeview.css"

/>

Required Javascript:

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery-

1.4.2.min.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery-ui-

1.8.custom.min.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.treeview.min.js"></script><script type="text/JavaScript"

src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.treeview.async.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript"

src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.cookie.js"></script>



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<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.n-

contextmenu.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.scrollTo-1.4.2-

min.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery.xlcubedextensions.js"></script><script type="text/JavaScript"

src="http://MyServerName/js/microsoft/microsoftajax.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Web.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Workbook.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Toolbars.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Repository.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.DialogManager.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Controls.js"></script>

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.Dialogs.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/WebServices/WorkbookService.svc/js"></script>

Updates for version 6.5

As of version 6.5 many resources have been consolidated, and you can instead include the following.

Required Css:


1.8.custom.css" />

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/redmond/jquery.treeview.css"

/>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/XLCubed.min.css" />

Required JavaScript:

<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery




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1.8.custom.min.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/js/Microsoft/MicrosoftAjax.js"></script>



<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/XLCubed.min.js"></script>



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Updates for version 7.0

As of version 7.0 the version of jQuery has been updated to 1.7.2, so the includes are as follows.

Required Css:


1.8.custom.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/redmond/jquery.treeview.css"

/>

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://MyServerName/Css/XLCubed.min.css" />


<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery-


<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery-ui-1.8.custom.min.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/js/Microsoft/MicrosoftAjax.js"></script>






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Page Markup

XLCubed reports are loaded into a div element, which requires markup in the following style:

<div id="workbookdiv" style="position:relative;height:300px;width:600px;border:1px solid

silver;"></div>

The id attribute is mandatory, and must be unique in the page.

The div must have the position of its style set, either inline as above or via CSS. It must be

relative or absolute.

JavaScript

o ding

Initialisation of the workbook is done via JavaScript, the simplest example is as follows:

<script> function loadXLCubed(){

//Initialise XLCubed

var xlcubedOptions = { BaseUrl:"http://MyServerName" };

XLCubed.Settings.Init(xlcubedOptions);

//create the XLCubed workbook

var div =

document.getElementById("workbookdiv"); var

book = new XLCubed.Workbook(div);

//load a report into the workbook

book.Load("MyFolder/MyReport.xml");

}

</scrip

t>

Here MyServerName must again be replaced with the actual XLCubed web site.

The string passed to the Load() function is the path in the repository to an existing report

published from Excel. Optionally you can pass paramters to the new XLCubed.Workbook() call to

customise the appearance of the report:

var opts = { HorizontalScrollBar:false,

VerticalScrollBar:true, SheetTabs:true,



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ContextMenus:false

};

var book = new XLCubed.Workbook(div,

opts);

If you wish to load a different report, then simply call

book.Load()

again on the same book variable, do not create a second book in the same div.



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Impersonation

XLCubed can impersonate a named user if required. To do this the following API can be called:

//Set up the user we want to run queries as var logonOptions = {Username:"MyUsername",

Domain:"MyDomain",

Password:"MyPassword"};

XLCubed.Settings.Logon(logonOptions);

The Logon() function must be called after XLCubed.Settings.Init() and before book.Load()



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Parameters

If a report is published with web parameters, these can be setup through the API. You can load a report with

parameters set as follows:

//create book as above...

var params = { Date:"January 2010", Geography:"Europe" };

book.Load("MyFolder/MyReport.xml", params);

After a book has been loaded you can update the parameters as follows:

//book variable from elsewhere, the report is already loaded

Var params = { Date:"March 2010",

Geography:"America" };

book.ApplyParameters(params);

As of v7.6 you can also retrieve the current values of the parameters:

//book variable from elsewhere, the report is already loaded

Var params = book.GetParameters();

For (var param in params) {

Alert (param + “ + “ + params[param];

}



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Toolbar

You can create a toolbar for your report using the following:

Markup:

<div id="toolbar"></div>

Script:

//book already created

var toolDiv = document.getElementById("toolbar");

var toolbar = new XLCubed.WorkbookToolbar(toolDiv, book);



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Events

An XLCubed workbook will fire events which you can attach to to customise your page and link reports

together. Binding to events uses the following syntax

//book already created book.Bind(eventName,

eventHandlerFunction)

The eventHandlerFunction takes two arguments, an event object and a data object containing

information about the event that fired.

function loadXLCubed(){

//book already created book.Bind("load",

loadHandler);

}

function loadHandler(e, data){

//we can get a reference to the book from here var b =

data.workbook;

alert("loaded");

}



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The events fired are:



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Embedding Repository



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Required Includes

You can query the repository to get a list of the folders and files available on the server. To do this you

must reference a couple of JavaScript files.

You should change the references to "MyServerName" to the name of the XLCubed web site, eg:

"WebServer01/XLCubedWeb"

Required Css:

None


<script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/JQuery/jquery-1.7.2.min.js"></script>


1.8.custom.min.js"></script><script type="text/JavaScript" src="http://MyServerName/js/Microsoft/MicrosoftAjax.js"></script>


src="http://MyServerName/WebServices/RepositoryService.svc/js"></script>




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JavaScript



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Loading

Initialisation of the repository is done via JavaScript, the simplest example is as follows:

<script> function loadXLCubed(){

//Initialise XLCubed

var xlcubedOptions = {

BaseUrl:"http://MyServerName" };

XLCubed.Settings.Init(xlcubedOptions);

//create a repository object var oRep = new XLCubed.Repository(); //and query the server

//This is asynchronous, so pass in a callback to handle the results oRep.GetRepository( function(oTopFolder) {



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});}

alert(oTopFolder.folders.length);



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</script>

Here MyServerName must again be replaced with the actual XLCubed web site. The oTopFolder object is

an instance of the folder class, which itself contains file.

You can then iterate over the contents of the top level folder to create your own UI, or do anything else

you'd like.



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Object Reference



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Customising HTML

From Version 7.1 it is possible to configure the HTML output of XLCubed web reports. This is configured on

the XLCubed format sheet in Excel.



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Area Names



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Grid

Possible values are:

• FiltMemLabel

• FiltMem

• ColMemLabel

•

ColPropLabel• ColMem

• ColProp

• RowMemLabel

• RowPropLabel

• RowMem

• RowProp

• Data

Table

Possible values are:

• WhereLabel

• WhereMem

• Header

• Data



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HTML

This feature was introduced in version 7.5, and allows you to emit html tags directly into a web report.

As this could introduce a security risk it must first be enabled by an administrator by editing the setting in

the web.config file.

If enabled, cells whose value starts with "HTML:" will have that prefix removed, and the rest of the textwill then be written directly.

The cell value can be fixed, or dynamically created using a formula.



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iPhone app

Version 6.5 of XLCubed Web provides platform access for the iPad app.

Once reports are published to XLCubed Web, they can be accessed on any device with a compatible

browser, including smartphones and tablets. If reports will primarily be used on iPad it is best to size

them accordingly, however larger reports can still of course be used. The iPad app is designed primarily

around interactive and connected report access. It provides customised report navigation in a similarmodel to Apple’s standard email app, as shown below.

The XLCubed Viewer app is pre-loaded with a connection to our sample Web Edition server, which

provides access to some example reports.



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To set up access to your own Web Server, press the plus (+) on the repository viewer. You then need to

complete the details below.

• Name: The display name which you will see the server as within the app

• URL: The URL path to the web server

•

Domain: The network domain which the web server is running on• UserName: The username you wish to use

• Password: The password

Touch Done when finished.

Once your server has been added, you can browse the Repository and select a report to run.



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There are five icons in the toolbar which provide give extra functionality:

Icon Function

Full page view. Minimises the repository view and displays the report full screen

Add to Favourites. The Repository may contain a large number of reports, but there

may be a relatively small number which you use regularly. These can be added as

Favourites and are then accessible directly on the Favourites tab at the bottom of the

repository viewer

Save local view. This saves the current view of the report as PDF locally on the

device. This can then be viewed offline. Saved files can be accessed on the Saved tab

of the Repository viewer

Switch sheet. This allows switching to different sheets within the report

Refresh. This refreshes the current report

Report Navigation

XLCubed slicers operate in the same way as within the Excel or Web edition of the product for report

selection.

To drill to the next level of detail in a grid, first select the cell. The cell is then highlighted, and pressing it

again will drill down.



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Mobile analytics

From version 7.5 the iPad and Android apps support analytics books.

Once you connect to your web server you will be able to create new reports, providing the web server

itself has also been upgraded to version 7.5.

A new icon (Analytics Report) appears at the top level of the repository browser at the bottom left of the

screen:



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This allows you to create new reports. At the top of the screen (for both Apps) are the Save icon (allows

save to Repository) and the Add New Sheets icons (both highlighted in the screenshots above and

below). You'll need to refresh the Repository to see any new reports you add.



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There are a few interface changes to accommodate using touch in the designer.

• Double click - This is replaced by two taps. The first will highlight the element you

touched, and the second will trigger the relevant action.

• Scrolling the Hierarchy browser - As drag and drop is enabled on this control, you need to

use two fingers to scroll on the device.

• Member selector - There is no Ctrl key for multi select on the iPad, so each tap toggle a

member selection. To clear all selections just tab the Clear icon in the member tree.

•

Right click menus - A long hold will trigger a menu with the same options as right click onthe browser based Web Edition UI.



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Publishing Connections

Connections in the current workbook can be published to an instance of XLCubed Web Edition so

that they can be easily shared with other users:

Click the XLCubed > Web > Publish to Web > Publish Connection... ribbon option or

the XLCubed > Publish Connection... menu option in Excel 2003 and previous Select the connection you wish to publish from the dropdown at the top of the Publish

Connection form

Connect to the server you want to publish to:

o Enter the name of the XLCubed Web Edition server you want to connect to in the

Web site field. This will depend on how you have installed the XLCubed Web

Edition software on your server.

o Click Connect and if connection is successful the folders available on the server will

be displayed in the right hand side of the dialog (Folder to publish to).

Enter the Report details:

o Type in the Name and Description that you want to give the connection. The Namewill appear in the Navigation tree view. The Description will appear in the

Repository on detail pages.

Select where to publish:

o Navigate through the folders on the server to find the location you want by

clicking on the tree on the right-hand side of the Publisher dialog. The connection

will be published to the folder that is currently highlighted.

o Existing connections are also shown in the tree. If an existing connection is

highlighted, then XLCubed will attempt to replace it with the published

connection. Depending on how your Administrator has configured the XLCubed

Web Server it is quite possible that although you may be able to see a folder, youmay not have the required security privileges to actually write (publish) to that

directory. If this is the case a message will be displayed informing you that

publication was not possible and you must select a folder to which you do have

write permission. Contact your System Administrator to discuss permissions

further.

When you click OK , the connection is published.



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Customising web config

There are several settings that administrators can edit in the web.config file to alter the default behaviour

of XLCubedWeb.

If these don't exist in the <appSettings> section they can be added.

StartupReport - Replaced the default startup page with the specified report. The report should

be in the form:

<add key="StartupReport" value="Folder/reportname.xml"/>

CustomHelpUrl - Allows you to direct your users to a custom help portal you have created.

ProgressBarUrl - Sets a custom image for the progress bar.

ProgressBarCss - Custom css class for the progress image. Built in values are "xl3-progress", the

standard position and "xl3-progress-center" which centers the image.

AllowHtmlColon - Allows outputting or raw html into workbooks. True/False.



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Web Parameters

Web parameters are intended to enable XLCubed Web Edition reports to be invoked from other

applications. Using web parameters, it's possible to embed a cell value or an argument for one of the

hierarchies into the URL which is generated for the report. This means any calling application can populate

this parameter, and open the Web Edition report with the required restriction already in place.

Web parameters can be added and existing ones managed by using the Add Web Parameter... and

Manage Web Parameters... dialogs respectively:

In Excel 2003 and below, these can be found on the XLCubed > Web Parameters menu.

Using Web Parameters Example

Click on the cell where you would like the parameterised value to be, and select the Add Web

Parameter...ribbon item

In the dialog, you can give the parameter a name. This name will be used by XLCubed Web Edition to

identify the parameter:

When the report is published, after first opening it, go to the Web Edition homepage. From here, you

can view the defined parameters



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After entering the parameters as required, you can use the Get URL button to generate a link, which

can be used from calling applications:



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Web Repository

The Repository within XLCubed Web Edition lets you explore the reports that have been published. The

Repository is on the left of the page.

The Repository has buttons allowing you to

• Refresh the file list - E.g. when you have published a new report.

• Search the Repository - Use * for wildcard searches.

•



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Connection Mapping

XLCubed Web Edition supports the re-targeting of connections for reports published to the web server.

To enable this feature, the ConnectionMapping.xml file must be created in the XML subfolder of the

XLCubed Web installation folder. This file can contain one or more connectionmap nodes, each of which

must contain a ‘from’ connection definition and a ‘to’ connection definition. After modifying this file, IISmust be restarted.

When a user loads a Report to view, the Web Edition will automatically search for any connections

matching a ‘from’ definition, and replace them with the corresponding todefinition.

The match is done using the Type, Server, Database and Cube of the ‘from’ connection. The ID number

and name for the connection will be left unchanged.



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Example XML file

This example matches connections to the DEVELOPMENT server and replaces them with connections to

the PRODUCTION server.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<connectionmapper>

<connectionmap>

<from>

<connection id="0" name="">

<type>AnalysisServices</type>

<variable type="String" name="server"><value>DEVELOPMENT</value></variable>

<variable type="String" name="database"><value>Demo Database</value></variable>

<variable type="String" name="cube"><value>Demo Cube</value></variable>

<writebacktype>AnalysisServices</writebacktype>

<writebacksetting />

<nodummyrelationalwriteback>0</nodummyrelationalwriteback>

<variable type="Boolean" name="requirespassword"><value>0</value></variable>

<lastconnected>0001-01-01T00:00:00</lastconnected>

<props />

</connection>

</from>

<to>

<connection id="0" name="">

<type>AnalysisServices</type>

<variable type="String" name="server"><value>PRODUCTION</value></variable>

<variable type="String" name="database"><value>Demo Database</value></variable>

<variable type="String" name="cube"><value>Demo Cube</value></variable>

<writebacktype>AnalysisServices</writebacktype>

<writebacksetting />

<nodummyrelationalwriteback>0</nodummyrelationalwriteback> <variable type="Boolean" name="requirespassword"><value>0</value></variable>

<lastconnected>0001-01-01T00:00:00</lastconnected>

<props />

</connection>

</to>

</connectionmap>



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</connectionmapper>



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Dual Authentication

Requirement

There may be some circumstances where you need XLCubedWeb reports to be available via 2 different

authentication methods, for example Windows Authentication for internal users and Basic Authentication

for external users.

Solution

The approach to solve this is to create 2 copies of the XLCubedWeb website and create a shared

repository. With this approach the reports can be published to 1 website, but be immediately available

on both.



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Create copy of website

The first step is to create a copy of the website, for example assuming the default website (set as

windows authentication) is installed in c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb. Copy the entire XLCubedWeb

folder to a new folder (e.g. XLCubed).

Update IIS

The copy website needs to be set up as an application:

1. Open Internet Information Services Manager (inetmgr.exe)

2. Under the Sites node, open the website in which XLCubed Web Edition should be made available

(usually the Default Web Site).

3. Right-click on the new folder (XLCubed) and select Convert to Application.

4. In the Convert to Application dialog, ensure that the XLCubed application pool is selected and, if

necessary, choose the correct path.

5. Change the website authentication method to "Basic" (either using IIS on the XLCubedWeb

configuration application). If using IIS to switch to Basic, ensure the web.config on the new website

is udpated to reflect that: Web.config

You can test the website is working at this stage (although the repository will currently be a static copy)

Share repository

To share the repository between the 2 websites you need to replace the Repository folder with a

"Symbolic Link" using MKLink [1]. To do this:

1. Delete the new repository folder: c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubed\Repository

2. In a Command prompt (with administrative access) navigate to the

website: c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubed

3. Run the following command to create the link:

1. MKLink /D Repository c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\repository

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Web_Edition_Installation_Guide/Version_6.1#Web.config_2



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_symbolic_link







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Scheduling

XLCubed Web Edition can be used to deliver reports to users automatically.

Using a schedule you can define which reports go to which users, and can optionally parameterise the

results. Scheduling maintenance is setup in the browser using this icon:

Concepts

The scheduling module is made up of a few key parts:

SMTP Servers

An SMTP server is a computer that is configured to send emails. You will need to set one up so that

reports can be delivered to your users.

Report Distribution

XLCubed allows two different ways to set up the recipients for a report. The first is ideal for where the

report needs to be sent to just one or two people. Just type in the email addresses and it is ready to go.

The alternative is slightly more complex to set up, but once set up, it is easy to make new reports with the

same recipients. To use this, you set up a Distribution Group, composed of any number of people. To

make it easy to set up the reports as needed, each Group is assigned a Database Role to use and a Locale

to format its numbers and dates. One or more Distribution Groups are assigned to each Distribution List,

so that your scheduled report can be sent to more than one group at once.

Distribution Groups

A Distribution Group defines a set of users by their email addresses. Also associated with this is a locale

for formatting the report (Numbers appear as 1,234.56 or 1.234,56) and a database role to run the report

as.

For example you could define "USA Managers" to run with US formatting under the US role, and have

"German Managers" run with their own settings.

Distribution Lists

A Distribution Lists is a set of Distribution Groups which are linked together so a report goes to all users in

all groups at the same time.

For example you could define "Managers" as a list composed of the USA Managers and the German

Managers, and have reports sent to all of them.



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To illustrate this with an example, imagine that there was a particular report that you needed to send to

managers in the USA, China and Germany. Since the formatting and roles would be different for each

group of managers, you would need a setup something like this:



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Schedules

A Schedule defines:

• which reports get sent

• who they are sent to• when they are sent (once, daily, weekly or monthly, on days of your choosing)

If you wish to have a different set of reports go to different people then this would be a new schedule.



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Picking Reports

When picking a Report to be added the dialog box offers some options.

Parameters

Report parameters are defined in XLCubed Excel edition. You can set fixed values, or pick one of thePlaceholders to be set up when the report is generated.

Roles

Sets the role to run the report as, useful if you have cube security. This setting will be overridden by any

setting made for a Distribution Group.

Attach As

Defines the format of the report to be delivered, either PDF or Excel file.

Placeholders

By entering these custom values as report parameters you can customise the file for each user.

Code Description

%date% Inserts the current date

%time% Inserts the current time%datetime% Inserts the current date and time

%rolename% Inserts the database role or roles that are being used

%groupname% Inserts the name of the distribution group

%email% Inserts the email address of the recipient. Ignored

if %emailtosendto% is also used

%displayname% Inserts the display name of the recipient. Ignored

if %emailtosendto% is also used

%sendiftrue% Triggers sending of the report. May only be used once per report

%emailtosendto% Retrieves a comma-delimited list of email addresses from the report.

May only be used once per schedule

%sendiftrue%

If %sendiftrue%is used the report will be generated normally, but only sent to users if this parameter is

calculated to be TRUE.



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This allows exception reporting, for example, if you had appropriate names defined in Excel, you could set

the formula in the parameter cell to be

=Or(Sales < 1000, Losses > 50)

The report can be published with the exception-detecting cell exposed as a Web Parameter:

This parameter can then be used as the %sendiftrue% parameter when setting up the schedule:

%emailtosendto%

If %emailtosendto%is used, the email addresses defined in the schedule or distribution group will be

ignored, and the addresses retrieved from this parameter instead. The value in the cell may be either one

email address or a comma-delimited list.

Note that this parameter overrides the %email%and %displayname%parameters.

Starting from an Existing Schedule

If the schedule you are trying to create is similar to an existing schedule, you can copy the details into the

new schedule by following these steps:

Click the Add Schedulebutton to create the new schedule

Click the Clone Existingbutton to display the Select a Scheduledialog



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Select the schedule you would like to copy the details from

When you click the OK button, the details are copied into the new schedule

Finding the Scheduling Error Log

The Scheduling error log can be found in the XLCubed Web Edition Repository, under the

xlcubed \ scheduling subfolder. For example, if XLCubed is installed in the standard location, it can be

found here:

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository\_ xlcubed_ \_ scheduling_ \error.log



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Controlling Schedules through SQL

From XLCubed v7.1, you can use a SQL query to populate the recipients of a scheduled report,

and the parameters used when preparing the report itself.

Preparing the SQL Statement

The SQL statement should return one row per report recipient, and columns configured like this:

Email the email address for the recipient of the scheduled report

Role the database role to use when preparing the report

Locale the culture when preparing the report

Parameters any web parameters to use to populate the report



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Configuring the Distribution List to use the SQL Query

• On the web server, open the distributionLists.xmlconfiguration file, found in

the

xlcubed \ scheduling subfolder of the XLCubed Repository

• To each dynamically populated distribution list add:

• a dbConnectionelement, containing the connection string to use to

connect to the database. This can include the User Idand Password

connection properties if appropriate

• a populateQueryelement, containing the SQL statement to run

• Your distributionLists.xmlfile should now contain an element that looks like

this:

<distributionlist guid="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" name="List name">

<dbConnection>DataSource=serverName\instance;Initial Catalog=DBName;User

Id=Username;Password=ThePassword

<populateQuery>ap_GetSchedulingItems</populateQuery>

</distributionlist>

Populating Web Parameters

The columns returned by the SQL statement above can be used as dynamic parameter

placeholders. For example, if we return a column named AccountName, we can now use the

parameter placeholder %AccountName%when configuring the report to use. For more

information about parameter placeholders, see the Scheduling page.



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Sending a Scheduled Report Using Integration Services

In this tutorial, we will set up a Microsoft Integration Services task, which will trigger one or more

scheduled reports. We will assume a pre-existing Analysis Services Processing Task, and one or

more scheduled reports.

Open your existing Integration Services project in Business Intelligence Development Studio. In the Control Flowtab, open the Toolbox and drag a Web Service Taskinto the window.

Set the task to run after the existing Analysis Services Processing Task as normal:

Right-click the new task, and select the Edit...menu option.

On the Generalpage, configure the Web Service details:

o For the HTTPConnection, select New connection....

o The Server URL should be:

http(s)://yourwebserver/XLCubedWeb/WebServices/SchedulingServer.svc?wsdl

o If necessary, set up the credentials and other properties for access to the website:

When successfully tested, click OK to confirm the connection.

Choose a local file path for the WSDLFileproperty, set the OverwriteWSDLFileproperty to True,



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then click Download WSDL.

If desired, choose a Name and Descriptionfor the task.

On the Inputpage, the input boxes should now be available. Select SchedulingServer for the Service,

and RunSchedule for the Method.

For the ScheduleNameSearchPattern either enter the name of the schedule you want to run, or a

simple pattern, using asterisk (*) as the wildcard. For example, to match all schedules with names

starting with PostCubeBuild, enter PostCubeBuild*into the textbox.



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On the Outputpage, select a variable of type Object to store the return value.

The setup is finished. The schedule should run when the preceding tasks have completed



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Installation

Installing the Windows Service

If the installation hasn't already configured the Windows Service, run the InstallService.cmd batch file

located in the Scheduler directory of your XLCubed Web Edition installation.

Feature Permissions

As in the Web Edition installation guide, permissions for access to the Scheduling feature can be set by

granting or revoking access to the Xml\Security\scheduling.xml file in the XLCubed Web

installation folder.

Using the XLCubedWeb Management Console

You can find this configuration tool in the Start Menu of the server, called Configure XLCubed Web Edition.On the Scheduling tab, there are several options that can be used to customise your Scheduling

installation.

Web address

The internal web address that the Scheduling service can use to access XLCubed Web Edition.

Public web address

The external web address that XLCubed Web users use when accessing the application. This is used to

generate report URLs for emailing to users.

Repository path

The physical path to the XLCubed Web Edition repository.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:Web_Configuration_Scheduling.png



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Webservice timeout

The length of time the scheduling service should wait before giving up when rendering reports, in minutes.

The default value is 10 minutes.

Basic authentication

The credentials to use to connect to XLCubed Web Edition to render the reports when Basic authentication

is being used.

Clean repository

Automatically remove previews and unused images.

You may need to restart the XLCubed Scheduling Windows service after changing these properties.

Configuration Files

There are two sets of configuration files for the Scheduling Service.

XLCubed.Scheduling.Service.exe.config in the Scheduler directory of your XLCubed

Web Edition installation. This should be automatically populated with the correct values, and will only

need modification if the website or repository are subsequently manually moved, or if the XLCubed

Web Edition server uses a non-default Authentication mode.

The schedules and other configuration files for the Scheduling Service in the XLCubed Web Repository

folder, in the __xlcubed__\__scheduling__ subfolder. It is normal for there to be no files until

schedules or other configuration parameters have been set up.

Authentication Mode

The Scheduling service is set up to use Windows Integrated authentication by default. To use Basic

authentication instead, edit the XLCubed.Scheduling.Service.exe.config file, changing

the AuthenticationType line to Basic and fill in the user name and password below it. (XLCubed Web

Edition v6.5.014 and higher). This account should have permission to access the XLCubed Web Edition

instance, as well as any repository folders required for scheduling.

Using the Role Selector

When configuring schedules and distribution groups, the Scheduling configuration screens can offer a list

of relevant roles available on the server. In order for this to work, Microsoft's Analysis Management

Objects must be installed. This can be found here, included in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Management

Objects Collection: Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP4.

Configuring the Windows Service

The Service Identity

By default, the Scheduling Service runs under the Local System account. This allows it to have access to the

necessary files, webservices and resources it needs to run reports and send emails. However, to use the

Roles feature, a new identity must be chosen that is allowed to use all the roles that will be used. For

simplicity, this can be an OLAP Administrator.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=11988






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Starting the Windows Service

The Scheduling Service can be managed just like any other Windows Service. You can start it by running

the StartService.cmd batch file located in the Scheduler directory of your XLCubed Web Edition installation or

by using the Services control panel.

Other considerations and Troubleshooting

Virus and Malware Scanners

The Scheduling Service will need access to:

its configuration files, detailed above,

the XLCubed Web Edition web services, via HTTP or HTTPS,

the SMTP server where emails are to be sent.

PDF Problems

The scheduled reports may suffer from problems as described on this page, even when PDF printing worksfor normal users. Note that the permissions on the Temp folder must be set for the Scheduling service

user.

SendTimeout too short

If the SendTimeout on the relevant XLCubed Web Edition webservice is set too low, then an error similar to

this one can be reported in the scheduling error log:

System.TimeoutException: The request channel timed out while waiting for a reply after00:00:58.0399638.

By default, this timeout is set to 1 minute. In order to change this setting, use the Configure XLCubed WebEdition start menu utility to set the timeout to a larger value. You will need to restart the XLCubed Scheduling

service after making any changes. Please note that this setting is available from version 7.2.37.0.

MessageSecurityException occurs when sending a Scheduled Report

The following exception may be recorded in the scheduling error log or in a failure email:

System.ServiceModel.Security.MessageSecurityException: The HTTP request is unauthorized with

client authentication scheme 'Ntlm'. The authentication header received from the server was

'Negotiate,NTLM'. ---> System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (401)

Unauthorized.

This issue can occur from Windows Server 2003 SP1 onwards, as described in this Microsoft Support

article (926642). To resolve the issue, the DWORD Value DisableLoopbackCheck registry value can be filled

in with the value 1. This registry value can be found, or should be created, here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Scheduling#Finding_the_Scheduling_Error_Log






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You may also need to follow the instructions found in this Microsoft Support article (281308) to

disable strict name checking.

Alternatively, this exception may be recorded:

System.ServiceModel.Security.MessageSecurityException: The HTTP request is unauthorized with

client authentication scheme 'Ntlm'. The authentication header received from the server was

'Basic realm="localhost"'. ---> System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error:

(401) Unauthorized.

This issue may occur if the XLCubedWeb server and the Scheduling service are configured to use different

authentication schemes.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book V – Dimension Slicers

Book V - Dimension Slicers

Dimension slicers simplify the process of creating cube dynamic drop downs. Five display options are

provided:

From left to right and top to bottom we have Treeview, Combo Box, Buttons, List Box and lastly Member

Selector slicer (this allows efficient access to more advanced functionality, for example, searching).

Grid Slicers

To add a slicer to a grid, right-click on the relevant dimension member, and choose XLCubed and then

Add Slicer . Note that grid slicers can be positioned where required, and are not restricted to the grid

area.

The default will be an in-cell treeview with the last active member selected. Once inserted, right click on

the slicer and choose Edit for configuration and design options. Choose the required slicer display type,

and then, using the member selector on the right, choose the set of members to enable selection from.

These can be either static lists of members, or dynamic selections such as children, descendants at level,

Level x or even ranked lists etc.

Note that the slicer content can also be driven from an Excel cell (e.g. Children of E11). A slicer which has

been added to an individual grid can be used as the selection mechanism for multiple grids through the

Grid Links Dialog. It can also update a specified range with the uniquename of the member chosen, which

could for example be used as the argument for XL3Lookup formulae.

Standalone Slicers

A standalone slicer can also be added using the slicer button on the Ribbon. Here the required hierarchy is

chosen from the list of available hierarchies, and dragged into the Slicer Hierarchy control. From that point

the setup is the same as with Grid Slicers.



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Standalone slicers will need to be manually linked into grids as required. This is done by selecting the slicer

in the member selector form:

Alternatively you could use them to drive other XLCubed or Excel formulae and then other

reports/query tables.



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Member Selector Slicer

The Member Selector slicer is a space efficient control which gives full access to the member selector and

search functionality. From the Slicer tab on the XLCubed ribbon:

Insert a hierarchy slicer, choose your hierarchy and select the slicer type as highlighted below:

Click OK to return to your workbook and you will see the slicer similar to:

Click on the ellipsis and the Member Selector will be displayed, allowing you to run some of the Advanced

Member functionality such as searching.



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Date Slicer

Date Slicers can be based on an Excel range, or direct from SQL. This example shows you how to use it

from Excel, but a SQL statement which returns the same result set format can also be used.

The first thing to do is to set up two Excel cells to hold the date range. We have a start date and an end

date in cell locations B1 and B2 as below:

Next you insert an Excel slicer from the Slicer tab

You will see Insert Slicer Window displayed.

Set the Slicer Range to point to the Start Date and End Date (cells B1:B2 in thisexample)

Select the Date Slicer type

Check the box to Update Range With Selection and enter a cell location. This will be where the date

selected will be held. The date selected is displayed as the serial number equivalent so that the user

can then choose to format the date as they need.



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Click OK to exit

Click the drop-down on the slicer and XLCubed will display a calendar control which can be

navigated between the specified start and end dates.

Click a date to select it and it will be written as the Excel serial number equivalent to the cell location

defined in Update Range With Selection.

You can then choose to format this by using the Excel TEXT function eg =TEXT(E1,"dd-mm-yyyy").

You can also include a third cell in your Slicer Range as Selection Type eg Day, Month or Year. Valid

selections are D, M or Y. Day is taken to be the default selection type and is the default display mode if no

selection type if specified.



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So let's change the slicer range to also include B3 (which holds our selection type) and click OK.

Set B3 to M and now when you click the drop-down box you will be able to pick only months between the

range specified:

Similarly change the type to D for day and Y for Y:



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Updating Excel Ranges

You can set up a slicer to output the selected item(s) to an Excel range which can then be used to drive

formula reports. If you have multi-select turned on then you should select a range instead of a single cell.

One selected item will be put into each output cell.

You can then use the XL3Member formula to reference the output range, and run XL3Lookup formulae

off of this. Setting two or more slicers to output to the same range will keep the slicers "in-sync" with

each other, so updating one of the slicers will also update the others.

Excel Range Slicers

In the scenario where a Slicer needs to be used to allow the selection of an item from a range of cells,

then have the corresponding selection passed to another report as a parameter, Excel range driven

slicers can be useful.

The screenshot below shows a selection list containing two continents and some of their children, each

with a corresponding region code. When the user selects a region, its corresponding region code shouldbe displayed.

This can be done through an XLCubed slicer. Create a slicer as follows:

Select the XLCubed > Slicer > Excel ribbon item.



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Set the Slicer range to =$A$1:$C$7. This range of cells contains three columns: the region code,

the caption, and the depth to be used for each item. The depth only applies to the treeview-style

slicer; select it here.

In the Properties section, check Update range with selection, select First Column and enter the

cell location where you want the country code to be displayed. In our example it is B11.



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The Slicer is created using the selections that we have chosen:



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When the user clicks on a slicer option, in this case France, its corresponding country code is

displayed in cell B11.

Members with no data / Non empty

By default XLCubed will not offer you members which have no data. You can change this behaviour so

that all members are returned by turning off the remove empty button, shown below:

Cascading and Advanced Slicers

Slicers have a filter area in their definition, which can be used to restrict the members returned based on

the presence of data. The example below shows the design for a slicer for Product Model Categories

which is being filtered on Geography based on what has been selected in the slicer at Sheet1!$C$3.



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In this example, the selections made by the user in the Geography slicer will cascade into the available

selections within this Product Model Categories slicer, and create an intelligent linked and data-dynamic

set of available report selections for the user.

Cascading slicers can also be configured within one hierarchy, where a user choice made at a higher

level restricts the secondary slicer selections to children of or descendants at level x . This is shown inthe example below for the Geography hierarchy.



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In this case the cascade is achieved by selecting the initial (country Level) slicer within the Geography

hierarchy, and then choosing Descendants at City .

Slicers can also be defined as a dynamic filter or ranking. To achieve this, the slicer content is defined as

an advanced selection, and the ranking, filter or sort is defined here, as shown below.

In this case the Product Model Categories filter content is restricted by Geography in the filter area, which

is in turn based on another slicer selection. The members to display are then defined in the advanced

dialog as the lowest level members where sales are over 400 units and sorted descending.



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Initial Value

When you create an XLCubed slicer under the Settings tab, you are now able to include an initial value

which can be any of the following:

• Current Selection: sets the value of the slicer as when the report was published

• First Selection: sets the value of the slicer to be the first in the list of possible selections

• Last Selection: sets the value of the slicer to be the last in the list of possible selections

• Default Member: sets the value of the slicer to be the default member - usually the All member

• Range: sets the value of the slicer to be whatever the cell value is in the range location defined

Version 7.5 allows multiple source cells for multi-select slicers and also includes a new option for when to

apply the initial selection, these are:

• Selection becomes invalid: the default for new slicers, when the current member selection

becomes invalid then the initial selection will be applied

• Report Opens: the default for existing pre-V7.5 slicers, the initial selection is only applied



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when the report first opens

• Available items change: the initial selection will be applied if the available members changes

(even if the current selection is in the new list of slicers)

Disabling Slicers

If you show the title bar, you can optionally add a disable button to the slicer.

Clicking this will toggle whether or not the slicer filters objects it is linked to. This means a slicer can

easily be turned off to return all results. If the slicer is outputs to a range then that range will be cleared.

Wait for Submit on Web

With XLCubed Version 7.5 there is a new option for "Wait for Submit on Web".

This allows several slicers to be changed and rather than the report refreshing for each change it will wait

for the user to submit the selection either by click the Submit toolbar button or by using a "Submit"

XL3Link or Pictures Links.

This also removes the individual "Submit" button from multi-select slicers.

Use query restrictions for children (new in v7.6)

For tree slicers, the default behaviour is to show all children when expanding a member. By checking this

option you can restrict the children using the same query used for the initial member list.

This is most useful when restricting the tree to show only members with data, as the non-empty will be

applied to the children as the tree is expanded.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book VI – Ranking, Sorting and Filtering

Book VI - Ranking, Sorting and Filtering

XLCubed provides two modes of Ranking: Hierarchy Ranking and Axis Ranking.

Hierarchy mode is accessed through the Advanced tab on the member selector for the relevant hierarchy.

The following tutorial shows how to use Hierarchy Ranking to filter, sort and rank using different members

of a Cube. It uses the Internet Sales cube.

Axis Mode is a different approach to Ranking, Filtering and Sorting, and can be thought of as result set

ranking.



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Simple Filtering

Let's say we want to find the products at Product Keylevel that sold more than 25 units in 2003, Quarter 1

and show the sales figures for those subcategories during 2003and its quarters.

Start by clicking the Grid ribbon item (or the XLCubed > Design Grid menu item in Excel 2003

and below), and selecting the Internet Sales cube file

Drag Calendar Period to Columns and Product to Rows. You can also drag any other

hierarchies to Headers. In the example image below, Measures and Customer have been

added there.

Click on the Product hierarchy so that its details appear in the bottom-right panel.

Drag the Product Keylevel over to the right of the dialog. You can switch between the

members view and levels view by clicking on the Show Levels icon

Click the Advanced tab to show the advanced selection pane:



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Click the Members dropdown and choose Filter result:

Click the Calendar Period edit control in the grid to change its selection to the desired

member (2003, Quarter 1):



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Select the This measure radio button, and select Order Quantity as the desired measure.

Change the Operation to >, and type 25 in the edit field on the right:

Click OK. The new filter is displayed in the advanced selections tab:

Click OK again to run the Report – the Grid shows the members that fit our criteria:



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Sorting on a different dimension

Now let's sort the report in descending order of the Q1 sales:

Display the Hierarchy Editor for the Product hierarchy by double-clicking on the Productlabel in

the Grid If it’s not already visible select the Advanced tab

Click the Sort result toolbar button

Change the Calendar Periodselection to 2003, Quarter 1:

Click the Sort Descending (9-1) radio button

Click OK. The new sort is displayed in the advanced selections tab

Click OK again to run the Report

(As of version 7.2 you can set the sort direction to a range. In this case desc or descending

will set the sort to descending, otherwise it will be ascending.



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Combining Ranking, Filtering and Sorting

Now let's add a ranking to find the bottom 8 selling products at the Product Keylevel that have sold more

than 25 units in Q1:

Display the ProductHierarchy Editor dialog

Click the Rank result icon

on the advanced selections tab to display the Edit Ranking dialog

Select the Bottom radio button, and type 8into the edit field

Select 2003, Quarter 1 for the Calendar Period hierarchy in the grid below:

Run the Grid: only the lowest 8 members are returned



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Sorting slicer elements

Let's sort the slicer elements so that they appear sorted in ascending order

Right-click on slicer and select Edit

Select Advanced tab and then choose to Sort Result.

Click the drop-down by Sort Asc and Edit Sort.

Select Sort Ascending(A-Z) and then OK.



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Sorting by sub-category within category

The grid report below is based on the Bicycle Sales cube and it shows a measure called value in 2002

against the three bicycle product groups: Allround, Mountain and Road.

We then include the sub-category into the report and you can see the bicycle models appearing

as a list beneath the bicycle product groups.



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We would like to sort the grid members so that the categories, Allround, Mountain and Road are

sorted by the current measure (value). We also want the sub-categories of bicycle models to be

sorted on the same measure within that first sort.

This is achieved by editing the member selector and making sure all members to be reported are

included.

Click on Advanced and select Sort or click drop-down on Member button and select Sort

Result.

In the following window you need to choose whether you are sorting the measure in ascending or

descending order. It is also important to check the Keep children under parent box. Click OK twice

to save changes.



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• You will see the grid has refreshed and sorted in ascending order of value of sales of the category as

well as value of sales of the sub-category.

Allround sales are the lowest, followed by Road and then Mountain with highest. Within each of these

categories, the individual model sales are ranked in ascending order showing that, for example, within the

Allround category, Scenario W7000 has the lowest sales, whilst Scenario W6000 has the highest sales.



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Excluding members from a report

It is very simple to exclude members from your XLCubed reports. Here we have a simple grid which

shows lowest level descendants of Promotions on rows and Geography on columns.

We would like to rank this report and also exclude the Promotion No Discount which is not really adding

any value to the report.

Edit the Promotions hierarchy and set up the exclusion of the No Discount Promotion.

Click the Advanced tab and then the Add Member List icon and you will see a window as below:



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Now click the drop-down on the right-hand side member list and select Edit. This will allow us to

edit the member set:

We are going to exclude No Discount so select it and drag it across.



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Next we need to choose one of the following operations to perform on our two member lists:

o Add: left and right sides combined

o Common: must exist on left and right side

o Subtract: left side minus right side

We will select the subtract operator and click OK.



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Let's rank these Promotions based on the current measure, Reseller Sales Amount:



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The Promotions hierarchy has now been edited to exclude No Discount and then ranked.

• Our report now looks like this:

As you can see the report now excludes No Discount row and has been ranked to show the top 10

Promotions across All Geographies.

Driving Reports from Excel As well as the normal ability to drive member selections from Excel ranges, you can also drive other

parameters.

Ranking – Count: Sets the number of items to be returned. (Any number)

Ranking - Type (v7.5 onwards): Set whether to return the top or bottom n elements. (Valid values are



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top or bottom)

Filter – Operator: How to compare the measure when filtering. (Valid values are >, >=, <, <=, =, <>)

Sorting – Direction: Allows you to reverse the order as required. (Valid values are asc, ascending, desc,

descending)



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Axis Ranking

XLCubed provides two modes of Ranking: Hierarchy Ranking and Axis Ranking.

Hierarchy mode is accessed through the Advanced tab on the member selector for the relevant hierarchy.

In this model, the ranking is contained within the hierarchy itself, so that if you move the hierarchy from

rows to columns, the ranking is then applied on columns. The screenshot below shows a grid displaying

the top 5 Products for CY2004. On the right, Geography has been added to rows, so that the Product

hierarchy is nested within Geography.

As the top 5 ranking has been added to the Product Model Categories hierarchy, we now get the top 5

products for each split of the Geography hierarchy.

Axis Ranking, Filtering and Sorting

Axis Mode is a different approach to Ranking, Filtering and Sorting, and can be thought of as result set

ranking. Here the ranking is applied to an entire axis. So for example if you apply a top 5 ranking while

Geography is on rows you get the top 5 Geographies, but if you switch Geography with Product, you willget the top 5 Products without having to apply the ranking. Where you have two hierarchies on the axis,

the result will be the top 5 intersections between the two hierarchies, as shown below.

Axis ranking is applied through XLCubed’s right-click menu, and is based from the column header, not



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from within a specific hierarchy. Right-click on the column header that you wish to rank (in our example

you would right-click on CY 2004) and then select XLCubed, Apply, ranking, Top x Rows. You can see that

Top 10 and Bottom 10 appear as options. If you wish to rank any other count you select Top x Rows/

Bottom x Rows and you will be prompted to enter a figure.

You will notice that the first member on the right-hand hierarchy has a little red indicator in the corner,

see screenshot below:



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If you hover over this cell it displays an informational message that the rows are being ranked and that you

can right-click to edit axis or clear the axis ranking.



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Clear All: Use this option to clear all axis ranking options.



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Edit axis: You will be presented with the window below showing the current ranking setting. You can click

the drop-down box to amend this if necessary.

The excluded slices tab allows you to remove certain members from your report.

To add an exclusion list:

To clear all current exclusions:

We will add France to our excluded slices list. We select the Geography hierarchy and then in the

Selection area choose France. When we click OK France appears in the top half of the window as a

member to exclude.



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The report is refreshed and you can see that France has been removed from the report



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Outlier Grouping

Outlier groupings allow you to display a subset of the selected members grouped together into a

common set, often called "Others".

You can select the criteria to define what is grouped and give the group a name.

Ranking

The simplest example is using a Ranking. Normally we return the top 10 members, but we may also want a

summary of the items not displayed.

We start with a long list of products:

If we add a normal ranking we get the top 10, but lose the other products which may be significant:



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Instead we will remove the ranking and add an Outlier Grouping.



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In this dialog we will just use the default top 10 ranking, although we could also group by value (Filter), or

chose certain members that will go into the group.

This results in the following grid:



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Note that we choose "Keep these members separate". We could change this and select "Group these

members" to have the top 10 grouped, and all other members shown as normal.



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User driven grouping

In this example we will have members picked, and allow the user to select which go into the "Others"

group by selecting some of them in a slicer.

We start with a simple grid listing the Sales Territories. We would like the user to be able to select some of

the territories, and have those go into the "Others" group. The remainder will be displayed as normal.

This is the initial setup with the slicer not linked to anything

We open the member selector for Sales Territory and add the Outlier Grouping. The settings here are to

group "Specific members", and to "Group these members".

All that is left to do is define the members in the grouping, so we simply pick the slicer we already have.

The end result is a slicer allowing the user to dynamically group the results.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book VII - SQL

Book VII - SQL

Relational reporting in XLCubed is handled through Tables and Slicers.

There are two levels of SQL reporting user in XLCubed, with differing levels of design access. This providesa controlled level of SQL reporting to non-technical users, giving access to SQL-based data without the risk

of allowing free access to designing their own queries.

Administrators: can create new connections and design new SQL queries from scratch

using the Query designer. Administrator users can also publish pre-built queries to

XLCubed Web Edition, for use by standard users.

Standard Users: have no SQL designer access, but can use pre-published SQL queries

from the SQL report library on XLCubed Web.



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SQL Server 2012

In SQL Server 2012 Microsoft introduced the BI Semantic Model - "BISM". BISM encompasses the

different deployment options for Business Intelligence within SQL Server 2012. The highest level choice is

between Multi-dimensional Analysis Services and Tabular. Multi-dimensional is the latest incarnation of

the hierarchical

Analysis Services model which has been in widespread use since SQL Server 2000, and was heavily

revised in SQL 2005 and 2008. Tabular is a new deployment option specific to SQL 2012 and basedaround tables rather than hierarchies.

MDX is the query language of hierarchical cubes, and continues to be used to query SQL 2012 Multi-

dimensional. It can also be used to query Tabular models which have been deployed to the xVelocity

(previously VertiPaq) in-memory engine within Analysis Services. So Tabular models which have been

deployed this way can be queried by any MDX generating client tool (by and large anything which could

connect to Analysis Services previously), or also through the DAX language.

Tabular models can also be deployed using Direct Query mode, but these can only be queried through

DAX, and not MDX. In terms of the native client tools for SQL 2012, Pivot Tables use MDX, and PowerView

uses DAX. To connect to all the BISM deployment modes you would need both Pivot Tables and

PowerView. XLCubed felt users would benefit from a consistent experience whichever flavour of BISM was

being accessed, and so version 7 can query using MDX or DAX (with the new table object). The diagram

below outlines this.



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SQL Administrators

SQL Administrators are responsible for creating connections and queries for all relational reporting in theorganisation. These connections and queries can then be distributed to Standard SQL Users in one of two

ways:

• Distribution of workbooks

• Publication of queries using XLCubed Web Edition

Once distributed either in workbook form or via XLCubed Web Edition, the connections and queries

become read-only to standard users, though any parameters provided in the query will still be editable.

SQL Administrators will continue to be able to modify the queries.

Standard SQL Users

Standard SQL Users have no SQL designer access, and are only able to consume relational reports designed

for them by

SQL Administrators. Connections and queries can be made available to them in two ways:

• Distribution of workbooks

• Publication of queries using XLCubed Web Edition (see this article for more detailed instructions)

Once distributed either in workbook form or via XLCubed Web Edition, the connections and queries

become read-only to standard users, though any parameters provided in the query will still be editable.



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SQL Data Tables (Administrators)

XLCubed can query your relational databases directly. Similar to Grids, the relational query can be

seamlessly built into an interactive report using SQL Slicers and dynamic Excel ranges.

Inserting a SQL Data Table

Select the XLCubed > Grids & Tables > SQL... button from the XLCubed ribbon

Select the type of connection you want to create - for this example we are using Microsoft SQL

Server:

Type the server name and select the authentication type with which to connect.



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Click Connect and you should then see all the databases on the server to which you have

access. Select the desired database and click OK to continue.

Select the destination cell for your statement and then build up your query by dragging

tables and views into the main tab.

As you pick the fields you will see the SQL statement build up in the lower half of the

screen. You may also type the SQL statement directly. Click OK when finished.

The SQL table will be inserted at the point you selected.



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Using Parameters

When designing a query, parameters will be automatically discovered by XLCubed and made available for

editing. The parameter values can be supplied as a static value, pulled in from an Excel range, or driven by

a SQL Slicer.

Using Stored Procedures

Data-returning stored procedures can be used with SQL data tables. When designing the query, use the

EXECcommand to run the desired stored procedure. As with SQL queries using parameters above, when

Stored Procedures with parameters are used, XLCubed will automatically detect the parameters when

they are typed in the query. For example:

• Enter the command in the query designer:

EXEC MyStoredProcedure @Param1, @Param2

• The parameters appear in the parameters grid on the left of the form

Publishing Queries

Relational queries can be published for reuse by all users. To do this:

When you are satisfied with your query, click the Publish Query toolbar button at the top of

the designer:

Type the address of the XLCubed Web Edition site and click the Connect button

Select a folder to publish the query to, give it a name and optionally a more verbosedescription

Click OK to publish the query

Alternatively, select the XLCubed > Web > Publish to Web > Publish SQL Query... ribbon item or the

XLCubed > Publish SQL Query... menu item in Excel 2003 and lower, and select the item you would like to

publish.

The query will now be available to both SQL Administrators and Standard SQL Users, for data tables andSlicers. Standard users will not be able to edit the query, but will be able to edit any parameters defined

when it was published.

To quickly insert a new data table based on the query:

Select the XLCubed > Favourites > Published SQL Queries... button from the XLCubed ribbon



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Type the address of the XLCubed Web Edition site and click the Connect button

Select the desired query

Click OK to insert the table



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SQL Data Tables (Standard Users)

Inserting a SQL Data Table

Select the XLCubed > Insert Data Table > SQL... button from the XLCubed ribbon.

Enter the name of the XLCubed web site to connect to:



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Select the desired query and click OK to continue:

If applicable, enter the parameters you wish to use.

The SQL table will be inserted at the point you selected.



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Using Parameters

When inserting a query, parameters will be automatically discovered by XLCubed and made available for

editing. The parameter values can be supplied as a static value, pulled in from an Excel range, or driven bya SQL Slicer.



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SQL Slicers (Administrators)

Introduction

SQL slicers allow you to take data and metadata from your relational data sources (for example, SQL

Server) and use it to easily make selections on linked reports.



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Using Slicers for Table Parameters

To automatically add a linked Slicer:

Select XLCubed > Edit Parameters... from the table's right-click menu

Select <Add new slicer> or <Add published slicer> from the dropdown for the parameter

you would like to drive using a slicer:

Create or select the query to use to return the ID, caption and depth columns. The first column

will be used as the parameter; the second will be displayed in the Slicer itself. If you have

selected a treeview-style slicer, the depth column will control the item's depth.

Select a range to insert the Slicer

When you accept the dialogs, the new Slicer will be available for input



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Standalone Slicers

As with Dimension Slicers, standalone slicers can be added using the XLCubed > Slicer > SQL... ribbon

button. These can be used to place their output into an Excel range, or can be linked to one or more SQL

data tables, as described above.

Tree Slicers for Hierarchical Data

Data returned from a relational database can be displayed in a hierarchical form using tree slicers. More

information on how to construct these are in the following example.

Constructing a Tree Slicer for SQL

As for Excel Range Slicers, SQL Slicers can also allow users to select items in a familiar tree style. The key is

to have three columns returned by the SQL query:

ID column

Caption column

Tree level column

Any additional columns will be ignored.

In this example, we will use Microsoft's Adventure Works demo relational database, and the DimProduct,

DimProductSubcategory and DimProductCategory tables, which will be familiar to users of the Adventure

Works cube as the Product dimension sources.

1. After making a connection to the Adventure Works relational database, you should enter a query tobring back the three columns listed above:



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2. This query can be used for this case:

SELECT

'c' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p3.ProductKey) AS Id

, p3.EnglishProductName AS Caption

, 4 AS TreeLevel

, p1.EnglishProductCategoryName + p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName +

p3.EnglishProductName AS Ordering

FROM dbo.DimProduct p3

JOIN dbo.DimProductSubcategory p2

ON p3.ProductSubcategoryKey = p2.ProductSubcategoryKey

JOIN dbo.DimProductCategory p1

ON p1.ProductCategoryKey = p2.ProductCategoryKey

UNION ALL

SELECT

'b' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p2.ProductSubcategoryKey) AS Id



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, p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName AS Caption

, 3 AS TreeLevel

, p1.EnglishProductCategoryName + p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName AS

Ordering

FROM dbo.DimProductSubcategory p2

JOIN dbo.DimProductCategory p1

ON p1.ProductCategoryKey = p2.ProductCategoryKey

UNION ALL

SELECT

'a' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p1.ProductCategoryKey) AS Id

, p1.EnglishProductCategoryName AS Caption

, 2 AS TreeLevel

, p1.EnglishProductCategoryName AS Ordering

FROM dbo.DimProductCategory p1

ORDER BY Ordering

There are a few points to note about this particular query:

The three columns mentioned above are the first three columns to appear in the query

There is a fourth column that doesn't affect the slicer output, but is used by the query to order

its output

The key column gives an initial letter (a, b or c) to indicate the level selected, followed by a

number giving the key

3. The tree type should then be selected in the Insert Slicer dialog:



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4. This gives the following output:

5. If the Update range with selection property is selected, and the First column option chosen, then

the composite key that was mentioned above will be output to the cell. This can then be simply

parsed with Excel formulae, for example (assuming the output cell is A1):

Level

=IF(LEFT(A1,1)="a","Category",IF(LEFT(A1,1)="b","Subcategory",IF(LEFT(A1,1)="c","Product","Unkn

own")))

Id=MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)-1)



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SQL Slicers (Standard Users)

Introduction

SQL slicers allow you to take data and metadata from your relational data sources (for example, SQL

Server) and use it to easily make selections on linked reports.

Five display options are provided:

Using Slicers for Table Parameters

To automatically add a linked Slicer:

Select XLCubed > Edit Parameters... from the table's right-click menu

Select <Add published slicer> from the dropdown for the parameter you would like to drive

using a slicer:

Select the query to use to return the ID, caption and depth columns. The first column will be

used as the parameter, the second will be displayed in the slicer itself. If you have selected a

treeview-style slicer, the depth column will control the item’s depth.

Select a range to insert the slicer

When you accept the dialogs the new slicer will be available for input.



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Standalone Slicers

As with Dimension slicers, standalone slicers can be added using the XLCubed > Slicer > SQL…. ribbon

button. These can be used to place their output into an Excel range or can be linked to one or more SQL

data tables, as described above.

Driving a SQL connection from an Excel range

The relational connection used by Tables and other objects can be driven from a range.

To do this, when creating the connection:

1. Type a valid connection string into an Excel cell, for example:

Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=localhost;Initial

Catalog=AdventureWorksDW;Trusted_Connection=Yes2. Select the Custom OLEDB Connection option from the connection type

dropdown:

3. Click the Select Range button

4. Select the cell you typed the connection string into in step 1

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:Dynamic_SQL_Connection.png



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Using SQL Parameters

Creating SQL Parameters

When editing the SQL query, the SQL Administrator can create parameters that can later be edited by

Standard SQL Users.

To create the parameter, type the SQL query as usual, but substitute @paramNameto create a parameter

named paramName. The parameter can then be edited by clicking on the Parameters grid. The following

screenshot shows a parameter named @pAccTypecreated in the Parameters grid:

These parameters can then set them from several different data sources, shown below.

Static Values

To use a single, static value in a SQL report, the value can be typed in directly:



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Values from an Excel range

To drive the Table or Slicer from an Excel range, click the select range button:

Select a range in the dialog that appears, and the range reference will appear in the parameters grid:



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Values from a Slicer

You can either select an existing Slicer or create a new one.

Selecting an Existing Slicer

If a Slicer already exists in the workbook, you may select it directly in the Edit Parameters dialog:

Creating a New Slicer

If no appropriate Slicer exists, you may create a new one.

In the Edit Parameters dialog, select the <Add new slicer> option:

Select the published slicer query (or, for SQL Administrators, design your query):



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When you click OK you will have the opportunity to select any parameters if applicable, and to

select a location for the new Slicer.

Passing multiple values (using the ‘IN’ clause)

As of Version 7.6 you can pass multiple values to a parameter. To do this simply tick the Multi Value

checkbox and select either an Excel range, or a multi-select slicer.

You must only pass one parameter to the IN clause, which will be expanded when the query is run.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book VIII - Tables

Book VIII - Tables

XLCubed tables can be inserted from several sources:

SQL data sources

Multidimensional

Tabular cubes

Once the table has been inserted, several features are available which apply to all tables.

SQL

Relational reporting in XLCubed is handled through Tables and Slicers.

There are two levels of SQL reporting user in XLCubed, with differing levels of design access. This provides

a controlled level of SQL reporting to non-technical users, giving access to SQL-based data without the risk

of allowing free access to designing their own queries.

Administrators: can create new connections and design new SQL queries from scratch

using the Query designer. Administrator users can also publish pre-built queries to

XLCubed Web Edition, for use by standard users.

Standard Users: have no SQL designer access, but can use pre-published SQL queries

from the SQL report library on XLCubed Web

Please see Book VII – SQL for more details

Multidimensional Table Designer

This designer allows you to create an XLCubed table from an Analysis Services cube. This can be useful for

list style reporting.

When compared to grids, these reports are easier for new users to create, but offer less functionality and

interactivity.

Designer

After selecting a cube to report on, you will be presented with a simple designer with three areas.

On the left is a list of the hierarchies in the cube. There can be dragged to the center section to includethem as a column in the table. Individual members can be picked to restrict the rows returned.

Finally the Measures section allows you to select the numbers you'd like to see for each row. These are

displayed after the columns for the hierarchies.



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SQL data sources



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TabularSQL Server 2012 Tabular models can be deployed either in-memory to the xVelocity engine, or using Direct

Query mode. Any MDX client tool can access Tabular models deployed to xVelocity. If the model is

deployed using Direct Query mode, they can only be queried through DAX, and not MDX. XLCubed version

7 can use both MDX and DAX, and so can access any of the BI deployment modes available in SQL 2012.

The diagram below outlines this.

The new Table object in XLCubed can connect to Analysis Services cubes (MDX), Tabular Models (DAX), or relational

SQL (SQL). The DAX tables provide access to all Tabular models in SQL 2012.

Grids

Grids can be used against In-Memory cubes, and all the standard XLCubed functionality can be accessed.

See the normal Analysis Services pages for information on how to use these features, they function

consistently with Multidimensional cubes.

Tables

Tables provide a simple way of querying a tabular model. All of the standard functionality provided by

XLCubed tables can be used.

Insert a table by going to the XLCubed ribbon and selecting Insert Data Table -> Analysis Services Tabular

This will allow you to select a connection to a Tabular cube, and bring up the report designer.



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Slicers

Slicers give users simple to use pick lists which can be used to filter reports.

By adding a slicer based on Tabular Analysis Services you create a slicer that can be linked directly to a

Table

As with standard cube slicers, you can restrict the members shown to those with data by putting a

measure into the Filters section.

The following slicer gives all the years for which there is Sales data.

Hierarchies

As of Version 7.6 XLCubed supports tabular hierarchies, provided the server is on SSAS2012 SP1 or above.

Hierarchies can be used in two ways:

Placed on the Filter area - you get a treeview to select the report filter.

This can also be linked to a treeview slicer if required.

Placed on the Selected Columns area - you can drill into the data by double clicking a value, and drill

back up by double clicking the column header.

Calculations

You can create new DAX calculations for your report without updating the cube.

These calculations are stored with the workbook, and are available from any grid, table or formula in the

book. Click the DAX button (highlighted) to create a new calculation, and then use the controls on the right



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to select:

• Table the measure will appear in

• Name for the measure

• Formula to define the measure

You can drag tables, columns and measures from the tree on the left into the formula area to insert theirnames.



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Tabular Designer

The tabular designer allows you to automatically create table reports against Analysis Services cubes in the

DAX language.

These are simpler to create than a Grid, and can run against In-Memory or DirectQuery cubes. (Grids

cannot query DirectQuery Cubes)

Report layout

The tabular report designer is split into three parts.

First is the database browser, which allow you to see the Tables, Columns and Measures which exist.

Next is the report layout section, where you can specify the columns and measures on filters (above thetable) and in the table.

Finally is the criteria area. Here you can select the members retrieved, and filter the rows based on

measure values.

By dragging columns or measures into the "Filters" and "Selected Columns" areas you can specify the table

layout.



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Member filters

When selecting a column you can chose only to return rows for specific members.

To select a member, drag it from the left to the right panel. You can also add selections based on Excel

cells and XLCubed Slicers.

If you have a lot of values in the columns, you can use the search box to find members you are interested

in.



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Measure filters

If you select a measure you can add a filter to include only values that fit the criteria you want. These can

come from an Excel cell if required.



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Table Properties

Behaviour

General

Title: The title of the Table, displayed in dialogs and menus whenever the Table is referred to.

Formatting

Resize columns/rows after refresh: Automatically adjust the columns and rows to fit the data.

Apply formatting: Override formats on the Table, or let you manage them manually.

Fill formulae next to Table: Detect and fill down any formulae directly adjacent to the Table as rows are

added or removed.

Merge repeating cells: When data is repeated, merge the repeated cells for the outer values

Insert/delete columns/rows when Grid size changes: Determines the behaviour when rows are added or

removed.

Refresh

Refresh Table on open: Causes the Table to update itself when the workbook is opened.



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Refresh when driving cells change: Causes the Table to update itself when cells driving the query are

updated.



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Appearance

Pivoting

These options apply when pivoting data:

Group by pivoted value: Pivoted values are kept together, e.g. all columns for January will be together

Nest by pivoted value: Numeric columns are kept together, e.g. all columns for Sales Value will be

together

Show in-cell charts: Useful when pivoting on a date, automatically displays a chart of the data.

Pivot fixed on column name: By default XLCubed stores the pivoted column index. You can instead switch

so the column name is used. This is useful if the query can vary the columns it returns, e.g. from a stored

procedure.

When using named query for pivot: For SQL queries you can specify the order for pivoted columns to bedisplayed (by default alphabetical order is used). If you specify an order query, you can also decide

whether to emit all columns in the order query, or just those which have data.

Sections

This is used to configure the columns used as section headers, as described in the section help.



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Column Display

When enabled, this feature allows you to reorder the columns of the query before they are displayed, and

to suppress any columns that aren't required.

This reordering is done after any pivoting has been done, so only affects the final displayed results.

Query

Auto-generate Query (default): XLCubed controls the query for the Table given the selected options.

Manual Query: You may type your own query in the edit field.

Get Query from Excel range: The entire query statement for the Table is taken from a cell on the

worksheet.

Performance tips for large tables

If you have very large tables, the following options will speed up data refreshes:

Turn off

• Apply Formatting

• Merge repeating cells

• Resize Columns



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Formatting Tables

As with grids, formatting for tables is defined on the XLCubedFormats worksheet. Tables will automatically

pick up the default formatting for the column headers and data area. In addition you can also define

formats that will only apply to certain sections of the table.

Formatting Columns

You can format specific columns easily by right clicking the table and selecting "Format Column" or

"Format Column Title" from the menu. This will show the Excel standard formatting dialog, and

automatically create the relevant rows in the format sheet.

This can also be done manually on the format sheet. To do this type the word "Column" as the column

name, and then the name of the column.

You can the format the header and data areas. The following example makes the "SalesTerritoryKey"

header bold, and uses italic formatting for the data.



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Formatting Values

You can highlight specific values in a table by entering the column name and value, and setting the data

cell format. The following example highlights December in red, and makes months starting with "A" bold.



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Calculations

You can add your own calculated columns to an XLCubed table, which can contain any Excel

formula. To add a calculation, simple right click a column header and select "Add Calculation".

When you enter a calculation in the first cell, it will automatically "fill down". If the calculation references

and columns in the table these will be stored as references to the column, so they will continue to work

even if the columns are reordered.

In this example the total value is calculated from two columns retrieved, and the calculated column has

been formatted as currency, as described in the formatting section.

Paging



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If you have a large amount of data, it is often useful to display it in a series of pages. This is easily done

with XLCubed tables.

The simplest way is to simply right click the table and select "Insert Pager".

Alternatively, go to the Slicer menu, and select "Insert data table pager". Right click the pager to configure

which table you wish to page, and the page size, and click OK. This is useful when you want the pager tobe on a different sheet to the table



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Sorting

Tables can easily be sorted by right-clicking a column header and selecting the sorting option.

You can sort by several columns by sorting them one after the other, and clear all sorting by selecting the

appropriate menu item.

In the following example we sorted the "SalesTerritoryKey", and then the "Sales Amount". This gives a

report with the Sales Terrorities in sorted order, and within these the values are in ascending order.



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Sections and Pivoting

These are two features that change the layout of a table from that returned by a query, making the result

more useful for users. Repeating data can be eliminated, and layout improved (e.g. for charting).

Sections

Often one or more columns will repeat their value for many lines in the report. Often this is not useful

information, and Sections can reduce this redundancy.

When you enable sections, column values will be written once as a header. As an example, take the

following report.

EnglishCountryRegionName is repeated a great deal, and does not add much value to the report. By going

into the Table Properties screen, we can enable sections, and use one column in the header.



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The result is as follows (EnglishCountryRegionName column has been configured to highlight in bold,

using the standard formatting sheet).

The style of the sections can be controlled using the Table Properties form:

Sections in one cell:

Sections in separate cells



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Sections in separate rows

Display column names

Toggles the column name as part of the section.

Using a combination of sections and the format sheet, it is possible to produce a classic "Reporting

Services" style report:

Hide repeating values

New in Version 7.5 there is an option to hide repeating values - so only the columns with a changed value

will be displayed in each section.

With this option enabled, "Car and Bike Stores" would be shown once and each sub-category listed

underneath:



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Pivoting

Pivoting a column takes the values for that column, and makes a new column for each.

For example, instead of having months going down, with one month on each row, we can pivot the column

and have months go across the columns. The following example shows this in action.

This screenshot shows one column for month names:



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Click on the column to pivot and right-click. From the XLCubed menu select Pivot 'columnname'

Now we have one column for each month and a table that is much easier to read.

Data source specific functionality

Depending on where the data for a table originated from there may additional options for interacting with

the data.

SQL

Edit Parameters: Link the query parameters to Excel cells or slicers.

Edit Connection Range: Link the Connection String to a cell, allows driving the server or database from

other parameters in the workbook.

Tabular Analysis Services

Breakout (available from measure columns): Create a ranked list of the top or bottom values making upthe number selected.

Performance tips for large tables

If you have very large tables, the following options will speed up data refreshes:

Turn off

• Apply Formatting

• Merge repeating cells

• Resize Columns



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book IX - SharePoint

Book IX - SharePoint

The XLCubed SharePoint Webpart, available from XLCubed version 6.5, allows XLCubed Reports to be

embedded into SharePoint pages and allows connections between filter web-parts and other XLCubed

Report web-parts.

Installing

Copy the CAB file onto the SharePoint server, for example

c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions

SharePoint 2010

• Enable full trust in IIS - run Internet Information Services Manager

o Click on the server and select .Net Trust Levels

o Change the trust level to Full (Internal)



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o Enable full trust on the SharePoint website

Click on the SharePoint website and select .Net Trust Levels



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• Change the trust level to Full (Internal)



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• Run the SharePoint 2010 ManagementShell (Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products -> SharePoint

2010 Management Shell:

Register the .CAB with Sharepoint:

o Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions\XLCubed.Sharepoint.cab

Deploy the webpart to the SharePoint websites:

o Install-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications -forcesharepoint



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The webpart will now be available in the list of available webparts, under the "Miscellaneous" items

SharePoint 2013

You will need Version 7.5 to run in Sharepoint 2013



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Run the SharePoint 2013 ManagementShell (Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products ->

SharePoint 2010 Management Shell:

•

Register the .CAB with Sharepoint:

Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions\XLCubed.Sharepoint.cab

• Deploy the webpart to the SharePoint websites:

Install-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications –force -FullTrustBinDeployment



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The webpart will now be available in the list of available webparts, under the "Miscellaneous" items:

Uninstalling



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SharePoint 2010

Run the SharePoint 2010 ManagementShell: Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products ->

SharePoint 2010 Management Shell

Remove the webpart from the SharePoint websites:

UnInstall-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications

Remove the .CAB from SharePoint:



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Remove-SPSolution xlcubed.sharepoint.cab

SharePoint 2013

Run the SharePoint 2013 ManagementShell (As Administrator) Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products

-> SharePoint 2013 Management Shell:

Remove the .CAB from SharePoint:



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Remove-SPSolution xlcubed.sharepoint.cab

Remove the webpart from the SharePoint websites:

UnInstall-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications



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Using WebPart

Configuring

Insert the XLCubed Webpart:

Edit the Webpart:

Setup the XLCubed web server details and click OK:



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Now the Report browser button will be enabled

:



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Click on the button and browse to the report to display on this page:

Give the report a defined height (if not already inserted into a control with a height defined)



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Click OK/Apply to see the report embedded in the page:

Linking XLCubedReport WebParts

XLCubed Webparts can be linked via Web Parameters - once a link is in place then when the web

parameters with the same name are passed between the linked WebParts.

Insert 2 or more webparts in the same page, then select the Connections menu when editing thewebpart:

Linking to filter WebParts

XLCubed Webparts can be linked to Filter webparts so that the parameters can be passed into the XLCubed

Report - first you would need to defined the Web Parameters to be driven by the Filter control. Then

select the connections menu and Inbound Parameters - select the filter control to receive the parameter

from:



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Select which Web Parameters is to receive the data from the filter:



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Troubleshooting

If the SharePoint website is in the browser's "Trusted Sites" list then you may need to enable "Access

data sources across domains". This can be found in the browser's Tool -> Internet Options form, under

"Security" click "Custom" for "Trusted Sites”.



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SharePoint Integration

XLCubed have developed an option for tighter integration with SharePoint, allowing SharePoint to act as a

repository for XLCubedWeb reports, so publication and report navigation is contained within SharePoint.

Installing

There are several steps to complete configuration, this requires XLCubedWeb to be already setup andconfigured. There are 2 ways to display the reports, as standalone pages redirecting the user to

XLCubedWeb or by creating a "Container" page so the report is displayed within a standard SharePoint

page.

Option 1

Option 2



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Custom Handler

XLCubed Handler Assembly

The first stage is to install the custom handler for XLCubed Reports on the SharePoint server. You

need to download and extract following file:

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubedhandler.zip

Once installed this needs to be installed in the GAC, the easiest way is to use Windows Explorer to

drag the file into the \windows\Assembly folder.

Windows Server 2012

To install an assembly to the GAC in 2012, you will need to run PowerShell as an Administrator and use the

following commands (assuming the assembly has been extracted to "c:\xl3"):

Set-location "c:\xl3"

[System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("System.EnterpriseServices, Version=4.0.0.0,

Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a")

$publish = New-Object System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.Publish

$publish.GacInstall("c:\xl3\xlcubed.handlermapping.dll")

iisreset






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Register Handler with IIS

You now need to register the Assembly with IIS, this can be done by editing the SharePoint web.config,

usually in:

\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80

in the

<system.web>

<compilation>

<assemblies>

collection add the line:

<add assembly="XLCubed.HandlerMapping, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=add6446b63d88928" />

in:

<system.webServer>

<modules>

Add the following:

<add name="XLCubedModule" type="XLCubed.HandlerMapping.XLCubedModule,

XLCubed.HandlerMapping, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,

PublicKeyToken=add6446b63d88928" />

Set icon file type

Download the following file: http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubed.gif and copy it to the

"Template\Images" folder, for example:

\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\Template\Images

Or for SharePoint 2013 (the 14 folder exists, but use the 15 instead)

Then edit "docicon.xml" in the "Template\Xml" folder (\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft

Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\Template\Xml) and add the following line to:

<DocIcons>

<ByExtension>

<Mapping Key="xl3wbz" Value="xlcubed.gif"/>

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubed.gif






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Custom Report Page (Optional)

If you want to display the XLCubed Reports within the context of Sharepoint (Option 2 in the example

screens), then you can do that by using creating a page containg a custom webpart.

WebPart Installation

Follow the standard SharePoint guide, but use the following file for the updated webpart:

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/XLCubedSharepoint_Integration.zip

Page creation

Create a page to display all XLCubed reports in, in this case we'll call it XLCubedReport.

Insert an "XLCubed Page Viewer" web part and edit it:

Set the height of the web part and change the "Chrome Type" to none:

Under "Custom Properties" set "Custom String" to the following (updating it to reflect the actual

xlcubedweb location):

http://servername/xlcubedweb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx

After setting the properties you should see an XLCubed error message, this is fine it's showing that the

page is able to find the server but hasn't supplied a report to display yet.








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Configure redirect

The next step is to add the configuration items required for the custom handler installed previously. Open

the SharePoint web.config, usually in:

\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80

To the section:

<configuration>

<appSettings>

Add a new key:

<add key="XLCubedReportURL" value="http://hvxl3-

sp/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint&toolbar=true " />

If you are going for "Option 1" enter the XLCubedWeb server address:

http://xlcubedservername/xlcubedweb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=Shar

ePoint

If you have created a custom SharePoint page then use that instead:

http://sharepointserver/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint

If you want to include a toolbar when display reports, you can add the following:

&toolbar=true

Subsites

You can also use a relative path to keep navigation within the context of any sub-sites:

./XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint

With this kind of configuration a SharePoint XLCubed Report page would need to be created in the every

location to which reports can be published (i.e. \sites\subsite\sitepages\xlcubedreport.aspx,

\SitePages\XLCubedReport.aspx etc.)

Searching

To allow published reports to be indexed by SharePoint you need to register the report extension type with

SharePoint and then add the file type to the list of files to be indexed.

http://hvxl3-sp/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%25rep%25&embedded=SharePoint&toolbar=true



http://xlcubedservername/xlcubedweb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=%25rep%25&embedded=SharePoint


http://sharepointserver/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%25rep%25&embedded=SharePoint

http://sharepointserver/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%25rep%25&embedded=SharePoint







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The SharePoint crawler will index the contents of the Workbook as it was at publication time.

Register file extension

Add the following reg keys (updating the version of SharePoint if not 2010):

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office

Server\14.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.xl3wbz]

@=hex(7):7b,00,32,00,30,00,45,00,38,00,32,00,33,00,43,00,32,00,2d,00,36,00,32,\

00,46,00,33,00,2d,00,34,00,36,00,33,00,38,00,2d,00,39,00,36,00,42,00,44,00,\

2d,00,39,00,30,00,46,00,34,00,46,00,36,00,37,00,38,00,34,00,45,00,42,00,43,\

00,7d,00,00,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server

Extensions\14.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.xl3wbz]

@=hex(7):7b,00,32,00,30,00,45,00,38,00,32,00,33,00,43,00,32,00,2d,00,36,00,32,\

00,46,00,33,00,2d,00,34,00,36,00,33,00,38,00,2d,00,39,00,36,00,42,00,44,00,\

2d,00,39,00,30,00,46,00,34,00,46,00,36,00,37,00,38,00,34,00,45,00,42,00,43,\

00,7d,00,00,00,00,00

You can download an exported reg file from the following link:

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubedsharepoint_regkey.zip

Add file types to be indexed

Go to the SharePoint Central Administration Website, under Application Managment => Manage Service

Applications => Search Service Application:

Under "Crawling", select "File Types" and click "New File Type":






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enter "XL3WBZ" as the extension.



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Sharepoint on different server

If SharePoint is on a different server to XLCubedWeb and XLCubedWeb is using "Windows Authentication"

then by default the User's credentials will not be passed from XLCubedWeb to Sharepoint, this will prevent

the reports from displaying correctly (you'd get an invalid or no login credentials error when accessing the

reports)

You could configure Kerberos, this would allow the credentials to be passed correctly (XLCubedWeb usesWebDav to access the reports) or enable the following setting on the XLCubedWeb server:

<add key="UseAppPoolUserForSharepointDownload" value="false" />

With that setting enabled then any SharePoint access from XLCubedWeb will be done using the Application

Pool identity, so set that to run as an account that has the required permissions in SharePoint

Published Connections, Queries and Favourites

To allow publishing of Connections, Sql Queries and Favourites you must create the following folderstructure at the root of the SharePoint site, the users would need to connect at the root level to use this

feature:

/XLCubed

/PublishedConnections

/PublishedGrids

/PublishedSQLQueries



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Using

Once setup the SharePoint integration allows users to publish XLCubed reports directly to SharePoint

Publishing

Enter the SharePoint server for the XLCubedWeb server address and check the "SharePoint" checkbox:

You can add any sub folders directly to the address you enter, for example:

http://sharepoint/SitePages/Reports






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Viewing

Any published reports will be displayed and viewed within SharePoint:



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Customising

dding a ‘Load to Excel’ option

If you want to add an option to load a report directly into Excel you can define a Custom Action with a URL

of:

http://xlcubedserver/xlcubedweb/webform/showreport.aspx?rep={SiteUrl}{ItemUrl}&XL3Repor

tType=excelfixed

http://xlcubedserver/xlcubedweb/webform/showreport.aspx?rep=%7bSiteUrl%7d%7bItemUrl%7d&XL3ReportType=excelfixed


http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SharepointCustomAction.png





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http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:SharepointLoadToExcel.png



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book X - Miscellaneous

Book X - Miscellaneous

XLCubed Options

These are the XLCubed installation level defaults which are applied to any new workbooks opened

during the Excel session

Main

• Format File: the default FormatSheet location

• Language: selects XLCubed's interface language

• Hide format sheet: sets whether the format worksheet is hidden when created in new workbooks

• Default at level view in member tree: sets the default view of hierarchies to be level based, rather

than member based

• Default at level view in measure tree: sets the default view of the measures hierarchy to be level

based, rather than member based

•

Sort hierarchies alphabetically: rather than the cube defined order• Show dimensions in folders: display folders shown at a level above the dimension rather than

beneath the dimension

• Limit number of members returned in tree to: limits to specified value in user interface.

• Show right-click menu option at top (restart Excel to apply): the XLCubed right click menu option

is by default at the bottom



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• Use single members on filters: implements 'select and replace' on hierarchies in the filter area of

grid (selecting a member replaces any existing selected member)

• Automatically select Children of first member

• Display Dimension Name with Hierarchy Name: prefixes the hierarchy name with the dimension

name

• Disable Tabular columns in Designer: sets whether XLCubed automatically attempts to disable

unrelated columns for the tabular report designer• Don't show Small Multiples warning: controls whether XLCubed warns when it restricts the

number of charts it shows in a Small Multiple chart

Auto apply changes in Task Pane: grid task pane defaults to 'Auto Apply', i.e. changes are made

instantaneously

• Unicode Compatibility (Excel 2003): this is required for Unicode support in Excel 2003 and earlier.

Note should it only be set in Excel 2003 / XP if Unicode member names exist

• Display Conversion Options: shows the Convert from V5 options in the XLCubed ribbon



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Web Publication

• Default Web Address: the default web address for publishing

• Maximum number of columns allowed: the maximum number of columns allowed per page

•

Maximum number of rows allowed: the maximum number of rows allowed per page

• Log Publication Process: in the event of a problem, logs additional detail

• Check Web Compatibility: checks the workbook pre-publication for any known compatibility

issues.

Workbook Defaults

Controls the defaults for new workbooks.



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• Available Actions - Ignore multiple filter members: if multiple members are selected on filters,

these are ignored when determining which Actions to display

• Replace null values: replaces null values with the contents of the Replace null values with text

field

• Remove nulls when drilling: if there are any null rows/columns when drilling down on a member,

they will be removed so that there are no fully empty rows/columns in the report.

• Remove 0 values when drilling: if there are any rows/columns when drilling down on a member

that only contain zeros, they will be removed so that there are no zero rows/columns in thereport.

• Resize Columns after drilling: this allows a column to resize itself when drilled

• Indent drilled members: when the user drills down on a member, they will be displayed indented



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Workbook Options

These are the workbook level options that can be set for each workbook.

Workbook

Maximum calculation depth during grid refresh: if a workbook has "Circular" dependencies in grids,then this setting controls the maximum number of times to recalculate the same grid

Available Actions - Ignore multiple filter members: with this setting enabled, then the available

actions uses only the first member for each filter hierarchy (if more than one member is select). This

can speed up the display of the action form if lots of members are selected

Worksheet protection password: setting the password value used to "protect" the worksheets will

allow XLCubed to unprotect the sheets during grid refreshes, the sheets are protected again after the

refresh is completed. (This feature is new in Version 7.1)

Reset Format Sheet: this removes any customised formatting from workbook by replacing the existing

FormatSheet sheet with the default sheet as defined in Options > XLCubed Options > Main

Web Publication

Specifies the behaviour and options available in the report once published to XLCubed Web.



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Auto Refresh (minutes): sets an interval after which the published report will automatically refresh in

the user's browser

Display Submit Changes: controls display of Submit Changes toolbar button on XLCubed Web - default

is Yes

Allow Printing: controls display of the Print toolbar button on XLCubed Web - default is Yes

Allow save workbook to Excel: controls display of save to Excel on XLCubed Web - default is Yes Allow save active sheet to Excel: controls display of save to Excel on XLCubed Web

Allow save to repository: controls display of save to Repository on XLCubed Web - default is Yes

Display Refresh button: controls display of Refresh button on XLCubed Web - default is Yes

Enable Right-Click Menus: controls availability of right click menus on XLCubed Web - default is Yes

Save Custom View: controls availability of save custom view on XLCubed Web

Drill Formulae: whether formulae can be drilled on XLCubed Web - default is No

Edit Member Formulae: whether XL3Member formulae can be edited on XLCubed Web - default is Yes

Auto Reload: whether the report auto-reloads if IIS has timed out due to inactivity - default is No

Edit XL3LookupRW without unlocking: enable LookupRW formulae for editing - default is No Open Links in same Window: whether any XL3Link formulae to other websites or reports are opened

in the same or different windows - default is Yes

Use V5 Chart Rendering: For historical (pre v6 reports) this option allows charts to be rendered as per

v5 - default is No

Allow save to Excel live: whether the workbook can be saved as "Live" (i.e. remain interactive) when

downloading from the web - default is Yes. This is new in Version 7.1.

Handle Excel chart types:

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Version_7.1

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Version_7.1



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Formula Options

Replace null values: replaces null values with the contents of the field Replace null values with:

Remove nulls when drilling: if there are any blank rows/columns when drilling down on a member,

they will be removed so that there are no empty rows/columns in the report.

Remove 0 values when drilling: if there are any rows/columns when drilling down on a member that

only contain zeros, they will be removed so that there are no zero rows/columns in the report.

Resize Columns after drilling: this allows a cell to resize itself when a formula is inserted to display the

result correctly.

Indent drilled members: when the user drills down on a member, they will be displayed indented.

Lighten background colour on drill: when the user drills on a member a slightly lighter version of itsbackground colour will be used for the new members (new in Version 7.6)

Writeback

Formula Writeback



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Enable Writeback: enables Writeback, whether or not this happens on or offline is controlled by the

individual Grid Properties Allow at Lowest Level Only: data is entered at leaf level only.

Allow at Any Level: data is entry at any level is allowed, select one of the following Analysis Services

Writeback spreading methods. Note this can be overridden at Grid Properties level

Equal allocation: each constituent cell is assigned an equal value.

Equal increment: every constituent cell will be changed according to an incremental value

Weighted allocation: each constituent cell will be assigned an equal value that is weighted against

a formula

Weighted increment: every constituent cell is changed incrementally according to a weighting

formula

Lowest Level Indicators:

Highlight members: this highlights the members that are available for Writeback.

Highlight data: this highlights the data that is available for Writeback.

Relational Writeback

Analysis Services is the default writeback method. However, when working with XLCubed or XLCubed

Authorised partners on a consultancy basis it is also possible to use 'Relational' Writeback.



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When using relational writeback, the server and database being used must be specified in the dialog

above.

Connections

Connection details can optionally be specified within defined Excel cells in the workbook. These can also be

parametrised for web deployment.

In Excel, any changes made to the connection via the defined cells will only take effect after closing and re-

opening the workbook. When published, if they have been set as web parameters, the connection detail

can be passed into the report as part of the calling URL. This enables straightforward switching of

published reports between development / acceptance and production databases in environments where

the reporting is hosted within other portals such as SharePoint.

To access the parameters in the published report, click on the view parameters icon from Recent reports,

as shown below.

Connection details can optionally be specified within defined Excel cells in the workbook. These can also beparametrised for web deployment.



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This is accessed via the Options > Workbook Options > Connections tab. Specify the values for each

parameter, and where required change the server, database, cube, and whether the report requires a

password before pressing Get URL.

On accessing the report through the URL, the connection will switch to the server and database specified.



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Language Options

New in Version 7.5 - you can define on this tab the report name and description to be displayed in for

different language users.



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MDX Calculations

Not all OLAP environments are as rich as we, the analysts would like. These examples show how XLCubed

allows the power of OLAP to be simply used to improve our analyses.

Creating Calculated Members (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)

We will create new Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin measures.

Start by creating a connection to the BicycleSales Demo Cube. This cube only has one measure, Value, but

several different 'views' of the data, provided by the KeyFigures hierarchy.

To create the calculated measures:

1. Open the Manage Calculations dialog by selecting the XLCubed > Custom Calculations ribbon or

menu option.

2. To create the Gross Profit member, click the Insert a new calculated member toolbar button

3. A new 'untitled' member will appear. Fill in the following details for the new member:

Name Gross Profit

Parent Hierarchy KeyFigures

Parent Member [KeyFigures].[All]

Expression [KeyFigures].[All].&[Revenue] - [KeyFigures].[All].&[Cost of Sales] -

[KeyFigures].[All].&[Production Costs]



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4. Create a second calculated member for the Gross Profit Margin member and fill in the following

details. To enter the format string, Show advanced controls must be clicked:

Name Gross Profit Margin

Parent Hierarchy KeyFigures

Parent Member [KeyFigures].[All]

Expression [[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit] / [KeyFigures].[All].&[Revenue

Format String 0%



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5. We now have members in the KeyFigures hierarchy but if we want to use them as normal measures

we need to create two more members in the Measures hierarchy:

Name Gross Profit

Parent Hierarchy Measures

Parent Member Leave empty

Expression [[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit Margin].[Measures].[Value])

Name Gross Profit Margin

Parent Hierarchy Measures

Parent Member Leave empty

Expression [[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit Margin].[Measures].[Value])

Format String 0%

6. Click on OK to create the calculated members

We can now see the new measures in context. Let's find badly performing product groups

for 2004.

1. Click on the XLCubed > Grid ribbon item (or the XLCubed > Design Grid menu item in Excel

2003 and below). For more information about using this dialog, see Report Designer.



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2. Move Measures to columns, Product to rows and Time to headers.

3. Click on the Time hierarchy, then select 2004, the year we want to analyse.

4. Click on the Measures hierarchy to select the Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin measures.

5. Click OK to insert the Grid.

6. When we drill down on the Product hierarchy, we can see that Road S8000 is the failing

product.

We could extend this report to use In-Cell Charts.



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Creating Named Sets

A named set is a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) expression that returns a set of dimension members.

Named sets can be created at cube level or within an application such as XLCubed. They can be created

combining cube data, arithmetic operators, numbers and functions.

You create a named set from the Custom Calculation tab:

Click to Insert a new calculated set.

In this example I have created a named set, RacksAndStands, which is a grouping of Bike Racks and BikeStands.

The expression needs to be inside braces as below { } and separated by commas.

{[Product].[Product Model Categories].[Subcategory].&[26],[Product].[Product Model

Categories].[Subcategory].&[27]}

The next step is to include the named set in the report:



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You must be editing the hierarchy/dimension that the named set is linked to, in this example Product

Model Categories.

Click on the Advanced tab and select Member Set

You should see your named set appearing as below, select it and click OK.

You can then select to include/exclude the named set in your report.

In this example the members of the named set will not appear in the report.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/File:NamedSet5.png



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Show with Captions

New in v7.2 there is an option within Custom Calculations to switch from showing unique names to

captions



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Writeback

Writeback allows you to either permanently edit values in the Cube (if the administrator has allowed it),

or to do simple what-if analysis in Excel.

XLCubed Excel Edition supports writeback in a number of ways through Grids, Formula-based and

relational writeback. In both cases the cube itself must be write enabled.

Writeback in XLCubed Grids

To enable writeback on an XLCubed Grid, select XLCubed > Properties... from the Grid right-click menu,

then select the Enable Writeback option from the Writeback tab. On this tab you can also adjust a few

other options, described below.

Online Entry Mode

Using Online mode, each value is submitted to the cube when typed: the value will be written and the

data optionally re-retrieved (so that any aggregated data is updated straight away on the report).

By default, entry is allowed only at the leaf level of the data, as this is the most common environment.

Offline Entry Mode

In Offline mode, you can enter multiple updates at once, then submit them in one batch. To view the

updates that are ready to be sent to the server, select the XLCubed > Writeback > Manage Offline

Writeback right-click menu option, and to upload the changes, select XLCubed > Writeback > SubmitOutstanding Writes.

Non-Leaf Level Writeback

When not entering data at leaf level, you must choose from the four Analysis Services spreading methods:



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Data can then be entered for aggregate levels in the cube, and will be spread according to the rule

specified.

Note that non-leaf Writeback in the Analysis Services environment should be used with caution since it can

be time-consuming, depending on cube size and dimensionality.

Formula Writeback

There are two XLCubed formulae which handle Analysis Services writeback:XL3DoWriteback formula and

XL3LookupRW formula.

XL3DoWriteback allows a value held in another cell to be written back to the cube whereas with

XL3LookupRW the formula itself is overwritten directly.

In most cases XL3DoWriteback offers more flexibility and control.

There is also XL3RunSQL formula which is available for relational SQL updates.

Relational Writeback

In XLCubed > Options > Workbook Options, you can specify whether to use Standard (Analysis Services) or

Relational writeback. Relational writeback requires certain cube customisations, and is typically a

consultancy-led process to provide additional flexibility or performance over the standard writeback

processing.

Relational writeback in XLCubed allows writeback operations to call SQL Stored Procedures - these

procedures can be used to store additional data (i.e. text commentary) or perform advanced

transformation on the written values before applying them to the cube.

Analysis Services Cube Configuration

• The cube needs to be enabled for writeback, using the standard approach,

• An additional table (henceforth RWritetable, mirroring the fact table structure, is created in the

source SQL database, and added into the datasource view,

• An additional ROLAP Partition is added to the AS database, using the RWritetable,

• The standard writeback table needs to remain in place although is essentially unused.



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ANALYSIS SERVICES 2008 R2

In Analysis Services 2008 R2, the additional table RWritetableis an optional step. Instead, it is possible to

change the storage mode of the Writeback table to be ROLAP, it is then possible for the StoredProcedure to make updates directly to the standard Writeback table (NB. if using this approach then the

SQL updates cannot update the same slice/measure being written back by the user, but can update

other measures/slices. This is useful, for example, in a Workflow situation to move data from one slice

to another).

Stored Procedure Config

A stored procedure must be created within the source SQL database, configured to the rules outlined

below. It is only this stored procedure which will be called from XLCubed when a relational writeback isinvoked, though it can of course call other procedures as required. The fundamental job of the

procedure will be to populate the RWritetable.

Procedure Name

• [dbo].[XL3_DatabaseName_CubeName_Writeback]

◆Replace any spaces in the database or cube name with ‘_’

PARAMETERNAMES

• @Dimension_Hierarchy

◆(Hierarchy unique name without the [ ], replace ‘.’ With ‘_’)

◆The values for members will be the member keys, passed as

NVarChar(max)

• @Value

◆Values will be passed as T-SQL float (.Net double).



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◆For measures the measure caption will be passed as there is no

row key.

EXAMPLE

A very simple example procedure follows. (This is the simplest case, anticipating the entered value as

Budget, rather than handling the possibility of several measures being available for entry):

AS Database Name

Retail



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AS Cube Name

Retail Forecast

Created Relational Writeback table

RetailRelWriteback

CREATE PROCEDURE[dbo].[XL3_Retail_Retail_Forecast_Writeback]

@Accounts_ChartOfAccounts nvarchar(50),

@Measures nvarchar(50),

@Period_Period nvarchar(50),

@Unit_Category1 nvarchar(50),





@Unit_Organisation nvarchar(50),

@Value double precision

AS BEGIN

SET NOCOUNT ON;

insert into [dbo].[RetailRelWriteback](

[Account],

[Unit],

[Period],

[Budget], [Forecast],

[Actual], [Phasing],

[cCurrency], [nEntity]

)

values(

)



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@Accounts_Char

tOfAccounts,

@Unit_Organisati

on,

@Period_Period,

@Value,

NULL,

NULL,

NULL,

NULL,

1

END

GO

XLCubed Client Settings

By default, the writeback setting will be standard Analysis Services. To switch to relational:

•

Go to XLCubed > Options -> Workbook Options, and then to the writeback tab. Here the methodto be used can be varied at a connection level as shown below:

• Then click on the Configure button for the connection to specify the relational database source



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Once relational is specified, the writeback process will be unchanged from a user perspective, but will

call the stored procedure specified in steps 1 and 2.

It's worth noting that the change is now applicable for the connection, so relational writeback will now be

used for grids as well as the writeback formula (XL3LookupRW and XL3DoWriteback.



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Converting ProClarity Reports

The ProClarity import option allows ProClarity Briefing Books to be converted to XLCubed Reports. This

feature was added in Version 7.1 of XLCubed.

Importing a Briefing Book

• Select the source file, this can be either a Briefing Book (.bbk) or a XML Briefing

Book (.xml). The contents of the report will be displayed.

• Each item on the report will be imported into a new worksheet, you can change

the name of the destination worksheet before the import.

•

By default each report item will be converted to an equivalent XLCubed type, forexample charts will become Small Multiple charts and TreeMaps will map to

treemaps etc. You can override the default selection or choose to ignore an item

entirely.

• During the conversion it is important that the source cube is available as it is

accessed by the conversion process.

• After closing the import form the entire Workbook is refreshed.



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Publishing PowerPivot Reports

From XLCubed v7.5 users can take XLCubed workbooks which connect to PowerPivot data, and

publish these to XLCubed Web Edition. This enables sharing of the reports or dashboards with

non-PowerPivot users through XLCubed Web Edition and also provides increased scalability and

security options.

The publication process moves the data model directly onto the specified Tabular AnalysisServices instance, and dynamically changes the data connection on the published report. The

publication process does not require SharePoint or Excel services.

Requirements

• XLCubed Web Edition v7.5 Enterprise Edition with the scheduling feature set up

• Microsoft Analysis Services 2012 in Tabular mode

Overview

XLCubed can monitor one or more directories on the Web Edition server, usually in the

Web repository. When an appropriate set of files is created or updated in that directory,

the PowerPivot connections are published to Analysis Services:

• The connection file is uploaded to a common network share

• The information is copied to an Analysis Services database

• The XLCubed report is modified to point to the newly created database

Configuration

A new configuration file must be created in the XLCubed Web Edition repository:

\Repository\_xlcubed_\_scheduling_\monitor.xml

This configuration file is an XML file containing one or more powerPivot elements, enclosed in

a single monitor element:

<monitor>

<powerPivot

folder="C:\inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository\PowerPivot Reports"

includeSubfolders="true" server="as2012server" uploadShare="\\as2012server\powerPivotFiles\"

serverLocalPath="C:\powerPivotFiles" allowOverwrite="true"

/>

</monitor>



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Each PowerPivotelement defines a repository folder to watch, and information about

what to do with new files:

Folder the folder to watch

Include subfolders whether to also watch subfolders of the main folder

Server the Analysis Server 2012 Vertipaq server on which to create the database

uploadShare a shared directory on the Analysis Services server, which can be used for temporarily

holding the connection information. The user running the scheduler service must

have write access to this folder

serverLocalPath the same directory as uploadShare, but from the point of view of the server

allowOverwrite defines whether any existing database should be overwritten. Can be set to true or

false

roleMembers a semicolon delimited set of usernames and groups to give access to the new

database

notificationEmail an email address to send the notification to when a new database is uploaded.

Optional; uses the first available SMTP server

If the server is on the same machine as XLCubed Web Edition, then uploadShareand

serverLocalPathcan both be left blank, and the scheduler will just use the workbook where it is.

Note that the scheduler user must have permissions on the Analysis Services server to restore a database.

Any messages, success or failure, will be written to the standard scheduling error log file.



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Using Grids with Protected Worksheets

XLCubed Grids can coexist with protected worksheets in several ways.

Set the XLCubed Workbook Options to use your password

In the XLCubed > Options > Workbook Options... dialog, you can set the Workbook > Workbookprotection password. The Grids should then update as required.

Using the Grid on the protected worksheet

The Grid may be placed directly on the worksheet that is to be protected. To do this, follow these steps:

On the Grid Properties > Appearance tab, deselect Apply formatting and Merge repeating

cells

Set all the Grid cells to be unlocked. See this Microsoft article for details on how to lock andunlock specific cells.

If the Grid can be edited by drilling or other member selection methods, also unlock cells to

accommodate the potential expansion.

Protect the sheet. At least the following options must be allowed:

Format cells

Format columns

Format rows

If Format columns and Format rows protection are desired, then Grid Properties > Behaviour > Resize

columns/rows after refresh must be disabled.

Placing the Grid on a non-protected worksheet

The Grid can be placed on a non-protected worksheet, and the data brought to the protected sheet by

using either:

• The Camera tool

•

Formulae

Alternatives

• Publishing the finished reports

• Using Formulae instead of Grids



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Copy Sheet

New to v7.2 this is available as an Excel standard right-click menu option. To use it hover on the sheet tab

that you wish to copy and right-click. You will see an XLCubed option to Copy Sheet:

You will be presented with this window and you can select to copy to the same or a different workbook:



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Macros

The following XLCubed macros can be called from VBA:

Code Description Introduced

Application.Run

"XL3RefreshGrid","Sheet1!a1"

Include an address for the

grid is to be refreshed

v6.1

Application.Run “XL3RefreshAllGrids” Refreshes all grids v6.0

Application.Run “XL3RefreshTable”,

“Sheet1!A1”

Include an address for the

Table to be refreshed

v7.1

Application.Run “XL3RefreshAllTables” Refreshes all Tables v7.0

Application.CalculateFull Force a calculate of XLCubed

formulae

All



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Adding Round Corners to Excel

Version 7.1 introduces the ability to easily create rounded corners.

Adding Round Corners

Highlight the required area:

Go to Extras -> Add/Edit Round Corners:

The Colours and Border thickness will be picked up from the selected cells. Select the corners to be made

round (in this case the Top Left and Top Right corners):



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Click OK to apply the borders



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Editing Existing Corners

If the cell has manually created corners then they will need to be deleted before adding new corners using

XLCubed, if the corners were created by XLCubed then you can just highlight the cell or range and Go toExtras -> Add/Edit Round Corners. The changes will be applied to the existing corners (or the corners can

be removed by unselecting them)

Resizing Columns/Rows

If the Column or Row is re-sized then the corners may now be in the wrong place, to fix this go to Extras -

> Add/Edit Round Corners and then click OK. Any existing round corners will be moved to the correct

location.



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Pie Charts in Web Edition

Chart in Excel before publishing:

After publishing to web:

To resolve this you need to:

• Click on the pie chart in Excel and choose Format data series



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•

choose solid fill rather than automatic and choose a fill colour - this will set everything to onecolour

• then right-click to select each data series individually and choose Format Data Point and set to the

appropriate colour for each one

Having done that it will publish as you see it in Excel.



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Set Searching

Member Search

Starting with XLCubed v6.5 you can filter a report by searching for members in a hierarchy. The report

below shows a simple grid with Geography on rows and Fiscal Years on columns.

We would like the report to only show those members on Geography whose name begins with B.

Edit the Geography hierarchy, and select Clear All by clicking:

Next, click Advanced tab and then select All Hierarchy Members by clicking:



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Then, click on Member Search and the following window will be displayed.

At this point you have three options:

• enter a value in the Search Value field - in our example we enter B as we want to report all

members whose name starts with the letter B

• click the ellipse and add some filtering using MDX

• use Excel range to hold the value that should be used

In our example we are using the value in cell F2 to determine the filtering on our report. You can alsodetermine the 'search by' criteria as below:



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The Advanced window is now displayed as:

As you can see the report now only shows those members of the Geography hierarchy that start with B.



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Removing Zeros from a Grid Report

To remove zeros values from a Grid Report, use the XLCubed > Apply > Filter > Remove Zeros right-click

menu option.

This function adds an axis-wide filter to the Grid.

Example

We'd like to remove any zero-valued members (in this case, the Additional Equipment and Other members)

from the report.

1. Right-click on the member that you want to filter against. In this example, we want to filter against

the All Periods member, because we want to remove any members that are zero for all time:

2. Select the XLCubed > Apply > Filter > Remove Zeros menu option:

3. The zero-valued rows are removed from your report:



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Editing the filter

1. Open the Report Designer

2. Double-click the blue icon added to the axis with the filter applied:

3. The filter is shown on the Axis Designer. You can now edit the filter in the same way as a normal

filter, by clicking on the menu button and selecting Edit...:



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Refresh Grid and Formulae

Grids

Grid Properties determine whether or not a grid will be automatically refreshed when the workbook is

opened:

All Grids can be refreshed at any time by using the Refresh All option under Grids & Tables on the Refresh

Menu:

Individual Grids can be refreshed by:

selecting the required Grid from the list under Grids & Tables

or by using the right click XLCubed Menu -> Refresh Grid option

or pressing CTRL+SHIFT+R while the active cell is in the grid



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Formulae

Formulae can be refreshed by:

using the Refresh Formulae on the Refresh Menu

or by using standard Excel keys (F9 / Ctrl/Alt/Shift/F9 etc)

Slicers

Slicers can be refreshed by using the Refresh Slicer on the Refresh menu:



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MDX

Description

The Mdx: or Mdx Colon feature allows you to easily combine snippets of Mdx with your existing

XLCubed Grids and other report objects.

The Mdx: statement could be a fixed piece of text, or created by using an Excel formula.

You can use this to create members or sets depending on your requirements.

Syntax

The Mdx: statement is made up of two or three parts.

Part Optional? Description

Mdx: or MdxSet: No Select based on whether your mdx snippet returns a single

member or a set of membersCaption:= Yes Puts a user friendly caption against the member when it is

returned.

Mdx No The Mdx snippet to run.

Examples

Valid examples would be:

Mdx:nextYear:=[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2002].NextMember

Mdxset:{[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2001]:[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2003]}



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In these examples the Mdx: statement is made using other Excel references, so that when these changethe grid will also be updated.



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Managing Favourites

Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite for my own use

Create grid report and in Report Designer click Favourites icon highlighted

You will be prompted to enter a name and then OK.

This will add the report to your Favourites.

Click Favourites icon in XLCubed Excel Edition and in the drop-down you will see your report

Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite and share with other Excel Edition users

This is intended as a way for Excel Edition users to share favourites. To enable this you publish them to

the web rather than save locally.



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Create grid report and in Report Designer click Favourites icon highlighted:

You will be prompted to enter a name:

You can make it a Web favourite by clicking Web button where you will be prompted to enter the

name of the web server and folder.

All users who have appropriate Repository permissions will be able to access these Web Favourites

through XLCubed Excel Edition.

Click Favourites icon in XLCubed Excel Edition and then click Web Favourites.



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Click Connect to connect to your web server and you will be able to browse the Repository and select

your report.

Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite and share with other Web Edition users

The best way to do this is to create a new folder on the Web Edition with an appropriate name (e.g.

Web Favourites), and then publish a series of starting point grids into this folder. Users can then open

these up on the Web Edition as needed.

Create a grid report and Publish Workbook to Web

At Publisher window: to create this shared Favourites folder, right-click to create



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I have created a top-level folder called WebEditionFavourites which all my team members have

permissions to access.

Publish report to this folder. Your users can then use this report as a starting point template.

Create a workbook template that I can save as a favourite and share with other Excel Edition users

This will allow you to publish the current workbook as a template to Web Edition. This can then be

accessed and used as a starting point by users of XLCubed Excel Edition.

Create your workbook template and then select Publish Workbook as Template under Publish to Web

icon



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You will see the normal Publisher window and the Published Templates folder. You can right-click and

add new top- or sub-folders as required.

Give the template a name and click Publish.

The next time an Excel Edition user wants to this template they can access it from Favourites, Open

Template. Connect to browse the Repository and they should see the templates stored in the Published

Templates folder:



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Select one and OK and they will be prompted to save their copy of the template workbook. Once saved

they can make changes as required.



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Data Configuration Settings

XLCubed's data access behaviour can be configured using xml files.

It is not recommended to change these without advice from XLCubed support.

File Locations

These files are found in the following places:

Excel Edition - Install folder e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed

Web Edition - Install folder\bin e.g c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\bin

Config Files

XLCubed.Data.xml

This file controls XLCubed's cache behaviour. XLCubed will cache metadata to improve performance, but

will not cache data (query results).

Here you can control when the cache is cleared, and which metadata to cache.

The cache settings can be configured per cube and schema. If a specific setting is found that will override a

general one. (e.g. a specific schema setting will override that for * schemas).

Caches can have the policy type and size set.

Policy types are:

PublicChecked - Shared between users, but on the first request the cube will be queried to check the

user has permission to read the object.

PublicUnchecked - Shared between users, on the first ever request the cube will be queried to get the

metadata which is then shared between subsequent users.

Private - Cache is per user, cube is queried for metadata the first time each user requests it.

PrivateBySession - Cache is per user session, the cube will be queried for different connections fromthe same user.

Cache policy sizes can be:

0 - Do not cache

-1 - Cache all objects

N - any positive number, maximum cache size before objects are removed. N is the count of objects

stored.



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XLCubed.Data.AnalysisServices.xml

This file controls some aspects of XLCubed's connectivity to Analysis Services.

Connections:

keepopen - For use on the web, keeps connections open between page loads. Occasionally useful for

AS2000 servers.

keepsession - For use on the web, keeps sessions open between page loads.

usenativecom - Controls the internal implementation of some data reading.

useconnectionpooling - Shares connections between users, useful for .cub files where a maximum of 5

connections can be made at once.

Metadata:

hierarchies : useindexnameascaption - For backwards compatibility, returns the unique name with

brackets removed as the hierarchy caption. hierarchies : usefirstmemberasdefault - Used for some situations when the default member may not

be visible to the users.



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book XI - Troubleshooting

Book XI - Troubleshooting

XLCubed Excel Edition

Installation Troubleshooting

Prerequisites

Details of prerequisites can be found here.

Could not access network location \Hewlett-Packard\\

When installing XLCubed, you get the above error message. This is because of a

faulty InstallLocation registry entry, found in these two places:

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\

You can either back up, then remove it manually, or follow the instructions listed in this article.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Excel_Edition_Prerequisites



http://blog.unixwiz.net/2012/01/could-not-access-network-location-hewlett-packard-error.html?cid=6a00d8357ac57769e20167655d8e98970b







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XLCubed Ribbon or menu doesn't appear

Please try each step in order, each time checking if the ribbon has appeared by restarting Excel.

XLL may not be registered

You can use the Enable or Disable XLCubed V7 item in the Windows Start menu.

If this doesn't work, the following command should be run to register XLCubed assemblies.

Windows Start button, Run, depending on your computer:

"C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /reg

"C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /reg

Check it is not in Disabled Items in Excel

Select File, Options, Add-Ins as below:



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Select Manage, Disabled Items from the drop down and Go.

If there are any Disabled Items they will appear in the following window.

You will have to select, enable and close this window before restarting Excel.

Check it is not in Disabled Items in Registry

Check it is not appearing as a disabled item in the registry. Sometimes Excel may not list it as disabled item

even though it is disabled in the Registry.

Look in the following location:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel\Resiliency\Disabled Items

The sub-folder below Office in the above location varies depending on the version of Office:

Office XP: 10.0

Office 2003: 11.0

Office 2007: 12.0

Office 2010: 14.0If there is an entry in the above registry location you will need to delete it.



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If you do not have administrator privileges you can download and run the application referenced

in Removing any disabled items from registry section.

Check that all prerequisites are installed

For a full list, see the Prerequisites page.

Run the fix utility on the installation

Run command: "C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /fix

Rename your XLCubed setting folder

Use Explorer to browse to %appdata%\XLCubed Ltd, and rename the XLCubed Excel Edition folder.

Reboot your computerRecent Windows Updates and other software installations can sometimes leave software components in

an unusable state until the computer is restarted.

Are XLCubed functions working?

Open the Excel workbook, put =XL3Lookup in any cell and click anywhere. If #NAME? appears where you

entered =XL3Lookup that means the functions are also not working. If there is a number in that location it

means that XLCubed functions are working but the ribbon is not loading.

Is there a conflict with other addins?

Untick them all – then tick each, one by one, till you find the one that is conflicting with XLCubed.

Are other addins also disabled?

Enable all others addins that are disabled.

Is the Automation Security Level too restrictive?

This usually only applies if the Microsoft Office security settings are managed via Group Policy by your

domain administrator, or were configured via the Office Customization Tool.

The Automation security setting can restrict the loading of the XLCubed ribbon if it is not set to Macros

enabled (default) .

More information about this setting can be found in these TechNet articles:

Office 2007: Security policies and settings in the 2007 Office system.

Office 2010: Plan security settings for VBA macros for Office 2010




http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc179097.aspx



http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc178946(v=office.12).aspx



http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee857085.aspx









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Necessary Office components not installed

If the 'Visual Basic for Applications' and '.NET Programmability Support' components are not installed, functions and

the ribbon/menu may not work.

Solution:

Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and select the entry for Microsoft Office.

Change, Add or remove Features.

Office Shared Features > Visual Basic for Applications – make sure there is not a cross against

Visual Basic for Applications

Microsoft Office Excel > .NET Programmability Support – make sure there is not a cross against

.NET Programmability Support

Removing any disabled items from Registry

Download & run the application from:

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/RemoveAllDisabledItems.zip

It will pop up a console window and then proceed to delete any disabled add-in entries in registry.

You are receiving an error while processing XLCubed.dna

There was an error during processing of C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed

Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.dna:






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There is an error in XML document (0, 0).

The type initializer for 'System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializationReader' threw an

exception.

Error while processing XLCubed.dna

When you open XLCubed, you get the following error message:

There was an error during processing of C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed

Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.dna:

There is an error in XML document (0, 0).

The type initializer for 'System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializationReader' threw an

exception.



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This error can be caused by problems with one of several configuration files:

XLCubed.dna, XLCubed64.dna, XLCubed.xll.config or XLCubed64.xll.config, all

found in the XLCubed installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed

Ltd\XLCubed) Excel.exe.config, found in the Excel installation folder (usually C:\Program Files

(x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 or similar)

machine.config, found in the Microsoft.NET configuration folder

(usually C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Config andC:\Window

s\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config)

The problems can be caused by several underlying issues:

The files do not exist (except for XLCubed.xll.config and Excel.exe.config, which are not

necessary) The files exist, but are protected and not accessible by Excel while it is loading

The files exist, but are corrupted

In particular, installation of some IBM Client Access providers can cause problems with

the machine.config file. See this IBM support article for details.

Grid Troubleshooting

When I try to create a Grid Chart, no chart types are listed, and I cannot press OK to insert it.

Your formats file may be missing or corrupted. Please back it up, then copy a new version from the

XLCubed installation folder. Typical locations are:

Installation version

C:\Program Files\XLCubed

Ltd\XLCubed\FormatSheet.xls and FormatSheet.xlsx

User's customised version

C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed Excel Edition

http://www-912.ibm.com/n_dir/nas4apar.NSF/b6c9b771e38b5ea2862564c00079d110/84158c400658982b86257611003c6d21






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Slicer Troubleshooting

You receive a Cannot insert object error when inserting a Dimension Slicer

This error is caused by some of the XLCubed assemblies not being correctly registered. To re-register them,

you must run the following command as an elevated administrator:

"C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /regctls

In version 6.1 and prior versions, the /regctls switch wasn't available. In this case, use this instead, again

using an administrator account:

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe /tlb /codebase "C:\Program

Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.UserInterface.dll"

C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe /tlb /codebase "C:\Program

Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.UserInterface.dll"

You receive a Can't exit design mode because Control 'ExcelDimensionSlicer1' can not be created error during

normal operation

This error is caused by some corruption in your saved workbook when saving as Excel 97-2003 format (.xls).

It is caused by a limitation of the .xls file format and can occur from time to time when using slicers. To fix

the corruption, save the workbook as the more modern .xlsx file format instead. If this is not available to

you, the workbook can be temporarily fixed by:

1. Save the file as .xlsx

2. Close Excel

3.

Open the .xlsx workbook and resave as .xls

If you are using Microsoft Excel 2003, and are unable to save as .xlsx, you may need to install the Microsoft

Office Compatibility Pack, which should allow you to save as the newer .xlsx format. Alternatively, for some

workbooks you may be able to save as the XML Spreadsheet (.xml) type instead.

Miscellaneous Issues

Error when editing calculated members based on calculated sets

You may receive this error:

The selected calculation could not be executed:

The 'NamedSetName' named set cannot be created because a set with the same name already exists.

Please check the details and try again.

You may receive this error when using a named set in a calculated member created on a non-Measures

hierarchy.

For example (based on Adventure Works):

Named Set 'MySet'[Geography].[Geography].[Country].members

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Dimension_Slicers



http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?displaylang=en&id=3









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Calculated Member 'MyMember'

Aggregate([MySet])

Editing the above results in an error. This is because of a problem executing the necessary MDX with

Analysis Services. You should instead use the following, making sure you set the solve order of the

calculated member to 1:

Named Set 'MySet'[Geography].[Geography].[Country].members

Calculated Member 'MyMember'

Aggregate(StrToSet('[MySet]'))

In order to successfully create this once the error has been triggered, you will also have to rename the

named set.

XLCubed Web Edition

Publishing Troubleshooting

Connection failure

When you click "Connect" in the publishing dialog XLCubed will try to contact your web server.

If you can't connect to the web server, you can try the following

Client configuration

If you use a proxy server to access the internet this can prevent XLCubed connecting correctly

To allow the connection turn on the option to bypass the proxy for local addresses.

Note that you only need to do this is you use a proxy, otherwise there is no need to make this change.

If this fails an administrator can check the following to try to resolve the problem.



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If this fails an administrator can check the following to try to resolve the problem.

Windows Authentication

IIS SETTINGS

Depending on your IIS version, take the following steps:

IIS 5/6

Right click the XLCubedWeb directory and select "Properties" Select the "Directory Security" tab Ensure

that "Integrated Windows authentication" is checked and all others are not.



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IIS 7/7.5

Select the XLCubedWeb directory and open the "Authentication" section.

Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and “Windows Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.



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If you do not have these options you must add them from Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows

features on or off

IIS 8

In addition to the IIS 7/7.5 steps, the HTTP Activation feature must also be installed.

Server Manager > Roles and Features > Add Role or Feature > Features then select .NET 4.5 > WCF

Services > HTTP-Activation.

Web.config

You will need to change the web.config file to include entries for all bindings. These entries are dependent

on the authentication mode (Basic, Windows or Anonymous) and whether or not you are using HTTPS.

Please note that when using HTTPS the security mode should be equal to Transport.

Authentication Using HTTPS? Web.config: on all bindingsWindows Yes <security mode="Transport">

<transport

clientCredentialType="Windows"/>

</security>Windows No <security

mode="TransportCredentialOnly">

<transport

clientCredentialType="Windows"/>

</security>

Basic Authentication

IIS SETTINGS


IIS 5/6


that "Basic authentication" is checked and all others are not.

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Publishing_Troubleshooting#IIS_7.2F7.5






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IIS 7/7.5/8




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Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and "Basic Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.

Web.config

You will need to change the web.config file to include entries for all bindings. These entries are dependenton the authentication mode (Basic, Windows or Anonymous) and whether or not you are using HTTPS.


Authentication Using HTTPS? Web.config: on all bindingsBasic Yes <security mode="Transport">

<transport

clientCredentialType="Basic"/>

</security>Basic No <security


<transport

clientCredentialType="Basic"/>

</security>

Anonymous Authentication

IIS SETTINGS


IIS 5/6


that "Enable anonymous access" is checked and all others are not.



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IIS 7/7.5/8




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Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and "Anonymous Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.

If you do not have these options you must add them from Control Panel -> Programs -> Turn Windows

features on or off



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Web.config

You will need to change the web.config file to include entries for all bindings. These entries are dependent

on the authentication mode (Basic, Windows or Anonymous) and whether or not you are using HTTPS.


Authentication Using HTTPS? Web.config: on all bindings Anonymous Yes <security mode="Transport">

<transport

clientCredentialType="None"/>

</security> Anonymous No <security


<transport

clientCredentialType="None"/>

</security>

Publishing failure

If you can connect to the web server, but cannot publish a file, you can try the following troubleshooting

steps.

Validate IIS Config

Navigating to the repository web service on the server will give a detailed error message if there is a

problem with the configuration (if everything is configured correctly you will see some sample code aboutusing the service). For example, navigate to:

http://localhost/xlcubedweb/webservices/RepositoryServer.svc

If this returns without error, then try with the exact URL the user would enter, for example:

https://www.someserver.com/xlcubedweb/webservices/RepositoryServer.svc

A full error message should be displayed giving details of the configuration that needs changing. Here a

some example errors and their solutions:

The HttpGetEnabled property of ServiceMetadataBehavior is set to true and the HttpGetUrl property is a

relative address, but there is no http base address. Either supply an http base address or set HttpGetUrlto an absolute address.

Locate the <serviceBehaviors> section and update it to the following:

<serviceBehaviors>

<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.RepositoryServerBehavior">

<serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="false" httpsGetEnabled="true" /><serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false" />

</behavior>









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<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.SmallMultipleChartServerBehavior">

<serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="false" httpsGetEnabled="true" />

<serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false" />

</behavior>

<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.MapServerBehavior">



</behavior>

<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.PrintRendererServerBehavior">


<serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true" />

</behavior>

<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.SchedulingServerBehavior">



</behavior>

</serviceBehaviors>

Permissions

Users need write permission to the repository directory in order to be able to publish files.

If this permission is missing often users can connect to the web server, but don't see a "My Reports" folder,

and get an error when attempting to publish a file.

To check if this is the problem you can grant Read and Write Access to the Repository directory in the

XLCubedWeb site to everyone and retry publishing.

If the publish then succeeds then permissions was the issue, and you can restrict access to the users you

wish to be able to publish.



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Publishing more than 1000 rows

If you try to publish a workbook with a large number of rows or columns you may get a message telling you

that a sheet has too many rows or columns.

Note the small scroll bar indicating that there are a lot of rows in use.

While XLCubed Web can handle a large number of rows, browsers will hang if given very large tables to

display. To avoid giving web users a poor experience XLCubed will warn you when you try to publish a

sheet which is very large.

From here you have several options:

If the sheet is used for calculation, and does not need to be shown to the user then it can be hidden. As

it the sheet cannot be shown in a browser the publication limit will not apply.

If you are displaying a large Grid or Tables, consider using a Pager.

If you really need to show such a large number of rows, the limits can be adjusted in the XLCubed

options screen.

If you don't think you are using 1000 rows you can follow the instructions below.

Reducing the used range

Excel controls the used range of the sheet, this is the limits of the cells with contents. XLCubed uses this to

count the number of rows and columns used on a sheet before publication.

This normally includes cells with content, but formatting large areas can cause it to get recalculated.




http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Grid



http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Tables



http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Tables#Paging



http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Options#Web_Publication












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Sometimes the used range can get incorrectly calculated. In this case you can delete the rows or columns

you know are unused to fix the used range.

To do this:

Select any cell in the worksheet

Press Ctrl+End - this will move you to the last cell in the used range.

Select the entire row by clicking on the row number

Use the scrollbars to move to the end of the report

While holding Shift, select below the last row in the report, again by clicking the row number.

Right click and Delete the range.

You can now publish again, and the used range will be recalculated.

If the scrollbar is still very small you can force excel to recalculate the used range by going to the VBA

editor and entering the following in the immediate window.

?ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Address

Slow Web Edition

XLCubed Web Edition's startup performance can be affected by several factors.



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Disabling Active Directory User Lookups

The QueryActiveDirectory web.config setting can be set to false in order to skip querying the Active Directory

domain controller to resolve the user name. Please see Book IV - Web Edition and the section on Behavioural

Configuration for more information.

Disabling Certificate Revocation List Checks

On startup, signed assemblies that are used by XLCubed Web Edition are verified. In order to do this, Windows firstchecks for invalid certificates. If the server doesn't have sufficient internet access, then this will time out. You can

disable this check by disabling the 'Check for publisher's certificate revocation' option in Internet Options.

Web Performance

Web Startup

The following gives some information about optimising the startup of the web - either for the first user of

the day or for each user's first access

IIS Configuration

By Default IIS will unload the XLCubed Website after a certain period of inactivity, this can have the side

effect that the website is then slow for the first user of the day.

From IIS 7.5 there is a setting on the application pool that can keep the website loaded, in IIS Manager go

to the XLCubed Application Pool, right click and select "Advanced Settings":

Web.config

When a user first connects to XLCubedWeb it will make a call to get the full name of the user (displayed on

the default startup page). On some domains this call can take a few seconds. This can be turned off via

the following web.config setting:



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<add key="QueryActiveDirectory" value="false" />



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XLCubed v7 User Guide – Book XII - Installation



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Book XII - Installation

XLCubed Excel Edition

Installation Prerequisites

XLCubed Excel Edition requires several packages installed in order to operate correctly. These will be

downloaded and installed automatically when you run the XLCubed Excel Edition Setup program.

If access to the internet is unavailable, the packages can be installed manually prior to installation.

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable (x86) or (x64) Note: install the version appropriate for

the Excel architecture you are using

Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 (x86) or (x64)

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 PivotTable Services (Analysis Services 8.0 OLEDB Provider) (x86 only)

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services 9.0 OLEDB Provider (x86) or (x64) Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services 10.0 OLEDB Provider (x86) or (x64)

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services 11.0 OLEDB Provider (x86) or (x64)

Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services 11.0 ADOMD.NET Provider (x86) or (x64)

Supported environments

Excel Edition:

Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8

Office XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013

Microsoft .NET Framework v4

Supported Versions of SQL Server:

SQL Server 2000 Standard or higher



SQL Server 2008R2 Standard or higher


Silent installation

To create a silent installation for XLCubed Excel Edition, first install the appropriate prerequisites as

detailed on the previous section Installation Prerequisites. The Windows Installer MSI may then be

obtained by entering the following at the command line:

XLCubedInstaller.exe /ExtractCab

where XLCubedInstaller.exe should be replaced with the full path of the setup executable. This will extract

the MSI into a subdirectory called SupportFiles. This MSI can then be invoked silently by passing

the /q switch:

msiexec.exe /i "MSINAME.msi" /qn

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=0a391abd-25c1-4fc0-919f-b21f31ab88b7


http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=8328






http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/a/f/eafb8ee7-667d-4e30-bb39-4694b5b3006f/msxml6_x86.msi






http://download.microsoft.com/download/2/7/c/27c60d49-6dbe-423e-9a9e-1c873f269484/ptslite.exe



http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/1/6/316FADB2-E703-4351-8E9C-E0B36D9D697E/SQLServer2005_ASOLEDB9.msi



http://download.microsoft.com/download/3/1/6/316FADB2-E703-4351-8E9C-E0B36D9D697E/SQLServer2005_ASOLEDB9_x64.msi



http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/E/6/0E67502A-22B4-4C47-92D3-0D223F117190/SQLSERVER2008_ASOLEDB10.msi



http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/D/0/AD021EF1-9CBC-4D11-AB51-6A65019D4706/SQLSERVER2008_ASOLEDB10.msi



http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/E/D/FEDB200F-DE2A-46D8-B661-D019DFE9D470/ENU/x86/SQL_AS_OLEDB.msi






http://download.microsoft.com/download/F/E/D/FEDB200F-DE2A-46D8-B661-D019DFE9D470/ENU/x86/SQL_AS_ADOMD.msi






















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Using this method, any prerequisites must be installed manually.

XLCubed Excel Edition Installation Logging

The XLCubed Excel Edition installation program is a standard Windows Installer (MSI) program wrapped in

a bootstrapper EXE. You can log any errors by using the following command line switches.

Windows Installer (MSI)

"XLCubed Excel Edition.msi" /l*v C:\LogFiles\Log.txt

Windows Executable (EXE)

XLCubedExcelEdition.exe /ComponentArgs "XLCubed Excel Edition":"/l*v C:\log.txt"



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XLCubed Web Edition

Overview

To install XLCubed Web:

Run the setup program while logged onto the server as a user with administrator permissions

Once installed, copy the provided license key (xl3web.license) into the website folder, which is bydefault: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb

When installed, the application is accessed by navigating to http://<yourservername>/XLCubedWeb

XLCubedWeb is the default website name during installation, but can be changed as required during

the installation process

Please note versions 5 and below are not upgraded: this version will install as a separate product

Installation Prerequisites

Server Requirements

Windows 2000 Server or above Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.1 or above (including the required authentication methods, static

content and asp.net)

Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0

Hardware Requirements

Recommended specification is dependent on the cube size and design, the number of users, and the

pattern of usage. Having Analysis Services on the same machine will also have an impact.

As an absolute minimum we recommend:

Memory: 2GB

Processor: Dual Core 2.2 GHz

Client Requirements

Internet Explorer 7.0 or above

Google Chrome 5.0 or above

Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or above

Safari 5.0.6 or higher

Pre-Requisites

The installation will automatically download and install any required Microsoft redistributables. If desired

or if Internet access is restricted, these can be downloaded and installed manually before running the

XLCubed setup process. A list is available here.

IIS8/Windows 8

The following features must be enabled for XLCubed Web to work:

Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off / .Net Framework 3.5 /

Windows Communication Foundation HTTP Activation

Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off / .Net Framework 4.5

Advanced Services / WCF Services / HTTP Activation

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Web_Edition_Prerequisites/Version_7.0






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Configuration

After the installation has completed you will be shown the configuration utility:

(If the server is running a version of IIS older than 7 you will need to follow the old installation guide here)

Authentication

You will need to decide on the type of Authentication, here's a brief summary of each option:

Anonymous

A user account needs to be specified, all users will connect to the data source as this user. The database

server can be on a different machine to the web server.

This would be typically used where XLCubedWeb needs to be available to everyone with no restrictions,

such as on the Internet or available to an entire organisation (with no restrictions) on an Intranet.

Basic

The client will be prompted for a user-id and password - this will be authenticated against local users (if no

domain is specified) or the active directory users. The database will be accessed using the given account

and can be located on a different server to the web server.

This would typically be used where it's not possible to configure Kerberos or if the set of users need to be

maintained locally on the machine (independent of the Active Directory/Domain users)

Windows

The default and most common method. The client's current credentials will be passed to the server and

they will be used when connecting to the datasource. If the database server is on a different server then

they will only receive the credentials if Kerberos has been configured, see Book XII – Installation and thesection on Kerberos for more information. (Kerberos will need to be set up and configured by a domain

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Web_Edition_Installation_Guide/Version_6.1






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administrator. Most large organisations will have an existing process for doing this - the previous article

contains all the information required.)

This method would be used in most organisations as authentication, and therefore access, is controlled

through the same mechanisms as other network resources.

HTTPS

If the website has been set up to use HTTPS (see this Microsoft support article for more information) then"Use HTTPS" will be checked. Click the "Apply" button to ensure XLCubedWeb has the correct settings to

support this.

Repository Access

The repository, visible in the left hand pane of the web application, is simply a folder on the Web Server

within which additional subfolders can be added. All published reports are held within the repository

folder, or subfolders within it. The permissions for the repository can be controlled by clicking on

"Repository Access". You will be presented with the form for maintaining which groups have access and

the level (write for publishing reports, or read-only for viewing reports only)

Finer control can be maintained by navgating to the repository folder in windows explorer, the folder

location will by default be:

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/324069






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Additional folders can be added as required, at the level immediately beneath the Repository folder itself,

for example one folder per user group. If the user has the permissions, they can maintain the folder

structure by right-clicking on the "Publish Report" screen in the Excel client.

The Temp folder should also have these permissions set on it. Its default location is:

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\temp

Windows permissions determine which folders are visible within the web application to any given user, e.g.

can be configured such that the 'Sales' function cannot see the 'Finance' function folder and vice versa.

This is all handled transparently by the application, and set at the Windows folder level permissions level.

The same logic is true of read/write vs. a read-only split between user groups.

Note that every user has a 'My Reports' folder, which is the equivalent of 'My Documents' in Windows, and

is only accessible by the individual user. These are held in the location below:

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository\__userfolders__

Licensing

To apply a license key, click on "Licensing":

Click "Apply New Key" and select the appropriate license key file. You will be given a summary about the

key (such as the number of concurrent users and any expiration date)

Setting up the XLCubed Web Edition application manually

This step is usually not required, as the setup program will create the web application for you. It may benecessary if:



547 | P a g e


During the setup process, the Add XLCubed Web Edition to IIS checkbox was unselected

Your web server is set up in a non-standard configuration, especially where the Default Web Site has

been modified

You wish to create the web application yourself for whatever reason

Note that in the non-standard configuration, you may receive the following error message from the setup

program: Failed while processing WebVirtualDirs. (-2147024894)

In any of these cases, the setup program will have copied the application files to the web server, but you

will have to create the site yourself. To do this:

1. Open Internet Information Services Manager (inetmgr.exe)

2. Under the Application Pools node, ensure that the XLCubed application pool has been set up. It

must be configured to use v4.0 of the .NET Framework and use the Classic pipeline mode.

3. Under the Sites node, open the website in which XLCubed Web Edition should be made available

(usually the Default Web Site).

4. Usually the XLCubedWeb Virtual Directory will already exist within the website. If this is the case,

then right-click on it and select Convert to Application. If not, right-click on the website instead andselect Add Application...

5. In the Add Application dialog, ensure that the XLCubed application pool is selected and, if

necessary, choose the correct path.

This will set up the application's web site. Further security setup and other configuration will likely be

necessary. Information can be found below.

Functional User Permissions

Access to the application, and the type of access is controlled by two files located in:

C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Xml\Security

To enable or disable user or group access to the Web Edition, enable or disable read access for the relevant

user or group to:

system.xml

'Ad hoc' access gives users the ability to build their own report from scratch. This access is controlled via

the adhoc.xml file. To restrict users to be able to view only pre-published reports, revoke access to:

adhoc.xml

The scheduling features allows users to schedule reports, if Web Edition scheduling is licensed. To enable

or disable user or group access to this feature, enable or disable read access to:

scheduling.xml

Published Connections

When a user publishes a connection to XLCubed Web, which may contain custom calculations etc they arepublished to:



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C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWebv6\Repository\__xlcubed__\__connections__\Published Connections

or to subfolders which have been created within this.

Published Favourites

When a user published a report favourite to the web, they are published to:

C:\inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWebv6\Repository\__xlcubed__\__grids__\Published Favourites

Accessing XLCubed Web reports from SharePoint and other portals

XLCubed Web reports can be accessed either through the Web Edition homepage, or accessed directly by

URL within other portals.

To get the URL for a specific report, in the homepage of XLCubed Web:

Click on the View parameters icon:

Then press the Get Url button:

The provided URL can be used to embed the report within other portals and frames as required. In the case

of SharePoint, the URL is used within a sitelink web part.

Additional configuration options accessible as suffixes on the URL are:

HorizontalScrollbar true/false

VerticalScrollbar true/false

SheetTabs true/false

Toolbar true/false



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DefaultTargetFrame text

For example, for the report above, to include the toolbar in the rendered version, the URL would become:

http://localhost/XLCubedWeb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=XLCubed/Management

Book.xml&dpi=96&Toolbar=True

System Configuration Settings

Behavioural Configuration

The web.config file held within the XLCubedWeb folder determines various behavioural aspects of the

product. The following settings are held within the <appSettings> section.

LogErrors write errors to Error.log

LogPerformance for debug only

ShowErrorMessages show detailed error messages or just a reference

to the log file

DefaultChartSeries default number of series to chart on an ad-hoc

report

MaxChartSeries maximum number of series to chart on an ad-hoc

report

DisplaySystemMemProps show system member properties available for

selection

DrillthroughDefaultMaxRows default maximum rows on a drillthrough

DrillthroughAbsoluteMaxRows maximum permitted rows on a drillthrough

RepositioryRootUNC No longer supported - listed for compatibilityreasons. To create a shared repository, use

MKLink [1] to replace the folder with a Symbolic

Link to a network share.

ClearLevelsMovedToFilters Where an entire level is selected on an axis

(potentially a large number of members), and is

dragged onto the slicer, the selection is changed to

the default member (Typically 'All'). This is to

prevent users accidentally creating a very slow

running query by individually aggregating all the

members dragged to the slice

DefaultCulture Backup culture where it cannot be retrieved from

the browser

QueryActiveDirectory Used to display the user name on homepage

WritebackTimeout Writeback timeout in milliseconds

PdfConverterUserName No longer required

PdfConverterPassword No longer required

PdfUseAppPoolUserForXpsPrint true to use the IIS configured application pool user

for creating the XPS during the PDF print; false

uses the impersonated user. Must be true for 64-

bit application pools

PdfUseAppPoolUserForPdfConversion true to use the IIS configured application pool user

for creating the PDF during the PDF print; false







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uses the impersonated user. Must be true for 64-

bit application pools

DocumentDomain used when embedding XLCubed within an iframe

on a different server

PDF Printing Configuration

To configure the web edition to use the impersonated user instead of the application pool user, see Version

7.1 instructions.

1. Set PdfUseAppPoolUserForXpsPrint and PdfUseAppPoolUserForPdfConversion to true

2. Ensure the application pool user has read and write access to the "Temp" folder,

\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\temp

Data Configuration Settings

Updating Data Configuration Settings (see section in Book X – Miscellaneous) may be done to affectconnection behaviour by advanced users, although it is not recommended to do this without advice from

XLCubed support.

Application Usage

Please refer to the help menu within the product for an overview of all functionality.

Kerberos Delegation - Introduction

Delegation will need to be configured if XLCubedWeb is installed on a different server to the underlying

database and the Website is configured to use Windows Authentication.

If you have this type of setup and Delegation isn't configured then you will receive a message such as

"Server is unavailable" for Analysis Services or a "(null) user" error for SQL Server when trying to access

published reports.

Most corporations have a standard setup for Delegation and this would be handled by the Domain

Administrators. The following is a guide to how to configure Delegation in the simplest case but is no

means a "Best practice" guide as each domain setup and infrastructure can vary enormously.

There are also many other factors that can impact a successful implementation Delegation, such as

network infrastructure, client security settings and software. The following guide will assume that all the

clients will be running Internet Explorer and there is only one domain with everything located on the same

physical network with no firewalls/routers that could filter Delegation requests.

Preparation

Before beginning it is worth ensuring XLCubedWeb is working correctly including loading a report (at which

point it should give the server is not available error)

Ensure the XLCubed Website Application pool is running as either NetworkService or a specifically created

domain user and then only "Windows Authentication" and "ASP.net Impersonation" are enabled in the

Authentication settings of the website.

Check/clear any existing SPNs for the servers - if any already exist and they are invalid then the

configuration will not work. The following link contains some good information about how to do that:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2009/02/13/searching-for-duplicate-spn-s-got-a-little-easier.aspx

http://www.xlcubed.com/help/XLCubed_Web_Edition_Installation_Guide/Version_7.1#PDF_Printing_Configuration




http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Data_Configuration_Settings











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Information Required

Before configuring Delegation you will need to know the following information:

What the networks domain name is - this is needed to get a server's Fully Qualifed Domain Name

(FQDN): server.domain

The name and FQDN of the Web Server: Webserver

The name and FQDN of the Analysis Services: ASServer

The name and FQDN of the SQL Server (if allowing SQL connections): SQLServer

The port SQLServer is running under (if allowing SQL connections)

The User ID for the XLCubed Application Pool configured for the XLCubedWeb website: WebUser

The User ID the Analysis Services service is running as: ASUser

The User ID the SQL Server service is running as: SQLUser

User ID format

If the User IDs are domain accounts then the format needed is simply:

domain\user

If the service or application pool is set to run under NetworkService then use the server name:

server

Access Required

You will need to be a Domain Administrator to perform all of the configuration steps

Domain configuration

Enable Server Delegation

The first step is to enable delegation on ALL the machines involved in the process:

WebServer

ASServer

SQLServer

This is a domain level setting and is set using the "Active Directory Users and Computers" administrative

tool which is part of the Microsoft Admin Tools Pack and would normally be on the Domain Controller.



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If there is more than one domain controller then you would need to either initiate a propagate or wait for

this change to be applied to all the domain controllers.

Set SPNs

The Service Princial Names (SPNs) are set using a Command Line tool: setspn. This needs to be run in an

Administrator Command Prompt with an account that has Domain Admin privileges. It needs to be run for

BOTH the server name and the Fully Qualified Domain Name.

If there is more than one domain controller then you would need to wait for this change to propagate to all

the servers

WEBSERVER

setspn –A http/WebServer WebUser

setspn –A http/WebServerFQDN WebUser

Example:

setspn -A http/webserver domain\appooluser

setspn -A http/webserver.domain.com domain\appooluser

ANALYSISSERVICES

setspn –A MSOLAPSvc.3/ ASServer ASUser

setspn –A MSOLAPSvc.3/ ASServerFQDN ASUser

Named instance

Where InstanceName is the name of the instance:



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setspn –A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServer:InstanceName ASUser

setspn –A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServerFQDN:InstanceName ASUser

You may need to also setup an SPN for the SQL Browser Service, see the following for more

information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950599

SQLSERVER

setspn –A MSSQLSvc/SQLServer :1433 SQLUser

setspn –A MSSQLSvc/SQLServerDQDN:1433 SQLUser

Where 1433 would be replaced with the appropriate SQL Server port number

USERACCOUNTDELEGATION

Now the SPNs have been set you will need to enable delegation for the service account and application

pool users, this is again done in “Active Directory Users and Computers” administrative tool.

IIS Configuration

After making the following changes and running the Kerberos configuration run an IISReset before testing.

Check the providers and order

In IIS Manager, right click on "Windows Authentication" under the Authentication section and select

providers, ensure they match the following:







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Advanced settings

You may need to disable "Enable Kernel-mode authentication" - this is accessible by right clicking on

"Windows Authentication" under the Authentication and selecting "Advanced Settings". If Delegation

doesn't work initially try toggling this setting (with an IISReset)

XLCubed Configuration

There are no steps required within XLCubed - the whole Delegation process is handled between the

browser and the various servers before XLCubedWeb starts to process user requests

Troubleshooting

Microsoft Kerberos testing tool

Microsoft have a tool available to test that Delegation has been correctly configured, this can be

downloaded from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39046

Alternate testing tool

There is also a Kerberos website that you can install - it would need to be setup to duplicate the exactconfiguration and can then be used to check the configuration. It will also provide options to fix any

problems it finds. It can be downloaded from the following link:

http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/kerberos.zip

Non-IE browsers

It is possible for some non-Internet Explorer browsers to use Kerberos, here are some tips that may help,

but if you can't get it working then Internet Explorer would need to be the fall back or consider setting

up Dual Authentication for access to remote clients.






http://www.xlcubed.com/help/Dual_Authentication








CHROME

You would need to add all the servers involved in the process to the "White List", this is done via the

shortcut for the browser:

"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --auth-server-

whitelist=" ASServer ,WebServer ,SQLServer " --auth-negotiate-delegate-

whitelist=" ASServer ,WebServer ,SQLServer "