Sharing Data

This chapter covers the following topics:

• About Sharing Data
• Sending Measures
• Notifications About Collaboration Measures
• Receiving Measures
• Viewing Collaboration History

About Sharing Data

Oracle Demand Planning provides tools that enable planners and the Demand Plan Manager to share their most current data before providing final submissions to the shared database. Users share data by sending and receiving measures, or portions of measures, that contain the data.

Sharing is established through planner assignments

The extent to which planners can share data is established in Demand Plan Administration, where the administrator defines planner assignments. Assignments specify the data values that planners are responsible for forecasting and the scope of the data that they can view.

Collaborative relationships are established when the administrator gives planners viewing rights to data that other planners are responsible for forecasting.

If dependent demand has been enabled in the Demand Planning Server and model bills of material have been brought into Demand Planning, assignments must also take account of product and model relationships. For example, if one planner is responsible for options while another is responsible for their parent model, the parent model should be in the view scope of the first planner and in the edit scope of the second planner.

Sharing is limited to assignment scopes

The data that a planner can share with others is limited to the values that he or she is responsible for forecasting. Only that portion of the data will be updated in other planners' views and in the shared database. Data is shared at the lowest available allocation level, as specified in the Demand Planning Server for the data stream on which the measure is based.

Note: To view the lowest available allocation level for a measure, click the right mouse button on the measure object in the Navigation list and view its properties.

Demand Planner: Sharing data

When you work as a planner you can share data for a stored, shared measure. A stored measure is permanently stored in the database, as opposed to a formula measure which is calculated on the fly. A shared measure is one that has been distributed to you, as opposed to a measure that you created in your personal database.

You might want to share a measure when you have changed its values. Note that when editing a shared measure, you should avoid locking cells at aggregate levels as it is possible for a locked cell to be modified if a measure is received that affects the cell.

Note: Only the data values that you are responsible for forecasting and related comments will be shared. If you change the measure definition (for example, apply an event factor), the resulting values will be shared but the definition will not.

Demand Plan Manager: Sharing Data

When you work as a Demand Plan Manager, you can share data for stored, shared measures. You might want to share a measure when you have changed its values. You can also share updates to input parameters that have been previously distributed to planners. For example, if you know that new data for an input parameter has recently been downloaded and a distribution has been run, you might want to share the measure with your planner community. This will enable planners to quickly view the latest version of the data.

Note: You cannot share, immediately, a measure that you have just defined. Before you can share the measure, it must be populated in the shared database, included in planners' assignments, and distributed to planners.

Sharing Demand Planning Objects

Demand plan managers and planners create personal objects within their workspaces that are normally inaccessible to other users.

These personal objects can include any or all of the items listed below:

• custom aggregates

• documents (worksheets, reports, graphs)

• folders

• saved dimension selections.

Oracle Demand Planning provides the Share Objects dialog box as a means for users to share, update, and delete objects.

Why Managers and Planners Share Objects

After a plan has been initially populated, the planning manager may define documents, saved selections, and custom aggregates that could be useful to planners.

In the planning manager's role, checking the Share related objects box in the Shared Objects dialog box enables you to make custom aggregates and saved selections automatically available to each planner who has access to a plan for which these objects are defined and shared.

Sharing related objects is helpful when other shared objects that planners use contain references to these objects.

Ownership of Shared Objects

Objects shared by managers and planners retain a linkage to the originator and cannot be updated or overwritten by anyone except the originator.

The creator or originator of a shared object can remove it from the shared workspace. The original, private copy of the object, however, is not affected.

Characteristics of Shared Objects

Several important characteristics of shared objects are listed below.

• Shared documents can be viewed, manipulated, and saved as new documents with different names.

• Shared custom aggregates and shared saved selections can be viewed, but their definitions cannot be modified nor saved under new names.

• Shared documents can be viewed, manipulated, and saved as new documents with different names.

Additional rules that govern the behavior of shared objects in the Navigation List:

For demand plan managers:

• Objects created and shared by plan managers cannot be updated or overwritten by anyone except the object's originator.

For managers and planners:

• Objects that have been shared by either planning managers or demand planners are identified in the Navigation List by icons that indicate sharing. The icon for a shared object looks like the normal icon for that type of object, but has a 'hand' attached.

• The originator of a shared object still sees a personal, unshared copy in the Navigation List.

• If the originator of a shared object deletes the personal copy, the shared copy remains in the Navigation list in place of the personal object.

• You cannot overwrite a shared object by saving a personal object with of the same type with the same name.

Shared objects are validated during synchronization at session startup. Objects that cannot be corrected for a user’s assignment are marked as invalid. This may occur, for example, if the objects to which a shared object is linked become unavailable.

Ifi a document has been shared and its selection definition contains aggregates that have not been shared, for example, Demand Planning drops the aggregates from the selection.

Using the Shared Objects Dialog Box

Follow the steps below to access the Share Objects dialog box and share objects with other demand planners.

1. Choose the Tools button on the Navigation List.

2. Select the Share command from the Tools submenu.

3. Select an object type from the Share submenu, which displays the choices Documents, Document Folders, Custom Aggregates, and Saved Selections. When the dialog box opens, it will display objects of the selected type.

4. The Share Objects dialog box displays a list of personal objects of the selected type in the Personal Objects box. Select the objects you want to share.

5. Move objects into the Shared Objects box by clicking on the Share (arrow) button.

6. Check the Share Related Objects box if you want to also share all objects referenced by the personal objects that you have selected for sharing. The checkbox is selected by default.

7. The shared objects are displayed in two columns – one for the name of the object and one for the originator or owner. The shared object list contains all objects that have been shared by the current user as well as all the objects that have been shared by other users.

8. Deleting shared objects differs according to your responsibility (role), as described below.

   • As a planning manager, you can enable the Delete button by selecting an item in the Shared Objects box. Deleting the object will delete the shared copy, if you are not the owner, or the original copy, if you are the owner. This means that you can also delete the shared copies of your object in this way

   • As a demand planner, you can only enable the Delete button by selecting an object of which you are the originator. You delete the object and its shared copies by doing this.

9. Use the drop down list in the Object Type box to change the display according to object type.

   Once the sharing process is completed, Oracle Demand Planning updates the shared object list with all objects that have been successfully shared.

   If you rename an object elsewhere and then reshare it in the Share Objects dialog box, the dialog treats the previously shared object as the same object, and automatically updates the name of the shared object to match the renamed personal object.

10. Choose the Close button to close the dialog box

Sending Measures

In order to share data with others, you "send" the measure or measures that contain the data. You can choose to send all of the data for a measure or you can limit the data to specific geographies, products, and time periods.

Note: Oracle recommends that you send only those measures or portions of measures that need to be updated. For example, if you know that a specific area of the data cube has been modified, then you should only send that area. This will make both sending and receiving more efficient.

To send measures:

1. Access Oracle Demand Planning as a Demand Planner or Demand Plan Manager.

2. On the Navigation toolbar, choose the Tools button.

   

3. Choose Collaboration from the submenu and then choose Send.

   Result: The Send Measures dialog box opens.

4. In the Select Measure to Send box, the Available box displays measures that you can send. Select measures to send as follows:

   • To select a single measure, double-click its name in the Available box

     or

   • Highlight it and choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box.

   • To select multiple nonsequential measures, press and hold the CTRL key, choose each measure that you want to add, and then choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box.

   • To select multiple sequential measures, select the first measure that you want to add, press and hold the SHIFT key, select the measure that you want to add, and then choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box. You can also select the events to add by clicking and dragging the mouse.

   • To select all measures, choose the double arrow button that points to the Selected box.

5. To send all values that you are responsible for forecasting, in the Send Options box, choose Send entire assignment scope of measure.

6. To limit the data to specific values that you are responsible for forecasting, choose Send selected values of measures and choose the portion of the measure to send as follows:

   1. In the Dimension/Level grid, choose a dimension and select a level. This level will apply for this dimension to all measures that you send.

      Note: The level that you set determines the selection list for dimension values. It does not affect the level at which the data will actually be sent. This is always the lowest available allocation level for the measure. To view the lowest available allocation level for a measure, click the right mouse button on the measure object in the navigation list and view its properties.

   2. Repeat the previous step for each dimension.

      Result: The Edit button becomes active.

   3. Choose Edit.

      Result: The Select Data dialog box opens for the first dimension. The values that you see are filtered by the level that you chose earlier. Proceed as follows:

      • Choose values for the dimension by moving values between the Available box and Selected box until the Selected box displays the values that you want to keep for the current dimension.

      • Repeat the previous steps for the next dimension.

      • Choose OK to save the current selections.

        Result: You are returned to the Send Measures dialog box.

        Note: The OK button is only enabled when you have selected values for all dimensions.

7. Choose OK to send measures.

Example: Sending Measures

You can send the entire assignment scope of a single measure.

Notifications About Collaboration Measures

Each planner whose view scope includes a measure that you send will receive a message that collaboration measures are ready to be received. The message will be displayed in their Notifications list.

Receiving Measures

A message appears in your Notifications list when there are measures that are ready to be received.

Note: Oracle recommends that you choose to receive only those measures that you currently need for your analyses. When data is received, it must be imported and aggregated, which can be time consuming. The more measures that you receive, the more time the process will take.

To receive measures:

1. Access Oracle Demand Planning as a Demand Planner or Demand Plan Manager.

2. Click the notification.

   Alternatively, you can choose the Tools button on the Navigation toolbar

   

3. and choose Collaboration and then Receive.

   Result: The Receive Measures dialog box opens.

4. In the Receive Measures dialog box, the Available measures box displays measures that you can receive. Choose measures to receive as follows:

   • To select a single measure, double-click its name in the Available box

     or

   • Highlight it and choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box.

   • To select multiple nonsequential measures, press and hold the CTRL key, choose each measure that you want to add, and then choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box.

   • To select multiple sequential measures, select the first measure that you want to add, press and hold the SHIFT key, select the measure that you want to add, and then choose the single arrow button that points to the Selected box. You can also select the events to add by clicking and dragging the mouse.

   • To select all measures, choose the double arrow button that points to the Selected box.

5. Choose OK to receive measures.

Viewing Collaboration History

The Collaboration History log enables you to view and sort information about actions that are related to data sharing.

The Collaboration History Log provides the following information:

• Action — The action that occurred.

  • Send — The measure was sent.

  • Receive — The measure was received.

  • Download — The measure was downloaded from the Demand Planning Server.

  • Distribution — The measure was distributed.

• Measure — The name of a measure affected by the action.

• Timestamp — The date on which the action occurred.

• Assignment — For an action initiated by a planner, this is the name of the planner's assignment. For an action initiated by the Demand Plan Manager, this is "Planning Manager"; for an action initiated by the Demand Planning System Administrator, this is "Administrator."

• User — For an action initiated by a planner, this is the user ID of the individual who initiated the action. For an administrator, this is "Demand Plan Administrator." For a Demand Plan Manager, this is "Demand Plan Manager."

To view collaboration history:

1. Access the Demand Planning Administration page.

2. In the Navigation list, choose Collaboration History.

To sort collaboration history:

Note: By default, collaboration history is sorted by date.

With the Collaboration History page open, choose the label of the column by which you want to sort the list.

Example: Collaboration history

For example, you can sort the Collaboration History log by assignment name, by choosing the Assignment column label.