Dynamically Setting User Variables

Data source types: Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management, Financial Consolidation and Close, FreeForm, Planning, Planning Modules, Tax Reporting

If your administrator set up a form with at least one user variable and enabled dynamic user variables, then you can select and change user variable values directly in the form.

For example, in Planning, for a variable called Department, you can select Sales members to plan sales expenses and then select Marketing members to plan marketing expenses. You can also set values for user variables in user preferences.

If the form was defined with the Use Context option, then user variables can be used in the POV. With this setting, the value of the user variable changes dynamically based on the context of the form.

Note:

• Starting in 25.08, for Forms 2.0 and dashboards, Cloud EPM automatically sets default values for dynamic and context-sensitive user variables based on the highest level of the user's access the first time the form is opened.

  Users won't need to select values for dynamic and context-sensitive user variables before working in a form. Users can then change the values, if needed, after opening the form using the procedure in this topic.

  Specifically, for missing dynamic user variables or context-sensitive user variables on a given form, Cloud EPM checks if the variable has any limit defined:

  • If a limit is defined, then the limit is evaluated, and the first accessible member is chosen as the default value for the user variable.

  • If a limit is not defined, then we retrieve the level 0 members for the dimension associated with the user variable and fill in the first accessible member.

  In cases where Cloud EPM is not able to pick a default value because of security reasons (for example, no access or no any allowable members), then the form is not loaded and a message informs users that the variables must be set in User Preferences.

• Standard user variables, if undefined, will still need user intervention to define missing values in preferences, described in Setting User Preferences.

To dynamically change values for user variables:

1. In the Smart View Panel, connect to a data source and open a form.

   Notice the available user variables in the POV toolbar across the top of the sheet. Selectable buttons are enabled, non-selectable buttons are grayed out.

2. In the POV toolbar, click a user variable button to display the Member Selection dialog box.

   In Figure 9-1, Account View, Version View, Entity View, and Product are all dynamic user variables that can be modified to change the POV of the form.

   The last user variable that was changed is shown in the text box at the left of the POV toolbar. In Figure 9-1, Entity View was the last user variable changed.

   Figure 9-1 Example of Dynamic User Variables in a Form

   
   
   
3. From the Member Selection dialog, select a member to replace the currently displayed member in the user variable button.

   Alternatively:

   • Click the arrow in and select Substitution Variables to select a member as a substitution variable.

   • In the Filter, , drop-down list, select an applicable filter, and then select a member in the Member Selection dialog.

4. Click OK to close Member Selection.
5. Repeat step 2 through step 4 for each user variable that you want to change.
6. Click Refresh to view the updated form.