Track Data Changes

You can create an audit trail to track updates made to Essbase data values, including changes to Linked Reporting Objects (LROs), such as adding notes, attaching files, and referencing URLs. You can export the log to an Excel spreadsheet.

To view data audit trail records, you must be at least a power user with Database Update permission on the application. You can only view those records where your user name matches the user name registered in the audit records. To delete data audit trail records, you must be at least a power user with Application Manager permission on the application. See Understand Your Access Permissions in Essbase.

• Turn on Data Audit Trail and View the Data Audit Trail
• Link a Reporting Object to a Cell
• Export Logs to a Sheet
• Refresh the Audit Log
• View and Manage Audit Trail Data in the Essbase Web Interface

Turn on Data Audit Trail and View the Data Audit Trail

Enable data audit trail for Essbase by adding AUDITTRAIL DATA as an application level configuration setting.

1. To turn on Data Audit Trail, add the following to the application configuration parameters: AUDITTRAIL DATA.
2. Perform ad hoc analysis through Smart View, make data changes through Smart View, and click on Submit - this results in an audit record being stored in the Essbase repository schema, in the table ESSBASE_DATA_AUDIT_TRAIL.
   When doing ad hoc analysis, there are many ways of getting a particular Point of View (POV) onto the grid. One of them is by using the POV toolbar, which allows you to zoom in on certain members in one or more dimensions. Refer to Selecting Members from the POV Toolbar in the Smart View documentation.
3. With Data Audit Trail enabled, you can view the audit trail in the connection Panel in Smart View. Under the connection information, click on the menu of operations under More to locate a menu option titled Audit Trail. Click on Audit Trail to view the data audit trail records for a cube.
   
   
4. The audit trail record shows the date and time of the change in the first column, the new value or the linked reporting object in the second column, and the POV in the third column. The time corresponds to your time zone. Click on an item in the audit trail for a description of the change.
5. You can display a sheet with the new POV and refreshed data value by clicking Ad hoc below the Audit Trail pane. When you click on subsequent audit records and click this icon, a different sheet is displayed with the POV for that audit record and refreshed data for that POV. This way, you can do further analysis on targeted data.

More Information

For information about application configuration, refer to Set Application-Level Configuration Properties.

For the limit on number of records displayed, refer to Other Size or Quantity Limits.

To use the REST API to fetch audit records, refer to Get Audit Data.

Link a Reporting Object to a Cell

You can add a linked reporting object (LRO) to a cell in the Essbase database. You can add a note to a cell, attach a file, or reference a URL. When you make these changes, the cells are highlighted in your cube.

LRO additions and updates are tracked in the data audit trail.

See these topics in the Working with Oracle Smart View for Office on how to link reporting objects to cells:

• Linked Reporting Objects

• Attaching a Linked Reporting Object to a Data Cell

• Launching a Linked Reporting Object from a Data Cell

Export Logs to a Sheet

You can easily export your logs to a new Excel sheet just by clicking an icon.

Export your log onto a new sheet using Export . Click this icon to export the logs with all the details for each entry onto a new sheet that looks like this:

Once exported, you can re-sort columns or remove them to show the information you want to analyze.

Refresh the Audit Log

You can refresh the Essbase Server audit log to see the latest tracked changes.

To refresh the security audit log to view the latest changes made on the Essbase Server, click Refresh in the audit log spreadsheet.

View and Manage Audit Trail Data in the Essbase Web Interface

You can view audit trail data in the Essbase web interface. You can also export the data to an Excel sheet (in .csv format), purge the data before a specific date, or purge all of the audit trail data.

1. To view and manage audit trail data:

   In the Redwood Interface,

   1. On the Applications page, open the application, then open the cube.
   2. Select the Audit Data tab.

   In the Classic Web Interface,

   1. On the Applications page, expand the application.
   2. Click the Actions menu to the right of the cube name and select Inspect.
   3. Select the Audit Trail tab.
2. You can:
   • View audit trail data.
   • Export the data to a CSV file.
   • Purge the audit trail data until a specific date.
   • Purge all of the audit trail data.

To purge data audit trail records, you must be a power user with Application Manager permission on the application.