Compare Outlines

You can compare two outlines in the Essbase web interface. The outlines must be of the same type, both aggregate storage, or both block storage. They can be on the same Essbase server, or on different Essbase servers.

To demonstrate outline comparison, we'll import two sample applications.
  1. In the Essbase web interface, click Import.
  2. In the Import dialog box, click Catalog.
  3. Go to gallery > Applications > Demo Samples > Block Storage, select Sample_Basic.xlsx and click Select.
  4. Click OK to build the cube.
  5. Repeat steps 1 through 4, this time building Demo_Basic.xlsx.

To open two outlines side-by-side,

  1. On the Home page, navigate to the Sample application, and select the Actions menu Image of the Actions menu icon on the Applications page, next to the application name..
  2. Choose Databases > Basic > Launch Outline.
  3. On the outline toolbar, click the Compare Outlines icon.
    Image of the outline toolbar, with "compare outlines" highlighted.

  4. In the Compare dialog box, keep the (Current) connection and select the Demo application and the Basic database (cube).

    Alternatively, you can select a connection to another server in the Connection drop down menu, and compare two outlines on different servers.

  5. Click Open, and Demo.Basic is opened to the right of Sample.Basic. Demo.Basic is read only. The read only outline is the source outline. The writeable outline is the target outline.
    Image of the Sample Basic and Demo Basic outlines side-by-side using the outline compare feature.

To synchronize expanding and collapsing hierarchies,

  1. Expand the Year dimension in Sample.Basic and notice that the Year dimension in Demo.Basic is expanded as well.
  2. In the outline toolbar, next to Compare, click Auto expand/collapse target membersImage of the auto expand collapse target members outline icon. to deselect it (it is selected by default) .
  3. Collapse the Year dimension in Demo.Basic and notice that the Year dimension in Sample.Basic is still expanded. Collapse the Year dimension in Sample.Basic.

To synchronize scrolling,

  1. Click Auto expand/collapse target members Image of the auto expand collapse target members outline icon. and expand several dimensions so that you need to scroll in order to see the entire outline.
  2. Confirm that in the outline toolbar Enable/disable synchronize scroll Image of the enable/disable synchronize outline scroll icon. is selected.
  3. Scroll the Sample.Basic outline and observe that the Demo.Basic outline scrolls in sync with it.

To synchronize showing and hiding columns,

  1. In the outline toolbar, click Select Columns to Display.
    Image of the outline toolbar with the display in columns icon highlighted.

  2. In the Selected Columns column, select operator and data storage type and click the left arrow. Notice that the displayed columns in both Sample.Basic and Demo.Basic change accordingly.
To copy members from the source (compared) outline to the target (writeable) outline,
  1. In the upper right-hand corner of the outline editor, click Edit outline Image of the edit outline icon. .
  2. In the Demo.Basic outline, expand the Product dimension.
  3. Right click Audio and select Copy.
  4. In the Sample.Basic outline, expand the Product dimension.
  5. Right click Product, and select Paste, and then As child.

    Audio and its children are added as children of Product.

To search either the source (compared) or the target (writeable) outline,
  1. In the outline toolbar, click Search Members Image of search members in the outline icon..
  2. Notice that search bars open for both Sample.Basic and Demo.Basic, allowing you to search either one.

    Note:

    The search bar does not open for the target outline when it is from an Essbase version prior to 21c.