Working with Longview Data Grids

Depending on your system, you may have one or more Longview Apps that use Data Grids. Data Grids allow you to work with data in the Longview database.

For instance, you may be able to input data, run models, and view results of calculations dynamically.

Formatting Data Grids

Depending on the way your Data Grid was configured, you may be able to specify whether you want to view symbol names, descriptions, or value from a symbol attribute as row or column headers. You can also choose to apply any highlighting, filters, and symbol suppression your Longview App Developer has added to your Data Grid.

To change the way symbols are displayed in row and column headers:

1. In the Data Grid toolbar, choose Options > Display. The Display dialog opens.

   Note: The Options button may contain customized descriptive text set by your Longview App Developer

2. For each dimension, select whether you want to view symbol Names, Descriptions, or the symbol’s attribute value. Active dimensions are listed first, followed by fixed and slice dimensions. To display symbol Names, Descriptions, or symbol attribute values for all active dimensions, use the appropriate Select All check box.

   Note: If your Longview App Developer has not a specified symbol attribute value for headers for a dimension, the check box is not available. If you select both Name or Description and Attribute for a dimension, the Name or Description displays.

3. When you are finished, click OK. The Data Grid updates to reflect the new settings.

To change the way data is displayed:

1. In the Data Grid tool bar, click Options. The Options menu appears.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To hide any highlighting your Longview App Developer may have designed for the Data Grid, clear Apply Highlighting. Alternatively, if you previously hid highlighting, select Apply Highlighting to apply the styles.
   • To hide any filters your Longview App Developer may have designed for the Data Grid, clear Apply Filters. Alternatively, if you previously hid any conditional filters, select Apply Filters to apply the filters.
   • To show any symbols with zero values that your Longview App Developer may have suppressed for a specified dimension in the Data Grid, clear Apply Symbol Suppression. Alternatively, if you previously showed any zero-value symbols, select Apply Symbol Suppression to suppress the symbols again. If your Longview App Developer has not designed any symbol suppression in your Data Grid, this selection is unavailable.

   Note: If your Data Grid includes Export to Excel functionality, these selections apply to the way the data appears when exported to Excel.

3. To change multiple options, repeat step 1 and step 2.

Navigating Data Grids

Your App Developer has set up your Data Grids so that the rows and columns contain specific dimensions and symbols. Rows and columns may contain nested dimensions to make it easier to manipulate data in the grid. You can expand and collapse symbols in the rows or columns to view the desired data in the grid.

Other dimensions may be fixed or sliced. If a dimension is fixed or specified as a row or column, you cannot change the symbol selection for that dimension.

Depending on your system, a Data Grid may contain tabs across the top. In this case, each tab may show a different view of the data.

Selecting symbols in a Data Grid

Data Grids contain data from a specified Data Area. Depending on your system, you may be able to view different aspects, or slices, of the underlying Data Area.

Slice dimensions appear along the top of the grid. To alternate between slices, select the appropriate symbol in a slice dimension. Type a new symbol name for the dimension or use the Symbol Selector to search for a symbol.

To use the symbol selector:

1. Click the Search icon for the appropriate dimension. The Symbol Selector opens.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Navigate through the hierarchy to find a symbol.
   • Type a symbol name in the Search Symbol Names box. The results appear in the Search Results list.

   Note: The Add button for a symbol may be dimmed depending on your symbol access privileges.

3. Click the Add button for the symbol in the hierarchy list or the Search Results list. The Selected Symbols list appears displaying the symbol you selected.
4. When you are finished selecting the symbol, click Done. The grid changes to reflect the new symbol selection.

Using the Data Grid toolbar

The Data Grids in your Longview Apps may contain a toolbar with functionality that can help you with everyday tasks. For example, the toolbar may have buttons that allows you to upload the changes you have made to the Longview database, run custom models, or open other Data Grids. It could also contain buttons that close the Data Grid.

To initiate any toolbar action, click the appropriate button on the toolbar. If you are working in a Data Grid that contains tabs, the toolbar is specific to each tab; however, if you click a toolbar button that specifies a close action, the entire Data Grid closes.

Common toolbar actions included in data grids:

1. Submit: Click to submit any data changes to the database, including comments, line item detail and file attachments.
2. Refresh: Click to refresh the data displayed in the data grid. If there are any un-submitted changes you will be prompted to submit the changes first.
3. Status: Click to refresh the status of the data displayed in the data grid. If there are any active submissions or events an alert will be displayed in the title area of the data grid.
4. Calculate: Click to run any calculations that are set up to run on demand.

   Note: This button only appears if your Longview App Developer has configured calculations to run on demand.

5. Validate: Click to execute any data validations that have been configured.

   Note: This button only appears if your Longview App Developer has configured validations and has enabled them to be run on demand. Configured validations are always run when Submit is clicked.

6. Symbols: Click to change the symbols selected within the Longview data grid.

   Note: This button only appears if symbol selections are used in the app and your Longview App Developer has enabled the ability to change the selections from the data grid.

7. Options: Click to change the formatting options in the data grid.
8. Print Preview: Click to print the current data grid.
9. Export to Excel: Click to export the current data grid to Excel.
10. Import: Click to import data into the current Data Grid.

    Note: This button only appears if the import option has been enabled by your Longview App Developer.

11. Comments: Click to review all previously submitted comments related to the entire view area.

    Note: This button only appears if it has been enabled by your Longview App Developer.

12. Help: Click to open this help guide.
13. About: Click to view information about the app, template and framework version.

Using Data Grid context menus

The cells of your Data Grids may contain a context menu with standard menu commands.

Data Grids can contain two types of context menus:

• symbol context menus
• data context menus

Right-click a symbol cell to access the symbol context menu with the following commands:

Right-click a data cell to access the data context menu with the following commands:

Note: Your context menu may also include custom business actions created by your Longview App Developer.

Changing magnification

You can change the magnification of a data grid to suit your preference for your screen. Modifying the magnification of a data grid applies to the current session view only and not the way the data grid is printed.

Zooming in and zooming out

You can modify the magnification of a data grid from 50% to 150%.

To zoom in or zoom out:

1. Open the data grid using the appropriate method.
2. Depending on the way you want to modify the magnification, do one of the following:
   • To increase the magnification of the data grid, click Increase font size on the status bar. The data grid magnification increases by 25%. Alternatively, you can drag the slider to the desired magnification level.
   • To decrease the magnification of the report, click Decrease font size on the status bar. The data grid magnification decreases by 25%. Alternatively, you can drag the slider to the desired magnification level.

Searching Data Grids

Your Data Grid may include the Search box at the right-most edge of the toolbar. You can use the Search box to search for symbols in the Data Grid. Depending on the way your Data Grid is configured, you may be searching for symbol names, descriptions, or attribute values.

To search:

1. Type in the Search box. Matches, if any, appear highlighted yellow in the Data Grid. The first cell containing matches is outlined, and any matches within the cell are highlighted blue.
2. If your search returned more than one result, click Next to navigate the search results. The next matching cell is outlined and any matches within the cell are highlighted blue.

Modifying search options

You can modify the Data Grid Search behavior using the options in the drop-down list.

Printing Data Grids

Your Data Grids may include the Print Preview button. If you want to specify advanced page setup options before you print, see Specifying page setup options.

To print:

1. Click the Print Preview button. The Print Preview dialog opens.
2. Do one of the following:
   • Select a scaling factor from the list, or a Fit to option, and continue to step 5.
   • Select Custom Scaling. The Page Setup dialog opens.
3. In the Scaling area, do one of the following:
   • To specify the percentage of normal size to adjust the page size to, select Adjust to and type a percentage. The default percentage is 100%.
   • To specify a number of pages to fit the print area to, select Fit to and type the number of pages wide by the number of pages tall.
4. Click OK. The Print Preview dialog comes into view.
5. Complete these fields:

   1. Paper: Select the paper size to use for the print area.

   2. Orientation: Select either the Portrait or Landscape orientation for the print area.

   3. Page Order: Select the page order for the print area.

6. When you are finished, click Print. The Data Grid prints in the specified format.

Specifying page setup options

You can specify advanced page setup options using the Page Setup dialog.

To specify page setup options:

1. Click the Print Preview button. The Print Preview dialog opens.
2. Click Page Setup. The Page Setup dialog opens.
3. Complete these fields:

   1. Orientation: Select either the Portrait or Landscape orientation for the print area.

   2. Margins: Specify the Left, Right, Top, and Bottom margins for the print area.

   3. Scaling: Do one of the following:

      • To specify the percentage of normal size to adjust the page size to, select Adjust to and type a percentage. The default percentage is 100%.
      • To specify a number of pages to fit the print area to, select Fit to and type the number of pages wide by the number of pages tall.

   4. Paper size: Select the paper size to use for the print area.

   5. Gridlines: Select one of the following:

      • Do Not Print Gridlines — To print the grid without gridlines.
      • Print Gridlines — To print the grid with gridlines.

   6. Page Order: Select one of the following:

      • Down, then across — To print multiple pages down and then across.
      • Across, then down — To print multiple pages across and then down.
4. Do one of the following:
   • If you want to print at this time, click Print. The data grid prints in the specified format.
   • If you want to print later, click Close Preview to return to the Data Grid.

Working with data

You can manually input data to any unprotected cell in a Data Grid. In some cases, you may be also able to select a value from a drop-down list.

By default, the contents of protected cells are blue, and the contents of unprotected cells are black. The contents of parent cells appear in bold. Your company may also use custom conditional cell styles for data that meets certain criteria. For more information, contact your System Administrator or App Developer.

Depending on how your App Developer configured the Data Grid, some cells may accept numeric or text values only. If you try to input numeric values into a text-only cell, the value is treated as text. You cannot input text values into numeric-only cells. If the value of a data cell does not match the type of cell, a warning icon displays.

Copying and pasting data

If you are entering large amounts of data from a spreadsheet, you can copy and paste data into the grid.

To copy and paste data:

1. Copy the appropriate area in your spreadsheet to the Windows clipboard.
2. In the Data Grid, right-click the upper-left cell of the paste area and select Paste.

Note: Formats, formulas, and comments from third-party tools are not retained when pasting into Data Grids.

Importing data

Users of data grids can import data stored outside of the application directly into Longview data grids. This can be useful if you have a lot of data to input that is stored in an external file.

Note: Import is only available if enabled by your Longview App Developer.

To create the import file:

1. For each value to be imported, specify the symbol in each dimension, followed by the value.

   Note: Symbols must be specified in the order of the dimensions in the database.

2. Separate each symbol and the value with either “,”, “;” or “{“.

   Sample file (Accounts, TimePeriods, Entities, Dataviews, Scenarios, Currencies, Value):

   1300,A16_04_YTD,727,GL,SCENARIOS_Working,CAD,10000

   1405,A16_04_YTD,727,GL,SCENARIOS_Working,CAD,-400

To import the file:

1. Click Import. The Import dialog appears.
2. Select the file to import.
3. Select the delimiter used in the file.
4. Choose clear option.
   1. Check Clear view before import to replace all values in the data grid with those in the file.
   2. Leave Clear view before import unchecked to only update the data grid with values that exist in the file.
5. Click OK.

Working with line item details

Your company may allow or require you to enter line item details for specific data intersections. Cells with associated line item details have a green indicator in the bottom-right corner of the cell.

Adding line item details

Line item details may be enforced or optional for certain cells in a Data Grid. You cannot input directly into cells that enforce line item details. These protected cells are blue. Cells with optional line item details are not protected.

To add line item details:

1. Right-click the cell and click Line Item Details. The Line Item Details dialog opens.
2. Specify the line item details Comment and type the value into the appropriate cell.

   Note: In some cases, the Comments may be pre-populated by your App Developer.

3. When you are finished adding details, click OK.
4. Click Submit to submit the changes to the database.

Clearing line item details

Within the Line Item Details dialog, you can clear an unwanted line item. You can clear the values in a row, but you cannot remove the row itself. If you want to clear all comment rows in the line item details, and transfer the total value to the original cell, see Deleting line item details.

To clear line item details:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the relevant detail and click Line Item Details. The Line Item Details dialog opens.
2. Select the row of line item detail that you want to clear and click Clear. A confirmation dialog opens.
3. Click Yes. The comment and values in the row are cleared.

Deleting line item details

If you want to remove all line item details, you can delete the line item detail from the main data grid. When you delete line item detail associated with an intersection, the total values for all line item details in that intersection are transferred to the original cell.

If you want to remove the row of line item detail without transferring values to the original cell, clear each row from the line item detail within the Line Item Details dialog. For more information, see Clearing line item details.

To delete line item details:

1. In the main Data Grid, right-click the cell that contains the relevant details, and click Line Item Details. A confirmation message opens.
2. Click Yes. The total value of the line item detail is transferred to the original cell and becomes editable.

Printing line item details

You can print line item details in the same way as you would print any Data Grid.

For more information, see Printing Data Grids.

Exporting line item details to Microsoft Excel

You can export line item details for a specific data intersection to a Microsoft Excel file. Click the expand icon in the top-left corner of the spreadsheet to view the coordinates of the symbol intersection that contains the exported line item details information.

To export line item details to Microsoft Excel:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the relevant detail and click Line Item Details. The Line Item Details dialog opens.
2. Click Export to Excel. The Save As dialog opens.
3. Navigate to the desired file location.
4. Specify a File Name, and then click Save. The line item details file is exported to the specified location.

Working with comments

Your company may allow you to add comments to explain your entries. Comments are always optional.

If a cell has one or more associated comments, a red indicator appears in the top-right corner of the cell.

Adding comments

You may be able to add comments to explain your entries.

To add a comment:

1. Right-click the appropriate cell and click Comments. The Comments dialog opens.

   Note: Select the cell carefully. If you want an upper-level manager to read the contents of the comment, select a highly-visible area, for example, a high-level parent cell such as a total year. If you want to leave a reminder for yourself, select an appropriate leaf cell.

2. Click Comment. A new comment line appears in the list, with the name of the user that created the comment and the date automatically populated.

   Note: You can add up to, and including, one hundred comments per cell.

3. In the Comment column, type the comment. When you are finished adding comments, click OK. A red indicator appears in the cell.

Removing comments

If you have not yet submitted data to the database and do not need a comment that you added during your session, you can remove it from the Data Grid.

If you want to delete a comment that you or another user has submitted to the database, see Deleting comments from the database.

To remove a comment:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the comment to remove and click Comments. The Comments dialog opens.
2. Select the check box adjacent to the comment or comments that you want to remove and click Remove.
3. When you are finished removing comments, click OK.

Deleting comments from the database

If you do not need a comment that has been submitted to the database, you may be able to delete it, depending on your authorization. If you have Delete Comments authorization, you can delete any existing comment, including comments created and submitted by other users.

If you do not have Delete Comments authorization, you can remove only comments that you created during your current session, and that you have not yet submitted to the database. For more information, see Removing comments.

Note: Delete Comments authorization is set in Longview Application Administrator. For more information, see the Longview Application Administrator Guide.

To delete a comment:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the comment to delete and click Comments. The Comments dialog opens.

   Caution: If you delete a comment and submit the changes to the database, the comment cannot be recovered. Use this function with caution.

2. Select the check box adjacent to the comment or comments that you want to delete and click Remove.
3. When you are finished deleting comments, click OK.

   Note: Deleted comments are deleted from the database when you submit your changes to the database.

Working with attachments

If you need to add supplemental information to a Data Grid, you can attach a file to a base data cell, provided the cell is locked and you have write access to that cell. You can attach multiple files to a cell. Files that you attach and submit are stored in the database. You can attach files of any extension; however, your computer must have an appropriate program installed to open any attachments that you download from the database.

Note: Depending on your system configuration, the option to attach files may not be available. Contact your System Administrator for more information.

Attaching a file

You can attach a file to a base data cell in a Data Grid to provide supplemental information.

To attach a file to a cell:

1. Right-click the cell to attach the file and select Attachments. The Attachments dialog opens.
2. Click Attachment. The Choose file dialog opens.
3. Navigate to, and select, the file you want to upload. File names for attachments must be unique within a cell.

   Note: Due to limits in path lengths on Windows operating systems, file name lengths are limited to 100 characters or less, and path lengths (including the file name and extension) are limited to 256 characters or less. If you are encountering issues attaching files with long file names, contact your System Administrator.

4. Click Open. The Attachments dialog appears with the new file in the list and To be added in the Pending Action field. If you are attaching a modified version of an existing attachment, To be replaced appears in the Pending Action field. If you change your mind about attaching a file, you can click Undo.
5. Click OK. A paperclip icon appears in the selected cell.

   Note: Attachments are added to the Longview database when you submit the data to the database.

Opening and saving attachments

If you want to open an attachment or save a copy locally, you can open or download the attachment from the Longview database from the Attachments dialog.

To open or save an attachment:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the attachment that you want to open or save and select Attachments. The Attachments dialog opens.
2. From the list of files, click the attachment you want to open or save. The File Download dialog opens.
3. Do one of the following:
   • To view the attachment, click Open. The file opens.

     Note: You must have an appropriate program installed on your local machine to open attachments.

   • To save the attachment, click Save. The Save As dialog opens. Browse to the location to which to save the file and click Save. The file is saved to the specified location.

Removing attachments

If you have not yet submitted data to the database and do not need an attachment that you added during your session, you can remove it from the Data Grid.

If you want to remove an attachment that you have already submitted to the database, see Deleting attachments from the database.

To remove attachments:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the attachment that you want to remove. A pop-up menu appears.
2. Click Attachments. The Attachments dialog opens.
3. Select the check box next to the file or files you want to remove, then click Undo. To be removed appears in the Pending Action field.

Note: The attachment is removed from the selected cell only; if you have files with the same name attached to other cells or templates, you must repeat this procedure to remove each individual instance.

Deleting attachments from the database

If you no longer need an attachment, and you have submitted the data, you can delete the attachment from the Longview database. For information on removing attachments before you submit the data to the database, see Removing attachments.

To delete attachments:

1. Right-click the cell that contains the attachment that you want to delete. A pop-up menu appears.
2. Click Attachments. The Attachments dialog opens.
3. Select the check box next to the file or files you want to delete, then click Remove. If you change your mind, you can click Undo.
4. Click Close.

Note: Attachments are deleted from the database when you submit the data to the database. Attachments are deleted for the selected cell only; if you have files with the same name attached to other cells or Data Grids, you must repeat this procedure for each instance.

Viewing data information

You can view information about the data in selected cells in the footer of the Data Grid. When you select a single cell, the cell’s true value (with no rounding) displays in the footer.

When you select multiple cells, the following information displays in the footer (if applicable):

• the count (number of cells selected)
• the sum of the data in the cells
• the average of the data in the cell

Exporting data

Your Data Grid toolbar may include a button that allows you to export the current data grid to Microsoft Excel.

To export data from a Data Grid to Microsoft Excel:

1. On the Data Grid toolbar, click the Export to Excel button. The Save As dialog opens.
2. Specify the file name and location for the export file.
3. Click Save. The data is exported, and the file opens in Microsoft Excel with the following information:
   • in the first two rows of the spreadsheet, a collapsed group containing the Down, Across, and fixed dimensions from the Data Grid
   • the data