Creating a Smart Slice in Excel

This subtopic shows you how to create a Smart Slice. Smart Slices are created by an administrator and
stored in the Data Source Manager where they are available to all users with the proper privileges.

A Smart Slice is a reusable perspective of an Essbase, Planning, or Oracle BI EE data source. Available
through the Provider Services, it is composed of a single member, a combination of single members,
filters, or a combination of single members and filters in any order. These components serve as
boundaries to data that you can view and work with in the Smart Slice.

You can do anything in a Smart Slice that you can do in Smart Viewperform ad hoc analysis, use free
form, submit data, and so forth. You can view and work with any data within the restricted set of
dimensions, but not with data outside its boundaries. For example, in a Smart Slice that limits sales data
to the Western region, you can drill down to data for California or Los Angeles, but you cannot drill across
to New York.

The following table provides a list of benefits gained by using Smart Slices:

Provides a predefined point of entry for ad hoc operations

Leverages the features of Report Designer and MS Office
Allows additional specific actions such as filtering, Zoom In, and suppression
Centralizes query capability
ws modification of the Smart Slice definition to be done in one place

Note: Smart Slices are particularly useful as the basis for creating queries in Report Designer and will be
used in a subsequent subtopic.

1. Creating Smart Slices involves setting Smart Slice data boundaries and setting Smart Slice
Preferences. This first series of steps sets Smart Slice data boundaries.

Open a new workbook. In the Data Source Manager, select the Basic data source.

2. Click the Add () icon.

The Select Alias Table dialog box appears.

Aliases are alternate names for database members. You can perform ad hoc retrievals by using the
database member name, which is often a stock number or a product code, or an alias, which can be
more descriptive. Each Essbase database to which you connect can contain up to 10 alias tables.

3. From the Select Alias Table, select Default and click OK.

The Smart Slice Designer interface appears.

The Smart Slice Designer interface allows you to create a logical definition for the selected data source.
You can select columns and rows, add filters by selecting family lineage and so forth, add POV members,
and set specific options (preferences) for your data.

Drag DESCENDANTS([Product]) from the POV and place it directly on DESCENDANTS([Period]).The grid
should look like this:

4. A. Select the column header C, DESCENDANTS([Market]) and click Market in the POV to choose
only the members that you want to see in the columns of your grid. The Member Selection dialog box
appears.

B. Select Descendants from the Filter drop-down list.

C. Select Boston, Seattle, Denver, and Houston from the Members pane and click the Add () icon to move
the members to the Selection pane.

D. Select DESCENDANTS([Market]) in the Selection pane and click the Remove () icon. The Selection pane
should look like this:

E. Click OK.

5.A. Select the column header B, DESCENDANTS([Period]) and click Period in the POV. The Member
Selection dialog box appears.

B. Select Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4 and click the Add () icon to move the members to the Selection pane.
Select DESCENDANTS([Period]) in the Selection pane and click the Remove () icon.

Ensure the Use Descriptions checkbox is selected.

C. Click OK.

6.A. Select the row header A, DESCENDANTS([Product]) and click Product in the POV. The Member
Selection dialog box appears.

B. Select Audio and Visual and click the Add () icon to move the members to the Selection pane. Select
DESCENDANTS([Product]) in the Selection pane and click the Remove () icon.

Ensure the Use Descriptions checkbox is selected.

C. Click OK. The grid appears with the filtered members.

Note: If you want to add a specific Account, or Scenario to your grid, you can select it from the POV by
clicking the drop-down list and then the ellipsis (...) to launch the Member Selection dialog box .

7. Next, you change a preference for your data. The preferences that you specify are stored as part of the
Smart Slice definition, and they override the global preferences set in the Options dialog box.

Click Options on the POV.

The Preferences dialog box appears.

8. There are two types of user preferences: ad hoc and display. The ad hoc options control how data is
retrieved into the spreadsheet and which data is retrieved in ad hoc queries. The display options control
how data is displayed in the spreadsheet. Additionally, you can also set cell styles. Each of the Smart
View Data Source Providers have a set of default cell styles to identify cell types. You can modify default
styles in Smart View and change cell styles by selecting different fonts, background colors, or border
colors.

Select #Missing for the missingLabelText val and enter Null. This replaces the literal #missing with the
literal Null when a Null value is encountered in a cell.

Click OK.

Click the done () icon to save your Smart Slice. The Member Selection dialog box appears. Once again,
you can change the options, select other members, and so forth.

Click OK and then enter the name Top Cities for your Smart Slice.

10. Click the OK () icon to save the Smart Slice and refresh the Data Source Manager. Your Smart Slice
appears in the tree associated with the Basic data source.
This Smart Slice is now available for use by the end user.

11. Open a new workbook. Right-click your Smart Slice and select Ad-hoc Analysis. Your query appears
and contains precisely the members specified in the Smart Slice.Next, you use the Smart Slice to create
a report.