Run Data Actions, Multi Actions, and Allocations

If data actions, multi actions, or allocations are available in an SAP Analytics Cloud story or analytic application, you can run them to carry out complex or repetitive planning operations more quickly and accurately.

Context

Data actions, multi actions, and allocation processes are all structured planning operations. They form a big part of the business logic for planning – that is, how data is created, stored, and changed during the planning process.

Structured planning processes are set up by a modeler or admin (or sometimes a planner reporter for allocation processes). They involve a sequence of changes to planning model data, such as copying data, running scripted calculations, doing driver-based allocations, and publishing versions.

When they’re set up, planning users can run them in stories and analytic applications. Planners may get prompts to specify a few members or values, but otherwise the operations run through the steps automatically.

Planners can still have full control over the data with manual data entry, but structured operations make it easier to carry out complex and repetitive tasks.

For details about each type of operation, refer to the following pages:

If the target version is a public version, the data action or multi action will only run on data within the planning area (also known as the data in Edit Mode). If the public version was put into edit mode using the recommended planning area, the data action or multi action will only apply to data within the recommended planning area. For more information about editing public versions, see Planning on Public Versions.

Run Data Actions

Prerequisites

The user must have the Execute permission for the data action.

If data access control is enabled for the dimension members you want to perform the data action on, you also need to have Write access to corresponding dimension members to change any data. For more information, refer to Set Up Data Access Control.

Context

Besides using a data action trigger, there are a couple of other options for running data actions:

Scheduling data actions in the calendar: Schedule Data Actions in the Calendar
Adding data actions to analytic application scripts: Use Data Actions Technical Objects

Procedure

Open the story or analytic application with the trigger for the data action.
Select the trigger icon to run it.
If there are prompts, set the members or values for them and select Run.
Check any warning or error messages and make changes accordingly. You might get a warning or error message in the following situations:
- If there is a problem with the parameter values and you need to fix them.
- If data is booked on non-leaf members, which is not supported. To include this data, you can reconfigure the auto-mapping source hierarchy so that the data is booked on leaf members. In some cases, when there is no auto-mapped source hierarchy that is available so that the data is booked on leaf members, you might need to create one. For more information, see Adding a Cross-Model Copy Step.

Results

The data action starts running.

Running in Background

If the data action is set to always run in the background, or if you select Run in Background after starting it, you'll return to your story or analytic application. A message appears when it’s complete, and you can also check the Notifications () list for the results. In the meantime, you can keep working with your story or analytic application. You'll have to wait until the data action finishes to make changes to the same version though, and you may need to refresh to see the results.

Run Multi Actions

Prerequisites

To run a multi action, you’ll need access to a story or analytic application with a trigger for it. A set of permissions and access rights for the multi action and the model data are also required. For more information, refer to Automate a Workflow Using Multi Actions.

To publish changes from a multi action, you’ll need additional permissions. For details, refer to Create, Publish, and Manage Versions of Planning Data

Context

A multi action is a sequence of data actions, predictive steps, and publishing steps that can run on one or more versions and models. For more information, refer to Automate a Workflow Using Multi Actions. You can run it with a planning trigger in a story or analytic application.

You can also run a multi action by scheduling it in your Calendar. For more information, refer to Schedule Multi Actions in the Calendar.

Procedure

Open the story or analytic application with the trigger for the multi action.
Select the trigger icon to run it.
If there are prompts, set the members or values for them and select Run.

Note

Some parameter values might prevent you from running the multi action. If there's any problems with the parameter values, a message will let you know how to fix them.

Results

The multi action starts running.

Running in Background

If the multi action is set to always run in the background, or if you select Run in Background after starting it, you'll return to your story or analytic application. A message appears when it’s complete, and you can also check the Notifications () list for the results. In the meantime, you can keep working with your story or analytic application. You'll have to wait until the multi action finishes to make changes to the same version though, and you may need to refresh to see the results.

Incomplete Steps

In some cases, one of the multi action steps may not run successfully. Changes from the previous steps will still take effect, but the multi action won’t proceed to the following steps.

A version management step can’t run: You’ll get a message and notification with the version and model name.
A data action step can’t run: You’ll get a message and notification with the data action name. You can check the data action monitor for details.
A data action step runs too long and times out: The multi action won’t be able to complete. If your multi action is taking longer than expected to run, check the data action monitor.

For more information about the data action monitor, refer to Monitor Data Actions. If you know the name of the multi action, you can search for it to check the status of the data actions involved. (Note that its name can be different from the label on the multi action trigger.)

Final Status

After running, the multi action will have a status of successful, failed, or executed with a warning. A multi action is executed with a warning if any of the steps have warnings in them.

Run an Allocation Process

Context

Once an allocation process is set up, users with a planning license can run it in a story or analytic application to speed up planning tasks. You can also apply filters on the allocation process if you want to limit which data is involved.

To learn more about how allocation processes work, see Learn About Allocations.

Before you start, a few requirements need to be met:

You need to have access to a story or analytic application with a table based on the appropriate planning model.
An allocation process must be set up for this model. See Set Up Your First Allocation Process and Build an Advanced Allocation Process for details.
You need to have the execute permission for planning models to run allocations.

Procedure

Select the table based on the model where you want to allocate values.
In the toolbar, select Execute Allocation.
In the Execute Allocation window, select the allocation process that you want to run.
Choose the version on which to run the allocation process:
- To run the allocation on an existing version, select it from the Version list. Leave the Create Private Version field blank.
- To run the allocation on a new private version, select a public version to copy from the Version list and type a name for the new version in the Create Private Version field.
In the Confirm Scope Of Allocation window, choose how to filter the members that will be included in the allocation process:
- Use Point of View: The scope of the allocation step will be restricted using the filters that are currently applied to the table.
- Refine Filters: Set your own filters to choose members to include in the allocation. By default, the current filters on the table are applied, but you can select dimensions from the list in the Selected filters window to choose members to filter.
- No Filters: The allocation is performed on all available members in the model.
You can choose Don’t show this dialog again to apply the same choice each time you run an allocation process in the current story or analytic application view.
The allocation process begins to run. If you select Run in Background, you'll get a notification when the process finishes. Select Refresh to show the results of the allocation process in your table.

Check the Status of Your Allocation Jobs

After you run an allocation process as a planning user, you may need to check its status in the job list. Or, as an admin, you might need to see how other users' allocation jobs are doing.

To access the job list, select (Allocations) and choose Allocation Jobs. You can also select Go to Job List from the message that appears when you start running an allocation job in the background.

A list of allocation jobs is shown. You can search the list, sort it, or filter it by job status. To see updated information about the jobs, select Refresh.