Spreadsheet Add-in User's Guide for Excel

Preparing to Begin the Tutorial

Before you begin the basic tutorial, read the following important sections:

• "Setting Essbase Options"
• "Following Guidelines During the Tutorial"
• "Reviewing the Sample Basic Database"

Setting Essbase Options

Before you begin the tutorial steps, make sure that the worksheet options are set to the initial settings as illustrated in Figure Figure 9 through Figure Figure 12. If the option settings are different, the illustrations presented in this chapter may not match the worksheet view.

Note:

For information about each option in the Essbase Options dialog box, see the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in online help.

1. Select Essbase > Options.
2. In the Essbase Options dialog box, select the Display tab.
3. Select the appropriate check boxes and option buttons so that your display of the Display tab matches the following illustration:

   Figure 9. Initial Settings for Display Options
   
   
   

4. Select the Zoom tab.
5. Select the appropriate check boxes and option buttons so that your display of the Zoom tab matches the following illustration:

   Figure 10. Initial Settings for Zoom Options
   
   
   

6. Select the Mode tab.
7. Select the appropriate check boxes and option buttons so that your display of the Mode tab matches the following illustration:

   Figure 11. Initial Settings for Mode Options
   
   
   

   Note:

   If you are already connected to a Essbase database, the Essbase Options dialog box also displays a Style tab. You can skip this tab for now.

8. Select the Global tab.
9. Select the appropriate check boxes and option buttons so that your display of the Global tab matches the following illustration:

   Figure 12. Initial Settings for Global Options
   
   
   

   Note:

   You should have already selected the appropriate boxes for Mouse Actions, as described in Enabling Mouse Actions.

10. Click OK to save the settings for this session and close the Essbase Options dialog box.

Following Guidelines During the Tutorial

Keep in mind the following guidelines during this tutorial:

• Tasks that should not be performed as part of the tutorial are displayed in gray boxes. These tasks are included only for your future reference. You can find more information on these tasks in the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in online help.
• You must be connected to the Sample Basic database during the tutorial. If you are not connected to this database, the illustrations presented in this chapter will not match the worksheet view.
• You can access many Essbase commands in any one of these ways:
  • By selecting the command from the Essbase menu
  • By clicking the appropriate button on the Essbase toolbar
  • For the Zoom In and Zoom Out commands, by double-clicking either the primary mouse or the secondary mouse button
• You must set the options in the Essbase Options dialog box as described in "Setting Essbase Options". If the option settings are different, the illustrations presented in this chapter may not match the worksheet view.
• After you change a worksheet option in the Essbase Options dialog box, you must perform a retrieval or a drill-down operation to have the new setting take effect.
• Be sure to follow each step in the tutorial. Each tutorial task builds upon the previous task. Do not skip the final steps at the end of sections, because these steps are often necessary to prepare you for the next tutorial task.
• If you make a mistake during the tutorial, you can select Essbase > FlashBack to return to the previous worksheet view.
• The values in the Sample Basic database that represent ratios or percentages are calculated to a very high level of precision (for example, 55.26162826). In Excel, you can apply a cell format to control the number of decimal places that are displayed in data values. For more information, see the Excel documentation.
• The numeric values that are shown in the illustrations used throughout this tutorial may not match the values stored in your database. The values shown in these illustrations reflect a freshly loaded database.
• Some worksheet columns have been adjusted for clarity in the illustrations. You do not need to change the width of columns in the worksheet to follow the tutorial steps. The Adjust Columns option in the Essbase Options dialog box (Display Tab) adjusts columns for you.

Reviewing the Sample Basic Database

The Sample Basic database that you use for the tutorial is based on a hypothetical company in the beverage industry. The major products of the company are various kinds of sodas. These products are sold in U.S. markets, which are categorized by state and region. Financial data for the company is collected monthly and is summarized by quarter and by year. The company uses Essbase to calculate financial and accounting data, such as sales, cost of goods sold, and payroll. The company tracks both actual and budget data, as well as the variance and percent variance between the two.