Dynamic Commentary in Reports

Overview

You can collaborate within Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports using the Dynamic Commentary functionality.

You can perform the following:

• Add cell level comments.
• Edit, Delete, Highlight, or Resolve comments.
• Post comments for a combination of dimensions at leaf level, rollup level, and calculated members.
• Add users, text, #tags, and hyperlinks in the comments.
• Assign tasks and track their status from Task Manager.
• Mark Task as Complete in the Comment(s) pane.
• View all comments in the application and perform actions such as Delete and Highlight in Comments Manager.

You can view an indicator wherever a comment is posted in the report. You can include the following in a comment:

• Add a user - Type + and select the required username to tag the user in a comment. When you type +, username suggestions are provided automatically for the ease of selection. A notification is sent to the tagged user. You can turn off the notifications if required.

• Add # tags - Type # to find the most used tags in a comment.

• Add URLs in a comment.

Posting a Comment

1. Click Reports and open a Dynamic Report.
2. Enable the Comments On option from the More list box in Dynamic Reports. The default is set to Comments Off.

   

   If Comments On is enabled, the Comment option is visible on the right-click menu. A visual indicator is displayed if a comment already exists on a cell. When Comments Off is enabled, the Comment option and visual indicators for comments are removed from the Dynamic Report. The setting is retained when you Save, Save As or Copy a Dynamic Report.

2. Right-click on the required cell. The menu list appears.

3. Click Comment. A pop-up window appears.

   

4. Enter the required text and click Comment. The comment is saved successfully.

   

Any user with read-only or full access to the report can post comments for a data intersection honoring dimension security.

You can post comments on the following cells with:

• Data combination of leaf level, roll up level, calculated members.

• Data where substitution variables are used in the dimension intersection.

• Data derived from a Custom Member (hierarchy-based, multi-dimensional rule, calculation-based) when calculation-based comments are stored for the Custom Member on the corresponding dimension. This is applicable for Dynamic Report and Financial Reporting Area ( for Main and Alternate hierarchies).

• Data derived from Attributes or Attribute Hierarchy used on the Page, Row, or Column axis of a Dynamic Report.

• Data where multiple members are used on the Page axis. This is applicable for Dimensions, Attributes, Attribute Hierarchy, Substitution Variables on the Page axis.

• Comments are always visible on the Dynamic Report for a combination of the dimension selections. The comment can also be viewed from the Comment Manager page.

Assigning a Comment

While posting a comment, you can assign the comment to any intended user to take action on the comment. While tagging a user, you can select the Assign check box, and this action will create a task for the assigned user. Enter @ and provide the username of user you want to assign.

Assigning a comment requires the following details:

• Task Name: Provide a label for the comment. The assignee can identify the comment based on the task name.
• Due Date: Provide a final date to resolve the comment.
• Priority: Select a metric (Low, Mid, or High) to show the importance of the comment.

Click Create Task. A notification is sent to the mentioned user. 

The assignees and admin will have access to the assigned tasks. You can view the task details from Task Manager.

Resolving a Comment

Once a tagged user addresses the comment, they can use the Resolve option in the comment pop-up to close it.

If the comment is assigned, the assignee has to enable the Mark as Completed toggle and click Resolve to close the comment. 

You can resolve the comments from anywhere (Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web (Analyze and Report), and SpotlightXL (Analyze and Report), and Excel Based Reports) within the application irrespective of where you posted the comment.

You can view the resolved comments from the Comments Manager page. An icon is displayed next to resolved comments as shown in the image below.

Use the Filter icon to filter resolved comments in the grid. Also, you can delete resolved comments using the More option. The image below shows the filter icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Once a comment is resolved, you cannot reopen, edit, reply, or highlight that comment. However, a new thread can be started for the same cell.

Mark as Completed

You can change the status of any of your assigned tasks to Completed directly from the Comments pop-up window using the Mark as Completed toggle.

Only Assignee, Reporter, or Administrator can mark the status Completed using the Mark as Completed toggle. The Mark as Completed toggle is available in Dynamic Reports, Spotlight Web - Analyze and Reports, SpotlightXL - Analyze, Reports, and Excel Based Reports. The following image shows the status of a task marked as completed using the toggle.

When you mark any task Completed from the Comments pop-up window, the same status is automatically updated for the corresponding task in the Task Manager page.

Other Actions

The posted comments have a contextual menu using which you can perform different actions on that comment:

• Edit - Use this option to modify any existing comment.
• Highlight - Use this option to highlight any comment if it has to stand out from the rest of the comments.
• Delete Thread - Use this option to delete the actual comment and comment thread.

Edit Comment Tasks in Task Manager

The tasks created from a comment are editable from Task Manager. This is applicable to the information mentioned in the Comment pop-up window. If you edit any of the task information from Task Manager, the updated information will be reflected in the Comments pop-up window.

If a task is completed, then a tick mark is visible on the Comments pop-up window against the respective task name.

If you change the assignee from Task Manager, the assignee details in the Comment pop-up window is not updated. If a task is deleted from Task Manager, it is removed from the Comment pop-up window, however, the user mentioned in the comment is retained.

Add Dynamic Commentary Column

You can add a Dynamic Commentary column using the Dynamic Commentary option under the Function drop-down list in the Insert Formula pane. While inserting a new column, you can select this option to extract comments from any column and save them in the new column. The new column containing comments is inserted to the right or left of any column based on the selection you have made from the Insert drop-down lists. You can have multiple Dynamic Commentary columns in a single report. Every new comment starts in a new row and the long text wraps to fit the column widths saved on the report.

In Practice: How to Access the Insert Formula Pane

Open a Dynamic Report and click Formula > select Insert Row / Column. The Insert Formula pane appears.

You can select the following check boxes to define additional configuration settings for the comments:

Display only Highlighted Comments

When you select this check box, only the highlighted comments are displayed in the Dynamic Commentary column. By default, this check box is not selected. When this check box is not selected, all comments are displayed in the Dynamic Commentary column.

Display Username and Date

When you select this check box, the username and date are displayed for each comment in the Dynamic Commentary column cell. The date and time are converted to the user timezone. By default, this check box is not selected.

The image below displays comments extracted from the column B to a new column.

This feature is applicable to all existing and new Dynamic Reports for all combinations of Report Sets, Dimensions, Attributes, and Attribute Hierarchy.

When you extract comments from an existing column to a new Dynamic Commentary column, the following points are applicable for the Dynamic Commentary column:

• You cannot edit cell values in the Dynamic Commentary column.
• You can adjust the width of the Dynamic Commentary column.
• You can apply cell formatting to the Dynamic Commentary column.
• You can use the Edit, Delete, and Formula Exceptions actions for the Dynamic Commentary column. However, the Drill down, Drill through, Copy, Paste, and Comment options are not available for this column.
• If you add or remove the Dynamic Commentary column, the Dynamic Report Header and Footer get adjusted automatically.
• When you use actions such as Pivot and Rank on the report, the position of the Dynamic Commentary column gets adjusted automatically.
• When you export or print a report, all output options such as Export to Excel, Export to PDF, Print, and so on will include the Dynamic Commentary columns.
• You can insert the Dynamic Commentary column while using the Comments On and Comments Off options.
• When you use a Dynamic Report with the Dynamic Commentary column in Report Collections or Financial Package, comments are displayed based on Dimension Security and the POV dimension selections applied in the Report Collection or Financial Package.
• When you edit a comment, the updated comment is displayed in the Dynamic Commentary column after you use the Run or Refresh action for the report.

Dynamic Commentary in Different Outputs

When you perform an export to Microsoft Excel, PDF, a Google Sheet, Microsoft Word, or Microsoft PowerPoint from Dynamic Reports, Report Collections, or Financial Package, the Dynamic Commentary column displays all comments based on configuration settings. Comments in all exported outputs are displayed as plain text unless a URL is added to a comment. If this is the case, you can click the URL from the cell in the exported output.

The Dynamic Commentary column also displays the comments in all email attachments, snapshots, Report Collections, and so on. Every new comment starts in a new row and the long text wraps to fit the column widths saved on the report.

A maximum of 1024 characters are exported in each cell across multiple comments. Characters beyond the threshold value are truncated and shown with ellipses.

Limitations

• Comments are not supported for the following:

• • Cells where advanced MDX rules, multi-member selections on the Report Set rule, excel formulas, headers, footers, or Subtotals or Grand Total are used.
  • When multiple POV selections, attributes, or attribute hierarchies are used.
  • External Source Models in Spotlight.
  • When a user is in an inactive state.

• Comments are not copied from the previously linked PCR application when you copy Modeling only application.
• Model Backup and Restore does not retain comments.
• Comments are not moved from source to target when data is moved from one model to another.
• Comments posted on leaf members do not roll up into its parent.
• Comments are supported only in Google Chrome.

Configure Email Notifications for Dynamic Commentary

You can configure email notifications for the Dynamic Commentary functionality from the Notification Settings option. This functionality helps you track actions in the Dynamic Commentary functionality and keeps you up to date by providing email notifications for the selected action based on your requirements. You will receive email notifications with hyperlinks to directly navigate to the respective product area. This helps you access reports and tasks quickly from emails.

The email hyperlink redirects you to the corresponding artifact (for example, a Dynamic Report, a SpotlightXL View, or a SpotlightXL Report) from which the comment was posted and also opens the corresponding Comment pop-up window.

If the email notification is regarding an assigned task, the email hyperlink redirects you to the corresponding task on the Task Manager page.

In Practice

To configure email notifications for Dynamic Commentary, follow the steps below.

1. Navigate to Notifications > Notification Settings (Gear icon).
   
2. Select or deselect the required checkbox under the Dynamic Commentary section. You can enable email notifications for the following actions:
   • All Actions - Enables notifications for all available actions in Dynamic Commentary. By default, this check box is selected.
   • Assigned Task - Notifies you when someone assigns you a task.
   • Marked Task As Complete - Notifies you when assigned tasks are marked as complete.
   • Mentioned on Comment - Notifies you when someone mentions you in a comment.
   • Replied to My Comment - Notifies you when someone replies to your comment.
   • Resolved Comment - Notifies you when the tagged user resolves the comment.
     You will receive email notifications only for the selected actions.