Dynamic Planning Opt-ins

This article provides information on the Dynamic Planning opt-ins.

• Multi-Block Cascade

• External Source Model on Web

• Axis Query API Enhancement

• Report Collections Enhancement

• Versioned Hierarchy Management

• Write Back with CDT Enhancement

• Data History Feature in Web and SpotlightXL

• Enhanced Calculations Management Features

• Formula Reference Manager

Note:

By default, these flags are turned off. Contact Planful Support to opt in for these features.

Multi-Block Cascade

We have introduced Multi-Block Cascade support in SpotlightXL reports, a powerful enhancement that significantly boosts report-building flexibility. This update allows users to define and execute multiple independent cascade blocks within a single SpotlightXL report using the same or different models, enabling more dynamic and complex reporting scenarios.

Why Enable Multi-Block Cascade?

• Greater Reporting Flexibility – Build complex report layouts by stacking, offsetting, or placing blocks side-by-side.

• Multi-Model Integration – Combine insights from multiple Dynamic Planning models in one report for a unified view.

• Excel-Friendly – Excel formulas outside named cascade blocks are preserved, ensuring continuity of existing reporting logic.

• Independent Validation – Each cascade block is validated individually, reducing errors and ensuring accurate results across all blocks.

Example

You are preparing a financial performance report in SpotlightXL that compares revenue forecasts across regions and overlays employee headcount projections.

Without Multi-Block Cascade Support

• Only one cascade block can be used per report, requiring separate reports for revenue and workforce.

• Cross-model comparisons are time-consuming and fragmented.

With Multi-Block Cascade Support enabled

• You can place one cascade block for revenue (from the Financial model) and another workforce (from the HR model) side by side in the same SpotlightXL report.

• Both blocks update independently, allowing you to analyze financial and workforce trends together in a single, unified view.
  

External Source Model on Web

We have significantly enhanced External Source Models (ESM) in Dynamic Planning. Customers already use ESM to manage structured, non-numeric datasets, and these capabilities are now extended to the Spotlight web experience with a range of usability improvements.

ESM provides a flexible, spreadsheet-like interface to organize and maintain business-critical reference data such as employee rosters, project lists, cost center attributes, and other operational datasets. By separating structured lists from cube logic, ESM simplifies planning models, improves scalability, and maintains high data integrity.

The External Source Model on Web is an opt-in feature. Please contact Planful Support to Enable DP 2.0 Flag for your tenant.

Why Enable ESM on Web?

• Centralized Data Management – Keep critical reference data structured and consistent across models.

• Streamlined Planning Models – Reduce reliance on complex cube structures for cleaner, more scalable planning.

• Data Integrity – Enforce validations and rules to minimize errors.

• Agility and Control – Make real-time updates without disrupting ongoing planning.

Example

You are managing a Workforce Planning model where employee data is referenced across multiple templates.

Without ESM on Web

• Adding new employee attributes (e.g., Location or Employment Type) requires cube restructuring or complex workarounds.

• Updates to employee reference data must be manually aligned across models, introducing risk of inconsistency.

With ESM on Web enabled

• You can add new columns (like Location or Employment Type) directly in your published ESM.

• All updates automatically sync to SpotlightXL, ensuring reference data is accurate everywhere it’s used.

• You gain real-time flexibility to adjust attributes without interrupting planning cycles.

Axis Query API Enhancement

The Axis Query API enhancement introduces a new and improved SP API to retrieve data for views, bringing added functionality and performance improvements to your reporting experience.

With this enhancement enabled, you can now take advantage of the Zoom to Data Leaves action within views for Direct Access (DAP) models—a key feature that was previously unsupported.

Why Enable the Axis Query API?

• Enhanced Functionality: Unlock the ability to zoom directly to data leaves within your views, making it easier to explore granular data in DAP models.

• Improved Data Retrieval: The new SP API provides a more efficient and robust way of fetching data, contributing to better performance and reliability in your analysis workflows.

To use this feature, enable the Axis Query API and experience a more powerful and responsive data exploration process.

Example

You are working on a financial planning view built on a Direct Access (DAP) model. You want to drill down to the most granular level—individual account transactions—for a specific department.

Without Axis Query API Enhancement

You can view summary-level data but not zoom to the data leaf level in DAP models. This limits your ability to perform a detailed analysis directly within the view.

With Axis Query API Enhancement enabled

You can zoom directly to the data leaves, allowing you to explore granular account-level or transaction-level data within your view. This gives you deeper insight without switching tools or running separate queries.

Report Collections Enhancement

The Report Collections enhancement simplifies and automates how you deliver Spotlight and Excel reports to your users—saving time and reducing manual effort.

With this feature, you can now schedule and distribute multiple reports via email to specific users or user groups on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, based on your preferred date, time, and time zone settings.

Reports in a collection are automatically generated and shared in Excel format, ensuring that end-users always receive the latest report data without needing to request or download it manually.

Why Use Report Collections?

• Automated Report Delivery: Eliminate the need for manual report distribution and reduce the risk of errors by scheduling reports to be sent at regular intervals.

• Improved Accessibility: End-users can access up-to-date report data directly from their inbox, streamlining collaboration and decision-making.

• Flexible Scheduling: Customize distribution times based on business needs across time zones.

Feature Access Requirements:

To use Report Collections, the following conditions must be met:

• The tenant must be Unified (for more details, refer to Unified Tenant).

• The Enable Report Distribution flag must be set to Yes. Please contact Planful Support to enable it.

• The user must have Power User access.

Once enabled, you will find the Report Collections feature available directly within the Reports screen in Dynamic Planning.

Example

Let’s say your Finance team creates weekly sales and expense reports for regional managers.

Without Report Collections

Each report must be run and manually emailed to recipients—every week. This takes time and can lead to missed deadlines or outdated data being shared.

With Report Collections enabled

You can create a report collection that includes the sales and expense reports, schedule it to run every Monday at 8:00 AM, and send it automatically to the regional managers. Each manager receives the latest Excel reports directly in their inbox—no manual steps needed.

Versioned Hierarchy Management

The Versioned Hierarchy Management enhancement gives you greater flexibility and control when updating hierarchies—without the need to lock or clear the model.

When this flag is enabled, you can:

• Create up to ten versions of a hierarchy

• Publish or delete hierarchy versions as needed

• Make hierarchy updates without interrupting model access or requiring a model lock

This means you can manage and refine your hierarchies more efficiently, with minimal disruption to your planning process.

Why Versioned Hierarchy Management?

• No More Locking Required: Update hierarchies without locking or clearing the model—saving time and maintaining model accessibility only for unpublished hierarchy.

• Version Control: Create, manage, and publish multiple versions of a hierarchy, allowing for safe iteration and better collaboration.

• Smarter Updates: Make changes confidently, knowing you can revert or publish the right version at the right time.

Note:

When the flag is disabled (default value: False), the previous behavior applies—hierarchies can only be updated by locking the model, and version creation will not be available.

To use this improved functionality, enable the Versioned Hierarchy Management flag in your system settings.

Example

Let’s say your team is preparing for a reorganization of cost centers. You want to test a new hierarchy structure without interrupting current planning activities.

Without Versioned Hierarchy Management

You must lock or clear the model before making any hierarchy changes, which can disrupt ongoing work and delay planning.

With Versioned Hierarchy Management enabled

You can create a new version of the cost center hierarchy, update and validate it, and then publish it when ready—without locking the model or affecting other users. Meanwhile, planning can continue as usual using the existing published version.

Write Back with CDT Enhancement

The Write Back with CDT enhancement improves performance during data aggregation and write-back processes by focusing only on changed data cells, rather than processing the entire dataset.

When this flag is enabled, the system will identify and work with only the modified data—resulting in faster and more efficient updates when writing back to PCR (Planning Calculation Repository) or during aggregation.

Why Enable Write Back with CDT?

• Performance Boost: Only changed cells are considered during write-back and aggregation, reducing processing time and resource usage.

• Smarter Data Handling: Eliminates unnecessary processing of unchanged data, streamlining calculation steps.

• Optimized Workflow: Ideal for models with large datasets where performance and speed are key.

Note:

The default Value for this flag is False. To enable this enhancement, update your system settings accordingly.

Example

Let’s say your team updates sales targets in a model with thousands of data points across multiple regions and time periods.

Without Write Back with CDT

The system processes every data cell, whether it has changed or not. This can slow down write-back operations, especially in large models.

With Write Back with CDT enabled

Only cells that have changed—such as updated sales targets—are included in the write-back process. This results in much faster execution and lower system resource usage while ensuring accuracy.

Data History Feature in Web and SpotlightXL

Effortlessly track user activity across the web application and Excel Spotlight with the new Data History feature. This functionality helps teams stay aligned by enabling users to understand previous edits. It enhances data integrity, compliance, and accountability by unifying audit trails for user activities and data changes across both the web application and Excel Spotlight.

Data History is specifically designed for Analytical and Master Models, prioritizing tracking changes in critical workflows. Users can instantly view the last 10 changes made to any data cell and access granular cell-level tracking within Excel Spotlight for enhanced visibility.

It can also be used for an audit trail to track user activities and data changes across the web application and Excel Spotlight. The audit trail data is presented in an accessible, filterable view, allowing users to sort and analyze changes by user, date, action type, and source.

The Data History feature records several key features for each data change:

• The username or ID of the user making the change.

• The specific data element or record changed.

• The exact timestamp of the change.

• The previous value of the data element.

• The updated value of the data element.

• The type of action performed (e.g., created, edited, deleted, approved).

• The source of the change, whether it originated from the web application or Excel Spotlight.

In Dynamic Planning Web, double-click on a cell to view the full visibility into the type of action performed.

In SpotlightXL, click the Data History button to view the last 10 changes made to any data cell.

Enhanced Calculations Management Features

We’ve made major enhancements to Dynamic Planning that will make managing user’s calculations more seamless and efficient. Introducing Renaming and Deleting Calculations features, designed to give users more control and flexibility over their modeling workflows and improve collaboration with clear, relevant naming for better team understanding.
Users can access the Rename and Delete features by navigating to Model > Select Subtask > Calculation. Right-click on the calculation from the file cabinet to rename or delete the calculation.

Rename Calculations

Users can easily correct typos or improve clarity in calculation names without impacting functionality. Rename calculations to create clearer, more descriptive names and maintain an organized model structure, enhancing team collaboration.

Delete Calculations

Users can effortlessly remove outdated or duplicate calculations to streamline their models and enhance efficiency. Eliminate unnecessary calculations to maintain a cleaner, more precise, and collaborative modeling environment.

Formula Reference Manager

The Formula Reference on the Model Formula page streamlines the creation of multi-dimensional formulas. Use the Reference Manager to specify a dimensional intersection from any Model dimension. This improvement enables you to reference necessary dimension members' intersections while defining formulas easily. It simplifies the process of creating multi-dimensional formulas within the Modeling Cloud.

Access the Model Formula by navigating to Model > Formula. You can define a reference by copying and pasting the Exchange Rate from the Formula Design to the Formula Member. Then, access Reference Manager through the Formula Reference cell. For more information, click here.