Dynamic Planning - Troubleshooting

This message indicates that you are attempting to update a model’s dimension (e.g., appending or modifying members) while the model is in a Generated state. Updates to dimensions are only allowed when the model is in either a Not Generated or Locked state.

How to Resolve

You have two options depending on the type of changes you are making:

Lock the Model

Use this option if you are adding or modifying dimension members without clearing model data.

1. Navigate to Model > Setup.

2. Select the relevant model.

3. From the Actions toolbar, choose Lock Model.

4. Go to Model > Dimension and make your updates.

5. When finished, Unlock the model and re-run any required aggregation calculations.

Clear the Model

Use this option for structural changes, such as:

• Adding or removing dimensions

• Changing dimension types (Key vs. Value)

• Modifying parent or root-level structure

1. Navigate to Model > Setup.

2. Select the model.

3. From the Actions toolbar, choose Clear Model.

4. This action removes all data, but retains dimensions and structure.
   Note: Make your dimension updates as needed.

5. Regenerate and aggregate the model when complete.

Best Practice

Always back up your model before performing a Clear Model action.

1. Go to Manage > Application Administration > Model Backup/Restore.

This message appears in Spotlight Web or SpotlightXL when an action such as opening a view, creating a report, or running a calculation is attempted without a model selected.

What It Means

The system is expecting a valid model but none is provided either because:

• A model has not been selected.

• The selected model is no longer available (renamed, deleted, or not visible due to permission restrictions).

How To Resolve

1. Check Model Selection

• Ensure a model is explicitly selected before running an action.

• In Spotlight Web or SpotlightXL, go to the relevant task (e.g., Analyze, Report, or Model).

• Use the dropdown to choose a valid model from the list.

2. Verify Saved Views or Reports

• The saved item may reference a model that was renamed or deleted.

• Try recreating the view or report and manually select the model.

3. Confirm Model Permissions

• You may not have access to the model.

• If the model does not appear in the dropdown, contact your Planful Admin to confirm your access rights.

4. Clear Corrupt or Cached Configuration

• Clear your browser cache (for Spotlight Web).

• Restart the SpotlightXL add-in.

A #NAME? error in Excel means Excel does not recognize the Spotlight functions.

This happens when:

• The Spotlight add-in is not installed or enabled in Excel.

• The user is not logged in to SpotlightXL (the Excel add-in).

How to Resolve:

• Ensure SpotlightXL add-in is installed and enabled in Excel.

• Log into SpotlightXL using your Planful credentials.

• Refresh the workbook to reconnect the formulas.

1. Verify User Role & Security Access

User Role: Make sure your account is set up as a Power User or Contributor. Reviewer users may only see limited/default views and often cannot access full report data.

Group Access: Confirm you have been added to the right user group(s) in Manage > Group Management. Group security controls access to models, views, and reports.

Model Permissions / Dimension Security: Even if you can open the report, you may be restricted from seeing certain dimension members (e.g., only your department). Check with your admin whether dimension-level security has been applied to your user or group.

2. Check Model Access

Confirm you have access to the underlying model(s) powering the report.

Spotlight reports are tied to models. If you don’t have access to the model or its specific dimensions, the report will appear blank.

3. Confirm POV (Point of View) Selections

Some reports open with a default POV (e.g., Company, Scenario, or Time). If your default does not match data intersections you’re allowed to see, you’ll see blanks.

Try changing the POV filters (e.g., switch Scenario from “Plan” to “Actual”) to test if data appears.

4. Validate Report Design vs. Your Permissions

If the report uses substitution variables (like @CurYr@ or @CurMth@), check if those values exist in your accessible data. If your security limits you, you may be pointing to a period/scenario you can’t access.

Check whether the report is built on a Direct Access model. Direct Access respects Platform dimension security, meaning you’ll only see data for members you have access to.

Best Next Steps:

• Ask your Planful admin to confirm your user role, group membership, and model permissions.

• Adjust the POV filters in the report to see if data appears.

• If security is confirmed and the report still does not show data, test by opening the same model in Analyze > Data to confirm whether you can see raw data.

You are cascading a report across multiple leaf-level members whose intersection has no data (e.g., cascading by individual Department and individual Product creates combinations that don’t exist in the model).

How to Resolve

• Cascade at a higher level for at least one dimension (e.g., Department = All Departments or a parent node) so each cascade tab has valid intersections.

• Test the intersection: pick one of the failing combinations in the same view (Version/Time/Entity/etc.) and try a simple retrieval if it is empty, the cascade will fail.

• Adjust filters to include only members that actually intersect (remove deprecated or out-of-scope leaf members).

• If appropriate, enable “skip empty/no-data” behavior in your cascade/run options so nonexistent combos are automatically skipped.

A saved Segment (your member selection set) includes a member that no longer exists, was renamed/moved in the hierarchy, or you no longer have security access to it.

How to Resolve

• Open Segment Manager (or the segment picker), edit the segment, and re-select valid members; save the segment.

• Refresh metadata in Spotlight, then reopen the workbook to ensure the latest hierarchies and member names are loaded.

• Check security/role access to confirm you are allowed to see the member(s).

• Verify the correct hierarchy is selected if the dimension has multiple hierarchies.

You may see the Invalid Breakback Value error when the value you enter cannot be applied based on Breakback rules, the selected spread method, or data availability.

Common causes

• Value type doesn’t match the spread method

  • For example, using a percentage with the Even spread method (Even supports values only).

• Target data is locked or read-only

  • If all underlying leaf members are locked or the model is read-only, Breakback has no valid cells to update.

• No writable leaf-level data exists

  • Breakback must allocate to at least one editable leaf-level intersection under the selected parent.

• Invalid or missing reference data (Reference spread)

  • The referenced members must be visible in the view and have valid data with a matching structure.

• Breakback scope exceeds system limits

  • Very large allocations can exceed supported Breakback limits and cause validation failures.

How to resolve

• Ensure the value type matches the selected spread method

• Confirm that at least one leaf-level cell is editable

• Check that data locking is not preventing updates

• Verify that reference members are valid and visible (if using Reference spread)

• Reduce the Breakback scope if allocating across a large number of members

A login script error indicates that Spotlight or SpotlightXL was unable to load or execute the scripts required to display the login page. This error occurs before authentication and is not related to incorrect user credentials.

The issue is most commonly caused by a failure to load the browser components used by SpotlightXL, such as Microsoft Edge WebView2, or by environmental constraints such as outdated clients, security settings, or network restrictions.

When this error occurs, the login page may appear blank, partially load, or fail to open entirely.

How to Fix

If you encounter a login script error, it typically indicates a client or environment issue rather than a system outage or account problem. In such cases, contact your Planful administrator or IT team to verify that your Spotlight client, browser components, and network settings meet Planful requirements. If the issue persists, Planful Support can help validate tenant and login configurations.

This message appears when SpotlightXL cannot find any Dynamic Planning models that you have access to.

Common reasons

• You do not have access to any Dynamic Planning models

• No models have been created or generated yet

• Your user role or group permissions do not allow model access

• You are logged into the wrong application or tenant

• Metadata has not been downloaded or refreshed (for PCR or Workforce models)

How to resolve

• Verify model access

• Confirm that you are assigned access to at least one model.

• Ask a Power User to check Group Access and Model Permissions.

• Confirm the model exists

• Ensure at least one model has been created and generated in Dynamic Planning.

• Check your login context

• Log out and log back in to SpotlightXL.

• Verify you selected the correct application after login.

• For Direct Access (PCR or Workforce) models

• Ensure the connection to Structured Planning or Workforce Planning is set up.

• Confirm metadata has been downloaded or the model has been generated.

When to contact support

If models exist and permissions are correctly assigned, but the Model list is still empty, contact Planful Support for further investigation

You are seeing an "Invalid Breakback Value" error in because the value you are entering for the Breakback operation is either:

• Not a valid number, or

• Not allowed based on the spread method or data context.

  Error Message: "Exception from HRESULT" in SpotlightXL

  This error means something in the underlying Excel-SpotlightXL interaction failed. Like the previous ones, it's usually environmental (Excel settings, printer drivers, etc.). Try:

  • Ensuring all Office updates are applied.

  • Reinstalling the SpotlightXL add-in.

  If unresolved, capture the full error and submit to Support.

This generic COMException in Excel usually relates to an issue with how SpotlightXL is interacting with Excel components. Possible causes include:

• Workbook corruption or unexpected formatting.

• Excel not being in "Standard Mode" or another add-in conflicting.

• Try restarting Excel and SpotlightXL, and verify Excel is in Standard Mode (not in Compatibility or Safe Mode).

  When I hit Save Data in SpotlightXL reports, it deletes any changes I have made. Why?

  This behavior may occur if:

  • Save Properties are not configured correctly.

    Ensure that the "Enable Save" property is set to Yes in the Design View.

    Also verify that the "Calculation on Save" property is set, so the appropriate calculation runs after saving.

  • Writeback Calculation is incorrectly scoped.

    The calculation used might be clearing or overwriting values unintentionally if scoped too broadly or if ClearData steps are included.

  • Check these Steps:

    Check Design View > Properties: Enable Save = Yes

    Validate the assigned Calculation on Save.

    Confirm there’s no ClearData or ClearAllData step being triggered inadvertently in that calculation.

    Use the audit log or “Verify Data” function in Structured Planning to track what’s being written back or deleted.

The error "Entity dimension members not found in target EntityID dimension" in an ESM occurs when dimension members from your source data (usually from an ESM or a Source Map) do not exist in the target model’s Entity dimension (often named EntityID or similar).

What it means:

• When mapping ESM data to a Master model, the system is trying to assign data to a member (like a company, region, or department) in the EntityID dimension.

• But one or more of those members do not exist in the EntityID hierarchy of the target Master model.

  What does the error code “Dimension Member: 4 not found in Model” mean?

  This error typically indicates that a dimension member referenced in an operation (such as a map, formula, or calculation) does not exist in the target model’s hierarchy.

This error typically indicates that a dimension member referenced in an operation (such as a map, formula, or calculation) does not exist in the target model’s hierarchy.

This means the user has not been set up in the current Planful tenant.

Add them in Structured Planning > Maintenance > Admin > User & Role Management, set Dynamic Planning User to Yes, and assign a role.

This behavior may occur if:

• Save Properties are not configured correctly.

  Ensure that the "Enable Save" property is set to Yes in the Design View.

  Also verify that the "Calculation on Save" property is set, so the appropriate calculation runs after saving.

• Writeback Calculation is incorrectly scoped.

  The calculation used might be clearing or overwriting values unintentionally if scoped too broadly or if ClearData steps are included.

• Check these Steps:

  Check Design View > Properties: Enable Save = Yes

  Validate the assigned Calculation on Save.

  Confirm there’s no ClearData or ClearAllData step being triggered inadvertently in that calculation.

  Use the audit log or “Verify Data” function in Structured Planning to track what’s being written back or deleted.

  My Dynamic Planning calculation is stuck in Submitted for 2 weeks. What should I do?

  Check the Background Job status. If the background job is down, calculations will not run and remain in the submitted state. The background job must be running to process calculations.

Check the Background Job status. If the background job is down, calculations will not run and remain in the submitted state. The background job must be running to process calculations.

This issue mostly occurs when the Actual scenario is not configured correctly or the forecast scenario is not updated with the correct time mapping.

• Check Data Availability

  • Confirm that actual data is loaded for the expected months in the Actual scenario.

  • Verify this by running a report or checking the data load logs in Maintenance > Data Integration > Data Load Rules.

• Refresh or Reprocess the Model

  • Refresh the data in SpotlightXL.

  • If necessary, re-seed the scenario or rerun calculations to re-pull the actual data.

    What does Error – Load SOAP Data Bad Request mean in Dynamic Planning?

    This typically indicates:

    • Invalid data format or missing fields in the SOAP request.

    • Mismatch between source and target dimensions in a map or DLR.

    How to resolve:

    • All dimensions are mapped correctly.

    • No required fields are missing.

    • No incorrect data types are being passed in.

This typically indicates:

• Invalid data format or missing fields in the SOAP request.

• Mismatch between source and target dimensions in a map or DLR.

How to resolve:

• All dimensions are mapped correctly.

• No required fields are missing.

• No incorrect data types are being passed in.

  I am running an ESM Model and getting an error message "Entity dimension members not found in target EntityID dimension." What does that mean?

  The error "Entity dimension members not found in target EntityID dimension" in an ESM occurs when dimension members from your source data (usually from an ESM or a Source Map) do not exist in the target model’s Entity dimension (often named EntityID or similar).

  What it means:

  • When mapping ESM data to a Master model, the system is trying to assign data to a member (like a company, region, or department) in the EntityID dimension.

  • But one or more of those members do not exist in the EntityID hierarchy of the target Master model.

The error "Entity dimension members not found in target EntityID dimension" in an ESM occurs when dimension members from your source data (usually from an ESM or a Source Map) do not exist in the target model’s Entity dimension (often named EntityID or similar).

What it means:

• When mapping ESM data to a Master model, the system is trying to assign data to a member (like a company, region, or department) in the EntityID dimension.

• But one or more of those members do not exist in the EntityID hierarchy of the target Master model.

  Error: Unable to get the blackandwhite property

  This is a known Excel error, often tied to printer settings or the PageSetup properties in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). In SpotlightXL, it could arise when a report is trying to format a page before rendering. Solutions:

  • Check your default printer settings in Windows.

  • Ensure you have a default printer installed (even a virtual one like “Microsoft Print to PDF”).

  • Restart Excel and SpotlightXL after making any changes.

This is a known Excel error, often tied to printer settings or the PageSetup properties in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications). In SpotlightXL, it could arise when a report is trying to format a page before rendering. Solutions:

• Check your default printer settings in Windows.

• Ensure you have a default printer installed (even a virtual one like “Microsoft Print to PDF”).

• Restart Excel and SpotlightXL after making any changes.

A login script error indicates that Spotlight or SpotlightXL was unable to load or execute the scripts required to display the login page. This error occurs before authentication and is not related to incorrect user credentials.

The issue is most commonly caused by a failure to load the browser components used by SpotlightXL, such as Microsoft Edge WebView2, or by environmental constraints such as outdated clients, security settings, or network restrictions.

When this error occurs, the login page may appear blank, partially load, or fail to open entirely.

How to Fix?

If you encounter a login script error, it typically indicates a client or environment issue rather than a system outage or account problem. In such cases, contact your Planful administrator or IT team to verify that your Spotlight client, browser components, and network settings meet Planful requirements. If the issue persists, Planful Support can help validate tenant and login configurations.

What it means
The error “Calculation execution failed” in Spotlight indicates that the calculation could not complete successfully. This typically happens if the model is locked, a map or copy step contains invalid dimension members, the calculation or model cannot be accessed, or there is a system or environment issue (such as service unavailability or authorization problems). In some cases, an incompatible or outdated SpotlightXL version can also cause the failure.

How to resolve
Check whether the model is locked and unlock it if the calculation requires write access. Review any map or copy steps in the calculation for invalid members and correct them, then rerun the calculation. Look at the calculation failure notification or email for specific details about the error. Also, confirm that you have the required access and that the model and calculation still exist. Finally, ensure you are using a supported and up-to-date SpotlightXL version and upgrade if necessary.

What it means
This error means Planful is trying to move or map data, but for the Program dimension the Source side produces a different number of Program members than the Target side expects. Because the member counts do not match, Planful cannot correctly align the data.

In Dynamic Planning, every data point is a combination of dimension members. If one dimension (Program) results in a different number of combinations between Source and Target, Planful blocks the process to prevent incorrect data mapping. In short, the Program members selected on Source and Target do not align.

Common reasons this happens
This usually occurs when Program is configured differently on Source vs Target in the Map. For example,

• Source uses LeafMembers while Target uses AllMembers

• Source uses MemberAndBelow with one parent while Target uses a different parent

• Source uses AllMembers while Target uses FixedMember

• Program exists in Source but is filtered out on Target

• Program has members in Source that do not exist in Target or

• Match Criteria = Common is reducing members on only one side

All of these create a different count of Program members, which causes the error.

How to fix it

• Fix option 1:
  Go to Dynamic Planning → Model → Map and check the Program row.
  Make sure both sides match exactly:

  Setting	Source	Target
  Filter	LeafMembers	LeafMembers
  Value	Same parent (or None)	Same parent (or None)

  
  Examples that work:

  • Both use AllMembers

  • Both use LeafMembers

  • Both use MemberAndBelow with the same Program parent

  • Both use FixedMember with the same Program

    This ensures the member count matches.

• Fix option 2: If Program should not participate in the mapping, set Source Filter = DimensionFilter and Target Filter = None so the dimension is removed from the mapping on both sides.

• Fix option 3: If Source has Program members that Target does not, set Append Missing Dimension Members = Yes and avoid using Match Criteria = Common. This allows Planful to automatically add missing Program members to Target.

• Fix option 4: If Match Criteria = Common is set, remove it temporarily, save the map again, and retry the process. Match Criteria = Common can silently drop members on one side, causing the count mismatch.

Why this occurs:

The #NAME? error occurs because Excel automatically adds an “@” symbol in front of certain formulas like IF() in scheduled Dynamic Planning report collection outputs, which causes Excel not to recognize the formula. This behaviour is controlled by Excel and not Planful.

To avoid this error:

• Avoid using Excel-only formulas such as IF in scheduled report collection outputs when possible.

• Use Planful calculations, report logic, or formatting instead of Excel formulas for scheduled outputs.

• If Excel formulas are required, run the report manually instead of scheduling it, or remove the “@” symbol directly in Excel after download.

Currently, there is no setting in Planful to prevent Excel from inserting the “@” symbol during scheduled Excel output generation.