AirliftXL

Access the Knowledge Base to take advantage of this product. It is opened in your Planful application by default, but you need the add-on file downloaded to enable the product.

Introduction

The Excel-based add-in tool, called AirliftXL, integrates with Planful to leverage Excel sheets to rapidly transform Excel data into a workable Planful template. AirliftXL leverages all Excel functions, formulas, designs, and layouts. Then, loads this data to Planful.

What is AirliftXL?

AirliftXL is an Excel-based add-on tool. Once installed, you can connect to Planful from Excel using a sign-on, password, and by specifying environment details; similar to Offline Planning. Once connected to Planful, you can publish template details from Excel to Planful and download template details from Planful to Excel.

System & Software Requirements

AirliftXL requires the following setup:

• Windows 7

• Excel/Office 2010, 2013

• Native users only - no SSO users are supported at this time. You may use an SSO (single sign on) to access AirliftXL. Set your password through Maintenance, My Settings (in the Planful application). Note that this is not an SSO solution, but rather allows SSO Planful application users to be able to access AirliftXL with Planful credentials.

Installing AirliftXL

AirliftXL is installed by gaining access to the PacmanInstaller Drop zip file located in the Knowledge Base. Double-click the Pacman10Database.msi and Setup.exe files to launch the installation. The Pacman10Database.msi file contains the database install package for Windows and the Setup.exe is the executable for the Add In.

Complete the following steps to install AirliftXL :

1. Download the PacmanInstaller Drop zip file to your preferred drive and unzip.

2. Double-click on the Setup.exe file to execute the setup for the installation.

3. Once the setup is complete, click Install to complete the installation.

4. Click Close.

5. Double-click on the Pacman10Database.msi file.

6. Click Next.

7. Select a folder by clicking the Browse button or install to the default folder.

8. Click Next.

9. Click Next again.

10. Click Close.

AirliftXL installation is complete!

Reinstalling AirliftXL

In the event that a new version of AirliftXL is required it may be necessary to perform a reinstall of the software. This may involve an update to the database as well as the Add In. The following basic steps can be followed to ensure that your work is preserved and you are able to update your version accordingly.
Complete the following steps to reinstall AirliftXL:

1. Publish all of your existing template work to your application(s) that you are working with.

2. Navigate to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Pacman10 and right click to Uninstall.

   1. If a database update is required also select Pacman10Database right click to Uninstall.

3. Ensure that you have successfully exited Microsoft Excel.

4. Download the PacmanInstaller Drop zip file to your preferred drive and unzip.

5. Double-click on the Setup.exe file to execute the setup for the installation and execute the necessary prompts documented in Installing AirliftXL.

Launching AirliftXL

Now that you’ve installed AirliftXL, complete the following steps to launch the add-on:

1. Open Microsoft Excel.

2. Click the new tab called Planful Designer.

Understanding AirliftXL Functionality

AirliftXL functionality is broken into 4 design tasks.

Admin – this is where you will perform administrative tasks like; connecting to Planful, resetting template data, publishing a template, and so on.

Template – this is where you work with loaded templates, captured templates, or use the New Template feature.

Capture – this is where you capture components of a new Planful template by labeling related content from an Excel worksheet.

Segment – this is where you can display segment, budget entity, scenario, and cube data associated with the connected tenant.

Understanding Administrative Functionality

For the Admin design task, there is a Form selection list box, which is highlighted below. The contents of the list box vary based on the design task selected. In the example below, the Admin design task is selected and the contents represent those options available for Admin.

The Admin Action that appears is based on the Design Task and Form selected.

There are 6 administrative type tasks, which are described on the Admin design task – Planful Admin form. The table below also lists each task and provides a description.

When a Design Task is selected, a new tab is added to the workbook.

AdminLogin

As documented above, use the AdminLogin form to connect to Planful. Complete the following steps to login to a Planful application.

1. Select the AdminLogin form from the list box.

   Note:

   You may use an SSO (single sign on) to access AirliftXL. Set your password through Maintenance, My Settings (in the Planful application). Note that this is not an SSO solution, but rather allows SSO Planful application users to be able to access AirliftXL with Planful credentials.

2. Enter or select your Planful User Name

   Note:

   Available selections are populated based on the setup performed on the AdminConfiguration form.

3. Enter your Planful Password.

4. The URL of the Planful application is defaulted. This URL represents the Application Programming Interface (API) that connects Planful to AirliftXL. This is not the URL for the Planful application (i.e. https://epm.planful.com).

5. Enter the Application name. This is the Planful application for which you will need access to connect to. Typically, this will start with SF and then a series of six numbers. If you don’t know this code please contact Support or your Implementation Consultant.

6. Click Login.

   Note:

   There is no indicator letting you know whether you’ve successfully logged in. However, you will receive a processing indicator. If no errors are displayed, the step was successful. This is indicative of all steps in Planful. If there is no error message then the step performed as expected.

AdminLoadSetup

Once you’ve logged into Planful, select LoadSetup options to perform a load of application setup. There are two options; Tenant Configuration and Cube Configuration.

• Select Load for Tenant Configuration to load segments, budget entities, and scenarios from the Planful application. This is required to load the tenant details and will need to be performed if segment related changes have been made in the Planful application you are logged into.

• Select Load for Cube Configuration if you have reference cube lines associated with your templates or you would like to create these lines for future templates. This configuration is an optional step but MUST be selected along with TenantConfiguration, it can’t be run independently.

To perform a load of required tenant information:

1. Select the Admin Design Task.

2. Select the AdminLoadSetup Form.

3. Select the items you wish to load by selecting the Load option under the Selection column for each item.

4. Click Run. You will receive a processing indicator.

AdminLoadTemplate

The AdminLoadTemplate form is used to load existing template designs from Planful to AirliftXL for editing. The list is populated with the GTSC (Global Template Single Copy) templates that exist in the connected Planful application. You may load more than one template; however, the load action may be performed on only one template at a time. If a template with the same code already exists in AirliftXL, the template will be replaced with the most current load. We suggest that you Reset AirliftXL to avoid this.

To load a template(s):

1. Select the Admin Design Task.

2. Select the AdminLoadTemplate Form.

3. Select Load for the item you want to load to AirliftXL.

4. Click Run to perform the load. You will receive a processing indicator to let you know the load is being performed. You can load newly configured template details to AirliftXL, or, a template that already exists and needs updating.

AdminPublishTemplate

Publishing represents the act of loading templates defined in Excel from AirliftXL back to Planful. Users must have security opened to modify templates (i.e. using the Template Setup page) in order to perform a Publish.

Let's say the Demo template was loaded to AirliftXL, now it is available to publish back to Planful.

The list of templates available to publish is based on the templates loaded to AirliftXL, or those created natively in AirliftXL. For example, if you load another template named Open to AirliftXL, that template will also appear for publishing.

To load templates from AirliftXL back to Planful:

1. Select the Admin Design Task

2. Select the AdminPublish Form.

3. Select Load for the item you wish to load to Planful.

4. Click Run.

When a template is published the existing template is deleted from Planful and the new template design is added. This allows you to change properties of existing templates (assuming you haven’t entered data to the template), even those which are fixed after initial template creation (e.g. enable spreads).

There are two levels of validations – one done during the “Save” operation on PlanfulTemplate and another during the “Publish” operation in AdminPublishTemplate. The validations on template Save will focus on proper template layout, template properties, and template details. The validation on Publish template focuses on the details around template layout including proper formula references, line associations, and supported functionality.

AdminConfiguration

The setup performed on the AdminConfiguration form populates the selections for the AdminLogin form. Application data is displayed, including the configuration task setup items, such as budget input years, time period setup and a listing of Reference templates.

AdminReset

Once you’re done working with an application or templates, you can reset AirliftXL. Resetting clears all loaded segments and removes loaded or created templates from AirliftXL. This way, the next time you work with templates, you can start anew without worrying about writing over, or replacing, templates. This step might be performed if you are working with two different applications and you want to ensure proper setup when switching between the two. In addition it is recommended to run a Reset if you are working with multiple large templates (>5 templates of 500-600 lines or more).

To perform a Reset :

1. Select the Admin Design task.

2. Select the AdminReset form.

3. Click Run.

Understanding the Segment Design Task

The Segment design task is available to display segment, scenario, and budget entity details associated with the templates loaded to AirliftXL.

Scenario Dimension

When the Scenario Dimension is selected, the scenario(s) associated with the loaded template(s) are displayed. You can associate templates with scenarios on the PlanfulTemplate tab in the Scenario mapping section.

BudgetEntity Dimension

When the BudgetEntity Dimension is selected, the listing represents those entities for which a template can be mapped so that the appropriate users can plan the template details. Entities are mapped during template setup. You may remove or add entity mappings as desired.

Segment Dimensions

Segment Dimensions represent those defined using the Planful Segment Hierarchies application page. In Planful, this page is accessed by navigating to Maintenance, Segment Hierarchies.

The Segments in AirliftXL are displayed in level mode for quick and easy access to lists of items used in creating template structures (i.e. ranges of accounts, products, or customers).

Cube Data

If you loaded Cube data (via the Admin design task – AdminLoadSetup form) because you have reference cube lines associated with your templates, the Dimension list box will contain additional options besides segments, budget entity and scenario.
A definition of each option is provided below.

• CubeMeasures – Used to perform comparative analysis. For example, with Total Sales you can compare the total sales amount made one year with the total sales amount made another year. Then, you may analyze what you did differently to affect the total sales amount for each year.

• CubeReporting – Reporting is a segment in the cube which represents categorization of data – loaded data (G/L Data), data entered via journals (adjustments), or data populated through allocations.

• CubeScenario – The scenario setup for capturing different planned or actual data.

• CubeTime – The time period associated with reporting members used to analyze and measure data.

Understanding Template Functionality

Click the Template design task to view a template loaded via the AdminLoadTemplate form, or, to work with a new template. A New Template is one which is created natively in AirliftXL. This means that the template doesn’t exist in Planful, but instead you create via the Template design task.

Selection area is updated with a Template list box. The list box allows you to select a loaded template or work with a new template. This list box is defaulted to New Template.

See Also:

Working with a Loaded Template

How to Load and Access a Template

How to Modify a Loaded Template

How to Publish Modifications to Loaded Template

Loaded Template Example

How to Copy a Template

Working with a New Template

Understanding Approval Role Mapping

Dynamic Section Setup

Attribute and Summary Column Formatting

Working with a Loaded Template

Loaded templates are those that already exist in Planful. The template may be loaded to AirliftXL to examine the structure for further edits.

How to Load and Access a Template

To access a loaded template:

1. Select the Admin Design Task.

2. Select the AdminLoad Template Form.

3. Identify the template in the list.

4. Select Load in the Selection column.

5. Click Run.

6. Select the Template Design Task.

7. Click the Template list box and select the template you just loaded.

How to Modify a Loaded Template

It's important to perform an Update versus a Save when necessary. Some template modifications require an Update and perform a Save only when all modifications are complete and updated.

To modify a loaded template:

1. Change the Template Name by clicking in the Property Value cell for the Template Name field and make the modification. This will create a new template when you publish to Planful. This functions as a Save As operation.

2. The Template Application represents the name of the Planful application you are connected to. Do not edit this field.

3. The only Template Type available with AirliftXL is Global Template – Single Copy so this field cannot be modified.

4. Select Apply sign reversal or No sign reversal for the Data Transfer field. Select Apply sign reversal so that credit type accounts are displayed and entered opposite the sign they are stored.

5. Select Yes or No for Display Line Code. Select Yes to display a separate column in the template for the line codes.

6. Select Yes to enable Global Fields indicating that global fields can be used in the template. Note that you can’t setup Global Fields in AirliftXL today.

7. Select Yes to enable Spreads indicating that spreads can be used in the template. Note that you can’t setup Spreads in AirliftXL today.

8. Select Yes for enable Compare Scenarios so that other scenarios can be displayed in the template for comparison purposes.

9. Enter a Line Code Header, which acts as an identifier for the column.

10. Enter a column label in the Line Name Header field for columns with line names.

11. Select Yes to enable History Columns t o add columns to your template layout for reference in formulas.

12. Select Yes to enable Start/End Periods in the template layout for reference in formulas. This will display the range name on the grid for reference in formulas but these lines WILL NOT display on your generated template.

13. Select the number of Attribute Columns you want to display on your template layout.

14. Select the number of Summary Columns you want to display on your template layout.

15. The Segment name is listed in the Segment column. You may modify the Segment Source, which determines how the segment is mapped to input lines.

16. Select True for Segment Override to allow users to override a Segment Value on the template.

17. Select the field below RA/RC Mapping and click the list box. Select from the options provided in the list box. Use RA (Reference Account) Mapping when you want to “look-up” data from another template or segment. For example, you want to look up employee headcount from an HR template. You will select Template for mapping RA Line types. Use RC (Reference Cube) Mapping when you want to “look-up” data from the cube. For example, you want to look up total revenue for all sales departments within a legal entity. You will select Cube/<dimension name> for mapping RC Line Types.

18. Select the field below Entity Mapping and click the list box. Define the different budget entities for which you want the template mapped. To add multiple entities, insert new rows (native Excel functionality) and then either select from the down-down or copy/paste from the Segment tab/BudgetEntity hierarchy. You do not have to map a template to a budget entity. This can be left blank. All templates, when published, will be mapped to the Default Scenario.

19. Define the scenarios for which you want the template mapped to using the Scenario Mapping list box. You do not have to map a template to a scenario. This can be left blank.

20. Enter line types in the Line Type column along with line formatting and details. See the Line Type Table.

21. Click Update.

22. When you are done making all modifications, click Save.

See the New Template Structure Table for more details on each of the template fields.

How to Publish Modifications to a Loaded Template

To publish modifications to a loaded template, complete the following:

1. Make sure that you’ve committed the template by clicking the Save button.

2. Select the Admin Design Task.

3. Select the AdminPublishTemplate form.

4. Find the template in the list and select Publish.

5. Click Run. Note there is no indicator letting you know whether the process was successful. If no errors are displayed, the step was successful. You can navigate to Maintenance > Template Setup to review the changes that were published.

Loaded Template Example

In this example, attributes are added to the loaded AirliftXL MyDemo template.

1. Click the Template Design task.

2. Select the MyDemo template from the Selection list box.

3. Change the Attribute Columns number from 3 to 5.

4. Click the Update button to reflect the change in attribute columns on the spreadsheet.

You may now save the template, publish to Planful, or continue to perform updates such as adding formulas that reference these new Attribute columns. You can also modify the name of the Attribute column by changing 5 to “Color”, for example. The default setting for Attribute Lock setting is to be in “Lock”. If you want to unlock the Attribute column you can use the native Excel functionality (Format Cells > Protection >Locked – check or uncheck).

You may hide columns when working with an AirliftXL template. For example, if you wish to hide the Attribute columns, select the columns and right-click with your mouse. Then, select Hide. If you select Update, however, these columns will reappear.

How to Copy a Template

The steps below document how you can rename a template and then publish that template back to Planful. Modifying the Template Name only produces an exact copy of the template, with a different name. To do so, complete the following steps:

1. Click on the Property Value cell for Template Name. For example, change the name and code to MyDemo.

2. Click Save.

   Note:

   A Save should only be performed once you are completely done working with the template and are ready to publish back to Planful.

3. Click Admin.

4. Select the AdminPublishTemplate form.

5. Select Publish for the MyDemo template that was just modified.

6. Click Run.

7. Return to the AdminLoadTemplate form and load the MyDemo template.

8. Select Load.

9. Click Run.

10. Click the Template Design task.

11. Select the MyDemo template.

It’s a good idea to verify the changes published back to Planful by logging into the Planful application and viewing the modified template or you can load the template to AirliftXL to review the changes as described in the steps above.

In Practice:

Complete the following steps to review the copied template in Planful:

1. Login to Planful.

2. Navigate to Maintenance > Template Setup.

3. Select the appropriate Scenario.

4. Select the MyDemo template.

5. Click Edit.

6. Review the Template Name.

Understanding Approval Role Mapping

Approval Role Mapping can be defined by a combination of a Property value and selections by Role. This will allow you to navigate directly to a newly created template through AirliftXL without further updates in Planful. To use this option, set the “Enable Approval Role Mapping” to Yes and select Update. This will expose a new section called Approval Role where existing Approval Roles will be displayed with the default values for Approval Role mapping for this template. Default value is No for all Roles. If you are viewing an existing template that has been loaded from Planful, the existing values will be displayed.

The options to update by Role and Action are Yes/No. The Approval Role All option will NOT automatically update based on selections made to the dependent actions. You will need to identify all action options individually. For example, if you want to set all the actions to All you will need to update each selection to Yes (Approval Role All, Approval Role Input, Approval Role View, etc.). The Publish operation will ensure that the proper combination is updated in the Planful template.

Dynamic Section Setup

Optional sections for items such as Budget Entity mapping, Approval Role Mappings and RA/RC Mappings are now dynamic within the Template Design Task. New properties have been introduced to control the display of these optional sections for better organization of the user interface. The following table describes the functionality and how you can enable the new functionality.

The addition of these dynamic sections will not have any impact on the design of the template layout and any references or formatting already applied to the template definition. If an already existing template leverages these mappings then they will be created when you render the template on the Template Design Task.

Attribute and Summary Column Formatting

When creating templates in Planful you can define global properties for Attribute or Summary columns. The different properties you can define follow:

• Column Header

• Align

• Width

• Row Format

• Decimal

• Global Formula

• Lock

Now, you can define the following properties in AirliftXL for both Attribute and Summary Columns. New properties are defined to enable these settings – enable Attribute Column Formatting, enable Summary Column Formatting.

*The Formula property supports the following behavior:

• For existing templates in Planful, if a global formula has been defined it will display in the Formula property. The formula will reference the row and column structure for the Planful template (e.g. row 20, column P) and will not be adjusted for the row/column structure in AirliftXL. You should double check the formula in Planful to ensure proper definition.

• For templates created in AirliftXL, you can add a formula in the global property. The formula reference should consider the row/column references in Planful (row 20, expected column based on attributes, summary columns, etc.) and not AirliftXL row/column structures.

Working with a New Template

When you load a new or updated Planful application configuration to AirliftXL, the New Template is regenerated with the appropriate segments, default template sources and budgeting periods.

The benefit to using a New Template is that you can design the structure of the New Template from scratch.

The table below provides a description of each field on the New Template structure.

New Template Structure Table

In Practice:

Enter information or select options to create a template structure.

1. Change the Template Name and Template Code to OperatingExpense.

2. Click the Enter RA/RC Mapping cell. A list box will appear.

3. Select Template to enable the mapping of a Reference account to lookup data from an already existing template.

4. Click Update. Map/Template is now added to the Template Layout. This action is similar to selecting Account Mapping options on the Planful Template Setup application page. Note that you will need to add the appropriate columns which are required for RA mapping lines.

5. Click the cell under Line Type. A list box will appear.

6. Click the list box to select a line type. This action is similar to clicking the LINE list box on the Template Setup Planful application page to select a Line, Calculated, or Header type. And, clicking the Account Mapping list box to select a Reference Account or Reference Cube.

A description of each line type available in the AirliftXL template is provided below:

Line Type Table

1. Complete the line structure by entering information or copying and pasting data from an Excel worksheet.

2. Save the template.

3. Publish the template.

4. Access Planful and review the template, or, load the template in AirliftXL.

Understanding the Capture Design Task

The Capture Design task can be used when you have an existing Excel template that you would like to leverage as a basis for creating a new template in Planful. Open an existing worksheet and select the Capture Design task. When you load a new or update a Planful configuration to AirliftXL, the Region list box for the Capture design task is updated with the complete segment list. Use Capture to label (assign) line name, segment mapping, attributes, and reference template data used for reference lines. All associated formula / format details will be captured as well.

To associate Regions and Label Excel data, complete the following:

1. Select the sheet that contains your stored Excel data.

2. Select the LineName Region. You must label the LineName first before labeling the other regions. All regions are based on a single column selection except TimePeriod, which should be a single row selection.

3. Highlight the LineName Region to label. When you are capturing the different regions of a template you should not capture the headers for the regions, just the data rows.

   Note:

   Once you start labeling a sheet, you can only continue to Capture on the same sheet and cannot swap between sheets. Capturing cannot be performed on special AirliftXL sheets including PlanfulTemplate, PlanfulSegment and PlanfulAdmin.

4. Click Label to label the selected region as Line Name. Hover over the red carrot indicator so that the region label is displayed.

5. Click in the Account column, select the Account region, and click Label. You only need to highlight all LineName rows for labeling. For other columns, you can label the entire contents of the column by clicking on any single cell in the column and then selecting Label. The cells that correspond to the LineName range will be labeled.

6. Select the Time Period range of cells (for example Jan-19 through Dec-19), select the TimePeriod region, and click Label. When you select the Time Period range it captures the intersection of Time Periods and Line Name ranges including the formulas and formats contained within the sheets.

7. Optionally, click Clear to remove all labels and start anew on the same worksheet.

8. Click Save. This action updates the Captured Template with property, template source and layouts based on the captured regions.

9. Click the Template Design task.

10. Select the Captured Template from the Template list box.

11. The Caperture Template displays the data captured from the Excel sheet.

12. Enter a new Template Code and Name.

13. Click Save.

14. Proceed by performing updates to the template (i.e. adding new lines, adding attributes, or modifying formulas or formatting) and/or publishing the template to Planful.

Any row with account mapping is an L row (row in captured template that has an Account mapped to the line). A row with all empty cells represents an H row (totally empty row, not to be confused with a row that has a Line Name). Otherwise it’s a C row.

If you want to enhance the source template, modifications can be made to the template layout, segments, etc. as described in the New Template section.

Best Practices

• You should only have a SINGLE Excel workbook open at a time when working with AirliftXL.

• If you are working with a pre-existing Excel workbook it is recommended to never Save that workbook unless you have a backup copy created. Saving will save all of the newly added worksheets such as PlanfulTemplate, PlanfulAdmin, PlanfulSegment in addition to the changes after the Capturing Design Task is complete.

• Formulas and formatting defined in the Template Layout will be retained when the Template Layout is updated with changes (such as adding new columns- new Attribute Columns, new Summary Columns, RA/RC Mappings).

• Leverage the tabs – PlanfulTemplate, PlanfulAdmin, and PlanfulSegment to navigate between source data (hierarchies on PlanfulSegment) and template layout (PlanfulTemplate) and ultimately loading or publishing templates (PlanfulAdmin).

• When switching between applications it is recommended to perform an AdminReset operation to clear all segments and templates from AirliftXL.

• Iterative design/build - Start with a sub-section of a template (e.g. less than 100 rows). Save/Publish to Planful EPM Suite to ensure all user errors are addressed, if any. Then add other sections (copy/paste) to the AirliftXL template to complete the full template.

• Performance Consideration - # of Templates - Reset AirliftXL after you have published a batch of templates to improve AirliftXL performance. For templates with hundreds of rows (e.g. 500-600), keep number of templates in AirliftXL below 5 at a time.

  • For smaller sized templates (e.g. 100 lines) - for optimal load and publish operations, you shouldn’t load or create more than 20 templates at a single time.

• Closing Excel - Do not close Excel in the middle of AirliftXL operations such as Save, Publish or Reset. Closing Excel while AirliftXL is processing could cause the AirliftXL Add In to become disabled. In this case, you will not see the PlanfulDesigner tab in Excel. To correct this problem, perform the following steps:

  • Navigate to File > Options >Add Ins >Manage: Disabled Items.

  • Select Pacman10 Add In and then click Open.

  • Exit Excel and restart.

• Before performing any action (such as Save, Update, or Run), ensure that you do not have any cell in edit mode (e.g. cell selected and cursor is in the cell).

• When creating formulas you can’t explicitly reference a RA-MULT or L-HIST line. For example, if an L-HIST line is the last row in a range for a formula (e.g. sum(A2:A4), A4 in this instance the formula will fail upon Publish. To remedy this there are two options:

  • Ensure the formula references only up to the Posting line in the range, in this example A3.

  • Add another row below the L-HIST line that would then become the last row in the range and the formula would be sum(A2:A5). Use this option only if another row is required in the template setup.

  • Note:

    The formulas will be dynamically updated when publishing to Planful to only reference the posting lines. Similarly, when the template is loaded to AirliftXL the formula will be updated to the reference the posting lines, if created in Planful, or the entire range, if created originally in AirliftXL.

• On the PlanfulTemplate tab, ensure there is a blank row between each of the following sections otherwise the template will not save correctly:

  • Property

  • Source Segment

  • Entity Mapping

  • Scenario Mapping

  • RA (Reference Account)/RC (Reference Cube) Mapping

  • Approval Role Mapping

  • Attribute Column Formatting

  • Summary Column Formatting

• Don't add additional rows in the Property or Source Segment sections.

• If you select Override for a Control Panel segment in the Source Segment section and you don’t provide a value in the Map/Segment column during the Publish operation, the blank will be treated as a mapping to the “Control Panel”.

• When making modifications to templates, save your work if you intend to flip between different templates. If you are flipping between tabs (say from PlanfulTemplate to PlanfulSegment) it is not necessary to save your changes as they will be retained.

• If you hide columns during your template updates on the PlanfulTemplate tab, they will not be retained once you select Update, Save, or Publish.

• Calculated members are supported for RC (Reference Cube) Line Types only. If you try to map a Calculated Member to another line type you will be able to Save the template but the Publish operation will fail.

• When working with templates, make sure all template lines have a valid line type before “save” or “update”. A “blank” line type on a row would mean that the template lines are completed at the row above, no additional rows will be saved. Template data on a row with blank line type will be cleared along with all rows that follow.

• The Actual scenario is supported as a valid scenario mapping in Reference Cube lines.

• Drop down combo boxes have a limitation of 5000 members to be displayed in the list. For example, if you have more than 5000 Budget Entity combinations they will all not be displayed in the drop down combo box. As a workaround, the total list will be displayed in the Segment Design Task for your reference.

• Attribute columns that contain formulas which should be treated as text should be preprended with an apostrophe so that AirliftXL knows to treat them as text.

• When setting template format in New Template screen, you should set the format for the entire row, not just on a single cell. Attribute columns are the exceptions, format can be set for attribute columns on a cell by cell basis.

Functionality that is Not Supported

AirliftXL will not allow you to overwrite any information in the application that could potentially cause loss of work. Therefore, if you have performed actions such as data entry to a template you will not be able to update that template instead you will be forced to change the name of the template. AirliftXL actually deletes the original template and replaces with a new one upon using the Publish operation. This happens for all unsupported items which are listed below.

• Updating templates which already have data loaded - – upon an AdminLoadTemplate a user will receive a warning message indicating that the template will be loaded but the user will need to change the template name before Publishing back to the application so no data is lost.

• Any other template type beyond GTSC.

• Spread Code Setup - – needs to be setup after all updates have been made in AirliftXL. If these exist in a loaded template a user will not be able to save over the existing template and instead they will need to make a copy of the template before being able to publish.

• Global Field Mapping - needs to be setup after all updates have been made in AirliftXL. If these exist in a loaded template a user will not be able to save over the existing template and instead they will need to make a copy of the template before being able to publish.

• Template Filters

• Formulas that reference the scenario name, period name, summary columns or year totals for History periods. Upon a AdminLoadTemplate action, user will receive a warning message indicating that the template will be loaded but the user will need to change the template name before Publishing back to the application so no formulas are lost. If this occurs the formulas are changed to “FormulaError” in AirliftXL and will need to be remedied before publishing to the application. The following items are not supported in AirliftXL setup today:

  • Template Details - Mapped Reports

  • Destination Account Report

  • Reference Account Report

  • Show Rule

  • Notes

• The following names CAN NOT be used for Template Names in AirliftXL - "Capture", "Segment", "New Template", "Captured Template", "AdminLogin", "AdminLoadSetup", “AdminPublishTemplate”, “AdminLoadTemplate”, "AdminReset".

• Templates that use time sets are not supported.

Formatting

• Excel formats supported are the following:

• Bold

• Underline

• Italics

• Font color – note if you select an unsupported color it will be converted during Publish operation

• Background color

• Cell formatting (number, general, percent, etc.)

Known Issues

The following is a listing of known issues that have not been addressed in the product to date.

1. Single Mapping Lines - Single L-HIST and single RA-MULT are not loaded (AdminLoadTemplate) to AirliftXL at all.

2. Formulas that reference the Year Total columns from templates are not supported. This will cause the AdminLoadTemplate operation to fail and you will not be able to load the template to AirliftXL. As a workaround, remove the formula reference to load the template successfully to AirliftXL.

Reserved Terms and Characters

The Pipe character (|) cannot be used.

Segment, Capture, Admin cannot be used as template codes.