Understanding Report Sets

Overview

Report sets are like prebuilt snippets that you can use to build dynamic reports. Once created, you can use a report set across multiple reports if needed. Using report sets promotes consistency across the reports that use the same report set. You can use a report set on the row or column of the report and is interchangeable.

A report set primarily contains different line types that you can link to a specific dimension member in a hierarchy based on your requirements. While working on the Reference Account line types in a report set, make sure that you link the line to the correct dimension(s) and that they match the naming convention you give for the Reference Account. You can refer to multiple dimensions within the report set lines based on your needs.

You can use Report Sets as rows or column axis members in a Dynamic Report. Report Sets are individually designed on a specific dimension. Once created they can be referenced in multiple reports. Report Sets on the row of a Dynamic Report are referred to as Row Sets. Report Sets on the column axis of a Dynamic Report are called Column Sets.

A few examples of Report Sets are; Income Statements, Balance Sheets, and Cash Flow statements on an Account dimension or yearly, quarterly, and monthly on a Time dimension.

Report Set Types

There are two types of report sets in the Planful application:

Static Report Set - You can create a Static Report by defining each Report Set line item individually and are classified into the following:

• Classic
• Modern

Default formatting and column precedence are applied after enabling Modern Features on a Classic Report Set for absolute rows. All details can be modified and saved. The audit log is updated upon editing and saving.

Dynamic Report Set - Dynamic Report Sets are created using Rules, which fetch members directly from the dimensional hierarchies.

When a Static or Dynamic Report Set is used on the row axis of a Dynamic Report, the primary dimension used in the Report Set is reflected as the column header in the report. This is also applicable to the Dynamic Report Set used in combination with other Report Sets and dimensions.

Static vs Dynamic Report Sets

Static Report Sets offer better features, formatting, and functionality compared to Dynamic Report Sets. The key difference is the types of MDX expressions that Static Report Sets support. These include:

• Member Value Expressions — Parent, lead, lag, first child, last child, current member, previous member, next member, ancestor, first sibling, last sibling, etc.

• Numeric Functions —Aggregate, sum, average, count, etc

• Time Series Functions — Parallel period, opening period, closing period, periods to date, etc.

• String Manipulations — MEMBERTOSTR, STRTOMEMBER

• Tuples — Mutli-dimensional MDX.

One limitation with Static Report Sets is that they don't support Set Value Expressions where the MDX results in a set of elements or members. This is where you can use Dynamic Report Sets, using Set Value Expressions such as Hierarchies, Descendants/Ancestors/Children of a member, Filter, TopCount, Order, Except, and so on.

The key differences between the Modern and Classic Report Sets are displayed in the table below.

How to Add a Report Set?

Perform the following steps to create a report set:

1. Click Reports.
2. Click the + icon and select Report Set. The Add Report Set window is displayed.
3. From the Type drop-down list, select one of the following:
   • Static
   • Dynamic
4. Enter a unique code for Report Set in the Code field.
5. Enter a unique code for Report Set in the Code field.
6. Enter a unique Report Set name in the Name field.
7. Select one of the following from the Reporting Area drop-down list:
   • Financial
   • Workforce
8. Select the required dimension from the Dimension drop-down list.
9. Select the required location where you want to save the Report Set.
10. Click Save to add the new Report Set to the selected location.

Report Sets and Measure

You cannot use more than one measure in a Report Set. For example, if you want to create a Report Set with a Workforce Attribute and the value of each compensation item, you will not be able to save the Report Set. This is because Workforce Attributes are created as measures in the Workforce Planning Cube.