ExoInsight enables you to connect Alteryx to Oracle Cloud EPM applications (PBCS, FCCS, PCMCS, Tax Reporting, Freeform Planning) to utilize the data and hierarchies from these applications in your workflows. This guide will walk you through setting up and working with ExoInsight to enable integration between these Oracle Cloud EPM applications and Alteryx.
Prerequisites
- ExoInsight must be installed, configured, and enabled at your organization.
- You must know the name of the ExoInsight Cloud EPM environment(s) that you would like to connect to. If you do not know the name of the ExoInsight Cloud EPM environment name, please contact your ExoInsight admin.
- You have downloaded and added the ExoInsight Alteryx Universal Plug-In (ExoInsight Output) to your Alteryx Designer instance, and you can see it in the Connectors menu in the Alteryx toolbar. If you do not have the plug-in installed, please contact your ExoInsight admin.
- (Optional) If you would like to load data to your Cloud EPM application from Alteryx, you have downloaded and added the ExoInsight Alteryx Universal Load Plug-In (ExoInsight Load) to your Alteryx Designer instance, and you can see it in the Connectors menu in the Alteryx toolbar. (Note: you will have to have the proper rights to load data back to your Cloud EPM application). If you do not have the plug-in installed, please contact your ExoInsight admin.
If all the above prerequisites have been met, read on to get started.
Connecting to your Oracle Cloud EPM application
You will find the ExoInsight Alteryx Universal Plug-in under your Connectors menu. Once you pull it to the workflow canvas, it will ask for the following parameters:
1. ExoInsight URL
The URL that references the ExoInsight instance at your organization. The format is
http(s)://ServerName:PortNumber/ExoInsight/
Your ExoInsight admin will provide you the correct ExoInsight URL to use. Please note that /ExoInsight is case-sensitive.
2. ExoInsight Data Source
Select PBCS.
3. ExoInsight Environment Name
This is a name given to the connection to your Cloud EPM environment. This is set up in ExoInsight and will be provided to you by your ExoInsight admin. Please note that the environment name is case-sensitive and will not work properly if not inputted exactly as it’s set up in ExoInsight.
4. and 5. Essbase Username and Password
This is the same username and password that you normally use to log into your Cloud EPM application, whether it’s in SmartView, Workspace, or some other tool. ExoInsight will respect the security filters that your username has been given in your application, so you’ll be able to see the same applications, cubes, and data as you normally do. Note: Only Oracle Cloud Accounts are valid for Cloud EPM environments.
6. ExoAdminPassword
By default, Oracle will change your Oracle Cloud Account password every 60-90 days. ExoInsight enables you to create your own password that can be used for ExoInsight queries so that when the Oracle Cloud Account password is updated by Oracle, you only have to update one password in ExoInsight, as opposed to updating the password in every Alteryx workflow.
7. Application
Enter the name of your Cloud EPM application. This name is case-sensitive and must match the name of your Cloud EPM application exactly.
8. Plan Type
Enter the name of your Cloud EPM cube. This name is case-sensitive and must match the name of your Essbase cube exactly.
9. Suppress Missing data
This box should almost always be checked to suppress invalid/missing intersections.
10. POV String or Dimension Name
Enter the POV String, Saved POV query name, or dimension name. See the POV String and Query Builder Documentation - Oracle Cloud EPM Modules documentation for more information on building POV String queries.
11. Ludicrous Data Mode
By default the ExoInsight Alteryx Universal Plug-in will allow 2GB of data to be pulled into the workflow. Check this box if more than 2GB of data needs to be pulled into the workflow with a single query. Note: Multiple queries can be run from a single workflow. Each query within a workflow has a 2GB limit, unless this box is checked.
Querying for Dimension Metadata
ExoInsight makes it just as easy to pull dimension information from your Cloud EPM cubes as it does data. To pull dimension information, enter the dimension name in the query box exactly as it appears in the outline the run the workflow:
Starting in ExoInsight version 8.4.3, generation alias columns are available. This means that generation columns will be created for each generation and include the member name and one column for each alias table, as seen below:
To pull back generation alias columns with the dimension metadata, add the following syntax to the dimension name:
DimensionName[Gen_Aliases]
Passing in Parameters
Instead of manually entering your ExoInsight URL, ExoInsight environment, username and password, etc, you can instead dynamically pass in these parameters as part of your workflow. If you choose to pass in parameters, they all must be present in the Text Input node. The required parameters are as follows:
url: The ExoInsight URL
source: Value should be PBCS
env: The ExoInsight Cloud EPM environment name (case-sensitive)
user: The PBCS or FCCS user to run the query
password: The password of the Cloud EPM user that will run the query. Note: The fields passed into the Text Input Alteryx node are in plain text, including the password. ExoInsight enables you to encrypt the password using the Password Encrypt utility on the ExoInsight homepage. This encrypted password can then be used in the Alteryx workflow.
application: The Cloud EPM application name
plantype: The Cloud EPM cube name
suppressmissing: Tells ExoInsight whether to suppress rows with missing values
ludicrousMode: If your query will pull back more than 2GB of data, set to true. Otherwise set to false.
entry: Either a valid POV String or dimension name
Parameters that are passed in will override any parameter values manually entered into the ExoInsight Alteryx Plug-in. It is recommended that you keep the default values of the ExoInsight Output plug-in and do not manually log in since all these parameter values will be passed in instead.
General Tips and Best Practices
- Start with small, high-level queries. Cloud EPM queries work best with targeted, focused queries. Think about the data required for your particular use-case and do not attempt to pull more data than you need. Most reporting and analytic requirements can be done with less data than initially assumed.
- If large data volumes are required, please refer to the discussion on looping in the POV String and Query Builder Documentation - Oracle Cloud EPM Modules.
- Consider making your queries dynamic by including both Cloud EPM substitution variables and ExoInsight Variables.
- For a detailed description of the POV String syntax, please refer to the POV String and Query Builder Documentation - Oracle Cloud EPM Modules.
- For additional help, please contact the ExoInsight support contact for your organization.
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