Oracle EPM Cloud Update – May’21 (21.05)

Posted by: PARC’s Oracle EPM Team

Each month PARC analyzes Oracle’s EPM Cloud updates with an eye toward our customers’ ability to take full advantage of them. The monthly updates include things like bug fixes, modest changes, and even powerful new functionality. This update is part of PARC’s service to its valued customers and is centered around changes to the products and technologies most impacted in their implementations.

The below changes are scheduled to take place during the first nightly maintenance period after 2AM ET on Saturday May 7, 2021 (test environments) and on or after 2AM ET on Saturday, May 21, 2021 (production environments).

Customers with questions about any of the changes summarized below should contact us. Oracle’s web page for the full contents of the update can be found here: 

https://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/tutorial/cloud/epm/wn/epm/releases/May21/21may-epm-wn.htm

EPM Cloud Common

Adding a Custom View to the Drill-Through Landing Page in Data Management

When drilling through to data on the landing page in the EPM Cloud, you can now create or select a previously defined custom view of columns. In addition to selecting the columns to display, you are also able to customize the dimension names on the landing page. When the custom view has been defined, you can click the drill-through cell on the form, select Drill Through to source, and then select the default view or the custom view.

https://docs-uat.us.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/enterprise-performance-management-common/diepm/integrations_custom_view_drill_definition_100x91b864e1.html

Reports: Support for Cell-Level Security

Reports now supports Cell-Level Security with new grid, row, and column suppression properties for No Access and a grid property for text replacement of No Access cells. These properties behave in a similar manner as the existing properties for Zero Values, No Data, and Error data value results.

Defining Cell-Level Security: https://docs-uat.us.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/planning-budgeting-cloud/pfusa/defining_cell_level_security.html

New Tutorials

Learn how to perform EPM grid operations such as entering line item details, comments, attachments, sorting and filtering grid members, adjusting grid data and using shortcut keys. You can use EPM grids, or ad hoc grids, to personalize focused data slices that you frequently use for analysis: https://apexapps.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=44785:265:0:::265:P265_CONTENT_ID:30188

Learn how to navigate with dynamic tabs to multi-task with different artifacts. With dynamic tabs, you can open related artifacts while keeping the original artifacts open: https://apexapps.oracle.com/pls/apex/f?p=44785:265:0:::265:P265_CONTENT_ID:30189

EPM Automate Updates

Several new commands have been added to the EPM Automate language. A full list of EPM Automate commands and their functions can be found here: https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/enterprise-performance-management-common/cepma/epm_automate_com_heading.html

Starting with this update, the runBusinessRule EPM Automate command will no longer run a ruleset. Instead, you should use the runRuleSet command to launch business rulesets using EPM Automate. If you currently use scripts that use the runBusinessRule command to launch rulesets, you must modify them to use the runRuleSet command.

Updated Clone Environment Features

This feature, which allows “cloning” one environment (such as a test environment) to another (such as production), or vice-versa, and can be a substitute for manual or EPM Automate-driven methods. Full documentation on the clone feature can be found here: https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/enterprise-performance-management-common/epmss/migration_gen1_gen2_clone.html

Planning

Support for Composite Forms Ended

Starting in this update, Oracle EPM Cloud ends support for composite forms. The ability to create new composite forms was previously disabled. Existing composite forms will continue to work.

Other Important Notices

Upcoming Change to Smart View Ad hoc Behavior

Starting with the August (21.08) update, all new and recreated applications will default to “Standard” mode instead of “Native” mode for the Smart View Ad Hoc Behavior.

For existing applications and migrated applications, “Native” will remain as the default Smart View Ad Hoc Behavior, with “Standard” being an option.

Please note that “Native” mode in Smart View Ad Hoc Behavior will eventually be phased out. We recommend that all customers switch their applications to “Standard” mode ad hoc behavior soon.

Smart View Add-on Installation for Task Manager and Supplemental Data Manager

In an upcoming release, the installation of Smart View add-ons for Task Manager and Supplemental Data Manager will change. At that time, users of the Smart View add-ons will need to uninstall and re-install their add-ons to take advantage of the latest features and fixes.

Removal of Some Unused Migration Options

In an upcoming update, Oracle plans to remove some unused or rarely used options from the Import Options screen in Migration. Because EPM Cloud implicitly handles Essbase cube restructure and overwriting of artifacts, the Essbase Application – Overwrite Artifacts and Essbase Application – Restructure Cube options had no effect in EPM Cloud. These options will no longer be displayed. The Data Management – Skip Validation option will use the default value of false while the Groups and Membership – Max Error Threshold option will use 100 as the default value.