Perform Writeback

Explanation

This activity is used to write information back to IFS Cloud or to a text file. You can either perform a Complete Writeback or a Modified Writeback. Complete Writeback will collect all data to be written back regardless of whether it has been modified or not. Modified Writeback will only collect data that has been changed. The data items collected for writeback can either be written back to IFS Cloud or to a CSV file. It is possible select a subset of the collected rows to be written back.

Zero and null values will be included or excluded depending on report options set in Design Mode. In report options, it is also possible to define whether a comparison should be made between new/modified values and the values in the target write back source. Please note the following:

• Comparison between actual sheet values and data base values is only suitable if the source for the report is the same as the target. This is the typical situation when performing writeback. e.g. Business Reporter is used to read budget information that is modified and then written back again. However, opting to compare with database values might have an impact on the performance.
• If the from and the target sources are not the same, then comparison with database values should be avoided. In this situation, the basic use case is to read data from one source and then to write back to a target which is different to the original source. This is done typically to initialize values in the target location. One example could be to read information about code strings and balances from the General Ledger and then to initialize a Business Planning Unit with these values. After this is done, the write back activity should be performed using another report that ensures that the from and target locations are the same.

Writeback could only be performed on reports that have been designed to support the Writeback functionality.

An Information Source can support two types of writeback.

1. Aggregated Writeback
   Means that the report is designed to read and aggregate information that is then presented as the ouput. Changing values means changing the aggregated values and this is also the values written back.
2. Detailed/Transaction Level Writeback
   The source information is read on lowest, transactional level and cached in memory. The report can still present aggregated information but the difference compared to the other type of writeback is that for each writeback cell a dialog is opened showing all the detailed transactions that represent the current cell. Hence, on this level, it is possible to modify transactions on the lowest level, to add new transactions or to remove transactions. All changes will affect and directly update the cell in the report keeping the aggregated value. Collecting writeback information really means that the lowest level transactions are gathered.

Also, note that some Information Sources support both writeback types. The aggregated writeback is available for initialization purposes even if the main use case is to perform the transaction level writeback.

Prerequisites

You have to make sure to select a report where Writeback has been enabled in the report design. Required writeback settings and options has to be set in designer mode as preferred.

System Effects

Writing information back to IFS Cloud will alter the related data in IFS Cloud immediately. Writing information to a file makes it possible to import the data to IFS Cloud at a later stage.

Related Process Model

Perform Writeback
Export to Excel
Order BR Report
Execute BR Report

Related Activity

Collect Data for Writeback

Procedure

To Perform a Complete Writeback

1. Change the output of some of the amounts in the report.
2. Option one is to, in the IFS Business Reporter ribbon, click on Writeback All Data to perform Writeback of all transactions. The option Review Collected Data can be selected if it is of interest to see the collected data before the Writeback takes place and/or if only a subset of the collected rows should be written back.
3. Option two is to do the writeback via the options in Document Actions Pane.
   1. Click Writeback in Document Actions pane.
   2. Click Get All. All amounts are collected to the Writeback tab of the Document Actions pane. Null/ Zero Values can be excluded depending on the writeback options selected in Design Mode.
      Note: The Status field, Group Message field and Set Message field will be empty at this point.
   3. If the option Compare with Database Values was selected in Design Mode, you can use the original value column and current value column in the Writeback pane to compare the new values with original database values before writing them back.
   4. Select All Writeback Data check box in the Writeback pane will be selected by default. Clear/select the corresponding checkboxes for each collected writeback item in order to specify which of the collected rows that should be written back to the database.
   5. Click Save to write back selected rows to IFS Cloud.
      At this point you will see the fields Status, Group Message and Set Message having messages displayed in them. If the Collective Writeback process was successful the icon for each row will become green and the following messages will be displayed:
      Status: Processed.
      Group Message: Writeback ready. Transactions in all data sets have been successfully processed.
      Set Message: Process of data set 0 OK. All budget templates in that set successfully processed.
      
      

To Perform a Modified Writeback

1. Change values as required in the writeback enabled report.
2. Option one is to click on Writeback in the IFS Business Reporter ribbon to perform Writeback of all modified transactions. The option Review Collected Data can be selected if it is of interest to see the collected data before the Writeback operation and/or if only a subset of the collected rows should be written back.
3. Option two is to perform writeback via the options in Document Actions pane.
   1. Click Writeback.
   2. Click Get Modified to collect the figures which have been modified in to the Writeback tab of the Document Actions pane.
   3. If the option Compare with Database Values was selected in the Design Mode, you can use the original value column and current value column in the Writeback pane to compare the new values with original database values before writing them back.
   4. Select All Writeback Data check box in the Writeback pane will be selected by default. Clear/select the corresponding checkboxes for each collected writeback item in order to specify which of the collected rows that should be written back to the database.
   5. Click Save to write back selected rows to IFS Cloud.
       

To Perform Detailed Writeback

1. Make sure to use an Information Source that supports detailed/transactional Writeback. It is also required that the Design Row or Design Column option Transactional Level Writeback is enabled in the report used.
2. Run the report.
3. Click on a Writeback enabled cell. This will open the Writeback Transactions dialog with all transactions related to the selected cell.
4. Use the dialog to modify values on existing rows/transactions, add new rows/transactions or remove existing rows/transactions. It is not necessary to close the dialog after edittig values of one cell. Just click on another Writeback enabled cell in the report to display transactions related to this new cell in the dialog. Once the focus is moved from one cell to another, the changes will be permanent. Before that, it is possible to undo all changes related to one cell and then start over again.
5. Next step will be to collect the transactions to be written back.
6. Option One
   In the IFS Business Reporter ribbon use Writeback to get all modified, new and removed transactions or use Writeback All Data to get all transactions, including removed and then to write them back to IFS Cloud. The option Review Collected Data should be selected if it is necessary to view the collected transactions first and/or to select only a subset of the transactions before writing them back.
7. Option Two
   Use the option Writeback in Document Actions pane and then either Get Modified to get modified transactions or Get All to collect/get all transactions. The transactions can be reviewed before using Save to write them back to IFS Cloud.

 To Insert Values for Writeback

Prerequisites:
Select Enable Insert of New Values for Writeback check box in design row/column options in the design mode for the required repeater level.

1. Select a row or column where the values need to be inserted for writeback.
2. Right-click and select Insert New Row/Column for BR Writeback.
3. Select values from the list of values, for each field in the Insert New Values for Writeback window.
   Note: Fields in this window will dynamically change according to the writeback design and the selected repeater level.
4. Report will be re-executed and the rows and columns will be inserted.
5. Change the writeback enabled cells, using the cell specific Writeback Transactions dialog, before closing the dialog and performing writeback to IFS Cloud.
   Note: If one or more new rows are inserted via the Insert New Row/Column for BR Writeback option, it is recommended to enter values in the new cells and then to perform writeback as soon as possible. Don't wait with the writeback too long since the business logic can raise errors when the writeback is performed. Then it might be difficult to get things right. The fallback is always to re-execute the report, to get a report based on the current status in IFS Cloud database.

Configuration of the Writeback Transactions Dialog

The Writeback Transactions dialog, used when adding, modifying or deleting detailed transactions when performing detailed writeback, will get a default confguration based on design settings of the writeback enabled cell. It is possible to configure the dialog to better adapt to end user needs. The configuration is only available for end users with design privileges, e.g. Typical Business Reporter designer. A typical scenario may look like this:

1. A Business Reporter designer creates the report in design mode.
2. The report is executed and the resulting report will be available in report mode.
3. The designer tests that the report is rendered correctly and that writeback works as expected.
4. Now the designer can, in report mode, click on a writeback enabled cell to open the Writeback Transactions dialog.
5. Clicking on the Configure button opens the Column Configuration dialog.
6. The dialog can be used to configure:
   1. Column visibility
   2. Column order
   3. Display name for the column header
7. When the designer is done, the report is Published (handled in design mode).
8. The end users who are supposed to access the report for planning/budgeting and writeback, orders the report in Business Reporter report mode and in the executed report performs necessary writeback actions. It is possible to order and open the report from IFS Cloud as well.