RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Suggest and discuss enhancements for TM1
Post Reply
User avatar
gtonkin
MVP
Posts: 1192
Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 3:03 pm
OLAP Product: TM1
Version: Latest and greatest
Excel Version: Office 365 64-bit
Location: JHB, South Africa
Contact:

RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Post by gtonkin »

I think many who use picklist will agree that not have a code/description style picklist is a major issue when you expect users to pick values from a list of codes that may be IDs or other generated references.

I have loaded RFE 82432 to request that we basically be allowed to use syntax like: subset:<dimension>:<subset>:<alias> to do this. Please go and vote for this!

What would be really cool if you use Picklist cubes is to have subset:<dimension>:<MDX>:<alias> as you could then code the MDX within the Picklist cube. This would be useful if for instance you select an option and the MDX brings back a filtered set based on the option e.g. you have a table with account and countries. When a particular country is selected, the MDX would be written to filter and return the countries that are valid. Let me know if you think this option is useful and depending on the responses, I will request it too.

Thanks for your vote.

For those who do not have access to view the RFE, this is what it says:
Description
When assigning a subset based Picklist to a measure, the picklist is linked to a named subset. Based on the elements in the subset, the selected value is stored in the cube. Depending on the subset, this may be the PrincipalName or may be an Alias.

From a user's point of view however, a list of IDs is meaningless and they require a view of a human readable list, normally an alias.

Ideally you want to store the PrincipalName of the element rather than an alias which may change over time.

Use Case
A model contains a dimension with transaction codes from the line of business system. A mapping table is required to map the incoming transaction codes to a reporting transaction code.

A subset has been created on a dimension where the source system transaction codes reside and this is linked to the picklist.

Users updating the mapping table are faced with a list of IDs and need to refer to another sheet or table to find the correct value.

Picklists should work just like any other combo box environment where you can show a code and description, let the user select and bring back the code (PrincipalName) into the cube.

Business Justification
Not having the ability to see the descirption or an alias wastes time, is prone to error and to some users is more of a hinderance.

With 3rd party integration, you run the risk of sending mal-formed data as you may be sending an element with a description which the receiving system cannot handle or does not expect. This can lead to exception reports and increases operational risk.

Data integrity is at the core of any system and without this feature, the use of subset based picklists puts this in jeopardy.

Having the ability to specify an alias e.g.
subset:<dimension>:<subset>:<alias>
would make the picklist more functional, reduce time waste, protect data integrity and make TM1 more user friendly.
Last edited by gtonkin on Thu Jan 21, 2016 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
declanr
MVP
Posts: 1815
Joined: Mon Dec 05, 2011 11:51 am
OLAP Product: Cognos TM1
Version: PA2.0 and most of the old ones
Excel Version: All of em
Location: Manchester, United Kingdom
Contact:

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Post by declanr »

Might be imagining it but i thought you could do this by simply having subsetaliasset (or manual equivalent) used on the subset... could be an old version or just in my head if not though.
Declan Rodger
User avatar
gtonkin
MVP
Posts: 1192
Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 3:03 pm
OLAP Product: TM1
Version: Latest and greatest
Excel Version: Office 365 64-bit
Location: JHB, South Africa
Contact:

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Post by gtonkin »

Hi Declan, it is not so much being able to toggle an alias on/off on a subset but more about what is returned once the element is selected from the picklist linked to a subset.
lotsaram
MVP
Posts: 3651
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:14 am
OLAP Product: TableManager1
Version: PA 2.0.x
Excel Version: Office 365
Location: Switzerland

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Post by lotsaram »

gtonkin wrote:Hi Declan, it is not so much being able to toggle an alias on/off on a subset but more about what is returned once the element is selected from the picklist linked to a subset.
I would have said the same as Declan; that a subset picklist will use whatever alias to display elements as per the alias set for the subset. But from what you said above it seems that what you want is for the value entered into the cell to be the principal name and not the value displayed in the picklist. I think that's a good idea and I would support that but I think you need to rephrase the RFE a little as this isn't clear.

Also since picklist display is procedural there seems no reason why there couldn't be another picklist mode "MDX" in addition to static, dimension and subset where a list would be generated by MDX. This is a good idea.
Please place all requests for help in a public thread. I will not answer PMs requesting assistance.
User avatar
gtonkin
MVP
Posts: 1192
Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 3:03 pm
OLAP Product: TM1
Version: Latest and greatest
Excel Version: Office 365 64-bit
Location: JHB, South Africa
Contact:

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Post by gtonkin »

lotsaram wrote: I think that's a good idea and I would support that but I think you need to rephrase the RFE a little as this isn't clear.
Thanks for the feedback lotsaram - I have updated the RFE to
Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

I am not sure how to change the topic of this post - possibly an admin could do this for me please.
User avatar
sachin
Posts: 92
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:54 pm
OLAP Product: Transformer,SSAS, EP, TM1
Version: 7.3 2005 10.1 10.1.1
Excel Version: 2013
Contact:

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Post by sachin »

gtonkin wrote:
Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name
May be I am missing something here; however I did not quite get the use case.

Let's say we display the alias name in the picklist, then user makes a selection and that value is stored in the cube. If working with TI you could use DimensionElementPrincipalName to get its principal name. If you are working with rules, you'd need to use DimNm (DimIx ()) to derive the principal name.

During Cognos EP days we use to do intermediate steps in the D-List items (dimension elements in TM1) and then hide them in the contributor. Perhaps you could try doing that.
Check out my blog for some good information on TM1, SPSS
User avatar
gtonkin
MVP
Posts: 1192
Joined: Thu May 06, 2010 3:03 pm
OLAP Product: TM1
Version: Latest and greatest
Excel Version: Office 365 64-bit
Location: JHB, South Africa
Contact:

Re: Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Post by gtonkin »

HI Sachin,
That is one way of doing it but obviously requires additional elements, processes, fiddling and faffing. Why not just have a product that behaves in a way that users expect it to?
lotsaram
MVP
Posts: 3651
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:14 am
OLAP Product: TableManager1
Version: PA 2.0.x
Excel Version: Office 365
Location: Switzerland

Re: RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Post by lotsaram »

It might just be Christmas after all based on the IBM Anwendertag last week in Germany.
Please place all requests for help in a public thread. I will not answer PMs requesting assistance.
lotsaram
MVP
Posts: 3651
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 11:14 am
OLAP Product: TableManager1
Version: PA 2.0.x
Excel Version: Office 365
Location: Switzerland

Re: RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Post by lotsaram »

For the sake of completeless linking this topic to viewtopic.php?t=11372#p78364
Where it seems that this RFE is actually delivered just that no one at IBM bothered to document it.
Please place all requests for help in a public thread. I will not answer PMs requesting assistance.
Post Reply