insightunlimited Designer Express User Guideis.community.s3.amazonaws.com/Documents/Designer User Guide.pdf · [If using a JDE Profile, the Object Librarian Master Table (F9860)/(F9801

insightunlimited Version: 2014.2 and above

Document Version: 1.8| Last Updated: March 3, 2015

insightunlimited

Designer Express User

Guide January 2015

Designer Express User Guide

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2015 insightsoftware.com International. All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 4

Overview .......................................................................................................................................................................... 4

insightunlimited User Types ........................................................................................................................................ 4

Knowledge Required for Designer Express Users ................................................................................................. 5

Available Features .......................................................................................................................................................... 5

Setup in Administrator ..................................................................................................... 8

Licensing .......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Data Source Profile ..................................................................................................................................................... 10

Backup and Restore Functionality ........................................................................................................................... 12

Importing and Exporting in Administrator ............................................................................................................. 12

Technical Requirements/Recommendations ............................................................... 13

Performance ................................................................................................................................................................. 13

Database Views ............................................................................................................................................................ 13

Requirements for Tables or Database Views to be used in a DX Template .................................................. 14

Incorporating a New Database View into DX ........................................................................................................ 16

Primary Keys ................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Support .......................................................................................................................................................................... 19

Template Design Considerations ................................................................................... 21

Defining the Reporting Requirement ...................................................................................................................... 21

Know Your Data ........................................................................................................................................................... 22

Building Your Template/Report ................................................................................................................................ 23

Creating a New Template ............................................................................................... 24

Overview of the Required Steps ............................................................................................................................... 24

Adding Tables to a Template .................................................................................................................................... 24

Defining the Suggested Master Table Joins ........................................................................................................... 26

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Defining Table Joins ..................................................................................................................................................... 27

Joining to the Same Table .......................................................................................................................................... 31

Table Options ............................................................................................................................................................... 32

Setting Report Options ............................................................................................................................................... 40

Double Counting Resolver ......................................................................................................................................... 42

Define Amount and Quantity Columns .................................................................................................................. 44

Review and Edit the Table and Join Selections ..................................................................................................... 49

Report Layout ............................................................................................................................................................... 50

Publish ............................................................................................................................................................................ 54

Security........................................................................................................................................................................... 55

Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 56

Appendix: Amount Columns and JDE Decimal Shifting Rules ........................................................................... 56

Further Information ........................................................................................................ 59

Contacts ......................................................................................................................................................................... 59

Customer Support ....................................................................................................................................................... 59

Notices and Disclaimer ............................................................................................................................................... 59

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Overview

insightsoftware.com is an enterprise information company, providing software for Reporting,

Planning and Business Performance Management. Our solutions cover:

Enterprise Reporting/Inquiry, Analytics (Understand the Business)

Financial Consolidation, Management Reporting, Dashboards, KPIs (Manage the Business)

Forecasting, Planning, Budgeting, Strategy Management (Predict the Business)

insightunlimited Designer is a customizable content creator for JD Edwards and Oracle E-Business

Suite users. insightunlimited Designer Express, also referred to as DX, is the Express Edition that

enables insightunlimited Designer users to create new templates, through a simple user interface,

over standard and custom ERP tables and database views. In these templates, multiple joins can be

created to multiple tables. Once a new template is created, users can create reports from the

template using standard insightunlimited functionality.

It is essential that users who are developing reports using Designer Express are advanced users with

an in-depth knowledge of ERP tables, fields and table joins.

insightunlimited User Types

Reporting Users - Can create ad hoc inquiries and reports using all features related to the report

build process; can publish reports to Console Users.

Console Users - Have access to published reports through a controlled interface; can drill down

through the data and can make selections as published by a Reporting User. Minimal training

required.

Administrator - Responsible for managing user accounts, database connections, and inquiry

permissions. Unlike other types of users, an Administrator may not need to run inquiries, and so

does not need a corresponding account with JD Edwards.

Designers - Have ability to create custom templates and have in-depth knowledge of JDE table

structures, table joins and data plus advanced knowledge of insightunlimited. Designer Express

users are licensed to users to access templates created by the designer.

Introduction


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Knowledge Required for Designer Express Users

Designer

Express

User

Use of

Designer Express

ERP Knowledge Required insightunlimited

Knowledge Required

Designer Create custom

templates

In-depth knowledge of ERP

table structures, table joins,

and ERP data required

Yes advanced knowledge

Power User Create reports from

custom templates

Helpful but not required Yes anywhere from basic

to advanced knowledge

Console User Run reports No No

Available Features

Designer Express offers many features, including the following:

Users can create new templates based on multiple fact tables or database views.

There is no double-counting of rows in calculated totals.

Several join types can be used: inner, left outer, and right outer.

Ability to create unions between tables that have identical fields

Option to select either inline or outline views

Can combine data regardless of the table relationship: one: one, one: many, many: one or

many: many

Formatting options are used to define how to display repeating rows.

Automatically resolving joins between numeric columns and string columns

Can join to the same table multiple times. This can be done only if the table has no amounts

defined, for example:

o PER_PEOPLE_F Oracle EBS

o F0101 Address Book - JDE

Suggested Master Table joins are given based on the tables that being chosen, such as the

F0006, F0101 and F4101 JDE only

There is full language support, except for amount columns JDE only

Currency-based decimal shifting is supported JDE only

There is automatic language support Oracle EBS only

Ability to leverage standard reporting capabilities once a template has been saved:

o Descriptions

o Hierarchies created manually (not imported)

o Default Calculations

o User-Defined Captions

o Show SQL

o Export to Excel/PDF

o QBE, or Query by Example (other than for value columns if subtotaling is enabled)

o Fixed value selectors

o RIO, or Reusable Inquiry Objects (DX objects can be shared between DX reports and

templates)


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Ability to use segment definitions such as the chart of account flex fields - Oracle EBS

Organization Security is applied automatically in DX reports for those tables that

insightunlimited already maps to in our Standard Templates - Oracle EBS

DXD users have the ability to set column definitions as a report override or a customer

default, the latter being applied to all DX reports.

Also within the Column Definitions, DXD users have the ability to manually define a table or

fixed list lookup in order provide filter validation, Query Assist support, and Code &

Description feature support to end users - Oracle EBS

When joining to the same table multiple times, DXD users can re-label the tables so that the

end user can easily distinguish them.

Ability to define a primary (unique) key in the CustomerPK file located in the install directory

DXD users can choose which table in DX report is the 'first' table in the query to which all

other tables are joined.

The below figure shows the features available in our standard templates and DX Templates. If you

are tasked with creating an inquiry, and are unsure whether to use DX or the standard modules, this

chart may help you decide.

Many custom reporting tools require specialized technical skills like a background in coding or SQL.

Designer Express takes the technical complexity out of the process with a simple point-and-click

experience. Ultimately, it enables you to create a report/template in minutes, not days.


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Standard Templates:

Shipped with the product.

Contain a fixed set of tables.

Cannot add new tables.

Cannot access custom tables.

Often include business logic:

o Predefined period grouping (ITD, YTD, etc.).

o Alternate Joins.

o Reconciliation style templates that union tables and show orphan.

o Joins that require adjustments to a field for joining (PO Number in AP to PO number

in Purchasing).

DX Templates:

Not shipped with the product.

Created at your site.

Can access any ERP tables.

Can access custom tables and tables outside ERP.

Do not include built in logic to handle module specific situations.

Best Practice: When first creating DX inquiries, we recommend a DX training workshop where

one of our Product Specialists can take you through the process of using DX effectively and help

you build your first templates.


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Licensing

The license key being used must include a license for the Designer Express feature. Then the

appropriate license(s) must be assigned to the users who will be using this feature via License

Assignments:

There are three types of license keys related to Designer Express:

1) Designer Express (DX) - This license is for users who can access and create inquiries based

off of the templates created by users with a DXD license. When creating a new inquiry, users

with this license will see the Designer Express category under New Inquiry within the

Backstage view. All templates created by DX are listed here.

Setup in Administrator


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2) Designer Express Designer (DXD) - This license is for advanced users who create new

templates using Designer Express. Users with this license must also have a DX license as well

as a Configurator license (CFG) in order to be able to create new templates. With these 3

licenses, users will see the Designer Express category under New Inquiry within the

Backstage view. All templates created by DX are listed here, as well as New Template, which

is used to create a template from scratch.

3) Designer Express Data Entry (DXE) - This license is for users of Strategic Planning in

insightunlimited. This functionality enables end users to design a budget or forecasting input

form using any table in JD Edwards incorporated with user-defined data collection columns

that hold key driver information for robust modeling.

Notes on licensing:

Designer Express and insightunlimited Console - Console users do not need a Designer

Express (DX) license to view and run reports created in Designer Express.

Designer Express and insightunlimited Scheduler - Reports that are created in Designer

Express can be run automatically using Scheduler.

o Scheduler Admin/User: The person creating the task in Scheduler needs an SCH license

but does not need any other license unless they are also going to be set as the Run-As

user.

o Run-As User: If this user is a Reporting user, then they would need a DX license as well

as the appropriate module license in order to run the report. If this user is a Console

user, then they would only need a CON license, and can be set up as a Run-As user in

insightunlimited release 2013.1 and above.


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Data Source Profile

Existing insightunlimited Profiles in Administrator must be updated to incorporate additional

information for Designer Express. The first addition is in the Module Selection step as shown

below, where Designer Express must be selected if this feature is to be available in this profile.

To update the profile:

1) Expand the Data Sources node in the left panel in Administrator.

2) Select the Profiles node under Data Sources.

3) Right-click on the specific Profile and select Edit to launch the profile wizard.

4) In the Module Selection screen, select the Designer Express (DX) and/or DX Data Entry

(DXE) feature, depending on which you are using:

5) In the Select Additional Tables to Configure screen, define the specific information needed

for this feature. [If using a JDE Profile, the Object Librarian Master Table (F9860)/(F9801 for

JDE World) is where all objects are stored.]


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a. Connection (displays only for JDE Profile) Set how to connect to the F9860 table,

whether it is the same insightunlimited Connection as that being used to connect to

your ERP data, or whether it is a different Connection.

b. Object Library (displays only for JDE Profile) Define where the Object Library

Master Table (F9801 in World, F9860 in E1) resides. DX uses this table as a master list

of all available tables in your JDE system. This table must be accessible in order to

use DX.

c. Choose Tables Define any tables or views you want to have access to with DX. For

tables, you only need to add those that are not currently within the standard

templates.

i. All available tables are listed in the left panel. To select tables, move them to

the right panel either by using the arrows or double-clicking on the specific

table in the left panel. Optionally, use the QBE to find any table in order to

move it to the right panel. All tables in the right panel will be available within

Designer Express.

ii. Click OK once all selections have been made.

Best Practice: It is strongly recommended to only add the tables you need and not to add in all

tables.

6) Click Next.

7) Once the tables are chosen, define the table locations in the profile in the Prefixes column.

(Note that DX is added to the module list for each table previously selected for use in DX.)


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8) Click Next.

9) Click Run Test to verify the chosen database and options:

10) Once the status comes back as Success, click Next and then Finish.

Another way to access the Designer Express Setup within the Profile wizard is to right-click on the

appropriate profile and select Configure Additional Tables.

Backup and Restore Functionality

When using the backup and restore functions in Administrator, this does include the Designer

Express reports/templates and their associated designer objects.

Importing and Exporting in Administrator

Designer Express reports can be imported and exported in Administrator in the same way that

standard reports are imported and exported in Administrator. The measures (amounts or

quantities) defined for custom tables are stored at the report level, so when you import/export the

report, the Amount Metadata is within the rdf file for the measures the user has changed when the

DX template was created. (For the measures defined in the insightunlimited Default or Customer

Common libraries, those are retained in those libraries, not in the rdf file.)


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Performance

It is highly recommended that any table configured to be used in Designer Express should have the

proper indexes created according to your ERP requirements. If indexing is not performed,

performance issues may result. It is the responsibility of the Designer Express Designer to ensure

that proper indexing has been established for each table configured for Designer Express.

Best Practice: We recommend the below steps.

1. Capture the reports SQL in insightunlimited.

2. Have your IT Department run the SQL through a query analyzer tool to verify all the

proper indexes have been set up on your database to maximize the reports performance.

3. If an index needs to be built:

a. Run the report with limited data selection over a static environment, such as Test or

PY.

b. Build your index(es).

c. Re-run the same report over the static environment with the new index(es) to verify

and test performance.

d. Duplicate the process in Production.

Database Views

Designer Express (DX) allows you to build inquiries using any JDE or Oracle EBS standard or custom

tables on your data connection. It is also possible to use DX to incorporate database views, as well as

ERP database tables, in the same inquiry.

Using database views creates significant additional flexibility. See the following examples:

All tables and views used by insightunlimited must be accessible using the same database

connection that the product uses to query the ERP data.

Views can be used to provide indirect access to data tables in other database connections,

such as other ERP instances or tables (e.g. Security or UDC tables - JDE only.)

Views can include complex business logic including database functions and subqueries.

The tables and views must have uppercase or case-insensitive names. Within the columns of

those tables and views, insightunlimited will only support data types that it already supports

for EBS: character types, number types and dates. There are some additional limits within

those categories. Binary object and XML data types, for example, are not supported.

o create table Foo will actually create a table called FOO. This will work.

o create table Foo will create a table called Foo note the double quotes around the

name. This wont work with EBS DX.

o create table FOO will create FOO which will work.

Technical Requirements/Recommendations


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All tables and views used in DX, whether they are being incorporated via a database view or not,

must comply with the requirements, which are discussed below, as far as naming conventions,

columns, location, and unique rows.

Accessing the JDE UDC Tables in DX - To gain access to the JDE UDC tables (F0004 and F0005) from

Designer Express, in your JDE Data Database you can create a database view over these tables and

incorporate these views in your DX template.

Why is this needed? Database views are used to provide indirect access to data tables on other

database connections. The UDC tables are generally located in a different database, such as

the Control Table database; by creating a view over them, you are gaining access to them when

creating a template based on data from your JDE Data database.

Best Practices:

1) When a view is being created to resolve a function or join issue, then only the required

fields and tables should be included with the required IDs to complete the join. The

remaining tables should be added in DX.

2) insightunlimited is very good at aggregating data so the view should be at the lowest level

of detail. This will make it easier to add further tables in DX while still getting the benefit

from drill down and summary information.

Requirements for Tables or Database Views to be used in a DX Template

In order to be included in a DX template, the table or view must comply with the below

requirements. (These requirements apply whether you are accessing a table or database view.)

For JDE System Users

Naming Conventions for DX tables or views

The name must not be dtproperties or start with DWTEMP.

Use the same prefix for all the columns in the table/view.

The name must not contain the "/" or "_" characters.

The name must not be longer than 10 characters.

The name must be either all uppercase or case-insensitive.

The name must start with a letter (A-Z) and be followed by letters and numbers (0-9).

Column Naming Convention and Type

All column names in the same table must start with the same two-character prefix. The two

characters should both be uppercase letters, e.g. DX.

The remainder of the column name (all except the first two letters) must exist within the

FRDTAI column of the F9210 table (e.g. "MCU" or "AN01"). There is no need for the table or

view itself to be stored in the Object Library Master File (F9860 or F9801).

The column name must be either all uppercase or case-insensitive.

The data type of the column must correspond with the correct type for the column

extension used. (For example, a column called "DXMCU" will be treated as a JDE business

unit type and should be a 12 character string.)


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Location

The table or view must be accessible from the JDE Data Connection as specified in

insightunlimited Administrator in the Profile.

Lookup Tables

Where a column contains a data type that is known to JDE but does not exist in the JDE

Master Table (for example a company code from another JDE instance), a custom lookup

table should be included with the main data table to allow for the use of the "Visual Assist"

and "Code & Description" features within the DX inquiry.

For EBS System Users

Database Account Permission

The insightunlimited database account must be granted permission to query the tables and views.

View Name

The name must be in uppercase.

A view name should begin with 2 letters to identify it as custom, normally XX_ or IS_:

XX_.

A view name should end with _V: _V.

The name must not start with DWTemp.


Names can contain only alphanumeric characters from your database character set and the

underscore (_), dollar sign ($), and pound sign (#). Oracle strongly discourages you from

using $ and #.

The name must not contain a space character.

Column Name

The name must be in uppercase


Names can contain only alphanumeric characters from your database character set and the

underscore (_), dollar sign ($), and pound sign (#). Oracle strongly discourages you from

using $ and #.

The name must not contain a space character.

Location

The view must be accessible from the EBS data connection (as specified in the

insightunlimited EBS profile). It is best practice to store views under the APPS schema

although not essential.

If a view is saved in the insightunlimited schema, it will need to be recreated when upgrading

to a new schema.

If the views are stored in the insightunlimited schema, this schema will need to be given the

appropriate grants in order to be able to read the relevant tables and views, e.g. GRANT

SELECT ON APPS.FND_RESPONSIBILITIY_VL to .

The creation of new views and granting access to the underlying objects is normally done

with the assistance of a DBA.

Lookup Tables

Lookups can be added using fixed list or can be picked up from a table or view.


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SQL Examples for Oracle Databases

You can find detailed information on specific syntaxes by going to the websites listed below.

Grant/Revoke Syntax: http://www.techonthenet.com/oracle/grant_revoke.php

View Create/Drop Syntax: http://www.techonthenet.com/oracle/views.php

All System Users: Primary Keys

insightunlimited must be able to identify those columns that together uniquely identify a single row.

During the configuration process, it will attempt to do this automatically by looking for unique

indexes or primary keys on each table or view. Where unique indexes or primary keys are not

present, it is possible to manually specify the columns that uniquely identify a single row by

specifying them in the insightunlimited configuration file CustomerPK.xml.

This is required to allow the Double Counter Resolver (DCR) to function. This feature automatically

ensures a value is not added multiple times when a many-to-one join causes a value to be

duplicated.

More information on Primary Keys is listed below.

Incorporating a New Database View into DX

Once you have created a new database view, you need to incorporate it into Designer Express.

Say, for example, you have created a database view named CRP4111. The following steps show you

how to incorporate it into Designer Express.

1) Expand the Data Sources node in the left panel in Administrator.

2) Select the Profiles node under Data Sources.

3) Right-click on the profile in which the view was created. Select Configure Additional Tables:

4) Search for your newly-created view under Available Tables and include it as a Selected

Table:

http://www.techonthenet.com/oracle/grant_revoke.phphttp://www.techonthenet.com/oracle/views.php


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5) In the Table Locations screen, ensure that the new view has the proper prefix defined:

6) Run through the profile and complete it as normal.

7) You must have a DXD license assigned to your insightunlimited user to develop Designer

Express templates. Once logged into insightunlimited Reporting, generate a new template

by going to the Backstage view, clicking on New, clicking on Designer Express, and selecting

New Template.

8) You may now add the newly created view in Designer Express and build joins and define

amounts, etc. as you normally would.

Primary Keys

Primary (unique) keys are required for tables being used in Designer Express reports. Primary key

indexes must be defined according to your ERP requirements for each table in your ERP Data

Database if you plan to configure them for use in Designer Express. Primary keys are used to

identify duplicated values as well as understand the data relationship between tables.

In Inline view, primary keys are used to create a unique identifier for each table in the join in order

to avoid double counting.

In Outline view, primary keys are used for determining data relationships.

When a Primary Key is not defined for a table - Primary keys are defined and stored in the

database. If a primary key has not been defined for a table, insightunlimited uses an XML import

step (called Missing Primary Keys) in the Profile Wizard to define what the primary keys are and

then stores this information in the repository. This import step is a routine that automatically runs at

the end of the Profile Wizard for all the tables to which insightunlimited maps.

There is a second xml file called CustomerPK.xml which you can use to define your own primary

keys (e.g. F55... tables). This file, located within the install directory, includes instructions so that

administrators understand how to use it. (To edit this file, we recommend opening it with an XML

Editor like Microsoft Visual Studio or XML Notepad 2007 in order to ensure the syntax is correct.)


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A line can be added to this file such as in these examples:

1) JDE System: . (This line will set the primary

keys of F12345 to XXCol1 and XXCol2 if the database cannot automatically detect the primary

keys of F12345.)

2) Oracle EBS System: . (This line will

set the primary keys of AP_INVOICES_ALL to INVOICE_ID if the database cannot automatically

detect the primary keys of AP_INVOICES_ALL.)

There are several version tags in the CustomerPk.xml. The PKDef tags must be placed within the tag

corresponding to the ERP version or in the AllVersion tag to affect all versions of the ERP.

Important Note: When manually defining the primary keys in the CustomerPK.xml file, be sure to

use the same upper case/lower case letters as they are in the Importing Missing Primary

Keys message as shown below. In other words, if the Table or View is listed in upper case, then key

in the Column Name(s) in upper case.


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Viewing the Primary Keys associated with a table - When choosing the tables upon which you are

building your Designer Express template, you can view the primary keys associated with each table.

1) Within Template Designer, click Add Table.

2) Scroll to the right to see the Primary Keys column for each table:

Note that you can only see the primary keys in the New Table dialog. You cannot see them in the

Table dialog after the table has been added to the report.

Support

Whats supported by insightsoftware.com:

We will provide support for the DX toolset and insightunlimited features.

Our Professional Services team can be contracted to assist in the development of custom

templates, and these templates will be supported.

Whats not supported by insightsoftware.com:

We are unable to provide support on which tables, views, columns and joins should be

incuded in your views/DX to deliver your requirement. This should be provided by your in-

house ERP system expert or associated partner.

Maintaining Primary Key information contained within your CustomerPK file during an

upgrade - When upgrading to a higher release level of insightunlimited, it is best to always copy the

CustomerPK file from the current install directory into the upgraded versions install directory.

Case of a new insightunlimited repository: If you are creating a new insightunlimited repository for

the upgrade, then the CustomerPK file located in the current install directory needs to be copied into

the install directory for the new insightunlimited version install directory. When you go through the

Profile Wizard for the upgraded version, it will read the contents of the CustomerPK file and it will be

incorporated into the information collected by the Profile Wizard for use in Designer Express.


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Case of using the existing insightunlimited repository: If you are not creating a new repository for

the upgrade (for example if you are upgrading to a Service Pack and a new repository is not

required), then technically you do not have to copy the CustomerPK file into the upgraded

insightunlimited version install directory. The current information stored within that file is still

stored in the repository. If, however, the Administrator edits the Profile Wizard, all information

related to the older CustomerPK file version is lost and new information is read from the

CustomerPK file that is stored in the install directory of the upgraded insightunlimited version. This

is why we still recommend copying the CustomerPK file into the upgraded version install directory,

even in the case of using the existing insightunlimited repository.

Changes to the CustomerPK file - If you make changes to your CustomerPK file, you do NOT need

to copy that amended file to each workstation where insightunlimited is installed. It does, however,

need to be copied to the workstation for each person who has access to Administrator and has

privileges to edit the Profile Wizard. The CustomerPK file is only read during the setup tasks at the

end of the Profile Wizard. The information on primary keys is then stored in the repository, against

that profile, and the workstations where insightunlimited is installed read it from there when they

start up.

If the CustomerPK file on a workstation with access to Administrator does not contain updated

information on the primary (unique) keys in the database tables and/or views and the user edits the

Profile Wizard, then any database table or view that does not have a primary key defined at the

database level will not be available for use within Designer Express. The reason for this is that the

Importing Missing Primary Keys task reruns at the end of the Profile Wizard and stores the

information contained within the CustomerPK file within the repository. If the CustomerPK file is out

of date or is empty, those database tables or views that have no primary (unique) keys defined

cannot be used by Designer Express.


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Defining the Reporting Requirement

Before beginning to build your custom template/report, its a good idea to clearly understand and

define why you are building it. Use the list of questions below as a guide to help you define the

content and purpose of the template/report.

What is the business requirement?

o What decisions do I need to be able to make to run my department/business better?

o What information do I need to make these decisions?

o What business or reporting need will this report satisfy?

What will a single row on the report represent?

What is the business requirement?

Who will be using the report?

o What skill level is required to use and understand it?

o What is the possibility that users will misinterpret the results?

When sharing the template/report:

o What type of users will be using the report/template (Reporting and Console)?

o What file formats will be needed/used (online, Excel, PDF, Word)?

Define your report specification:

o What tables are needed?

o What fields do you need to join on?

o What are the label columns?

o What are the amount columns?

o How is the data being sorted and aggregated?

Best Practice: Before building your custom template/report, verify that your business/reporting

requirement cannot be met with one of the standard templates. Whenever possible, we

recommend building new reports from the standard templates to leverage the existing business

logic and advanced functionality that cannot be duplicated within Designer Express. If you have

verified that a standard template cannot be used to meet your business requirement, determine

if a similar custom template/report already exists. If one does exist, clarify the differences to

avoid duplication of effort.

Template Design Considerations


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Know Your Data

An important step in any report development process is data validation and knowing the correct

data in which to compare your test data to as you are creating a new report. We recommend that

you use insightunlimited standard templates, ad hoc inquiries and reports to validate your data,

field names/columns, and joins as you build your report.

There are several methods available for identifying fields and tables in Oracle e-Business Suite for

use in templates. It is best to work with an Oracle user who is familiar with the fields and tables and

the methodologies for finding the correct ones. Oracles Electronic Technical Reference Manuals

(ETRM) are an excellent source of information (Oracle EBS Only).

Test Driven Development is a methodology commonly used in software development whereby a

software specification is converted into a set of tests with known inputs and expected outputs,

before any actual coding begins. The output from any development is repeatedly verified against

the test cases until the results match the expected output.

If you want to build an inquiry that joins several tables together, it can be helpful to create a set of

supporting inquiries first, each based on an individual table from the main inquiry. These

supporting inquiries will provide a clear view of the data that you may wish to use in your main

inquiry and alert you to any problems because of unpopulated columns, unexpected data in the

tables, or joining issues.

When creating your test cases, use your individual inquiries to pick some example input data and

work through the joins by hand to see what data you would expect to see from the different tables

in each case. If your inquiry includes a 1:M, M:M or M:1 join, then you should expect to see several

rows in one table corresponding to a single row in another.

When you are confident that you have the data from the different tables correct, you can use a

spreadsheet to replicate any calculations that would occur in the inquiry. Once you have a

spreadsheet with expected results, it can be a good idea to show this to the end user just to verify

that what theyre expecting and what youre expecting agree.


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Each iteration around the cycle of build test, find the fault, rebuild takes time. The amount of

time required per iteration goes up exponentially as the number of items being tested in one go

increases. For this reason its important to test as frequently as possible, so that as few components

as possible are tested in one go.

When creating your inquiry, we recommend you run the inquiry and test what youve done so far at

frequent intervals such as every time you add a new column or calculation. If you then find a

problem, it is comparatively simple to work out where the problem lies and then determine what

can be done to fix it.

Building Your Template/Report

The Strategic...

What makes a good report or inquiry? How much data should a report contain? Is more always

better? Should you create a data dump of everything just because you can?

A big problem we all face today is information overload. If we create a report with 10,000 rows and

50 columns of data, there is no way that someone can take in and mentally process it in a

meaningful way. If an inquiry contains more than just a very small number of rows, people stop

looking at the individual rows and start looking at the totals instead. If there are more than just a

small number of subtotal rows, then even they can start to become meaningless. The most useful

inquires and reports are those that contain no more information than is necessary. Less can

actually be more!

Showing less information on a report is fine, but what if you need access to all that information? We

suggest instead of trying to jam more and more information into the same report, you instead

create several reports, each of which highlights a different aspect of the data. With insightunlimited,

you can link reports together so that you can move from one to another, narrowing down your

selection as you go. Each report will run faster as youre bringing back fewer columns and by

filtering out the data you dont need at each stage, you keep each report clean and easy to

understand, and you are returning data quickly. In the end, a report can be viewed as a list of items

with various pieces of information presented about each item.

To understand the report, we must be able to understand what a single row in the report is referring

to. If we have overly complex inquiries, and particularly if we have inquiries that bring in data from

several tables with a variety of joins, it is easy to lose sight of what it is that a single row represents.

If youre designing a report, either for yourself or someone else, try asking yourself what it is that a

single row of that report represents. Is it a customer? A document? An order line? If the answer is

tough to explain then thats a pretty clear signal that the report may be too complex.


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Overview of the Required Steps

1) From the Backstage view, click New > Designer Express > New Template.

2) Add tables to the template.

3) Define suggested Master Table joins.

4) Define the joins between the tables.

5) Optionally, set Table Options.

6) Set the Report Options (Mode Type and First Table).

7) Verify the amount and quantity fields being used in the template.

8) Design the report layout.

Adding Tables to a Template

Once you have created a new template, immediately the Add Tables to View dialog appears where

you add the tables needed for your report.

1) You can use the QBE line to narrow down your table selection and then move selected tables

to the right panel under Selected Tables. (Note for JDE ERP System users: at this time, you

do not need to add any Master Tables, such as Address Book, Business Unit Master or

Company Master, in which to join. You will have an option later to add suggested Master

Tables if needed. Master tables are not applicable for Oracle EBS ERP System users.)

2) Click OK after you have selected the tables you would like to join.

Best Practice: When building your template, we recommend that you add one table at a time

through the Template Designer and validate the results with each change or addition.

Creating a New Template


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Understanding joinswhat does it mean to join 2 tables?

Lets say you have customer data you wish to include in your report:

You also have sales order data you wish to include:

Joining these 2 tables, you can show both customer data AND sales order data in 1 report:


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Defining the Suggested Master Table Joins

For JDE ERP users, once you have defined the joins to the tables being used in your Designer Express

template or inquiry, the next step is to define any Master Table joins you would like to include in the

template if they have not been defined already.

1) From within Template Designer, select Manage Suggested Master Table Joins:

2) To start defining your joins to each table, select the appropriate To Table from the column

using the drop-down provided:

3) Depending on the To Table, you may need to select the To Field you wish to use in the join. In

the below example, we have selected Table F03B11 and can choose to join to either RPCO or

PRKCO:

And continuing in the same example, when joining to the F4101 Item Master, you are

prompted with a choice of fields to join with:

ITM Item Number Short

LITM 2nd Item Number

AITM 3rd Item Number


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Defining Table Joins

Within the Template Designer dialog, you can define more fields to join as well as the join type to

be used between the two tables. Your options of join types are listed below. You can hover over

each join type to get a description of what each join type accomplishes:

Inner Join Includes only records where both tables meet the criteria.

Left Outer Join Include all rows from Table A and just those rows from Table B which meet the

criteria.

Right Outer Join Include all rows from Table B and just those rows from Table A which meet the

criteria.

Changing the join type changes the rows that are returned in the inquiry. When we join tables,

insightunlimited refers to the two tables as the left and right table. This has nothing to do with the

relative position of the tables in the Template Designer dialog, but instead refers to the relative

position in the underlying SQL statement that creates the join.

When you use the Template Designer and drag fields from one table to another to create the join:

The table you drag from becomes the left table

The table you drag to becomes the right table

Best Practice: When determining which fields to join between tables, start with the

primary keys and join as many as possible.


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To set or change the type of join:

1) Once you see the fields you want to join in each table, you simply connect the fields by

dragging your mouse from one table to the other. Once you do this, you see an equals sign

between the two tables:

2) Once the first join has been defined, you will see the join definition listed in the panel on the

right. You can edit the join by either clicking on the = sign between the tables or

highlighting the join from the right side panel and selecting the Edit Join button located at

the bottom of the panel. This launches the Join Properties dialog.

When using Designer Express over your JD Edwards ERP System, you can create a union between

tables that have identical fields. (Unions are not applicable with Oracle EBS.) Unions are discussed

below.

For JDE ERP system users, there is a Padding button. (Oracle E-Business Suite does not use

padding/alignment, so this feature is not needed for these users.) Through the Padding button, you

can perform field formatting/transformation for table joins. With this function you can change the

format of fields so you can pass certain fields to another table where the same field has different

formatting, such as passing the Subledger field from the F0911, GL Transactions Table, to the F0101,

Address Book Table. (insightunlimited gets padding information from the JDE Data Dictionary, but

this padding feature lets you override that for a given join in DX.) So if your Data Dictionary says the

field is right aligned, prefixed with zeros, but the data in your table is actually left aligned and

without zeros, then you can tell insightunlimited to ignore what the Data Dictionary says, for this join

only.)


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The default value in the Comparison field is equals; however you can choose other comparison

operators (does not equal, greater than, greater than or equal to, less than, less than or equal to) for

the column join if desired.

You can also choose to define Literal Values if you choose. When this box is checked, you can

define a specific field value in the join, such as the option to only join when the Business Unit = 30 in

the Customer Ledger (F03B11), RPMCU field, as in the example below:

Effective Date conditions can be set on a join as well. More details can be found in that section

below.

EBS Examples:

1) This example shows an inner join between the PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL and the

PO_REQUISITION_LINES_ALL tables. These tables are joined by HEADER_ID:


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2) This example shows 3 tables that are joined: PO_REQUISITION_HEADERS_ALL,

PO_REQUISITION_LINES_ALL, and PER_ALL_PEOPLE_F tables. There is 1 inner join between

the first 2 tables, and a left outer join between the last 2 tables:


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Joining to the Same Table

One significant benefit of using Designer Express is that you can join to the same table multiple

times.

For customers using JDE ERP data, this feature is particularly useful for joining to the same master

table multiple times. For example, if you are joining the Sales Order Detail (F4211) to the Address

Book Master (F0101), you may want to base the join on Sold To, Ship To and Parent:

When joining a table more than once, in order to make the different instances of the same table

distinguishable, insightunlimited will give subsequent table instance an alias. This alias then

becomes the primary identifier of the aliased table, both internally and at the user interface level.

In DX Designer, when a user adds a table more than once, the table will be assigned an alias

automatically:

EBS (e.g. AP_INVOICES_ALL and AP_INVOICES_ALL_1)

JDE (e.g. F0006_1 when adding the F0006 for the 2nd time and F0006_2 when adding F0006

for the 3rd time)


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The table alias (not the physical table) will be shown throughout the system, including when

displaying columns/tables in dialogs, in internal data structures, and the SQL generated by the

system. The system ensures that aliases are unique and are valid as table names.

Note that you can set a label for the table in the general UI in order to make the name more

meaningful. This will change the name in certain dialogs but not in any background SQL. Labelling is

done in Template Designer by going to Table Options and selecting Label:

Table Options

In Template Designer, there are several types of options you can set once you have added a table to

the template. Table Options are accessed by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right corner of

the table:

Unions

Label

Optional

Effective Date

Balances Functionality


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Unions

When using Designer Express over your JD Edwards ERP System, you can create a union between

tables that have identical fields. (Unions are not applicable with Oracle EBS.)

In Template Designer, once a table has been selected, click Table Options to view any tables

available to union to the original table. If one is available, it can be selected.

An example of tables that can be unioned is the F4211 (Sales Order) Table and the F42119 (Sales

Order History) Table; these tables have identical fields within them. When unioned, these tables

would show both historical and current sales data.

An icon identifies that a table is unioned with another one:


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Label

You can set a label for the table in the general user interface. This will change the name in certain

dialogs but not in any background SQL.

Optional

You can make a table optional so that it is not a required table for the report to work. (An example

of when this would be particularly helpful is if you needed to create a template that would suit all

users, regardless of the version of their ERP system. So if you had users on both JD Edwards World

and E1, sometimes the user would not have a specific table in their environment; therefore if it is

not a table that filters and or columns have been defined for in the report, it should be identified

as optional and if the table is not mapped, the report will still load for all users.)

In Template Designer, once a table has been selected, click Table Options and select Optional. If

you go back into Table Options now, you see that Optional has a checkmark next to it and the table

name has parenthesis around it, indicating that it is optional.

Effective Date

You can set an effective date condition on a join so that effective date logic is applied to the date

that an event took place (the event date) and is used to look up some state for that event at a

particular effective date.

For example a financial analyst wants to see what exchange rate was in effect for a group of GL

Transaction records in a particular currency, based on the records GL Date. In other words, the

analyst wants to see the exchange rate in another currency that was in effect on the date the

transaction occurred, and then have the amount converted using the effective exchange rate. In this

example the state is the exchange rate, the event is the GL Transaction in the F0911 and the effective

date is the Effective Date in the Currency Exchange Rate table F0015.

Defining an Effective Date Condition on a Join - When effective dates are used to specify a join,

the event and event date are stored in a table and the facts about the event and the effective dates of

those facts are stored in another table.

In explaining how this is defined, we will use a specific example in joining the F0911, GL Transactions

table, to the F0015, Currency Exchange Rates table.


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1) To define the effective date join, go to Template Designer and either click on the Join

button (the = button) or double-click the actual join in the Joins Panel. Note that a join has to

have been defined before an effective date condition is applied.

In this example, we have joined on CRCD (Currency Code):

2) Clicking on the = sign or the actual join brings up the Join Properties dialog where you can

see the detail of the join that was already set up. Click on Effective Date:

3) Within the Effective Date dialog, you define which table contains the historical information

that is based on a date. In other words, you want to select the table that has the effective

date ranges defined for the data you are interested in seeing. In this example we select the

Currency Exchange Rate Table, F0015, since that table contains the exchange rates we want

to see based on the effective date.


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Depending on which table is selected, all the date columns from the selected table are

available to select from the Start Date Column drop-down. In this example we will select

the Date Effective CXEFT from the F0015:

4) If the table also has an End Date Column, you can define that here as well. In our example,

the Currency Exchange Rate, F0015 table, does not contain an End Effective Date, so we

leave this blank (undefined). If no End Date is defined, it is implied. If a record in the F0015

has a greater Start Date, then the previous record has ended.

5) Lastly, the Event Date Column will define the event that we are using to compare to

the Start Date Column. In our example, we are using the Currency Exchange Rate Effective

Date in F0015 to compare to the GL Date GLDGJ in the F0911:


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Important Notes:

A zero, blank or null start date is interpreted as from the beginning of time and a zero, blank

or null end date is interpreted as to the end of time.

The start and end dates are interpreted as inclusive.

Setting up an Effective Date Condition that Does Not Use a Join - There is a way for a user to see

all the effective records in a table based on Todays Date. The below explanation includes an

example using the Address Book by Date Table, F0116. This table stores all the addresses that have

existed for a customer. We will use Todays Date to compare to the Beginning Effective Date in each

record to only return those records that are currently valid.

1) From Template Designer, go to Table Options and select Effective Date. This is where you

will define which date in a table is to be compared to Todays date.

2) You can define a Start Date and/or End Date here based on the table selected. Once

defined, you will see the date selected being compared to Todays Date.

3) If this Effective Date logic is not used in a Designer Express Template, you will return ALL

rows from the Address Book by Date Table, F0116. The screen below is showing 2 rows for

the same address, of which the row with the BLANK Beginning Effective Date is no longer

active.

Before Date Effective Logic is defined:

If the Date Effective logic is used, you would only return 1 row:


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Important Notes:

In some scenarios this Effective Date Condition enhancement may not appear to be

functioning. If you experience this, you need to evaluate the primary keys for the table

used. This enhancement will perform a MAX function for the effective date and return the

effective date less than or equal to today. If a Unique Key ID is defined as a primary key,

then the MAX function will be applied to each record, therefore returning all records. In this

scenario you will need to re-define the primary keys in the CustomerPK file so that the

effective date condition returns the Max Date. Table F00092 falls into this scenario.

A zero, blank or null start date is interpreted as from the beginning of time and a zero, blank

or null end date is interpreted as to the end of time.

Any time component stored with the date is ignored.

The start and end dates are interpreted as inclusive.

The current date (today) is taken from the machine running insightunlimited.

EBS Example This example has 2 tables in the template: AP_SUPPLIER_SITES_ALL and

HR_ALL_ORGANIZATION_UNITS_TL.

1) Using effective date with join A join first has to be defined before an effective date

condition is applied. This feature is accessed from Edit Joins.

2) Effective date condition not using a join This logic strips away the time component from

the date when used to compare to todays date:


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Balances Functionality (JDE System Users)

Creating a Balances report over an F0902 or F0902-like table can be challenging due to the unique

structure of JDE and the amount of hard-coded logic, such as selectors and cumulative periods,

which have already been done in the standard JDE GL Balances template. There is a feature you can

set to restore some of the functionality present in the standard GL Balances template when you are

creating a template based off of the F0902 or F0902-like table. In order to use this feature, a DX

Designer must activate it.

Setup/Example - This example shows a basic inquiry built in DX over the F0902.

To set this up initially, create a simple DX template which has just the F0902 in it. From within

Template Designer, designate it as the Balances table which is done by going to Table Options and

selecting Balances Functionality. Now continue setting up the template how you normally would.

Usage - When you go to the Values query assist, you will see additional fields such as the following,

which closely mirror options you would have had in a standard GL Balances template:

CE01_F0902 Cumulative Period 01



In addition, if you set up a selector on Values, youll be given the ability to import some items from

JDE:

You can now create a current period selector in the DX Balances report.


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Report Options

In Report Options, which are accessed in Template Designer, you set the Mode Type (Inline versus

Outline View) as well as designate the first table in the report.

Mode Type

The Mode Type must be set when initially creating the report; after exiting Template Designer, it

cannot be changed. (The reason why it cannot be changed at a later time is that there are certain

features which are only supported in one mode and not the other, such as using a QBE on a value

column, or using average in a calculated column.)

Inline One row can contain values from more than one table. This view displays the first child row

on the same row as its parent. For example, an invoice parent record with two child payment

records would display on two total rows with the first payment row on the same row as the parent

invoice. Any duplicate values are grayed out when using Inline View.

A total of four lines display; amounts from Table A and Table B display on the 1st line:

In Inline view, the Grand Total is based on separate SQL query.


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Outline Each record from each table gets its own row. This view displays the first child row on the

row below its parent. For example, an invoice parent record with two child payment records would

display on three total rows with the first payment row under the invoice parent row. In Outline View,

the Grand Total is based on the grid result set. Performance is better using Outline View since the

system is not using a duplicate counting resolver.

A total of five lines display; amounts from Table A display in lines 1-4 and the amount from Table B

displays in line 5:

Note that DX Outline view omits rows for tables which have no amount columns on the report,

unless Zero Balances (Design menu > Options group) is enabled.

First Table

In Report Options, Designer users can also choose which table in the report is the first table in the

query to which all other tables are joined The first table is always part of the SQL; the impact is a

possible performance hit if the first table is one that you dont always actually need to see, so you

want to be sure the correct table is selected as the first table.


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Double Counting Resolver

The Double Counting Resolver is an algorithm that modifies a given SQL statement to prevent

double counting. The algorithm only gets invoked when more than one table is joined, the

relationship between the tables in something other than one-to-one, and subtotal/Grand Total

aggregations are used.

insightunlimited will use unique keys to determine how to detect duplicate rows if they are on the

grid. If keys are not on the grid, then hash totalling or row ID processing will be done to determine

duplicate rows.

JDE Example: In the example below, the JDE Accounts Payable Ledger (F0411) is joined to the

Accounts Payable Matching Document Detail (F0414) table and forms a many-to-many relationship.

The Accounts Payable Matching Document Detail (F0414) table is joined to the ERP Accounts Payable

Matching Document (F0413) file and forms a many-to-one relationship.

Notice that Payment 5004 is paying multiple invoices. To avoid counting the amount -138,825.00 12

times, the duplicate counter resolver has been evoked. We see the payment header amount being

grayed out in all but the first row. As a result, the subtotal for Digger Enterprises and the Grand

Total for our Payment Amount F0413 column are displaying the correct total of -138,825.00.


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EBS Example: In the example below, The AP_INVOICES_ALL table has been joined to the

AP_HOLDS_ALL, AP_INVOICE_LINES_ALL and AP_PAYMENT_SCHEDULES_ALL tables. The invoice

number 012879 has multiple invoice lines and multiple holds which could result in double counting.

To avoid counting the amount invoice lines amounts twice, e.g. 5196.00 and 108.25, the double

counter resolver has been evoked. We see the invoice lines amounts are grayed out for the second

invoice hold. As a result, the subtotals for invoice number 012879 are correct in all columns.


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Define Amount and Quantity Columns

Once tables and joins have been defined, measure columns need to be defined as either

an amount or quantity for subtotaling and totaling purposes. With insightunlimited Default Metadata,

the quantity and amount columns for all tables that we currently map to are pre-defined and will

automatically default into the template.

If you have set any overrides, these will take precedence. When looking for a definition for an

amount or quantity, insightunlimited looks at 3 libraries in the below listed order. The first library

with a definition wins.

1) Report Level Library (measures defined for a specific report)

2) Customer Common Library (customer-specific table definitions that have been upgraded

from a release prior to 2012.1)

3) insightunlimited Default Library (insightunlimited Default Metadata that holds the measures

that are defined for all standard ERP tables)

Best Practice: Value columns should be changed in DX to be a value (amount) when the value has

to be used to aggregate or in calculations.

This section is specific to customers using an Oracle EBS ERP System.

Examples of columns are as follows:

Numeric (Label) - These are columns that are numeric, but the numeric value represents a

code number rather than a real amount, e.g. Person ID. Unit costs are normally treated as

Numeric Labels, since although they represent real amounts, it does not make sense to

subtotal them.

Numeric (Amount) These are amount columns and can include non-currency amounts,

e.g. Amount and Currency Amount.

To verify how these fields are defined or to override any of them, go to Column Definitions, where

the various column attributes are defined.

1) From the Configurator menu, click Template Designer.

2) Click the Column Definitions button, which is located in the top left portion of your screen:

Each table you have defined a join to will display with its available numeric fields to define. You can

sort the list by using the QBE for any displayed column in order to narrow down your selection.

Once a field is manually defined as either Numeric (Label) or Numeric (Amount) for a specific table, it

does not need to be defined again when creating a new template or inquiry using the same table.

All amount columns are designated as such with a # sign to the left of it as shown below.


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To change an amount column setting:

1) In the Source column, set the default setting for this column: a. Report Override (setting will only apply to the report you are currently in) b. Customer Default (setting will apply to all your DX reports using this column) c. Product Default (the default setting that comes from insightunlimited Default

Metadata)

2) In the Category column, define what type of amount column it is:

a. Numeric (Label)

b. Numeric (Amount)

3) In the Lookup column, you can optionally define a table or fixed list lookup in order to

provide filter validation, Query Assist support, and Code & Description feature support to

end users.

a. Table Lookup - Define a lookup table for a column, which provides the valid codes

and their associated descriptions, as displayed in a Visual Assist and in the inquiry

results. (This does not have to be a table being used in your template/report.)

b. Fixed List - Define a fixed list of valid codes and their associated descriptions for a

column. These will display in a Visual Assist and in the inquiry results.

This section is specific to customers using a JD Edwards ERP System.

Examples of columns are as follows:

Numeric (Label) These are columns that are numeric, but the numeric value represents a

code number rather than a real amount, e.g. Object Account or Business Unit. Unit costs are

normally treated as Numeric Labels, since although they represent real amounts, it does not

make sense to subtotal them.

Amount (Domestic) These are amount columns in the base company currency. e.g. F0411

(RPAG - Amount Gross). You will be prompted for which company field to use. Decimal

shifting will be based on the company base currency.

Amount (Foreign) These are foreign currency amounts, e.g. F0414 (RNCDSA - Amount -

Foreign Discount Taken). Decimal shifting will be based on the foreign currency specified.

Amount (Non-currency) These are non-currency amounts, e.g. F43121 (PRUORG - Units -

Order/Transaction Quantity)

To verify how these fields are defined or to override any of them:

1) From the Configurator menu, click Template Designer.

2) Click the Column Definitions button, which is located in the top left portion of your screen:


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Each table you have defined a join to will display with its available numeric fields to define. You can

sort the list by using the QBE for any displayed column in order to narrow down your selection.

Once a field is manually defined as either an amount or amount non-currency (quantity) for a

specific table, it does not need to be defined again when creating a new template or inquiry using

the same table.

All amount columns are designated as such with a # sign to the left of it as shown

below.

To change an amount column setting:

1) In the Source column, set the default setting for this column:

a. Report Override (setting will only apply to the report you are currently in)

b. Customer Default (setting will apply to all your DX reports using this column)

c. Product Default (the default setting that comes from insightunlimited Default

Metadata)

2) In the Category column, define what type of amount column it is:

a. Amount (Domestic)

b. Amount (Foreign)

c. Amount (Non-currency)

3) In the Company/Currency column, select the option from the drop-down menu. If Domestic

or Foreign Amount is selected, this determines how currency decimal shifting is performed.

a. Amount (Non-currency): As described by the name, this setting is for fields that are

non-currency amounts such as those shown below in the F42119:

b. Domestic Currency Shifting: If you define a field as an Amount (Domestic), you are

prompted to select the company on which the currency is based:


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For example, if you set the RPAG field from the F03B11 as Amount (Domestic), you can

choose from the following options:

RPCO Company

RPKCO Document Company

RPOKCO Document Company (Original Order)

RPPKCO Document Company (Purchase Order)

c. Foreign Currency Shifting: If you define a field as an Amount (Foreign), you then

select the field on which to base the currency code:

For example, if you set the GLACR field from the F0911 as Amount (Foreign), you can

choose from the following options:

GLBCRC Currency Code Base

GLCRCD Currency Code From

It is important to know that the selected option may or may not be used depending on

the Ledger Type Override Setting in the Foreign Currency Columns dialog, as well as

various lookup tables in JD Edwards. The Foreign Currency Columns dialog is accessed by

clicking on the next to the Currency drop-down menu:

See the Ledger Type Override setting in the lower left corner of the dialog. If this is checked,

lookup tables may be used to find the currency instead of the selected columns in the right

panel of this dialog.

Note that the ledger type override setting is grayed out when there is no Ledger Type

column in that table.


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4) In the Lookup column, you can optionally define a table or fixed list lookup in order to

provide filter validation, Query Assist support, and Code & Description feature support to

end users:

a. Table Lookup - Define a lookup table for a column, which provides the valid codes

and their associated descriptions, as displayed in a Visual Assist and in the inquiry

results. (This does not have to be a table being used in your template/report.)

b. Fixed List - Define a fixed list of valid codes and their associated descriptions for a

column. These will display in a Visual Assist and in the inquiry results.

DX accommodates decimal shifting in JD Edwards using various rules that are described in the

appendix.


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Review and Edit the Table and Join Selections

Once you have completed defining all your amount and quantity fields, you can select the Table and

Joins tab to review your table and joins selections. If you have defined multiple tables, you may

need to scroll to view all tables selected from either the main workspace or the right join panel to

review all your defined joins:

Once you are satisfied with your selections, click OK to exit Designer Express Designer (DXD) to

begin defining your filters and columns using Configurator.

Once you leave the Designer Express Designer, you can always go back to refine or review your

selection by clicking on the Configurator tab and selecting Template Designer.

View which tables have Quantity or Amount Overrides - To see which tables have these

overrides, go to Administrator. Under the Designer Objects node, you will see Designer

Dictionary. Beneath that is a Common folder, and beneath that are folders for each table that have

overrides. These are definitions that are specific for a customer; they define OR override

insightunlimiteds default settings.


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To get a complete overview of measures defined for a particular table, you would need to start to

define a template on that table in Designer Express and go to Column Definitions from

within Template Designer. (It is not possible to see report-specific settings from within

Administrator.)

Report Layout

Filters: Add the desired filters. Add table names to the filter names for easy validation and

reference.

Label Columns: Add the desired label columns. Add the table names to any additional label

columns that you are not using as filters for easy validation and reference.

Amount Columns: Add the desired amount columns. Add the table names to the column names

for easy validation and reference.

If you include any label column where the label column is not part of the join, and where you already

have label columns from the other table that are themselves not part of the join, then you may find

you have an inquiry that takes a long time to return results. If you are in this situation, consider the

following:

Removing one or more label columns so that this is no longer the case.

Adding links so that the extra data is displayed by linked inquires instead (value columns can

still be included).

Save the inquiry with filters preselected so that an end user is less likely to open it and run it

without thinking.

Hide the inquiry so it is only accessible to end users via a drill-down from another inquiry.

Sorting: Verify your report is sorting as desired.

Totaling: Verify your report subtotals and grand total. Numeric columns that are set up as labels

typically must have the totaling turned on manually.

Headers: Verify your report headers on turned on and displaying in the desired column.

Formatting: Format your report for a finished look and feel.


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Console: Be sure to think about your Console users as you design your template/report. What

filters will they need? Did you incorporate selectors or drop-down lists?

Table Names: Remove the table names from the columns and filters if you do not want your users

to see that information.

Importing a Hierarchy and/or FSGs: You can create a hierarchy within a DX report however you

cannot import one from your ERP data.

Linking: You can link from a DX report to a standard report and vice versa, as well as between DX

reports.

Saving: Save the template/report as a report in your inquiries until you have it completed. Once

complete, save it as a template and delete the report.

Repeated or Duplicated Rows: In inquiries that have been created in Designer Express, rows (or

parts of rows) can be repeated. This happens when the report contains multiple fact tables joined on

a one-to-many or many-to-many relationship. insightunlimited detects the multiple rows, and by

default formats them differently to differentiate them from the other rows. Repeated rows are not

included in the Grand Total amounts.

There is a design option used to designate whether to display all row combinations or not; this

option is called All Row Combinations and is found in the Design menu in the Options group.

Selecting this option means that all rows will be displayed, even if they are being repeated. This

option is off by default, however because it can be difficult to understand the results when only a

selected set of rows displays, you may want to leave this on.

Best Practice: While developing your report, we recommend turning on All Row Combinations so

all rows are displayed. Toggle this functionality on and off to determine how you want to display

the data for end users.

EBS Example: AP_INVOICES_ALL, AP_INVOICE_LINES_ALL, AP_PAYMENT_SCHEDULES and

AP_HO