In this blog, we'll cover the August updates for Oracle Enterprise Performance Reporting Cloud Service (EPRCS) including new features and considerations.
The monthly update for EPRCS will occur on Friday, August 17 during your normal daily maintenance window.
EPRCS New Features
Drill Through to Source Data in Management Reporting
Management Reporting now provides the ability to drill through to a source system data, while viewing the report or grid in HTML preview. Drill through needs to be defined in the underlying data source (EPM Cloud source with Cloud Data Management or Fusion Applications Essbase Provider).
PDF-based Report Packages Supports Both Word and Excel Format
Users can now add Microsoft Word and Excel documents into PDF-based Report Packages. Users can develop report content using the Microsoft Word or Excel documents. For Microsoft Excel files, you can select worksheets that need be included in the Report Package. The Microsoft Word and Excel documents can be converted to PDF files and can be merged within the PDF Report Package.
Displaying ID Attributes can be Restriced in Disclosure Management
Some jurisdictions do not allow the insertion of id attributes for facts in the XBRL code. In that case, you can change the settings in the Disclosure Management Options tab.
Displaying 'Decimal' Attribute with 'INF' in Disclosure Management
This feature enables you to display decimal attributes with 'INF', a requirement of the NL Tax authorities utilizing the SBR taxonomy. You can now report the attribute 'decimals' in both numerical concepts and nonmonetary numerical concepts as 'INF'. This functionality is accessed via changing the settings in the Disclosure Management Options tab.
Improved Variable Panel Display in Smart View
The loading and display of the Variables panel is improved in report packages containing a large number of variables. The Variables panel now uses a paging mechanism, with 50 variables displayed per page. At the top of the Variables panel, use the left and right arrows or the page number drop-down to navigate the pages when more than 50 variables are present.
Considerations
Management Reporting
Be aware of the following considerations when working with Management Reporting.
- When uploaded for use with Management Reporting, Microsoft Internet Explorer requires installable fonts. If custom fonts are not installable, then Internet Explorer will substitute a different font. Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox do not require installable fonts.
Report Packages
Be aware of the following considerations when working with Report Packages.
- If you make a copy of, or export then import, a PDF Report Package that contains variables inserted in Microsoft Word doclets Microsoft Excel reference doclets, or Management Reporting reports the variables are no longer inserted in the copied or imported PDF Report Package doclets.
- In PDF-based Report Packages, Reviewers are unable to add comments to the report content sourced from Microsoft Excel doclets. Review commenting on the Excel doclet contents will be supported within a future release.
- Publishing a report package to PDF that contains embedded charts that were created in Microsoft Word results in errors.
Workaround: Either convert the Word charts to images, or replace the Word charts with embedded content from a reference file or doclet. - Previewing a report that has a PowerPoint style sample with a custom slide that has numbering starting at zero will display an error.
Workaround: Download the PowerPoint style sample document and change the numbering on the Slide Master to start with one, instead of zero. Then, edit your report package properties and select the updated style sample document. - When you add embedded content that contains internal hyperlinks to a report package, if you select Download Preview to view the document, the hyperlinks within the embedded content do not open when clicked.
- When creating embedded content, if you use the horizontal text alignment format Center Across Selection in Excel, the selection does not carry forward into the embedded content when the doclet is embedded in Word. The text remains within the original cell.
Workaround: To achieve the same visual layout, use Merge cells and Center align to align the text in the merge cell. - When you insert a reference variable value that references a document that was created using Word 2007, a line break is inserted in the text, creating an extra line.
Workaround: If you encounter this issue, delete the extra line. - If an Excel worksheet uses a double-line bottom border on the last row of a named range, an extra row appears in the embedded content within a consuming doclet.
Workaround: To work around this issue, try one of the following options:- Do not use a double line bottom border in the last row of a named range, but select an alternative bottom border.
- Navigate to a cell that is below the named range, and add dummy text or a blank space. You can then upload and check in the reference doclet. When the embedded content is generated, the empty row is no longer included.
- Resize the row below the row that contains the double-line bottom border. You can keep the double line border in the last row intact, but resize the next row to be very small (but not hidden). Click any cell in the relevant row and choose Home, then Format, and then Row Height and enter a small value such as 2 or 3. The extra space is included in the embedded content, but it has a minimal impact.
- If a PowerPoint slide is created from a layout that contains placeholders for tables, charts, smart art or media files, those objects seem to disappear when uploaded to the service.The content is not lost however. After downloading the files, a reset on the slide will cause the content to reappear.
Workaround: To work around this issue, create the slide by adding the content directly to the slide rather than use a layout with place holders. - If the user enters a simple URL format (for example, www.oracle.com) within the Rich Text Editor, a service error will be displayed when the link is executed.
Workaround: If a user enters a fully qualified URL format (for example, http://www.oracle.com) within the Rich Text Editor, the URL link will open within a new browser tab. - When using an iPad with the Safari browser to preview a report package, Safari stops responding when you magnify the screen and tap preview.
- When downloading files using Safari 9, any spaces in the filename will appear as special characters. When performing a review of a PowerPoint report package using Safari, a service error is displayed if the user places the comment anchor in the blue area outside slide.
- When you open a review instance within Smart View, add a comment, switch to another review instance, and then switch back to the first review instance using the Content Selector, the comment is not updated correctly.
Workaround: Click “Refresh Comments” or click the Content Selector refresh button to display the comment correctly.
Smart View
Be aware of the following considerations when working with Smart View.
- In the Mozilla Firefox browser, if you are trying to download the Smart View extensions, this may result in a new tab opening with a large amount of code being displayed. This is due to a security policy within the Mozilla Firefox browser related to certain file extensions.
Workaround: Download the Smart View extensions using an alternate supported browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer or Google Chrome) or you can install the extension from Smart View directly.
Then, follow the install instructions in “ Installing the Enterprise Performance Reporting Cloud Extension” of the Oracle Smart View for Office User's Guide. - In Word 2016, 32- or 64-bit, when you close a document, Word stops responding (displays the spinning wheel) until you either click in the ribbon area of the interface, or press the Alt key.
- On Microsoft Windows 10 with Office 32- or 64-bit, in the Add Report Content dialog, range names display incorrectly.
Workaround: Go to the Control Panel, then Display, then click the link for “Set a custom scaling level” and ensure that the setting in the “Custom sizing options” dialog is 100%. If it is not, set it to 100%, and then log out of Windows and log back in. - A connection created in one language cannot be used if Smart View is changed to a different language.
Workaround: Create multiple private connections using the Add Connection Wizard. Before creating each connection, change the Smart View language display (in the Options dialog box, Advanced tab, Language drop-down list). Then, follow the instructions “Using the Private Connection Wizard” in the Oracle Smart View for Office User's Guide. - When downloading a new Smart View extension from Microsoft Internet Explorer, the filename extension defaults to .ZIP instead of .SVEXT. This prevents you from being able to double-click to install the extension.
Workaround: When Internet Explorer prompts you to save the file, choose “Save As”, change the Type to “All Files”, and then change the extension from .ZIP to .SVEXT. Then, double-click the downloaded file to install the extension. - When any of the allowable special characters are used in a report package name (such as commas, semicolons, or ampersands), there may be a discrepancy between how the name displays in the library tree and how it displays in the Report Center panel.
- If you have open or close bracket characters in an Excel reference or supplemental doclet, Excel changes the brackets to parentheses when you save the file.
- When you upload an Excel reference doclet with many named ranges, not all of the named ranges are listed as available content.
Workaround: Upload the doclet and then go to the web and add the embedded contents within the doclet inspect dialog.
Be aware of the following consideration when working with Smart View for ad hoc analysis.
- When users sign in to the service for the first time, they will be prompted to change the password. Oracle recommends that users sign in first to the web to change their password before connecting through Smart View.
Disclosure Management
Be aware of the following consideration when working with Disclosure Management.
- Bidirectional language functionality is not supported in Disclosure Management for this release.
- When publishing a taxonomy in Taxonomy Designer, you must enter the full path for the ZIP file when specifying the location to publish to. An error is displayed if you specify the ZIP file name only without the path.
- When auto preview is enabled and you select Exhibit Linking after publish, Exhibit Linking does not work.
Workaround: Close and select Preview Exhibit Linking - When publishing a taxonomy in Taxonomy Designer, you must enter the full path for the ZIP file when specifying the location to publish to. An error is displayed if you specify the ZIP file name only without the path.
- Ribbons are grayed out.
Workaround: Reopen the same report. No need to restart the entire Microsoft Word instance. Only the report needs to be closed and reopened from the Private Connection. Once the report is reopened the ribbon is in an enabled state. At this time you can undo the checkout so the issue doesn’t occur again. The issue occurs due to the report being checked out earlier and never checked back in, or, the Undo Checkout was selected while the application was in an unstable state. - Arelle from the client cannot connect to the internet.
Workaround: Run Arelle on a PC that has access to internet or open an SR and DEV (or support) will deliver the http cache and should be unzipped at:
<USER_HOME>\AppData\Local\Arelle\cache - Do not convert PDF formatted Disclosure Management reports to Word document.
Best Practice: It’s recommended not to convert Disclosure Management reports that are in PDF to Microsoft Word format, using option to Word or docx extension. Because, after converting the Save As Disclosure Management report, if you try to check-in then you will get an error message “Unable to check in the repository item.”
Only for Smart View for Office with Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus
A known issue with Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus patch 16.0.10228.20051 updated through the insider slow channel prevents the use of Smart View for Office with Microsoft Office 365. This Microsoft patch was pushed to users who signed up for monthly channel updates between June 12 and June 14, 2018.
Workaround: Do not update Microsoft Office 365 with patch 16.0.10228.20051 if you are using Smart View for Office with Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus. Instead, use Microsoft Office 365 monthly channel Version 1806 (Build 10228.20080), which contains the fix for this issue.
