The May updates for Oracle's Planning & Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS) and Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (EPBCS) have arrived! This blog post outlines several new features for both applications.
The monthly update for PBCS and EPBCS will occur on Friday, May 18 during your normal daily maintenance window.
Updates for PBCS and EPBCS
New EPM Automate Utility Version
A new version of the EPM Automate Utility is available with this update. This version includes the runDailyMaintenance command, which enables Service Administrators to run the daily service maintenance process as needed. For example, Service Administrators can use this command to update their service as soon as a patch to an environment is available instead of waiting for the daily maintenance window.
Excel Version Usage in Activity Report
The Activity Report has been enhanced to include the Microsoft Excel Versions in use and the number of users who use them.
Ability to Set Display Preferences for Tasks
You can now set your preference for how you want your tasks displayed—in a flat view or tree (hierarchical) view. Your preference is reflected in future sessions. To set your preference, on the Home page, click Tasks.
Retain Last Accessed Tab in Navigation Flow Cards
When working with cards in navigation flows that have multiple tabs or sub tabs, the last tab accessed by a user will be retained the next time the user accesses the card in the same session.
Enhancements to Dashboards
Dashboards have been enhanced in several ways:
- Dashboards now present a more streamlined look. For example, scroll bars aren’t displayed if they aren’t needed.
- For many chart types, you can now opt to show or hide grid lines.
- You can set the horizontal alignment for values in tile chart types: Left, Center, or Right.
- To simplify how large currency values are displayed in tile chart types, you can now scale values. For example, select the M scaling option to display the value 123,456,789 as 123M.
New Administration Mode Job Type
You can now schedule a job that will limit use of an application during backups or during a database refresh. The Administration Mode job lets you enable use of the application for Administrators only or for all users while the application is in Administration Mode.
This job can be set to run later or at intervals.
Export and Import Level Zero Data from an ASO Cube
You can now use Calculation Manager to export and import level zero data from an ASO cube.
Average Fragmentation Quotient Displayed in Statistics for Block Storage Applications
Calculation Manager now displays the Average Fragmentation Quotient in the statistics for Block Storage Applications.
ARCS Cloud Clusters and Cards as Navigation Flows Targets
EPM Cloud source subscriptions can now customize navigation flows to access ARCS clusters and cards (note that ARCS is only a target service when connecting subscriptions). Clusters and cards can now be directly selected from ARCS using the Add Existing Card/Cluster option.
Updates for EPBCS Only
Self-Service Content Update
Business processes and applications may sometimes require a content update to accommodate the changes introduced during the daily maintenance of an environment. If a content update is required, Oracle creates and schedules a content update job, which, by default, will be executed 12 hours after the daily maintenance is completed.
Currently, content update start time modification is supported only for new Oracle Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud and Oracle Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud subscriptions that were provisioned after March 16, 2018.
For subscriptions that were provisioned prior to March 16, 2018, content update is performed immediately after completing daily maintenance. These subscriptions will be updated for the new feature in the near future.
Apply to Button in Forecast Method
You can now integrate Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud metadata to use in the Workforce business process of EPBCS and Oracle Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud. As the integration mechanism, Data Management is used to align and push metadata from the Oracle HCM Cloud to target applications and business processes in Oracle EPBCS.
Create an Input-only Scenario from an Existing Scenario
In the Strategic Modeling Smart View extension, users can now create a copy of an input scenario available in the existing scenarios list.
You select the source scenario from the Scenario to copy from drop-down list in the Scenario Information screen. By default, the scenario selected in the POV determines the source scenarios listed in the Scenario to copy from list.
Removal of Support
Financial Reporting Studio Desktop Client
Financial Reporting Web Studio, available since March 2016, will become the only environment for designing and building reports.
Oracle is providing additional time for users to transition from Financial Reporting Desktop Studio to Financial Reporting Web Studio. Tentative plans call for functional parity between Financial Reporting Web Studio and Financial Reporting Desktop Studio in 2018, at which time, support for the Desktop Studio will transition to the Web Studio and distribution of the Desktop Studio will cease. This transition is currently planned for the 18.06 update (June 01, 2018 for test and June 15, 2018 for production environments).
Oracle recommends that you transition to using Financial Reporting Web Studio at the earliest opportunity. Please send questions and concerns to Oracle using the Provide Feedback option in the service.
Classic Dimension Editor
With the February 2018 (18.02) update, the Dimensions link in the Navigator will link to the Simplified Dimension Editor. Effective February 2018 (February 2, 2018 for test and February 16, 2018 for production environments), the Simplified Dimension Editor will be the only interface available to edit and manage dimensions.
Composite Form Creation Capability
The ability to create composite forms (forms that comprise multiple simple forms) will not be available to new subscriptions effective18.06 (June 2018 update).
New subscriptions should use the dashboard functionality instead of composite forms. This change does not affect existing subscriptions/customers. There will be no further enhancements to the composite forms functionality.
Considerations
Dashboard Folders
In a future update (tentatively planned for the June (18.06) update), Service Administrators will have the ability to organize dashboards in folders. These folders will enable Service Administrators to apply security and permissions to folders rather than to each dashboard.
Existing dashboards will be visible under the root folder in dashboards and infolets listing pages after this new feature is introduced. The form folders available in the environment will also be available for organizing dashboards because folders are shared across artifact types in PBCS and EPBCS. All folders will be managed using a unified folder management screen.
Exporting Multiple Financial Reporting Folders
You cannot export multiple folders to a single file from the Financial Reporting Explore Repository.
Workaround: Select reports or folders individually for export, or use Migration to export multiple folders.
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