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Doc id: d2-vdt-impl_guide-2-0

Implementation Guide

Version 2.0

Value Driver Trees

for SAP Lumira

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Contents Definitions ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5

What is a Value Driver Tree? .............................................................................................................. 5

The traditional approach .................................................................................................................... 5

Value Driver Trees for SAP Lumira ...................................................................................................... 5

Use cases ............................................................................................................................................. 5

Key Features ........................................................................................................................................ 6

Visualise KPI’s and driver relationships like never before ............................................................................. 6

Simulate any drivers in parallel and see impacts instantly ............................................................................ 7

Flexible and powerful modelling.................................................................................................................... 9

Simple integration of real-time data ............................................................................................................ 10

Performance Built In .................................................................................................................................... 10

Rapid Implementation and low TCO ............................................................................................................ 10

Getting Started ...................................................................................................................................... 12

Pre-requisites .................................................................................................................................... 12

Installing the Value Driver Tree Extension in SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio ........................... 12

Creating your first Value Driver Tree App ......................................................................................... 17

Configuring Value Driver Trees ............................................................................................................. 22

Defining the Tree .............................................................................................................................. 22

Calculation Methods .................................................................................................................................... 27

Settings.............................................................................................................................................. 29

Data Binding ...................................................................................................................................... 33

Data Source Structure .................................................................................................................................. 33

Adding Data Source to App .......................................................................................................................... 34

Link Single Data Source to Component ........................................................................................................ 34

Configure Result Set and Node Mapping ..................................................................................................... 35

Link Multiple Data Source to Component .................................................................................................... 37

Data Series and Time Aggregation ............................................................................................................... 39

License............................................................................................................................................... 41

About................................................................................................................................................. 41

Configuring the Navigation Panel ......................................................................................................... 42

Binding a Navigation Panel to a Value Driver Tree ...................................................................................... 42

Configuration Options.................................................................................................................................. 42

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Application Programming Interface ...................................................................................................... 46

Deploying to BusinessObjects Platform ................................................................................................ 48

Installing the Extension on BusinessObjects Platform ...................................................................... 48

Updating the Extension on BusinessObjects Platform ..................................................................... 49

Removing the Extension from the BusinessObjects Platform .......................................................... 49

Known Issues and Limitations ............................................................................................................... 51

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Definitions Design Studio SAP BusinessObjects™ Design Studio 1.6

Lumira Designer SAP Lumira Designer 2.0

Value Driver Tree Extension Value Driver Trees for SAP by Dolphin Dynamics

Value Driver Tree Mathematical or conceptual business models visualised

in a way that links the business KPI’s (what

management or stakeholders care about) to the

operational drivers (the things that can be influenced

to change the KPI’s).

Node A generic reference to a unique KPI or Value Driver in a

value driver tree

Node Widget The visualisation of a KPI or Value Driver in a value

driver tree

Derived Node Additional Information for a node but not directly

related to the calculation hierarchy. This will often be

key benchmarking KPI’s such as cost/production unit.

Parent A reference to the Node one level above in the Value

Driver Tree

Children A reference to the collection of nodes immediately

below a Node

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Introduction Welcome to the Value Driver Tree for SAP Lumira. The software works equally well for SAP

BusinessObjects™ Design Studio (Design Studio). This implementation guide is meant for the team

creating the Design Studio application and configuration using the Value Driver Tree Components. It

is assumed that the reader is familiar with the basic functionality of Design Studio.

What is a Value Driver Tree? Value Driver Trees are mathematical or conceptual business models visualised in a way that links the

business KPI’s (what management or stakeholders care about) to the operational drivers (the things

that can be influenced to change the KPI’s).

The traditional approach Spreadsheet models are often used to support planning and forecasting. They often contain a high

number of parameters. Visualising, simulating and sharing models is challenging and the models

often become personal tools only understood by the accountant or engineer who created it.

Integrating data real-time and dynamically in spreadsheets is difficult resulting in the models that

often are static, point-in-time and for a single period.

Value Driver Trees for SAP Lumira The Dolphin Dynamics Value Driver Tree is an extension for SAP Lumira Designer and SAP

BusinessObjectsTM Design Studio allowing businesses to model, calculate, visualize and analyse KPI’s

and value driver relationships in ways users will love.

With its powerful modelling and purpose built embedded calculation engine, users can simulate

changes to value drivers in parallel and see the impacts on any dependent KPI’s instantly.

Delivered as an exstension, it is installed in minutes with nothing else to add. It uses any existing

data connections making it simple to integrate real-time data. The package contains all components

required for building dynamic value driver tree Apps. It can also be combined with standard Design

Studio component as well as other add-ons makes the possible design patterns endless.

The user experience is optimised for iPads and iPhones as well as desktops taking full advantage of

the resolution available on large monitors. Together with the dynamic data integration and the

intuitive visualisation and simulation, this redefines who in your business uses models and for what

purpose. The accountants/engineers will still define the model and use the value driver trees. Senior

management as well as operational managers are however now empowered to navigate

relationships, see definitions and formulas, break down variances and simulate on dynamically

selected real-time data. Rather than a report with a few prepared scenarios, managers can now

themselves understand the results and drivers and work through an endless number of scenarios

creating business insight based on facts and redefine the drivers we focus on.

Use cases The scope of value driver trees varies from a breakdown of specific functions or KPI’s to enterprise

wide consolidated trees. The depth also vary as some trees are being primarily financial and others

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include the true operational drivers. A great approach is to have a vision of desired end state but

start implementing a simpler tree first by reducing depth in areas or starting with a narrower scope.

The value will be immediate and learnings from the initial implementation can be applied when

delivering the full scope.

The D2 Value Driver Tree can visualise and compare two “versions” at the same time. It also has

unique simulation and time aggregation features which allows you to only apply changes to future

periods. This drastically opens up the possible use cases as we can now use the model to visualise

and simulate on the common periodical reporting, forecasting and budgeting cycles using Actuals vs.

Budget, Forecast vs Budget, Budget Draft A vs budget Draft B etc.

The App concept can vary. The value driver trees can be the primary visualisation of your App or it

can be used to calculate KPI’s in a dashboard and provide a calculation and drill down capability in a

pop-up window.

Irrespective of scope, breath or App concept, you will find the Add-on to be a great way to model

and visualise relationships creating instant business insight.

Table 1 Common Value Driver Tree Use Cases:

Reporting and Analytics Budgeting and Business

Planning

Business Improvements and

Organisational Learning

• Consolidated Financial Reporting: Monthly Plan vs Actuals Reporting. Calculate KPI’s, understand where and why there are variations and simulate fully costed impacts on possible remedial actions

• Operational Reporting: Monthly Plan vs. Actuals Reporting. Calculate KPI’s, understand where and why there are variations and simulate impacts on remedial actions.

• KPI Dashboards: Leverage the calculation engine to calculate KPI’s. Use value drivers to visualise and analyse variances in dashboards

• Strategic Target Setting: Incorporate changes in external and internal drivers and simulate fully costed scenarios based on current forecast, budget or actuals. Share justified clear targets to businesses for bottom up planning process.

• Annual Budgeting: Compare budget versions. Understand variations in budget drafts. Identify opportunities for cost savings by playing through unlimited scenarios rather than basic pct. cost savings

• Monthly Reforecast: Compare budget vs forecast. Identify root causes for variances. Play through scenarios for the remainder of the year to identity remedial actions.

• Identify key value drivers

• Redefine business focus by understand sensitivity of various drivers

• Better decision making by increase understanding of what and how drivers impacts your business

• Reduce sub optimisation and creating understanding of how actions impacts others

• Identify where data is missing for effective management.

• Valuation of business initiatives

Key Features

Visualise KPI’s and driver relationships like never before 1. Visualise true Value Driver Trees (not just a hierarchy) combining cost, prices and physical

metrics calculated on the fly based on configuration.

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2. Complement your bottom-up planning and forecasting process with a model driven

visualisation capability to gain immediate interim insight.

3. Compare two versions such as forecast vs. budget and calculate status and variance.

4. Widget generated for each value driver showing value, variance, status, and trend spark line.

5. Interactive navigation by opening and collapsing nodes allowing for trees with 100’s of

nodes without losing the context.

6. “Map Style” navigation with pinch/mouse wheel scroll for zoom and swipe/drag for panning

making it easy to navigate.

7. Dynamic panning as you open or collapse nodes to automatically show the new content

8. Ability to show both period and aggregated year data.

9. Ability to auto-scale relevant nodes on the fly (important when you swop between period

and year).

10. Side panel with navigation options including an option to configure lists of key drivers and

KPI’s.

11. Optimised for desktops, tablets and phones.

12. Detail screen automatically generated for any node showing trend, definition, formula,

status, variances etc.

Simulate any drivers in parallel and see impacts instantly 1. Simulate variations on any driver or KPI in the tree irrespective of whether they are

calculated or sourced externally (unless locked explicitly). No special simulation functions to

be written.

2. See simulation results immediately as the entire tree recalculates dynamically on the fly.

3. Create collections of multiple scenarios in seconds and compare them on the fly.

4. Partial year simulation to support current year forecast processes where changes are only

applied to future periods, not the past.

5. Linked simulation changes. I.e. production volumes may appear both in the sales and

production branch. Simulating one place automatically change it everywhere (networks not

trees).

6. Simulate as many parallel changes as you like and see the cumulative impact.

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7. Impact analysis Waterfall diagrams automatically generated for any node showing how

much active simulations contribute to a change in a dependent KPI or driver.

8. Engine keeps track of the original values allowing variance calculation comparing baseline,

simulation and comparison version.

Figure 1 Simulate a change in any driver (both sourced and calculated) and see the instant impact

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Flexible and powerful modelling 1. “Drag and drop” value driver tree structure maintenance makes it easy to model and

remodel.

2. Predefined node calculation methods such as aggregation of child nodes makes it simple to

configure when the requirement is simple.

3. From a technical perspective, Value Driver Trees are often networks rather than trees where

the same driver impacts many areas. Complex node calculation capabilities can be used

when required using any node in the tree. Simple math as well as complex constructs such

as if-then and cross data series calculations can be leveraged in formulas.

4. Automatically determines calculation order

5. Time aggregation of drivers can be simple sums, averages, weighted averages or formula

6. Linked nodes as well as linked simulations

7. “Derived node” concept where additional nodes can be shown as outputs underneath a

node and are visually differentiated.

8. Flexible time models. I.e. yearly or monthly

Figure 2 Powerful value driver tree modelling with drag and drop tree design capabilities

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Simple integration of real-time data 1. Can use any Design Studio data source including SAP HANA, SAP BW, CSV and custom data

sources.

2. No backend planning engine such as BPC required. Value Driver Trees are however great

ways to complement a bottom-up plan with a top down model and simulation capability.

3. Takes two versions as input but also works with a single version.

4. Very simple data integration as the tree doesn’t require a hierarchical source but instead

uses a flat input structure similar to spreadsheets.

5. Ability to combine up to 6 data sources on the fly across systems

6. Automatic node mapping using either key or text pattern mapping. Direct node mapping can

be configured where required on an exception level.

Performance Built In • Simulation performance drastically improved through custom embedded calculation engine

as the data sources as well as server app state do not require refresh during simulations.

• Smooth and fast tree navigation as server round trips are completely eliminated during tree

and detail screens navigation.

• Simple flat query structure puts little pressure on back-end analytical engine.

• Faster source queries as planning application layer (i.e. BPC Application layer) are not

required and underlying Cubes/DSO’s, HANA Views or ? are queried directly.

Figure 3 Click or tab on any driver or KPI to see details incl. a waterfall impact analysis of how active simulations contributes to the change of the specific KPI or driver.

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Rapid Implementation and low TCO • Delivered as a component for Design Studio. If you are already using BusinessObjects,

existing configuration and components are leveraged drastically reducing the complexity

and tasks related to delivery and continued support:

– No additional servers or cloud solution

– No separate user account administration or AD integration

– no separate authentication and authorisation

– no separate system connections

• Fast and iterative prototyping through manual data configuration. Solution specifically

designed so you can model the output and calculation first using manual data and only do

data integration when the requirement is clear. This greatly reduced delivery time, cost and

uncertainty.

• Can be used in multiple apps or you can have multiple value driver trees inside one app.

• Value Driver Tree API provided allowing for programmatic interaction between the Trees

and any other components in the App allowing you to integrate into existing Apps and

leverage existing implementation skills.

• Events API’s for custom actions when users click on nodes, periods, simulates etc. This can

be used for custom actions in general or specific nodes creating flexibility where needed on

an exception basis only.

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Getting Started

Pre-requisites The Value Driver Tree Extension requires SAP Lumira Designer or SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio 1.6.3 or higher. Before proceeding, you will need to ensure you have a licensed copy installed. You can find out how to on the dedicated SAP help page https://help.sap.com/boad for Design Studio.

To complete the installation process, you need the following information:

• The Download site user name and password

• Your Value Driver Tree license key.

You will have received both in your welcome e-mail which was sent to your primary contact address or provided in your contract.

Installing the Value Driver Tree Extension in SAP BusinessObjects

Design Studio The Value Driver Tree Extension is installed using the dedicated installation site by following the

below simple procedure:

1. Open SAP BusinessObjects Design Studio/Lumira Designer and choose Tools->Install

Extension to Design Studio... / Lumira Designer.

2. Copy or enter the url for the value driver tree cloud installation site for version 1x and click

ok:

http://www.download.doldyn.com/vdt

https://help.sap.com/boad

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3. You will now be prompted for the download username and password. Please enter the

username and password provided and click ok:

4. The installer will identify the available features from the cloud site:

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5. Select the check box next to the Dolphin Dynamics Value Driver tree and click Finish. You will

now be guided through the installation steps for the feature:

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6. Select the Value Driver Tree Feature and click next twice and you will be presented with the

License Agreement. Please read the agreement carefully and if you accept the terms, select

accept and Finish. If you do not accept the terms, please select cancel:

7. You will receive a warning that the jar files are unsigned. This is expected behaviour. Please

click OK

8. You have finished the installation. Design Studio will need to restart for it to take effect.

Select Yes to restart immediately.

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9. After the restart, you now have the new Value Driver Tree Components available in Design

Studio and you are ready to create your first Value Driver Tree App:

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Creating your first Value Driver Tree App You can create your first Value Driver Tree App from Scratch by creating a new blank App by

selecting CTRL+N, give the App a name (here HELLO_VDT) and select Standard -> BLANK and click

Create:1

1 Note that if you are running Lumira Designer in Document Mode, you will need to first create a document and Right click on the document and follow the above process.

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You now have a new App with a blank canvas:

Add the Core Value Driver Tree Component to the Canvas by dragging it from the Components Panel

onto the Canvas and press F5 to refresh the App. Set the left Margin to 300 and the other margins to

0 in the properties panel.

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After 10 Sec, you will receive a notice that the VDT requires a License Key. Click on the Value Driver

Tree component on the canvas and select the License bap in the Additional Properties Panel. Please

enter the license key that you have received from us. If you do not have a key, please contact us for

a trial or full license key. Do not continue to use the software without a valid license as it violates the

terms and conditions. After you have entered a valid key, the license is validated and the license

details are displayed.

Click on the canvas and press F5 to refresh the canvas and you should now see the dummy value

driver tree rendered:

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Drag the component Navigation Panel for Value Driver Tree on to the canvas and set the left, top

and bottom margins to 0px and set the Linked Value Driver Tree Parameter to the Technical ID of the

Value Driver Tree component you originally created. By default, this is VDT_1.

Congratulations! You have now created your first executable App. We are now ready to run. Press

Ctrl+F11 to run App locally. You will now see your App in your IE Browser and can navigate the

dummy tree that is displayed when no configuration is provided.

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Configuring Value Driver Trees If you have not done so already, please refer to the Get Started section to understand how to add

Value Driver Trees to your App.

The configuration of the value driver tree can be split into 3 distinct steps:

1. Defining the Tree

Define the structure of the drivers and KPI’s in the tree, their relationships and visualisation

2. Settings

Define the initial state of the value driver tree, status calculations, colours and custom

events

3. Data Binding

Link the value driver tree to live data sources

You can define the tree even with manual data without binding it to a data source. It is strongly

recommended that you leverage this functionality when defining your tree as it allows you to iterate

many times over the definition, share it with your users and only build the data source once the

requirements are clear and the business has approved your prototype.

Defining the Tree The value driver tree structure, calculation and definition is defined in the additional properties

sheet under the Tree Tab. Click on the Value Driver Tree Component on the Canvas and select the

Tree Tab in the Additional Properties Panel:

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When you first open the tab, there is no value driver tree configuration but instead 3 options to

create one:

Create New Create a new blank tree with one node

Create New from Sample Data Create a preconfigured tree demonstrating key

functionalities

Import (expert Function) Import function from configuration

spreadsheet. This function should only be used

by experienced partners and is not for general

use.

To Explore the configuration options, please select the 2nd option – “Create New from Sample Data”.

A demo tree configuration is now generated for you to explore and adapt:

When working with the tree structure, it is beneficiary to make the Properties panels wider or

maximise the panel. If too narrow, you may not be able to see the embedded buttons next to a

selected node.

When selecting a node, you can add new children by clicking the “+” next to it. You can increase the

level and reduce the level by clicking the two arrows (“<<”, “>>”) to the left and right. You can delete

the node by clicking the trashcan icon. Note that you can’t delete a node if it is reference in formulas

or any other way.

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You can also move nodes with all its children around the tree by dragging and dropping it from one

location to another. Once dragged to a new position, it may be necessary to adjust the levels to suit

(press “>>” to make it a child if the node before, press “<<” to bring it up one level).

By default, the changes you make are synchronised with the entire App “live”. If you are making

many changes to a large tree, it is recommended to switch this off by clicking the “live” button in the

top right corner of the Additional Properties panel. You can then apply the changes by clicking

“Apply”. It will automatically be applied if you deselect the panel.

When you click on a node, the configuration details for the node is displayed on the right-side panel.

Below is a description of each parameter:

Unique Id Unique identifier for node in tree. This is very

important as this is how we can reference the node

later in formulas and other references.

Title The node title as displayed on the node in the value

driver tree. It is good to be short and precise on this.

Review how it looks in the tree and adjust description

for best overall outcome. Use the title prefix to make it

unique outside the context of the tree. That way you

can keep it precise inside. I.e. You may have a node

called Fuel Cost and underneath the fuel price. You can

name the node “Price” in the tree and then “Fuel” as

the Title Prefix.

Title Prefix when outside Tree Prefix added to description shown outside the actual

tree such as in the navigation panel or a pop-up

scenario comparison.

Calculation:

Calc. Method Method used for calculating node value. It can be one

of the following options:

• Data Source

• Sum Children (a+b+c...)

• Subtract Children (a-b-c...)

• Multiply Children (a*b*c...)

• Divide Children (a/b/c...)

• Formula

• Manual

• Linked See detailed section below on calculation method for

further details.

Time Aggregation The Value Driver Tree calculates the aggregated result

such as year based on a time aggregation of the period

results. Can be “Sum of Periods”, “Average” or

“Formula” or “Last”. The formula option uses the same

formula for calculating the full year as for the periods.

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If Average is selected it can either be a simple average

or a weighted average based on another node. If you

want a weighted average, please also specify the node

Id to use for the weighting of the values.

Desired Trend Can be “Decrease” or “Increase”. This defines the way

the status is calculated. If it is a cost, a decrease is

good. If it is revenue, prices etc. increase is good.

Value Range An option to define a minimum and maximum value for

the node. If a max is defined, the capacity utilisation for

the node is also calculated. Both min and max can be

used for constraints alerting. (see side panel

configuration later)

Display:

Visual Style Can be Normal, Derived or Hidden. Derived nodes are displayed with a punctuated line out of the node and is visually different. Hidden nodes can be used for calculation etc. but will not be visualised. Only "Normal" nodes are used in the automatic formulas based on the children of a node.

Scale The component has a user selectable auto-scaling

functionality where values can be shown as 1m, 1k or

full number etc. and the user can change that on the

fly. It has no impact on the calculations. Value Driver

Trees are per definition mixed scale/mixed unit which

means that we can’t scale everything. I.e. it makes little

logic to scale a price or a production factor. It does

however generally make sense to scale revenue, cost

and possible driver volumes with the same scale.

It is strongly recommended that you set the User-

selected option for all Amounts and then set the most

appropriate scale as the default under the settings tab.

This allows reduced clutter in the tree while still

offering to see the details if and when required. There

is also options for fixed auto-scale for millions,

thousands and percentages. In particular the

percentage option simplifies the tree as you can store

the data as .8 and visualise as 80%.

Prefix Number Prefix such as “$”

Decimals Decimal places for number

Suffix Number Suffix such as “t”, “/kg”, “%”, “min”

Features - Simulation If selected, the simulation slider is visible and the user

can simulate on the node. Note that you can simulate

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on calculated nodes as well as sourced nodes by

default unless you switch this off for a particular node.

Features - Status Color If selected, the status bar will be added to the node

widget (red, amber, neutral, green)

Features - Details on Click If selected, the default node detail screen pop-up will

be shown when the user click on the node.

Simulation

Default Method Default simulation method for the node when the user

simulates. 3 methods are available:

• % Change applied to baseline in future periods

• Constant Value for future periods

• % Growth applied to baseline in future periods

Note that the user can choose any of the options

during a simulation but depending on the nature of the

node, a default is logical. I.e. for cost nodes, the first

option is often the preferred approach. For a price

node, the Constant Value option is often preferred.

Link Simulation Nodes can be linked for simulation purposes. (I.e. you

have defined multiple fuel price nodes as your realised

price differs but want to simulate future prices as the

same for all of them. To do that, you consider one of

the nodes as being the primary and then reference that

node in all other nodes you want to link to it. That way,

a simulation change to any of the nodes will be applied

to the primary node and all the referenced nodes.

From a summary of active simulations, only the

primary node will be displayed.

Business Definition

Description The business description of the driver or KPI. This is

displayed on the detailed screen underneath the title.

If it is sourced, it is often useful to include the context

such as selection criteria’s to allow the user to

understand where it is coming from. If it is calculated

within the tree, there is no need to include the formula

as a human readable formula will be generated

automatically beneath. It is however good practice to

provide any business definition and guidance to

understand it from a business perspective

Header The context displayed above the title in the detailed

screen. If nothing is provided, a “bread crumb” path for

the parent and parent’s parent node is generated and

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displayed. This is often necessary to understand a node

as the same name may exist multiple places

Footer A short guidance displayed at the bottom of the

detailed screen. Use this for a specific hint if there is

something you want to highlight to the user when

looking at this particular node.

Calculation Methods Method used for calculating node value. It can be one of the following options:

• Data Source

• Sum children (a+b+c…)

• Subtract children (a-b-c…)

• Multiply children (a*b*c…)

• Divide children (a/b/c…)

• Manual

• Linked

• Formula

The Data Source options allows the node value to be mapped to a row in the data source. If this

option is selected, the engine can automatically map it to a node in the data source with the same

Id. If the Id is different in the source, you can select a row in the data source in the additional

information field called Source key that is available if this method is selected. (see later for

configuration of data binding for further context).

The Sum, Subtract, Multiply and Divide are automatic formulas that are generated based on the

children to the node. If a new child is added or one is removed, the calculation is automatically

adjusted. Child nodes that are marked as “Derived” or “Hidden” (see above) is ignored in these

calculations.

When Manual is selected, two additional fields are available to enter a manual value for the Primary

and Comparison Versions value. If you enter just a constant value, then this becomes the value for

each period for the data series. If you want to vary the values for the periods, you can enter an array

with as many values as you have defined periods like this: [1,2,2.2,2,2,2,2,2,3,3,3,4]

Entering single values or arrays are great ways to initially prototype a value driver tree structure

before creating a data source as it allows you to validate requirements and calculations early.

Linked will make the value identical to the linked source and also transfer any simulation changes between the linked node and all referenced nodes. You can give it a difference description and settings compared to the node that it is linked to. It can be particularly useful to differ the desired trend if a driver such as sold tonnes is shown under both cost and revenue.

The Formula option displays a formula field that allows you to create formulas referencing any node

in the tree. This is a truly powerful functionality as it not only allows you to reference the children to

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the node but any node in the tree. This is a typical scenario in a value driver tree as we often see the

same driver impact different parts of the tree. I.e. production tonnes may impact cost as well as

revenue (we can sell more). This effectively means that the Value Driver Tree calculation is not a

hierarchical calculation but a true network calculation. The only thing you can’t do is make circular

formulas as these can’t logically be resolved.

You express a formula as you would calculate an individual period. The calculation engine then takes

care of extrapolating this single period formula to a formula that can be applied to all periods and

versions and take all simulation into account as well as aggregation models, variance calculations

and status.

The formula engine uses the standard JavaScript calculation and logic notation and you can

reference any node in the tree by using {node Id} convention. I.e. you have a node that you have

given the unique Id 11. You can now reference the node in a formula using {11}.

The majority of formulas will typically have use node reference, standard mathematical operators

and brackets to define calculation orders and constants in a pattern like this:

( {node A} – {Node B} ) / ( {node C} / 100 )

Using JavaScript Math object, you can in simple ways do things like picking the maximum of values.

Here is an example of a formula that picks a value if it is greater than zero or otherwise makes it

zero.

Math.max({node A} – {Node B}, 0)

You can also do if-then-else following the javascript shorthand notation

{node A} > {Node B} ? {node A} : {node B}

What this says is that if the value of Node A is greater than the Value of Node B, then return the

value of Node A, otherwise return the Value of Node B.

These can be nested by using brackets and be combined with any other constructs. For information

on the Javascript comparison operators, please refer to this guide.

The calculation engine keeps track of 3 data series

• act (the active simulation)

• base (the baseline value without simulations)

• tgt (the comparison version)

There are specific use cases where you may require formulas that traverses the data series in a way

where the calculation is differentiated depending on the data series. This could be if the comparison

version should be calculated differently from the baseline or active simulation. A very specific use

case for this is if you have a node that you want to calculate but do not want to be impacted by

simulations applied to the referenced nodes. This is very useful if you create a reconciliation node

where you calculate the baseline balance between modelled nodes and a posted total value. There is

an example of that in the demo app node Id 40. Before the method is called for a particular data

https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_math.asp

https://www.w3schools.com/js/js_comparisons.asp

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series, the variable “dataSeries” is set to id of the data series (act, base or tgt). Below is the example

from the demo app:

dataSeries == "tgt" ? ( {39}.tgt - {23}.tgt - {41}.tgt - {42}.tgt ) : ( {39}.base - {23}.base -

{41}.base - {42}.base )

What the formula essentially does is that it first checks if the data series is tgt. If it is, in then uses

the tgt data series in the calculation. Otherwise, it uses the base data series for the calculation. This

effectively means that the active simulation version also uses the base values for its calculations and

thus ignores the simulations applied to the referenced nodes. Albeit a specific case, this is a very

powerful way to model this concept.

Settings The settings tab provides general configuration options that applies to all nodes in the tree:

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Below is a description of each of the options:

Initial State

Active Period The currently selected period from and to. This is used

to highlight the period and simulations are applied to

this interval of periods. If you are simulating a current

year forecast, you would typically set this from current

period to 12. If you are looking at a future budget year,

you would typically set this to 1-12. This can be set

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dynamically via script and can also be set by the user

via the navigation panel.

Top Node You can define a value driver tree and then

programmatically or via the Navigation Panel set a sub

node to the top node. By default, this option will

choose the first node as the top node but you can set

the default node here should you wish it to be

different. This can also be used if you have nodes you

want to use for calculations but want to hide them

from the visualised tree. Set a collective top node with

you top node for visualisation and hidden nodes as

children and then set the top node for visualisation as

the default Top Node. Can also be set by the user via

the navigation panel.

Primary Value Defines the initial time agnation for the tree. Can be

Active Period, Total to Period (i.e. YtD), Total of Periods

or the selected simulation periods. Can also be set by

the user via the navigation panel.

Auto Scale Sets the default scaling level. Can be 0b, 0.0b, 0m,

0.0m, 0.00m, 0k or 0. Can also be set by the user via

the navigation panel.

Zero Display Defines how zero values are displayed. Can be None, “-

“ or 0.

Hint Hint text displayed at the top of the canvas if no active

simulations. Can be used to promote functionality.

Status:

Status Determines the thresholds for Red, Amber, Neutral and

Green. It takes into account the desired trend of the

individual nodes to ensure the correct status is

calculated.

Colors:

Canvas Background The canvas uses a combination of colors to generate a

pleasing negative space for the value driver tree. You

can change these to suit or overwrite the background

setting in your stylesheet.

Tree Widget Here you can define the font, background and border

colors used for the nodes in the tree display

Tree Links This defines the color of the links between the nodes in

the tree.

Standard Palettes Buttons that applies once of the standard colour

settings. Click the button and press F5 to refresh to see

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the impact. You can adjust the colours to suit

afterwards

Events:

On Node Click Design Studio Scripting Event for when a node is

clicked. This can be used to display a custom panel

when a node is clicked. The API can be used to get the

selected node:

var nodeClicked = this.getSelectedNode().name;

Default Action The default action when the user select a node. By

default, the built in Standard Detail Panel is displayed

for the node. You can choose to switch this off for all

nodes by selecting “None” in this attribute. I more

common scenario would be that you switched it off for

a specific node in the Tree configuration and then used

the On Node Click event to do something specific for a

few nodes.

After Calculation Event fired each time the tree calculation is completed.

After Simulation Event fired when the user finishes the drag of the

simulation slider. This event could be used to call a

planning function in the back-end if that was required

for a specific node. This would however trigger a

refresh of the data sources and the functionality should

only be used if it is not practical to model the scenario

within the tree.

On PopUp Chart Column Click Event fired when a user clicks on a period column

within the Standard Detail Popup screen. The period he

selects and the node can be retrieved via the API. This

event can be used to offer drill through to more

detailed slice and dice analysis or drill through to the

underlying system.

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Data Binding The Value Driver tree can use data from any Design Studio Data Source such as SAP HANA, SAP BW

and Universes.

The Value Driver tree can use a single Data Source or combine up to 6 different data sources into

one tree.

Data Source Structure Whether you use a single or multiple data sources, the conceptual structure of them remains the

same.

To make node mapping simple, fast and agile, the value driver trees rely on a simple ”spreadsheet”

style two-dimensional layout with a row for each node requiring input data and the version/period

data in the columns. The first n columns being the primary data series and the next n columns being

the comparison data series. You would typically use variables to let the user select the versions, year

and other filters such as company code in your App.

Below is an example view of such as data source structure:

The above example is a simple query with two structure. The column structure is structure defined

based on restrictions on period and version with year and version as variables. This could also be a

drill down on version and period depending on your underlying source data model. The row

structure is the key figure structure using filters on the various relevant dimensions to make the

selections of the data or formulas calculating the input value.

The aspect of formulas for input values is an important concept. Often, we do not have the actual

input parameter stored in the underlying system but we do have the elements required to calculate

it. Consider a realised average price. We know the quantity sold and we know the posted revenue.

By selecting posted revenue and quantity sold, we can now calculate the input parameter realised

average price as revenue / quantity sold. This pattern is relevant for many prices and usage ratios for

cost drivers.

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If you are using BW as the underlying system, you would typically define a Multi or Composite

Provide to bring together the relevant underlying datasets or use the option to link multiple Data

Sources to one Value Driver Tree. This would typically include your cost management InfoProvders

as well as physical statistics/KPI providers. It is highly recommended to have an approach for

including manual metrics either via Excel upload or via manual input layouts for completeness and

agility.

Adding Data Source to App To bind a Value Driver tree to a Data Source, Add the data source to the App as per usual Design

Studio procedure by right clicking on the Data Sources in the outline panel and select Add Data

Sources:

Follow the normal process of adding the data source. You can also use CSV data sources for local

testing and prototyping.

Link Single Data Source to Component If you only have a single data source for the value driver tree, you can assign it directly to the tree in

the Properties Sheet (not Additional Properties). Select the Component and select the Data Source

from the drop down list in the Data Binding:

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Configure Result Set and Node Mapping You have now linked the Data Source to the Component. You now need to decide how to map the

individual rows in the data source to the input nodes in the Tree. This is configured under the Data

tab of the Additional Properties.

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The Result Set options allows you to restrict the result set from the data source. It is unlikely you will

use this configuration option as you will most likely design your data source in a way that it returns

the input parameters required. Nevertheless, you can if required reduce the data set exposed to the

calculation engine at this level.

Using the Node Mapping options, the result set rows can be mapped to the value driver tree in

different ways.

If the keys in the data source are the same as the technical Id, you can choose 'Automatic based on

key' and the Result Set rows will automatically be linked to the tree nodes.

In some scenarios, you can however not control the technical ID of a row but you can control the

description (i.e. when using a BW structure the technical id becomes a generated GUID). In these

situations, you can use the 'Automatic based on text' option. The text for the row is then analysed

and the key is derived from the text before the separator (i.e. if “:” is set as the separator, and the

description is “11: Sales”, the row will automatically be mapped to the node with the unique Id “11”

if it exists).

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If Manual is chosen as the mapping option, you will have to map the individual nodes to the Result

Set rows inside the Tree Configuration tab for the individual nodes. This is however not the

recommended approach.

The option “Use Manual Data as defaults if sourced nodes not available in result set” will look for

manual default values maintained as manual data for the node, if the mapped id does not exist in

the source. This can be used for two purposes. The first one is to have a default value for nodes that

are not always available in the source. The 2nd is when defining the tree, you prototype the solution

and as you define the source query, not all is available from the beginning. This allows you to

incrementally add new metrics to the source while still testing it holistically in an iterative process.

Link Multiple Data Source to Component As mentioned above, you can multiple data sources to a single value driver tree.

Add the multiple data sources to your App as per usual process. Once done, add the “Value Driver

Tree Input Data Merger” component to the App:

Select the new component. At the properties sheet, you can now bind up to 6 data sources by

clicking on the “+” sign:

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You can configure the mapping approach for each data source in the same way as you do for the

value driver tree when directly assigning the source: use the text with a separator or the key directly.

You can also configure the number of columns per data series in the merger. This defaults to 12 for a

year.

Once the merger is configured, the only outstanding task is to point the Value Driver Tree

component to the merger rather than a data source:

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Data Series and Time Aggregation The Value Driver Tree uses two data series, a primary series for simulation and a secondary for

comparison. You can set the labels here statically as part of the configuration or set them

programmatically using setPrimaryVersionTitle and setSecondaryVersionTitle. The dynamic option is

useful if the user selects version or year via variables in the App. You can also define the number of

columns in each data series. By default, this is 12 and useful for a year view.

You can also configure the labels for the periods as well as for the time aggregations. Combined with

the selection of periods, this allows you to define Value Driver Trees with different time grains or

switch time grain for one value driver tree. The default view is set up for a year broken down to 12

months.

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License To use the App, you require a valid license. If you do not have a valid license, please contact

[email protected]. You are not entitled to use the component without a valid

license.

If the license type is Trial, you are only entitled to install the Component on locally and Development

and Test systems. Under no circumstances can a Trial License be used for productive purposes.

About The about tab provides context about the application and links to the documentation.

mailto:[email protected]

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Configuring the Navigation Panel If you have not done so already, please refer to the Get Started section to understand how to add

Value Driver Trees to your App.

A navigation panel is not a required component for a value driver tree app. It does however provide

an easy way to offer the user control over the visualisation, selection, key inputs and drivers with no

programming required.

Binding a Navigation Panel to a Value Driver Tree In its basic form, all a Navigation panel require in order to work is a binding to a value driver tree

component. This is done by adding a navigation panel component to the canvas and set the Linked

Value Driver Tree Property to the technical id of a value driver tree component as we did in the Get

Started section. In the below example, we have linked the navigation panel to a Value Driver Tree

Component in the App with the technical Id VDT_1:

Once linked, changes in the value driver tree will automatically update the navigation panel

irrespective whether they are data driven, user driven or through the API. When the user selects an

option on the navigation panel, this will then in turn update the value driver tree or navigate in the

value driver tree.

Configuration Options The Navigation Panel component offers several configuration options that defines the sections

available and their content. You can therefore choose to have one integrated panel or have multiple

panels with different sub sections.

As the configuration is relatively simple, it is all done in the properties sheet instead of the

Additional Properties as it was the case for the Value Driver Tree. Below are the options and a

description of each:

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Data Binding

Linked Value Driver Tree Technical Id within App of Value Driver Tree to link

Panel to

Display

CSS Class Custom CSS class to be added to the component for

custom styling

Display Section Headers If true, the collapsible section headers are displayed

Filter lists based on selected top node Filter assumptions, KPI’s and constraints to nodes

within the sub tree of the selected top node.

Title for Scenarios Section The text displayed at the Scenarios Section Header

Scenarios Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Title for Top Node Section The text displayed at the Top Node Section Header

Top Node Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Selectable Top Nodes List with the technical ID of nodes that you would like

the user to be able to set as top nodes in the tree. In

other words, by clicking on these nodes, the user filters

the tree to the sub node and its children. If you add a

text that is not a valid ID, it will be treated as a

grouping header.

Title for Key Assumptions Section The text displayed at the Key Assumption Header

Key Assumptions Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Key Assumptions to be displayed as list List with the technical ID of nodes that you would like

to list as key assumption and which the user can click

to jump to the node in the tree. If you add a text that is

not a valid ID, it will be treated as a grouping header.

Title for KPI List Section The text displayed at the KPI List Section Header

KPI List Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Key KPI’s to be displayed as list List with the technical ID of nodes that you would like

the list as Key KPI’s and which the user can click to

jump to the node in the tree. If you add a text that is

not a valid ID, it will be treated as a grouping header.

Title for Value Display Section The text displayed at the Value Display Section Header

Value Display Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Selectable scales If left blank, the default of 0.0m, 0k and 0 is selected.

You can add your own list based on the following

possible values: 0b, 0.0b, 0m, 0.0m, 0.00m, 0k, 0.

Title for Simulation Period Section The text displayed at the Simulation Period Section

Header

Simulation Period Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

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Title for Constraints List Section The text displayed at the Constraints List Section

Header

Constraints List Section Visibility If true, this section is included in the panel display

Constraints to be displayed as list List with the technical ID of nodes that you would like

the list as Constraints and which the user can click to

jump to the node in the tree. If you add a text that is

not a valid ID, it will be treated as a grouping header. If

left blank, the list will be generated automatically

based on all nodes with a min or max constraint

defined.

Sort Constraints based on utilisation If true, the list of constraints will automatically be

sorted based on utilisation with the highest utilisation

first.

Theme Dark or light theme for side panel.

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Application Programming Interface Both the Value Driver Tree component as well as the Navigation Panel has an extensive API that can

be used to manipulate the visualisation, perform actions such as Export to Excel as well as getting

the current state such as selected node.

This can in turn be used in other Design Studio Components. A common example of that is to create

a button that can Export the raw calculated data to Excel.

In the below example, we have a Value Driver Tree in the App with the technical id VDT.

We have added a standard Button to the canvas and for the onClick event, we have added the

following code:

VDT.exportToExcel();

When the user clicks on the button, the exportToExcel command is fired to for the Value Driver Tree

VDT and will as a result, generate a raw Excel XML download of the calculated result and key node

definitions.

There are many options in the API. Descriptions of API methods and their parameters has been

embedded into the value help of the Scripting Editor. The easiest way to explore the options is to

open the script editor somewhere (i.e. in onClick event for a button), type a technical id for a value

driver tree component in your App followed by a . and explore the methods and their parameters.

Below is an example of the setTopNode method that allows you to programmatically filter the tree

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to a particular sub node the same way as if you used the standard navigation panel. If a navigation

panel is linked and the node is in the top nodes defined, this would in turn also be highlighted.

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Deploying to BusinessObjects Platform Under the Getting Started section, we described how you install the Value Driver Tree extension to

your local runtime. This allows you to develop, test and demonstrate the applications from your

local runtime. In order to share your new App, you need to deploy the Value Driver Tree Extension

to the SAP BusinessObjects Platform. This is done in minute following the below simple steps. If you

haven’t yet installed it in your local DesignStudio runtime, please do so first following the steps from

Getting Started.

Installing the Extension on BusinessObjects Platform To perform this task, you need administration rights on the BusinessObjects Platform. If you do not

have the necessary access, please contact your BusinessObjects Administrator.

Open Design Studio Logged onto the BusinessObjects Platform (not local mode). Select Tools ->

Platform Extensions:

You will now see a dialog with a list of extensions in your local Design Studio Environment. To install

on the server, simply select the Extension from your Local list and click Install on Platform:

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The extension is now installed on the Platform. No restart required:

Updating the Extension on BusinessObjects Platform To update an extension, you simply go through the local update process and then perform the steps

in this section to update the servers once ready for deployment.

Removing the Extension from the BusinessObjects Platform You use the same dialog to uninstall an extension from the Platform server. You simply select the

extension in the right hand side panel and click uninstall.

You will be prompted to make sure that you really want to uninstall the extensions:

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The extension is then removed:

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Known Issues and Limitations Below are the known issues as of the writing of the document. This list will be updated in the online

version to reflect the current state at any point in time.

Inconsistent rendering if Components

are destroyed

A known issue in Design Studio is that the Event flow is

not called correctly if a Component is destroyed. This is

causing inconsistencies in rendering. Until this issue is

resolved with SAP, you should not destroy the Value

Driver Tree components as part of your navigation. The

most common way that components are destroyed is if

you change the general Visible property of a

component in your App. This is in fact not setting the

visibility but destroys the Container in the App

including all the children and regenerates the other

children. It is in this re-generation that the events are

not called correctly.

Work Around. If you need to set the visibility of a

component and experience the issue, instead of using

the visibility, you can use the setCSSClass on the

component in question as follow:

To Hide: NAV.setCSSClass('hidden');

To Show: NAV.setCSSClass('');

Where NAV is the technical Id of the component.

Do not set Visible to false for Value

Driver Tree

The standard property visible = false doesn’t mean that

the component is included in the processing but not

visible. It essentially means that the Component is

excluded from processing.

If you require the result from the value driver tree, use

the setCSSClass instead to hide the component. You

can configure this directly on the Component or you

can set it programmatically by the following:

To Hide: VDT.setCSSClass('hidden');

To Show: VDT.setCSSClass('');

Where VDT is the technical Id of the Value Driver Tree

component.

Pinch zoom is not supported in IE on

Windows touch enabled devices

The Pinch zoom doesn’t work within Windows touch

interfaces. A zoom slider has been added to ensure

users has access to zoom even when

Value Driver Trees tested up to 1500

nodes in single tree

As your tree becomes bigger, the most likely challenge

becomes your data source performance. As the data

source is not refreshed during navigation, this major

performance impact is however only material when

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you open the App. It is a little like opening an Excel

workbook. As they become larger, they take longer to

load. You can leverage the multiple query data source

to load groups in parallel.

Value Driver Trees are tested up to 1500 nodes and

calculation, visualisation and simulation is almost

instant on all tested devices.

We can however not guarantee performance beyond

our tested level. Drag and drop tree maintenance will

degrade as you reach these very large node numbers. It

is recommended to switch off the Live update when

maintaining the tree in the design time if it is an issue.

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34 / 22 Florence Street, Teneriffe, QLD 4005, Australia ACN 149 557 095 [email protected] www.dolphindynamics.com.au

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