Version 2.0.93 was released on February 9, 2024.

Key takeaways from the update include three enhancements for Universal reports in IBM Planning Analytics for Excel version 2.0.93, as well as new parameters introduced in the CognosOfficeReportingSettings.xml file to avoid timeout request errors when working on large reports. Additionally, the DesignMode parameter has been renamed to ExplorationDesignMode in the settings file.

Hi TM1 and Planning Analytics community, it’s Bryan from Cubewise. Here is an update on what’s new and deprecations on IBM Planning Analytics for Excel that were released on February 9th, 2024, for version 2.0.93.

To start, there are three new enhancements for Universal Reports.

First, the properties Active Display (Alias) and Expand Above can now be changed in the Set Editor. Previously, you had to write a query to use these parameters, which can be prone to typos. Now, you can change it with a simple drop-down.

The second update is a new static layout that simplifies the information in the Universal Report. With this layout, users will not be able to expand or collapse rows or columns. This type of layout may be useful for sending a simplified report to team members and still keep the connectivity to the TM1 Server.

The third update enhances the accessibility to the format area. Now you can reveal this area simply from the Excel ribbon for IBM Planning Analytics. This is an improvement from the manual steps needed, where you had to manually unhide rows or columns to access it.

Next are a few parameter changes in the CognosOfficeReportingSettings.xml file.

I’ll start by sharing two new parameters that will help you to avoid timeout request errors for when you are working on large reports.

ESAsyncNumRetries defines the number of times the evaluation service is prompted to give an asynchronous result. If this parameter is not defined, the default is set to 1200 retries.

ESAsyncNumRetryInterval is the time it takes to retry the sync. This is set to 500 milliseconds as the default value.

The following is a parameter name change.

The Design Mode feature, which manages an Exploration View’s refresh behaviour, has been renamed from DesignMode to ExplorationDesignModeOn in the settings file.

Something to keep in mind when you upgrade to this version, the default setting for this parameter will be set to FALSE.

Because of this change, IBM has deprecated the DesignMode parameter.

And that wraps up the update on IBM Planning Analytics for Excel.