• Version: 2.0.96
• Released: May 28, 2024

• Use AI to interact with books using natural language
• Set Consolidations
• Lock row heading column width
• Additional options on an Action Button
• Improved error toast messages and error handling
• Show and Hide format area

• Create users in Planning Analytics Local database
• Localise objects on your database with localisation editor
• Use improved auto complete and validation to simplify rules creation
• Schedule chores using Daylight Savings Time (DST)
• Preview a location data source in the process editor

• View the version for a snapshot

• End of support for Linux Red Hat Enterprise 7 (local only)
• End of support for Windows Server 2016 (local only)

Hi TM1 and Planning Analytics community. It is Bryan from Cubewise. I am excited to share the latest update on IBM Planning Analytics Workspace version 2.0.96 which was released on May 28th, 2024 with these new features to keep you ahead of the curve. Lets start by looking at what’s new in Books and Reporting. The new Planning Analytics AI assistant lets you perform a wide variety of actions on books using natural language commands.

For instance, you can ask the assistant to switch the visualisation to a different chart, change the configuration of a view, open a dimension or set or perform member calculations. Here is the cheat sheet provided by IBM on actions that you can undertake with the assistant. Please note that this release supports English only and requires a separate licence purchase which is not included in a standard Planning Analytics Workspace licence.

The Set Consolidation feature allows you to quickly apply a calculation such as a sum, average, minimum or max on a set. In this version, you can now select the members for the calculation providing more ways to efficiently analyse the data. You now have the option to lock the width of row header columns. This will prevent the row header columns from changing widths when you expand or collapse consolidation on the rows.

The width will remain locked for any hierarchies or row header columns added to the report. While a process is executing through an Action Button, you now have two new options. Previously you only had the option to cancel the process. Now you can set it to do nothing or run processes in parallel. Running processes in parallel will execute a new process while the previous process continues to run. This option is useful when you want to run a series of overlapping processes using the same Action Button.

There is a limit on how many processes can be run in parallel which has been set to five. Messages displayed in Universal Reports have been improved with two types of notifications to assist with troubleshooting. The MDX error toast message is responsible for errors that occur on the MDX query. The parser error toast message identifies an error on the row or column axis, slicers and hierarchy selection. New buttons on Universal and Dynamic Reports allow you to show and hide the format area quickly.

Next lets have a look at what’s new in Modelling. You can now add users to the Planning Analytics local database using the users and groups editor. The new localisation editor simplifies the process of localising cube names, dimensions, members, processes and chores. In the rules editor use the keyboard combination CTRL and SPACE to autocomplete a statement. In addition, there is a new button to validate the rules syntax. The Chore Editor now features the DST sensitive option which automatically updates the schedule based on Daylight Savings Time changes in the database’s region, and you can now preview a location source in the process editor.

Next, let’s look at Administration. Whenever a snapshot is taken, the version is also captured. Now for Deprecations. This is a reminder that IBM will end support for Linux Red Hat Enterprise 7, local only, at the end of June 2024. Windows Server 2016 will no longer be supported on Planning Analytics Workspace local, version 2.0.96 and later, so please upgrade to Windows Server 2019 to take advantage of the latest features.

And that wraps up the update on IBM Planning Analytics Workspace.