creating Xcelsius reports by VBA

[poiu]

Hi,

I have a suite of reports for 15 departments across 8 countries (so more than 100 permutations). I'd like to make the coding behind the reports simpler (and the reports more attractive) by using Xcelsius - but does anyone know if it's possible to create Xcelsius reports automatically? (I'd like to create standard templates and then populate them with a set of data).

Thanks,

Poiu

 

[aditya15]

You cannot create Xcelsius using VBA. If your visual model is same, then you can build one xlf model as a template and just import the new data set using the options in Xcelsius and generate the flash file.

Apart from this, if your data is stored in the database, you can build your model in Xcelsius and connect to the database from Xcelsius with Department and Country as your filter in the dashboard. This way you just build one dashboard and as soon a new set of data updated in the database will be immediately reflected in the dashboard.

 

[poiu]

You cannot create Xcelsius using VBA. If your visual model is same, then you can build one xlf model as a template and just import the new data set using the options in Xcelsius and generate the flash file.

Apart from this, if your data is stored in the database, you can build your model in Xcelsius and connect to the database from Xcelsius with Department and Country as your filter in the dashboard. This way you just build one dashboard and as soon a new set of data updated in the database will be immediately reflected in the dashboard.

Thanks but the data I am using is confidential so I need to make sure that people in a Department within a Country can't see any other departments or countries. Is there a way to do this?

Thanks,

Poiu

 

[aditya15]

It depends upon the way you are sharing the dashboard with end users. If this is via a portal, with login and password then you can maintain a user profile in the portal user management and dashboard can be configured to check for the user profile and display profile specific data.

 

[poiu]

Thanks, sounds very interesting!

Please could you tell me what you mean by portal? Should I have a front sheet on the Xcelsius report which requires them to enter a username and password? Or do you mean that Xcelsius can check for the user's username on the intranet - in Excel VBA I can use the "Application.UserName" function to successfully get viewer's username - can this or something similar be used in Xcelsius somehow?

Thank you!

Poiu

 

[aditya15]

When I said portal, it could be the intranet web site which you are using to share your dashboard. I assume that the user have to enter a user id and password to login to intranet to view the dashboard. Based on the software/technology behind the intranet, you will have to develop a small script which will let the Xcelsius know the user name and in Xcelsius you have to add a flash variable to consume that. Now using this flash variable you will be able restrict the user's view based on the contry/Department he belongs to

 

[poiu]

Thanks aditya.

I'm just contracting at a blue chip company, is this something that is easy for an IT department to do (i.e. a couple of hundred pounds)? or would it be a major world-wide project to get implemented?

 

[aditya15]

Thanks aditya.

I'm just contracting at a blue chip company, is this something that is easy for an IT department to do (i.e. a couple of hundred pounds)? or would it be a major world-wide project to get implemented?

It's not a major development. Some one with a knowledge on how to embed a flash file and a Good Xcelsius Developer together would be able finish this in few days.