Troubleshooting
Problem
A customer wants to have a common slicer (context) dimension for multiple flex views in a workbook. The user wants the slicer dimension to be driven by the value of a cell in a separate worksheet. When the referenced cell's value changes, the user wants all of the related flex views in the workbook to refresh their data based on the updated value. When set to true, the 'Use Type-In Refresh' global flex view setting should cause a flex view to refresh when any of its metadata values are modified. However, IBM Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel is unable to detect metadata value changes that occur when a formula's result changes. As a result, when the metadata changes, a follow-up refresh of the flex view is not occurring.
Symptom
Related data in a flex view does not update when a formula-based metadata value changes.
Diagnosing The Problem
Steps to reproduce:
- Make sure that the Type In Refresh setting is enabled.
- Drag and drop a view to create a flex view.
- Change one of the slicer (context) members to reference a cell that contains a valid TM1 member name.
- Change the referenced cell to another valid TM1 member name.
- Notice that the related data is not updated.
Resolving The Problem
A solution is to use the Microsoft Excel Worksheet_Change event with the Cognos Analysis for Microsoft Excel flex view API to detect a cell change and then refresh some or all flex views when a cell change occurs. A sample of how to accomplish this is included in the file <install_location>/Automation/COAutomationExample.xls. The API logic is contained in the module RefreshAPIExample and the code that hooks this to the Excel Worksheet_Change event is contained in the VBA behind the worksheet called Flexview Refresh Sample.
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Document Information
Modified date:
15 June 2018
UID
swg21699294