December 2020 Update

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Date	Product	Feature	Notes
24 NOV 2020			Created initial document.

Overview

This document outlines the upcoming Enterprise Data Management Cloud update.

Feature Summary

Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Monthly Update Schedule

Test Environments: Oracle will apply this monthly update during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, December 4, 2020.

Production Environments: Oracle will apply this monthly update during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, December 18, 2020.

NOTE: Backing up the daily maintenance snapshot and restoring the environment as needed are self-service operations. Oracle strongly recommends that you download the maintenance snapshot every day to a local server.

The Oracle Help Center provides access to updated documentation. The updates will be available in the Help Center on Friday, December 4, 2020.

NOTE: Some of the links to new feature documentation included in this readiness document will not work until after the Oracle Help Center update is complete.

Please Join Oracle Cloud Customer Connect

Please take a moment to join the Cloud Customer Connect forums for EPM Cloud services. Oracle Cloud Customer Connect is a community gathering place for members to interact and collaborate on common goals and objectives. This is where you will find the latest release information, upcoming events, or answers to use-case questions. Joining takes just a few minutes. Join now!

https://cloud.oracle.com/community

NOTE: The Settings and Actions menu now contains a link to Cloud Customer Connect. To access this link, from the Home page, click the down arrow next to the user name (in the upper right-hand corner of the screen), and select Cloud Customer Connect.

Give Us Documentation Feedback

We welcome your comments and suggestions to improve the content of the What's New document and the product documentation.

Please send us your feedback at EPMdoc_ww@oracle.com. In the body or title of the email, state that you are inquiring or providing feedback, and indicate for which EPM Cloud service and the monthly update cycle.

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These are great resources for the latest updates and information about EPM Cloud.

Defects Fixed and Considerations

Software issues addressed each month and considerations will be posted to My Oracle Support.

This provides visibility into EPM Cloud release contents.

Features

New Video

The following video is now available:

Overview: Announcing Enterprise Data Management's New Redwood Theme

This video orients you with the beautiful, sophisticated new look and feel that the gorgeous, globally-inspired Redwood theme provides.

Business Benefit: Videos provide step-by-step instructions to help you perform your related business activities.

New Appearance Option - Redwood Theme

The Redwood theme gives an enhanced look and feel in terms of colors and icons and brings consistency across Oracle Cloud. This theme is available as the default theme for new Enterprise Data Management environments or can be selected for existing environments from the Appearance page.

Business Benefit: The Redwood theme is a standard theme among Oracle cloud applications.

Key Resources

• Customizing Your User's Display in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Alternate Node Type Qualifiers

Alternate node type qualifiers enable users to locate and compare nodes between viewpoints which use different node types with multiple naming schemes. In addition to the default qualifier, a node type can be configured with up to three alternate qualifiers. When locating and comparing nodes, matching nodes across different node types are determined using the default qualifier first, followed by any alternate qualifiers.

This feature can be used in conjunction with property transformations on the Name property in node type converters. The property transform on the Name can conditionally assign different qualifiers to nodes when shared, mapped, or synchronized across viewpoints. The alternate qualifiers on the node types are used to locate and compare those nodes between viewpoints.

Business Benefit: In some cases, nodes in the same node type need to use different qualifiers to ensure name uniqueness.  When locating and comparing nodes from a source viewpoint to a target viewpoint, you need the ability to match nodes using more than one qualifier for each node type.

Key Resources

• Working with Node Type Qualifiers in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Size Attribute for Node and String Lists in Expressions

A Size attribute is available for node lists and string lists in expressions to identify the number of items in a list. This attribute can be used with node lists like Children and Locations as well as string lists like List data type properties. The Size attribute avoids the need to use the Count method with a predicate to get a total number of items in a list.

Business Benefit: In certain cases, it is necessary to identify the number of items in a node list or string list in an expression to be used for derived properties and custom validations.

Key Resources

• Data Types for Expression Terms in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

REST API Endpoint to Create a Request File Attachment from JSON

A REST API endpoint is available to create a request file attachment from a JSON payload in order to load incremental changes into Enterprise Data Management as part of an automated process. This endpoint allows the source data to be encoded in JSON to load it into a request instead of having to save the data in an Excel file format.

Business Benefit: When loading incremental changes from an external application to Enterprise Data Management in an automated process, you may need an input format other than an Excel file.

Key Resources

• Generate a Request Attachment in REST API for Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud Service

Archived Objects Excluded from Permissions/Policies and Subscriptions Reports

Archived objects are excluded from the Permissions, Policies, and Subscriptions reports, which enable users to view permissions, policies, and subscriptions for active objects only. The reports display active objects which are currently in effect only.

Business Benefit: Previously, these reports included permissions, policies, and subscriptions for archived objects. This inactive configuration was misleading because those artifacts were not actually in effect.

Key Resources

• Permissions and Policies Reports and Subscriptions Reports in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Attribute Dimension Support for EPM Cloud Applications

Attribute dimensions can be managed for EPM Cloud applications in addition to the base dimensions and simple attributes that were previously supported. When defining an attribute for a Planning or Financial Consolidation and Close application during registration, you can choose a Simple Attribute or Attribute Dimension. Registering an attribute dimension creates the following objects in the EPM Cloud application:

• Dimension of type Attribute
• Data chain to manage the members of the dimension
• Node data type property to associate an attribute dimension member to a base dimension member
• Viewpoint in the default view for the application
• Binding to import from and export to the external application

Business Benefit: Attribute dimensions are a popular feature for EPM Cloud applications for certain reporting and calculation purposes. Customers who use Enterprise Data Management for EPM Cloud applications want to manage their attribute dimensions along with their base dimensions.

Key Resources

• Understanding Attributes in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Calculated Parent for Nodes in Hierarchy Viewpoints

For hierarchy viewpoints where nodes are added or inserted, a node's parent can be calculated based on an expression when the parent is undefined in the source. Calculation of the parent is available when loading request items from a file, creating request items from a compare, or generating request items from a subscription. The calculated parent must identify an existing node in the hierarchy viewpoint.

An expression to calculate a parent can be optionally defined for the CoreStats.Parent property at the application or node type level. The <Unknown> indicator can be used in the Parent column of a request file to trigger the calculation of the parent in the hierarchy viewpoint. For request items created from a compare or subscription, the parent can be calculated when the source viewpoint is a list and the target viewpoint is a hierarchy.

Business Benefit: In cases where nodes are being added/inserted to a hierarchy viewpoint, sometimes the parent is undefined in the source and needs to be calculated to be properly placed in in hierarchy.

Key Resources

• Calculated and Stored Properties in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Ability to Configure Node Data Type Parameters in Property Inspector

Node data type property parameters can be edited for applications and node types in the Property inspector. This enables service administrators and users with Owner permission on the application to configure default, common, and data type specific parameters for Node data type properties outside of application registration.

Business Benefit: Service administrators and users with Owner permission on the application need to set parameters for Node data type properties. Previously, this could only be done during application registration.

Key Resources

• Inspecting Properties and Understanding Property Data Types and Their Parameters in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Ability to Copy and Paste Entire Expressions

Entire expressions can now be copied and pasted across different contexts including property transformations, derived properties, custom validations, subscription filters, and approval or notification policy filters. This allows expression logic created for one object to be reused for a different object. You can use the Copy and Paste icons in the Expression Builder to perform the copy and paste operations.

Business Benefit: Service administrators and users with owner permissions on the application need to take an entire expression from one object/context and reuse it in a different object/context. For example, copy an expression from a derived property to a property transformation or custom validation. This eliminates the need to redefine the expression manually.

Key Resources

• Copying and Pasting Expressions in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Data Type Conversion Methods in Expressions

Additional methods are available to convert values from one data type to another in an expression.

The following data type conversion methods can be used:

• Format - converts a date to a formatted string
• ToDate - converts a string to a date
• ToInteger - converts a string to an integer
• ToString - converts an integer to a string

Business Benefit: Some business rules need to convert values to different data types to derive, transform, validate, or filter data. An example is a property transformation which converts a date property of a source node into the Name of a target node in an attribute dimension.

Key Resources

• Data Types for Expression Terms in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Derived Values and Property Transformations for Node Data Type Properties

Node data type properties can be configured with an expression to derive a value or transform a value for the property using custom business logic. Expressions for these properties must return a string which matches the Name of a node in the assigned node set for the property.

Use the Derived default type for Node data type properties to derive property values for specific applications and/or node types.

Set up a property transformation for a Node data type property in a node type converter to calculate a value when sharing, mapping, and synchronizing nodes across applications.

Business Benefit: Node data type properties, which are used to manage an association between nodes in different node sets, sometimes need to be derived or transformed from other properties rather than manually maintained.

Key Resources

• Derived Properties in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud
• Adding, Removing, and Configuring a Node Type's Properties in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Derived Values and Property Transformations for Integer and Date Properties

Integer and Date data type properties can be configured with an expression to derive a value or transform a value for a property using custom business logic.

Use the Derived default type for Integer and Date properties to derive property values for specific applications and node types. Setup a property transformation for an Integer or Date property in a node type converter to calculate a value when sharing, mapping, and synchronizing nodes across applications.

Business Benefit: Integer and Date property values can be calculated using business logic rather than manually defining them resulting in reduced maintenance and improved data quality.

Key Resources

• Derived Properties in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud
• Adding, Removing, and Configuring a Node Type's Properties in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Document ID from API Export to Financials Cloud Connection

When exporting dimensions to Financials Cloud using the REST API, the Document ID of the zip file transferred to Financials Cloud is returned in the result for the Enterprise Data Management export job. The document ID can then be passed to the ERP Integration Service API to import the zip file as segment values and hierarchies in Financials Cloud. This eliminates an additional call to the Financials Cloud SOAP API to retrieve the Document ID for the EDM export file.

Business Benefit: When exporting from Enterprise Data Management to a Financials Cloud connection, this may result in multiple versions of the same file. In order to import a particular file version, you must specify the Document ID.

Key Resources

• Export a Dimension to a Configured Connection in REST API for Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud Service

Extracts for Dimension Viewpoints

Custom extracts can be defined for an application dimension to output data from specific viewpoints in a particular format for consumption by an external application or process. Owners and service administrators can create and manage multiple extracts for each dimension. Extracts can output data from bound and unbound viewpoints to a file or global connection.

An extract includes selection of a viewpoint, columns, node filter expression, and format options for the data being output and the file being created.

Business Benefit: Sometimes customers need to send information to a target application or process in an certain format. Extracts allow for bulk output of data from specified viewpoints in a configurable format.

Key Resources

• Working with Extracts in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Global Connections to Oracle Object Storage

Global connections can be defined to Oracle Object Storage in order to share data with external applications and processes from a centralized storage location using Oracle Cloud infrastructure. Global connections can be used by Extracts to extract data from Enterprise Data Management applications and write it to files in an Object Storage Bucket. Consuming applications can then retrieve the extracted data from Object Storage.

Business Benefit: Global connections are useful for customers who are looking for cloud-to-cloud integration with Enterprise Data Management in a generic, configurable manner. For example, Oracle Autonomous Data Warehouse allows for importing data from files in Oracle Object Storage.

Key Resources

• Creating Global Connections in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Incremental Dimension Export Using REST API

Dimensions can be incrementally exported from Financials Cloud GL, E-Business Suite GL, and Universal type applications in Enterprise Data Management. Incremental exports output nodes and properties which have been changed rather than the entire dimension. Changes are determined based on transaction history for bound viewpoints in the dimension. Incremental exports can be run using the REST API and are limited to bindings for List viewpoints only.

Business Benefit: For application types such as Financials Cloud and E-Business Suite GL, nodes in list viewpoints may be added or updated more frequently than hierarchy viewpoints in the dimension. In these cases, customers only want to send incremental changes made in these viewpoints to the target system rather than the entire dimension.

Key Resources

• Incremental Exports in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

ISNULL Attribute for Properties in Expressions

The IsNull attribute is available for properties in expressions to identify whether a property is null or has a value.This attribute can be used in expressions for derived properties, property transformations, custom validations, subscription filters, and policy filters.

IsNull is available for the following property data types:

• Boolean
• Date
• Float
• Integer
• List
• String
• Timestamp

Business Benefit: In some cases, it is necessary to determine whether a property for a node is null or has a non-null value.  For example, a custom validation which checks to see if a property has a value or not.

Key Resources

• Data Types for Expression Terms in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Locale Selection in User Preferences

As part of the Language user preference, you can select a locale for particular languages. This allows date, time, and numeric values to be displayed using the format specific to the selected locale. Values can also imported, loaded into a request, and exported using the locale specific format.

If a Language is not selected as a user preference, the regional settings of the web browser are used to determine the language and locale for the user.

Business Benefit: Users want to be able to work with date, time, and numeric values using a familiar format. Instead of configuring a locale in the settings of the web browser (which can affect all web sites and all users but only that browser on that machine), the user can select a locale as a user preference which will affect a particular user for Enterprise Data Management from any browser on any client machine.

Key Resources

• Setting Your Preferences in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

String List Properties and Methods in Expressions

List data type properties are now available for node objects in expressions. This allows for derived properties, property transformations, custom validations, subscription filters, and policy filters to use List data type properties.

The following methods are available to access values in a string list and create string lists from other data types:

• Any - Returns true if any string in the list meets the specified criteria
• Count - Returns a count of strings in the list which meet the specified criteria
• Find - Returns the first string in the list which meets the specified criteria
• Get - Returns the string in a string list at the specified index
• Split - Splits a string into a list of strings based on the specified delimiter
• ToStringList - Return a string value from each node in a node list
• Join - Concatenates string values in a list into a delimited string using the specified delimiter

Business Benefit: In some cases, List data type properties need to be accessible in an expression. An example is a custom validation on the PLN.UDA property for a Planning application.

Use cases for the string list methods include:

• Split - Separates a combination of values (for example, 100-10-1234) into separate values (for example, 100,10,1234) for individual evaluation
• Get - Gets a specific value from a combination of values (for example, 100)
• ToStringList - Gets a property value from each ancestor node (for example, US,Midwest,Ohio)
• Join - Concatenates ancestor property values into a combined value (for example, US > Midwest > Ohio)

Key Resources

• Data Types for Expression Terms in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

System Activity Reports

Activity reports are available from the Reports page and enable Service Administrators to monitor system usage over time. These reports include user activity metrics, resource utilization, performance statistics, and troubleshooting information. Access logs can also be downloaded for offline review and analysis.

An activity report is automatically generated every day during the daily maintenance of the environment. It is also generated when you create a Provide Feedback submission or run the resetService EPM Automate command to restart an environment.

Business Benefit: Service administrators need visibility to system activity so they can monitor the health and performance of the system and investigate technical issues that may arise.

Key Resources

• System Activity Reports in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Upgrade Planning Application to Planning Modules

Applications that were initially created using the Planning application type can be upgraded to the Planning Modules application type. This allows application owners to switch the application type for an existing Planning application instead of having to create a completely new application. Once a Planning application has been upgraded to a Planning Modules application, properties and validations for predefined members take effect for dimensions which use them. Dimensions containing those predefined members should be re-imported into the application after upgrade.

Business Benefit: In situations where Enterprise Data Management is implemented alongside Planning, sometimes the implementer will create an application using one application type and later decide they need to use a different application type.

Key Resources

• Upgrade Planning Applications to Planning Modules in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Lock Property Values on Request Commit

Properties can be optionally configured with a Lock On Commit parameter to lock the value of a property once a node has been added to a node type. When a node is added in a request, the value of the property is editable for the node until the request has been committed. Once the node has been added, the value is locked and any future updates to the property for the node will be prevented. For existing nodes, values are immediately locked for the property once the Lock On Commit parameter is enabled. Property values can be unlocked by disabling the Lock On Commit parameter.

Business Benefit: Sometimes application owners want to restrict updates to specific properties once a value has been defined.

Key Resources

• Understanding Property Data Types and Their Parameters in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Ability to Create Properties from the Properties Page

Custom properties can be created directly from the Properties page by service administrators or users with Owner permission on the application. This allows custom properties to be defined outside of application registration. Once these properties have been created, they can be associated with the node types of all applications which require them.

Business Benefit: Application registration typically defines properties which are used in imports and exports. In cases where additional properties are required to enforce business rules or control workflow, it is more efficient to define those properties directly rather than having to go through the registration wizard.

Key Resources

• About Property Creation in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Collaborators Added to Subscription Requests

Collaborators can be automatically added to subscription requests using the Collaborate option available on a subscription. When this option is enabled, users who have been configured as Alternate Assignees for the subscription but do not have the request assigned to them will be added as collaborators for the subscription request. Collaborators are invited to participate in subscription requests during the Submit stage and can edit request items as well as make comments and add attachments.

Business Benefit: In some cases, multiple users need to be involved in making changes or resolving issues in subscription requests. This option allows those users to get involved immediately instead of requiring the assignee to invite item manually.

Key Resources

• Assigning Subscription Requests in Administering and Working with Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

EPM Automate Updates

A new version of EPM Automate is available. This version introduces the skipUpdate command that applies to all EPM Cloud environments. Additionally, this version includes changes to the exportDimension, exportDimensionMapping, and importDimension commands for Enterprise Data Management Cloud, which now support a new connection parameter.

skipUpdate Command

Sets a skip update request asking Oracle to skip the applying of a monthly update to an environment or removes all skip update requests that were previously made using this command so that the environment is updated to the main code line. You can also use this command to list the skip update requests currently specified for an environment.

You can set skip update requests for a maximum of two update cycles. You cannot skip updates for an environment that is on a one-off patch. Additionally, you cannot skip monthly updates that are more than two months apart from the update that the environment is currently on. For example, if the environment is currently on 20.12, you can skip 21.01 and 21.02, but not 21.03.

Updates to Enterprise Data Management Cloud Commands

The following Enterprise Data Management Cloud commands have been enhanced to accept the connection parameter. This optional parameter allows you to specify a connection defined in Enterprise Data Management Cloud to integrate enterprise data with a Financials Cloud or EPM Cloud environment.

• exportDimension: The connection optional parameter allows you to specify a connection defined in the Enterprise Data Management Cloud application as the destination for the exported file. EPM Automate will upload the exported file to the Financials Cloud or EPM Cloud environment of the connection.

• exportDimensionMapping: The connection optional parameter allows you to specify a connection defined in the Enterprise Data Management Cloud application as the destination for the exported file. EPM Automate will upload the exported dimension mapping file to the EPM Cloud Environment of the connection.

• importDimension: The connection optional parameter allows you to specify a connection defined in the Enterprise Data Management Cloud application as the location for the import file. EPM Automate will access the import file from the EPM Cloud Environment of the connection.

Business Benefit: The skipUpdate command allows you to delay updates to an EPM Cloud production environment to complete time-sensitive tasks, for example, closing of a quarter, without creating a service request. The addition of the connection parameter for the exportDimension, exportDimensionMapping, and importDimension commands enables the direct transfer of enterprise data between Enterprise Data Management Cloud, Financials Cloud, and EPM Cloud using EPM Automate.

Key Resources

• Working with EPM Automate for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud
  • Installing EPM Automate
  • Command Reference

Updates to Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Operations Guide

The Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Operations Guide has been enhanced with these updated procedures:

• Dealing with Down Environments and Resolving Login Issues sections. These sections have been updated with information on the fields to select in service request so that it is routed properly within Oracle to resolve the issue more efficiently.

• Handling Data Integration Errors. This new section provides instructions to self-diagnose data integration errors.

• Requesting Upgrade Delay for Production Environments. This section is updated with self-service instructions to delay upgrades to an environment.

• Requesting Merge Back of Environments This section is updated with self-service instructions to remove upgrade delays so that the environment can be brought to the main code line.

Business Benefit: The Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Operations Guide helps you self-diagnose and fix EPM Cloud issues.

Key Resources

• Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Operations Guide

Certification for Chrome 85-86 and Chromium Edge 85-86 Browsers

Enterprise Data Management now certifies Chrome 85-86 and Chromium Edge 85-86 browsers.

Business Benefit: Previously reported issues are now resolved.