October 2021 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
28 SEP 2021			Created initial document.

Overview

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Feature Summary

Strategic Workforce Planning

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, October 1, 2021.

Production Environments: Oracle will apply this monthly update during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, October 15, 2021.

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, October 1, 2021.

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.

Fixed Issues and Considerations

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

NOTE: Fixed issues for EPM Cloud Common components (Smart View for Office, EPM Automate, REST API, Migration, Access Control, Data Management/Data Integration, Reports, Financial Reporting, and Calculation Manager) are available in a separate document on the My Oracle Support “Release Highlights” page.

This provides visibility into EPM Cloud release contents.

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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.

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Features

The Redwood Experience as the Default Theme

All newly created or re-created services and applications now use the Redwood Experience as the default theme.

The Redwood Experience not only provides an attractive look and feel, but it also includes functionality, such as dynamic tabs, that isn't available with other themes. If you opt not to use the Redwood Experience, you can choose instead from a list of predefined classic themes with different background colors, icon styles, and so on.

Business Benefit: The default Redwood Experience provides an enhanced look and feel and robust functionality that is consistent across Oracle Cloud.

Key Resources

• About the Home Page in Administering Planning

New Tables in the Activity Report

The Activity Report has been enhanced to list Top 10 Financial Reporting reports generation processes that took over one minute to complete.

The following new tables have been added to the report:

• Top 10 Longest Performing Book Generations Over 1 Min.

For each book, this table lists the book name, the time spent on generating the book, the user who generated the book, and a breakdown of each activity in the book generation process. The Object column in the table contains details of output type, folder, book POV, and other metadata.

• Top 10 Longest Performing Report Generations Over 1 Min.

For each report, this table lists the report name, the time spent on generating the report, the user who generated the report, and a breakdown of each activity in the report generation process. The Object column in the table contains details of output type, folder, user POV, and other metadata.

Business Benefit: The table listing the longest performing reports helps you optimize them.

Key Resources

• Using Activity Reports and Access Logs to Monitor Usage in Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud for Administrators.

Updates to the Clone Environment Screen

The Clone Environment screen, which provides a screen-based way to clone an environment, has been enhanced to help you clone the Data Management records available in Strategic Workforce Planning.

You can select the Data Management check box to clone Data Management records.

Updated Clone Environment Screen

Business Benefit: This update supports the cloning of Data Management records for disaster recovery or Classic to OCI (Gen 2) migration.

EPM Automate Updates

A new version of EPM Automate is now available. This version introduces the getApplicationAdminMode command. Additionally, this version includes changes to the cloneEnvironment command.

getApplicationAdminMode Command

Checks whether the application is in administration mode with access limited only to Service Administrators.

Changes to the cloneEnvironment Command

This command now supports additional optional parameter DataManagement=true|false, which enables you to clone Data Management records from the source environment to the target environment.

Business Benefit: The new commands facilitate the remote administration of Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud environments and supports the cloning of environments for disaster recovery or Classic to OCI (Gen 2) migration.

Key Resources

• Working with EPM Automate for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud:
  • Installing EPM Automate
  • getApplicationAdminMode
  • cloneEnvironment

REST API to Clone Environments

This REST API clones the current environment and, optionally, identity domain artifacts (users and roles). This REST API is an alternative to using the Clone Environment feature in Migration or the EPM Automate cloneEnvironment command.

Business Benefit: This feature allows you to automate cloning environments.

Key Resources

• Migration REST APIs in REST API for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud
• Cloning EPM Cloud Environments in Administering Migration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud

Role Information

• Service Administrators

Groovy Features

You can now use Groovy to do these tasks:

• Export and import level 0 data from Essbase. The DataExporter class allows you to export data in the Planning format from a cube that can be consumed either via an iterator or can be written to a file which is made available in the Outbox. The DataImportRequest and DataImporter classes allow you to import level 0 data in Planning format from a file from the Inbox or rows of in-memory data into Essbase.

• Use a CSV writer that allows you to write an array or collection of strings to a file that will be uploaded to the Outbox.

These features can be used by any application that has access to Groovy.

Business Benefit: Using Groovy business rules allows you to automate these tasks.

Steps to Enable

You don't need to do anything to enable this feature.

Tips And Considerations

To get a quick introduction to Groovy business rules, watch the Learning Groovy in EPM Cloud video.

Key Resources

• Learning Groovy in EPM Cloud video
• Creating a Groovy Business Rule in Designing with Calculation Manager for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud
• Introduction to Groovy Business Rules
• Groovy Tutorials
• EPM Cloud Groovy Rules Java API Reference

Role Information

• Calculation Manager Business Rule Designer

Improved Manifest Creation Page for Smart View (Mac and Browser)

Improvements in the Create Manifest File page for Smart View (Mac and Browser) allow for easier reuse of existing add-in manifest files and ease-of-use when creating manifest files for a multiple-manifest deployment.

The Create Manifest File utility now allows you to change or reuse the Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser) add-in ID. Unique IDs identify one add-in from another. With this utility, Service Administrators can create a unique ID for each Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud instance (for example, Test and Production instances). The utility also allows you to reuse an existing manifest file and upgrade it while maintaining the ID that was previously set and other option selections, such as Server URL, App Domains, Add-in Name, and ribbon and context menu selections.

To access the utility in the Create Manifest File page, Service Administrators use new buttons for selecting a previously-used ID and for generating a new unique ID:

• “Generate new unique ID for the add-in GUID” button

The “Generate new unique ID” button in the Create Manifest File utility lets you easily generate a unique manifest ID. Clicking this button populates the Add-in ID (GUID) field. Unique IDs identify one add-in from another. Using the new Generate ID button, you can create a unique ID for each manifest you create for each Strategic Workforce Planing Cloud instance in your organization. Once deployed, the unique ID allows Smart View (Mac and Browser) to easily identify one add-in from another.

• “Select manifest file to reuse” button

Reuse an existing manifest file by clicking the "Reuse add-in ID (GUID)" button. Navigate to the manifest XML file to reuse, and open it.

In the “Create Manifest File” page, your previous selections are ready to use again. Selections and edits you made in the Server URL, App Domains, and Add-in Name fields are repopulated. Depending on the manifest version you are reusing (such as 21.06 or 21.09), the  menu and context menu items are reselected. And, if selected, function support is rechecked. For more information, see the "Tips and Considerations" section below.

When reusing a manifest, the business process selection defaults to Planning. Choose the business process you require to see your previous selections. Then you may make changes in the “Available menu items” pane, and perform any other customizations you require for renaming menu items or adding items to the context menu.

Once you've made all your changes and updates, be sure to click the Create Manifest File button, and then proceed with sideloading or deployment.

Business Benefit: Improvements in the CreateManifest.html page allow Service Administrators to easily reuse and update manifest files and generate the unique GUIDs required when deploying multiple manifest files, simplifying the update process.

Steps to Enable

There are no steps to enable this feature. Instead, while updating your Smart View (Mac and Browser) deployment to take advantage of the latest features, use the new utility buttons in the Create Manifest File page, "Select manifest file to reuse" and "Generate new unique ID," as you require.

Tips And Considerations

• When reusing a manifest file created in 21.09 or later, items chosen in “Available menu items" and context menu selections will be recognized; for example, items will be checked and underlined where appropriate. Rename any items that were previously renamed. Any new menu items added since the manifest was last used must be reviewed and selected, if required.

  If you are reusing a manifest earlier than 21.09, only "Available menu item" selections will be recognized. Edit any items you wish to rename, and reset your context menu items.

For all previous manifests, the Server URL, App Domains, Add-in Name field will be recognized. However, be sure to review the "Select business process to create manifest" field and change it to the correct business process, if necessary. The business process will always default to Planning, regardless of the business process that was used previously. For example, if you reuse a manifest that was created for Financial Consolidation and Close, the business process field will default to Planning when you select it for reuse. After selecting the correct business process, it is best practice to review all the selections on the Create Manifest File page and make any updates you require.

• In a multiple manifest deployment, each manifest file must have a unique GUID. If you plan to deploy multiple manifest files, then, as you create each manifest file, click the "Generate a new unique ID" button to ensure that each manifest file has a unique GUID.

Key Resources

• Deploying and Administering Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser): 
  • Creating and Saving the Manifest File
  • Reusing a Previously-Saved Manifest File
  • Creating Files for Multiple Manifest Deployment or Sideloading
  • Customizing the Manifest File
  • Sideloading and Logging In
  • Deploying the Manifest File to Office 365 Users

Support for Dashboards in Smart View (Mac and Browser)

Oracle  Smart View (Mac and Browser) now supports dashboards. Dashboards provide an overview to users of their planning and forecast process by showing summary data.  They give you access to key information and let you enter, change, and save data.

In Smart View (Mac and Browser), dashboard objects are displayed in table format, with each object displayed on a separate sheet within a workbook.

To open a dashboard:

1. Connect to a data source that contains dashboards.

2. From the tree list in the Smart View Home panel, click a dashboard, indicated by this icon: .

The dashboard opens in a new Excel workbook, with each dashboard object displayed in table format in separate worksheets. For example, if a dashboard contains four objects, then four worksheets will be launched in the workbook.

For more information on dashboards:

• Administrators: See the topics on designing dashboards in the Administering guide for your cloud business process.
• End users: See the topics on using dashboards in the Working with guide for your cloud business process.

Business Benefit: In Smart View (Mac and Browser), dashboards show summary data to users in table format, enabling users to quickly enter, change, and save data.

Key Resources

• Working with Dashboards in Smart View for Office User's Guide

Progress Message Displayed on Submit in Smart View (Mac and Browser)

When submitting data in Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser), a message is now displayed showing you the progress of the Submit operation.

You may not make any changes to the grid or form until the progress message is closed. This prevents you from entering data into the grid before the current Submit is complete.

Previously, users could enter data, submit it, then enter data in other cells before the Submit operation was completed, which could result in an invalid grid or form.

Additionally, errors originating in the business process are now displayed in a similar popup message.

Business Benefit: The new progress message that displays when performing a Submit operation prevents users from entering data before the current Submit is complete, which helps to maintain the validity of the grid or form.

Key Resources

• Submitting Data in Working with Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser)

Support for Comments and Unknown Members in Smart View (Mac and Browser)

The new View Comments ribbon command launches the Comment Edit dialog, allowing you to easily access and edit comments in an ad hoc grid.

Comments consist of:

• Unknown members on a grid
• Text typed outside the grid; for example, your own notes on a sheet

Enable comment display in the ad hoc sheet by selecting the "Preserve Comments and Formulas" check box in the Data tab of the Options panel.

Set a cell style in Smart View (Mac and Browser) to give you a quick view of comment cells on the sheet, including invalid, or unknown, members in the grid, or notes you may have made in cells outside of the grid. You can also set a Data option to review comments in the Comment Edit dialog upon each refresh.

Launch the Comment Edit dialog any time by clicking the View Comments command, available by default as a submenu item of the More command in the Smart View ribbon,  Data group.

The Comment Edit dialog displays each comment in an editable text field, along with the cell location of each comment. Edit or delete the comment in the Comment Edit dialog. You can also edit or delete comments directly in the grid, without using the dialog.

To display the Comment Edit dialog each time you refresh the ad hoc grid, select the new data option, "Always Show Comments on Refresh." This option is located in the Ad Hoc Mode group in the Data tab of the Options panel.

Business Benefit: The new View Comment feature in Smart View (Mac and Browser), including options for displaying comments and displaying the Comment Edit dialog, provides a clear and easy-to-use interface for viewing, editing, and deleting comments and unknown members present in an ad hoc grid.

Steps to Enable

To use the View Comments feature in Smart View (Mac and Browser), a Service Administrator must create and deploy a new manifest to users. Alternatively, a Service Administrator may reuse an existing manifest file and then redeploy it to users.

To enable the new View Comment feature in Smart View (Mac and Browser):

1. Create a new manifest file or reuse an existing manifest file, and customize it per your requirements.
2. Ensure that the View Comments menu item is selected in the "Available menu items" pane.
3. Deploy the manifest file to Smart View (Mac and Browser) users.

Key Resources

• Deploying and Administering Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser): 
  • Creating and Saving the Manifest File
  • Reusing a Previously-Saved Manifest File
  • Creating Files for Multiple Manifest Deployment or Sideloading
  • Customizing the Manifest File
  • Sideloading and Logging In
  • Deploying the Manifest File to Office 365 Users

• Working with Oracle Smart View for Office (Mac and Browser):
  • Working with Comments and Unknown Members

Hide Density Column for ASO Cubes in the Dimension Editors

The Dimension Editor interface now only displays the Dense (or Density) column for applications that use BSO cubes.

In the Simplified Dimension Editor, from the Home page, click Application, then Overview, and then Dimensions. In the Cube drop-down, select a BSO cube to view the Dense column. If you select an ASO cube, the Dense column is hidden.

Business Benefit: The Dense (or Density) column isn't needed in the Dimension Editor interface for all business processes and applications, so it will only display for applications that use BSO cubes.

Key Resources

• Filtering the Dimension View by Cube in Administering Planning
• Setting Dimension Density and Order in Administering Planning

Support for Defining Invalid Intersections and Other Valid Intersections Enhancements

A new definition type, called Invalid Intersections, has been added to the Valid Intersections functionality.

Valid intersections prevent data entry to a large number of cell intersections, whereas invalid intersections prevent data entry to a select few intersections.

In use cases where data entry is allowed in most cell combinations but you need to prevent data entry to only a select few cell combinations, the process for defining those intersections was cumbersome. We've eased the definition process by supporting the ability to define invalid intersections. You define invalid intersections in the same way that you define valid intersections except you can now specify the Invalid Intersection definition type when creating the intersection group.

In addition to the ability to define invalid intersections, you can now filter the intersections listing by type and import and export valid/invalid intersections.

Business Benefit: The ability to define invalid intersections eases the definition process in use cases where you only need to prevent data entry for a select few cell combinations.

Key Resources

• Defining Valid and Invalid Intersections in Administering Planning

Processing Time Restrictions Removed for Oracle Cloud ERP Integrations

When you build a BI Publisher Report as the basis for a Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud integration definition with the Oracle Cloud ERP, you can now execute the integration without encountering execution time restrictions. Using this new feature, the integration definition uses the Oracle Enterprise Scheduler (ESS) to schedule a job to be executed at specific intervals not subject to timeout restrictions.

To execute jobs in this mode, customers need to create an Oracle ESS job definition in the Oracle Cloud ERP for the BI Publisher report used in the integration with the Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud.

Business Benefit: Prior to this update, customers could only execute BI Publisher reports in synchronous mode, which has a timeout limit of about 5 minutes within the Oracle Cloud ERP instance. BI Publisher reports run via ESS can process larger data sets and execute queries quickly without any time restrictions.

Key Resources

• Creating an Oracle Enterprise Scheduler (ESS) Job to Run in Asynchronous Mode in Administering Data Integration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud

Importing and Exporting Period Mapping in Excel

In this update, all period mappings types are enabled for Excel export/import options in Data Integration. You can now create new period mappings in Excel and then import them. You can also export period mappings, make changes to them, and re-import them.

Business Benefit: This feature enables you to define and create period mappings when using Excel to import or export data.

Key Resources

• Managing Period Mappings in Administering Data Integration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud

Support for Using the PeriodOffset Function Within the Range Member Selector in Reports

In Reports, the Range member selector function returns a range of members based on specified start and end members. It is commonly used with the CurrentPOV or Prompts in a Time (for example, Period) dimension to produce a “rolling” report that displays months before and after the “current month” (for example, three months before through three months after the current month).

Previously, the Range function could not automatically span across years, when years and periods were in separate dimensions. You can now use the Range function with the PeriodOffset function, which can produce a rolling report across the specified year and period dimensions.

For example, if the member selection functions are defined as:

Range from: PeriodOffset of CurrentPOV - 2 for periods

To: PeriodOffset of CurrentPOV + 14 for periods

Where the CurrentPOV for Year and Periods are Jan and FY19, the results of the report are as follows, where the starting period is Nov, FY18 (Current POV – 2) and the ending period is Mar, FY20 (Current POV + 14)

PeriodOffset Function within the Range Member Selector Function

Business Benefit: This feature provides a dynamic member selection when creating reports that span time periods across periods and years eliminates manually selecting each period and year combination.

Key Resources

• Designing with Reports for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud
  • Functions Available Through Member Selection 
  • Example: Using the Range function to create rolling reports

Planning Frequency Renamed to Period Frequency in Application Creation Wizard

When creating an application using the Application Creation Wizard and selecting setup options, the Planning Frequency option is now renamed to Period Frequency.

The application provides setup options that you can select to help you manually create the initial framework for your business process. One of the options you'll need to specify is now called Period Frequency where you'll select from the following frequency options: Monthly, Weekly, Quarterly, or Custom.

Business Benefit: To keep the terminology consistent across the business processes, the time period option was renamed from Planning Frequency to Period Frequency.

Key Resources

• Setting Up the Calendar in Administering Planning

IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

One-Week Lag Between Readiness Documents Live and Help Center Live

Because Oracle readiness documents (What's New and New Feature Summary) are live one week before the monthly update is applied to Test environments, some links to documentation included in the readiness documents will not work until after the Oracle Help Center update is complete when the monthly update is applied to Test environments.

Setting Dashboard or Infolet as Default Page

Starting with the November 2021 update (21.11), in the interest of better and consistent user interaction, you will no longer be able to set a dashboard or infolet as the default page within the listing page. When these settings are enabled, the default dashboard or infolet opens in place of the listing page.

Only Secured URLs in Logo and Background Images

Starting with the November 2021 update (21.11), only secured URLs will be supported within the Logo Image and Background Image settings in the Appearance page in Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud.

Use the Export URLs Feature to Replace Direct URLs

In the 21.03 update, Oracle released a feature called Export URLs that exports Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud URLs to a CSV file which then provides the unique URLs for each card, tab, or sub-tab within a connected Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud business process. The Export URLs feature should be used in place of any direct URL pointers that customers might be using to link to forms, dashboards, or infolets. The direct URL feature to forms, dashboards, or infolets will no longer be supported starting with the 21.11 update. See Using Direct URLs to Integrate Connected Environments in Administering Planning.

Restrictions to Copy Version Functionality

Based on feedback from several customers due to its inherent data corruption risks, we plan to restrict the ‘Copy Version’ functionality to be exposed only to administrators. Starting in November 2021, ‘Copy Version’ functionality will not be available to Power Users and Users.

Support for Composite Forms

As of the May 2021 update, Oracle Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud no longer officially supports composite forms. As has been announced for several months, customers are required to use Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud dashboards instead. Customers can continue to use their composite forms without support.

Loaner Program for Cloud Infrastructure Generation 2 Testing and OCI Migration Assistance Early Adopter Program

Oracle Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud is now live on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Gen 2 environments. If you are interested in testing your application performance on an OCI environment, open a service request following the process at https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas/enterprise-performance-management-common/tsepm/op_procs_loaner_envs.html and request for a loaner environment in an OCI data center for a duration of 30 days with the business justification as “Want to test application performance in an OCI Gen 2 data center”.

After you have performed the testing, submit Provide Feedback from the loaner environment. Create a service request using the normal support process, if you have any issues or feedback for the OCI environment. For more information, see What is a Gen 2 Cloud?

Additionally, Oracle has instituted a program to assist a limited number of early adopters on Oracle Cloud Classic to migrate to OCI. For more information, see Oracle Cloud Classic to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Migration Assistance Program for Early Adopters.