This document provides an overview of Calc Manager in Hyperion Financial Management (HFM). It discusses why Calc Manager should be used, its object hierarchy including variables, rule sets, and rules. It also covers importing and exporting rules, troubleshooting, and best practices for naming conventions and rule design. The key aspects are creating logical rule flows using conditions, formulas, and data/member ranges to perform calculation tasks in a structured way.

1. Getting started with
Calc Manager for
Hyperion Financial
Management
Chris Barbieri
Practice Director
Edgewater Ranzal
cbarbieri@ranzal.com
Session 7610

2. Chris Barbieri
Established HFM performance tuning
techniques and statistics widely used today
4+ years as Sr. Product Issues Manager at
Hyperion
HFM, Smart View, Shared Services, MDM
Member of HFM launch team in 2001,
certified in HFM and Enterprise
MBA, Babson College
B.S. Finance & Accounting, Boston College
Co-founded the HFM Performance Tuning
Lab at Ranzal with infrastructure expert
Kurt Schletter
Awarded Oracle ACE status

3. Calc Manager
Intro: What, where, and why would I use
it?
Object hierarchies
◦ Variables
◦ Rule sets
◦ Objects
Hung up on naming schemes
Deploying, importing, exporting
Troubleshooting

4. Why Use Calc Manager?
Code and document better
◦ Flow metaphor better describes the decision
process
◦ Enforces structured variables
◦ Easy re-use of objects
New feature in 11.1.1.0: EPMA apps only
11.1.1.3 added support for Classic apps
Very useable

5. Object Hierarchy
System View: primary view when you
enter Calc Manager
Choose the product

6. Application
Once you select a product, you will see
the available applications for each

7. Calculation Type
These are the available HFM subroutines

8. A rule set is like a playlist
Usually have one main set
One “blank” set
And one “debug” set
◦ Add or remove individual rules until you found
the culprit
◦ Revert to the normal one when ready
… per calculation type
Rule Sets

9. View > Deployment
View
Manage which set
will be the deployed
one
◦ Only one can be
checked
◦ All can be unchecked
Deployment View

10. Double-click on a set to see the contained
rules
◦ Puts you into rule set manager
◦ Drag a rule in, or right-click to remove
◦ Sequence matters!
Manage a Rule Set

11. How do you define a rule?
◦ A logical grouping of conditions, ranges, and
formulas that perform a distinct task
Rules don’t have to be included in a set
◦ They won’t run if they are not in a deployed set
And finally… Rules!

12. Variables
Tools > Variables
Replacement
Execution

13. Replacement Variables
“Type less” – Jim “the rules guy” Heflin
Type fewer variables

14. Replacement Variables
Constants

15. Execution Variables
• Some are defined with the variable, so
the same definition can be used by all
rules.
• In most cases however, especially string
and number variables, we defined them
inside the rule itself. In these cases, the
variable is part of a common formula,
but the contents are rule specific.
• Boolean
• String
• Number

16. Execution Variables

17. Boolean Variables
True/False responses

18. Variable Scope
Define the scope for each variable
Most are “Rule” specific
Some, like Tax Rates, are application
specific

19. Variable Groups
Useful for sorting or associating the
variables

20. Numeric Variables
Most often populated at the rule level
nData is the most useful, as part of Data
Range (HS.OpenDataUnit)

21. String Variables
Second most popular
Useful for storing and managing metadata
member names or attributes

22. Do this before you make changes
Select an application name from System
View and File > Export
Export Rules

23. Import the
entire
collection,
including
variables, by
choosing File
> Import
Browse for
the .XML file
Import Rules

24. Choose the target application.
Update Location Details
This has no connection to the application you
highlighted
Click Import
Import Rules, cont’d

25. Helpful scheme while looking at various list
views
RS_ for “Rule Set”
◦ RS_Blank
◦ RS_Calculate
◦ RS_Debug
RO_ for “Rule Object”
◦ RS_number if they are readily sequenced
◦ RS_ObviousPurposeInTitleCase
Within a rule, provide intuitive Captions for
each object
Object Naming

26. Be Obvious, Not Cryptic

27. Does the graphical flow make sense?
Another Rule Example

28. Use long names
HFM supports up to 50 alphanumeric
characters for the rule name
And feel sorry for Essbase users ☺
Create a New Rule

29. Select the Calculation Type

30. 1. Condition
2. Formula
3. Data Range
4. Member Range
5. Script
6. Fixed Loop
The Rule Palette

31. 99% of your rules should have some
Most important performance aspect of
your application
Always ask yourself:
◦ Value dimension member?
◦ Which entities?
◦ Which period?
Conditions

32. Used to populate variables
And for most functions
◦ HS.Exp
◦ HS.SetDataWithPOV
◦ HS.Clear
◦ Many more
Formula

33. Populate a Variable

34. HS.Clear

35. Like Windows, shows a little hand on the
icon
Usage
◦ Check this if you want to change or delete the
formula.
Shared Formulas

36. Does not appear in graphical
◦ Just set two intersections equal to each other
◦ Still a concept of left and right
Pull to the left
HS.Exp

37. Last one in wins!
Multiple Rows

38. Blank for a dimension implies all base
members with data
Fill in a single parent member
Use lists
Data Range

39. Evaluate the account
◦ We only want accounts beginning with “3”
String Functions

40. Translate balance sheet accounts at
average rate, using PVA
Translate

41. Simple example
The only time you can write to another
entity
◦ A sibling
◦ [Proportion] or [Elimination] only
◦ Use a condition to avoid consolidating to a
particular entity
Consolidate

42. Only accounts flagged Consolidated are
available
Consolidate, cont’d

43. Consolidate, cont’d

44. Cycle through a list of members within a
given dimension
Can be defined in the rules
“Parent”,”[Base]”
Or from custom member lists
“OverrideAccounts”
Most common inNoInput rules
Member Range

45. NoInput

46. Test User Defined Fields

47. Note the use of a different formula for
each View
Dynamic

48. NoInput Formula

49. Zoom

50. Is the rule running? Did it pass each
condition?
Add a formula {i} = {i}
Enable Logging
◦ Rule Level
Debugging, aka “WriteToFile”
“WriteToFile”

51. Icon indicates you can enter text
Also add variables to see their contents at
that point in the rule
Debugging, cont’d

52. Within data
range, but
before account
condition
After the
condition
Debugging Example

53. Output log sample

54. Possible, but…
◦ … chicken’s way out
Take you just as long to write in script as
it would to use graphical mode
◦ And it would still be better written
Script

55. No idea…
Fixed Loop