EPM Tech Tips · Planning · 03
A planner saves a form, opens the report, and the new number is not there. The data is in the input cube but never reached the reporting (ASO) cube. Smart Push is a data map that runs from a form, so the break is in the form setup, the data map, or the job. Checking them in a fixed order finds the break quickly, and this guide gives you that order.
Before you start
Reproduce it. Note the form, the POV and page members, one cell that did not move, and the save time. You need all four to match a job and a mapping.
Pick your route. If nothing moves from this form, start with steps 1 and 2 (did it run, did it finish). If some data moves but certain members or cells do not, go to steps 3, 4 and 5.
Step 1 · Is Smart Push attached and set to run on save?
What happens. Smart Push only runs if a data map is attached to the form and set to run after save. Without that, saving the form writes to the input cube and stops there. In Forms 2.0 the form shows no message that Smart Push ran on save.
How to check.
Go to Navigator › Create and Manage › Forms, select the form and click Edit.
Open the Smart Push tab and confirm the expected data map is listed.
Expand the mapping and check that Run After Save is selected.
Note whether Run Smart Push in Background is selected. If it is, the form returns before the push finishes, so a user who opens the report at once sees old data.
Fix. Add the data map and select Run After Save. If the push runs in the background, tell users to wait for the job to complete before they refresh the report.
Step 2 · Did the job finish without errors?
What happens. Every Smart Push creates a job. A push can fail, wait for resources, or complete with a warning, and the user sees nothing in the form.
How to check.
Go to Application › Jobs.
Filter by job type and start time to find the push that matches the save. Administrators see all jobs, other users only their own.
Click the job name and read the status and sub-status. Click Refresh while it runs.
Fix. Act on the message. Smart Push has a limit on how much data one push can move, and many concurrent pushes into the same cube wait for each other. If the job reports a size or limit error, shrink the push region (step 3). If pushes queue or fail at busy times, move large pushes and cube maintenance out of user hours, and check Allow Smart Push Simultaneously on the data map.
Step 3 · Does the push region include the cell?
What happens. Smart Push moves a region, not the whole form. With Use Form Context, it takes the members from the form design for rows and columns, and the run-time member for the POV and page. With Overwrite Selection, it moves only the members you picked there. Exclusions remove members from either one.
How to check.
On the form's Smart Push tab, expand the mapping and review each dimension.
For Use Form Context, compare the form design members with the cell. The design, not the screen, defines the region.
For Overwrite Selection, open the member selection and confirm the cell's member is in it and not excluded.
If the form has several segments, remember that Use Form Context combines all of them, including hidden segments.
For any dimension with no Smart Push selection, the member selection comes from the data map itself. Open the data map and check its source selection. While it is open, note its clear settings (see step 6).
Fix. Widen the selection or remove the exclusion, keeping the region as small as the business needs. For multi-segment forms, Overwrite Selection gives tighter control.
Step 4 · Do the dimensions and members map to the target?
What happens. The data map links each source dimension to a target dimension. Dimensions that exist only in the target appear under Unmapped Dimensions. Source members whose names do not exist in the target cube are ignored, so their values do not arrive.
How to check.
Go to Application › Data Exchange › Data Maps and open the data map.
Check the Source and Target mappings, and the Target for Unmapped Dimensions section. Each target dimension needs a member to receive the data.
Compare member names between the cubes. If names differ, check for member-level mappings. On save, a source member with no target member is flagged as not mapped.
If a Smart List is mapped to a dimension, confirm the Smart List labels match member names or aliases in the target. A push that fails with "Unrecognized Smart List Value" points here.
Fix. Map the missing dimension, assign a member to each unmapped target dimension, add member-level mappings where names differ, or add the member to the reporting cube. After metadata changes, refresh the database so both cubes have the new members. If the selection includes dynamic (on-the-fly) members, synchronize the data map before the next push.
Step 5 · Is the cell a stored, level-0 value with data?
What happens. The reporting cube receives data at level 0. Pushing Dynamic Calc members makes Essbase calculate them during the push, which slows it down. The data map's Exclude Dynamic Calc Members option applies to Push Data only, not Smart Push, so leave them out of the selection yourself. Rows where every value is #missing are ignored.
How to check.
In the Dimension Editor, check the Data Storage property of each member in the cell. A Dynamic Calc account will not reach the target as a stored value.
Check that the target members are level 0 in the reporting cube. An ASO cube does not accept input at upper levels.
If the cell holds a cleared value, check whether the whole row was #missing. That row is skipped.
Fix. Push the stored level-0 members that feed the dynamic member and let the reporting cube calculate the total. If you must move a Dynamic Calc member, include only that one and expect a slower push.
Step 6 · Are you reading the report at the right intersection?
Open an ad hoc grid on the reporting cube at the same members the data map used, including those set for unmapped dimensions. A report filtered on a different member of a dimension that exists only in the target will show nothing. Also check the data map's clear settings. Smart Push clears the target region before it writes, and Use target selection for clear and restrict data clears the full target selection regardless of the source region. Warning: before you widen a push region or turn that option on, confirm no other push or load writes to that region, because the next save deletes it.
Quick checklist
Data map attached, Run After Save on · Form › Smart Push tab
Job completed, no warnings · Application › Jobs › job details
Cell inside the push region · Use Form Context / Overwrite Selection
Dimensions and members mapped · Application › Data Exchange › Data Maps
Stored level-0 members, row not empty · Dimension Editor › Data Storage
Report at the mapped intersection · Reporting cube grid
Pedro San Martín · Founder & Principal, Asher & Company
