We use Analyzer heavily to push and pull datat, but our files seem to update quickly enough that a status bar doesn’t seem a high-priority requirement for us. One file with 20+ pulls of extensive data for our month end reporting normally takes less than 2 minutes to update. A request we would make is for a time stamp to show the last time the pull was updated. Prophix 4 Excel (predecessor to Analyzer) had this feature and it was convenient to link each time stamp to one tab that showed all updates in one place. We’ve never had issues with Analyzer missing a tab in the update process, but it would still be nice to have a clear record/check of the last time each pull was updated. But overall we’re very happy with Analyzer and appreciate the functionality and flexibility it offers when we need the formula power or exact formatting of Excel.
That’s great feedback, Ryan. Thanks for your input! It’s been passed on to our Product team.
We are heavy users of both Analyzer and Contributor.
For Analyzer, I often link to page fields in drop down cells on fairly large reports to provide some controlled ad hoc for those users that operate better with some guardrails. There is a lot of refreshing of the entire sheet. Two pieces of advice to get better results: 1) train users that when in doubt, refresh the whole connection from the Analyzer pane which is good practice for any data system. and 2) The green refresh icons (I think they look like Saturn, just me?) should sweep over the sheet and turn off relatively quickly so an incomplete report should be a non-issue.
If it is taking long enough to refresh that it is causing problems, it’s probably also causng problems on the web and the cube design needs to be looked at. I find the Excel Analyzer runs faster than opening the same data in a template on the web, your Excel sheet including the add-in is rarely the bottleneck. I was having this issue until I rebuilt my processes to move some calculations out of Prophix account formulas and into the source data or integration upstream. I also have a daily scheduled process to scrub and optimize my cubes.
Love this! Thanks for sharing Frank 