XL Cubed Versión 7 UserGuide

XLCubed v7 User Guide
XLCubed Ltd
07 August 2014
Contents
Introduction & Overview ........................................................................................................................ 1
What is XLCubed? ......................................................................................................................................................... 1
Data Sources ................................................................................................................................................................. 1
How is it used? .............................................................................................................................................................. 1
XLCubed and Cube Terminology ................................................................................................................................... 1
Ways to retrieve data in XLCubed................................................................................................................................. 4
QuickStart .............................................................................................................................................. 6
Managing Connections ................................................................................................................................................. 6
Connecting to your data ............................................................................................................................................... 6
Book I Grids ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Grid Reporting Overview ............................................................................................................................................ 11
Grid Components ....................................................................................................................................................... 12
Basic Navigation ......................................................................................................................................................... 12
Report Designer .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Calculations Overview................................................................................................................................................. 58
Grid Calculations ......................................................................................................................................................... 58
Subtotals ..................................................................................................................................................................... 67
Visual Totals ................................................................................................................................................................ 68
Actions ........................................................................................................................................................................ 73
Outlier Grouping ......................................................................................................................................................... 73
Named Ranges ............................................................................................................................................................ 74
Linking Grids ............................................................................................................................................................... 80
Member Properties in Grids ....................................................................................................................................... 83
Active Cell Grid Selections .......................................................................................................................................... 84
Propagate Across Sheets ............................................................................................................................................ 87
Breakout Value ........................................................................................................................................................... 89
Converting Grid Reports ............................................................................................................................................. 93
Copying Grids .............................................................................................................................................................. 95
Deleting Grids.............................................................................................................................................................. 95
Drillthrough ................................................................................................................................................................. 96
Expanding Large Hierarchies ...................................................................................................................................... 97
Grid Charts .................................................................................................................................................................. 98
Book II - Formula Reporting ................................................................................................................ 102

Grid vs. Formula-based Reporting Key Differences ................................................................................................. 103
Drilling in Formula Report ........................................................................................................................................ 103
Insert Value ............................................................................................................................................................... 103
Insert Members ........................................................................................................................................................ 105
Insert Member Property........................................................................................................................................... 106
OLAP Formulae ......................................................................................................................................................... 107
Tabular Formulae ...................................................................................................................................................... 108

In-Cell Chart Formulae .............................................................................................................................................. 108
Relational Formulae .................................................................................................................................................. 108
Report Management Formulae ................................................................................................................................ 108
Formula wizards ........................................................................................................................................................ 109
XL3Lookup ................................................................................................................................................................. 110
XL3Member............................................................................................................................................................... 112
Syntax ........................................................................................................................................................................ 112
Other Formulae ......................................................................................................................................................... 115
Flex Reporting ........................................................................................................................................................... 181
Picture Links .............................................................................................................................................................. 186
Book III Charting & Data Visualisation .............................................................................................. 188

Standard Excel Charts ............................................................................................................................................... 188
XLCubed Grid Charts ................................................................................................................................................. 189
In-Cell Charts ............................................................................................................................................................. 189
Small Multiples.......................................................................................................................................................... 189
Treemaps .................................................................................................................................................................. 190
Mapping .................................................................................................................................................................... 190
In-Cell Charts in Grids ............................................................................................................................................... 191
Small Multiple Charts ............................................................................................................................................... 196
Interactive Charting .................................................................................................................................................. 220
In-Cell Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................... 223
SparkLine Chart Designer ......................................................................................................................................... 224
SparkColumns Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................. 227
SparkWinLose Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................. 229
SparkBar Chart Designer .......................................................................................................................................... 229
SparkBullet Chart Designer....................................................................................................................................... 231
SparkIcon Chart Designer ......................................................................................................................................... 233
SparkPie Chart Designer ........................................................................................................................................... 236
SparkHorizon Chart Designer .................................................................................................................................... 238
SparkBox Chart Designer .......................................................................................................................................... 239
DotPlot Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................. 241
Lollipop Chart Designer ............................................................................................................................................ 244
Bandline Chart Designer ........................................................................................................................................... 245
Maps.......................................................................................................................................................................... 248
Treemaps .................................................................................................................................................................. 253
Book IV - Web Edition ......................................................................................................................... 258

Step 1. Design your report ........................................................................................................................................ 258
Step 2. Publish your report ....................................................................................................................................... 258
Step 3. View the report in a browser ........................................................................................................................ 258
Step 4. Enjoy OLAP in a browser ............................................................................................................................... 258
Web Publishing ......................................................................................................................................................... 259

Concurrent Users ...................................................................................................................................................... 274
Analytics books ......................................................................................................................................................... 277
Auto refresh .............................................................................................................................................................. 201
Browsing the XLCubed Web Repository .................................................................................................................. 202
Reporting Services .................................................................................................................................................... 203
Web Development .................................................................................................................................................... 204
HTML ......................................................................................................................................................................... 303
iPhone app ................................................................................................................................................................ 304
Publishing Connections ............................................................................................................................................. 311
Customising web config............................................................................................................................................ 312
Web Parameters ....................................................................................................................................................... 313
Connection Mapping ................................................................................................................................................ 317
Dual Authentication .................................................................................................................................................. 320
Scheduling ................................................................................................................................................................. 322
Book V - Dimension Slicers ................................................................................................................. 338

Grid Slicers ................................................................................................................................................................ 338
Standalone Slicers ..................................................................................................................................................... 338
Member Selector Slicer ............................................................................................................................................ 340
Date Slicer ................................................................................................................................................................. 341
Updating Excel Ranges .............................................................................................................................................. 345
Excel Range Slicers.................................................................................................................................................... 345
Members with no data / Non empty ...................................................................................................................... 348
Cascading and Advanced Slicers.............................................................................................................................. 348
Initial Value ............................................................................................................................................................... 351
Disabling Slicers ........................................................................................................................................................ 352
Wait for Submit on Web ............................................................................................................................................ 352
Use query restrictions for children (new in v7.6) ..................................................................................................... 352
Book VI - Ranking, Sorting and Filtering............................................................................................... 353

Simple Filtering......................................................................................................................................................... 354
Axis Ranking .............................................................................................................................................................. 369
Outlier Grouping ....................................................................................................................................................... 375
Book VII - SQL ..................................................................................................................................... 382

SQL Server 2012........................................................................................................................................................ 383
SQL Data Tables (Administrators) ............................................................................................................................ 385
SQL Data Tables (Standard Users)............................................................................................................................ 391
SQL Slicers (Administrators) ..................................................................................................................................... 395
SQL Slicers (Standard Users) .................................................................................................................................... 401
Driving a SQL connection from an Excel range ......................................................................................................... 403
Using SQL Parameters .............................................................................................................................................. 404
Book VIII - Tables ................................................................................................................................ 408
SQL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 408

Multidimensional Table Designer ............................................................................................................................. 408
Tabular ...................................................................................................................................................................... 410
Tabular Designer ....................................................................................................................................................... 413
Formatting Tables ..................................................................................................................................................... 421
Book IX - SharePoint ........................................................................................................................... 434

Installing .................................................................................................................................................................... 434
Uninstalling ............................................................................................................................................................... 440
Using WebPart .......................................................................................................................................................... 445
Troubleshooting ........................................................................................................................................................ 450
SharePoint Integration .............................................................................................................................................. 451
Book X - Miscellaneous ....................................................................................................................... 463

XLCubed Options ...................................................................................................................................................... 463
Workbook Options .................................................................................................................................................... 467
Data Configuration Settings ...................................................................................................................................... 516
Book XI - Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 518

XLCubed Excel Edition ............................................................................................................................................... 518
Installation Troubleshooting ..................................................................................................................................... 518
XLCubed Web Edition................................................................................................................................................ 526
Book XII - Installation.......................................................................................................................... 541

XLCubed Excel Edition ............................................................................................................................................... 541
XLCubed Excel Edition Installation Logging............................................................................................................... 542
XLCubed Web Edition................................................................................................................................................ 543
Overview ................................................................................................................................................................... 543
Installation Prerequisites .......................................................................................................................................... 543
Server Requirements ................................................................................................................................................ 543
Client Requirements ................................................................................................................................................. 543
Pre-Requisites ........................................................................................................................................................... 543
IIS8/Windows 8 ......................................................................................................................................................... 543
Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................ 544
Setting up the XLCubed Web Edition application manually ..................................................................................... 546
Accessing XLCubed Web reports from SharePoint and other portals ...................................................................... 548
Application Usage ..................................................................................................................................................... 550
Introduction & Overview

What is XLCubed?
XLCubeds products help business users deliver reporting and dashboards and to carry out their own
analysis and data exploration without the need for any programming experience. It can also be used in
planning and budgeting models. The two core products are based in Excel and Web.
Data Sources
A key aspect of XLCubed is that the data itself is not held in Excel. XLCubeds primary data source is
Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. This can be multidimensional cubes, or the Tabular models
introduced in SQL 2012. XLCubed can also connect directly to relational databases, with a subset of the
overall XLCubed functionality.
How is it used?
In most organisations XLCubed is used to provide a managed self-service business intelligence model,
where IT develop and own the cubes or tabular models, and business users are able to develop and
maintain their own reports, dashboards and analysis. This gives the business the flexibility and control they
need in terms of reporting, but retains IT control of corporate data.
XLCubed consists of two core products:
Excel Edition an add-in for Microsoft Excel (2013 2003) which provides a powerful and flexible
reporting analysis and dashboard environment within Excel. The product extends the presentation and
query capabilities of Excel, and offers additional data visualization components. Users can do much more,
and more quickly than in a standard pivot table environment, but are still able to leverage their existing
Excel skills.
Web Edition Web server based software, providing intranet or internet access to interactive reports
through all standard browsers and with mobile app access. Reports developed in XLCubed Excel Edition can
be published to XLCubed Web for a more widespread distribution. XLCubed Web also provide the ability
for ad-hoc reporting.
XLCubed and Cube Terminology

A cube is a set of data organized into a structure defined by a number of measures and dimensions.
It contains the following:
Measures
Dimensions
Levels
Members
Measures
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Introduction, Overview and QuickStart
Cubes can be structured in different ways, but in simple terms measures are normally the elements you
want to add up in reporting. Typical measures might include Sales Volume, Unit Sales and Unit Cost.
Dimensions, Hierarchies and Levels

Dimensions are the bywords of reporting. For example you may want to report sales by Region, by Period,
by Product. Region, Period and Product would each be a dimension within the cube, and XLCubed makes
it easy for users to position dimensions within a report and choose the elements they want to see.
Dimensions may consist of one or more hierarchy. Hierarchies are ordered groupings, or drill paths of the
data. For example a Time Dimension may consist of both a Fiscal Date and a Calendar Date hierarchy.
These are different ways to group the days into months, quarters and years.
A Geography hierarchy may have 3 levels: Country, State, and City. Users can easily select items from any
level, or start at a higher level and drill down to detail.
Members
A member is any element, at any level within a hierarchy
Real world cubes typically have more than 3 dimensions, but to visualise an example cube we will use just
three. The diagram above shows a simple sales cube, for a bicycle sales business. The cube contains two
measures, Unit Sales and Profit, and three dimensions:

Product: The product being sold. All products sold are bicycles, and they are categorised as
either Road or Mountain bikes, with two model types in each category.
Region: The region the product is sold in, categorised by Hemisphere
Time: The (simplified) time period the product was sold in. In this case it goes only to the
quarter level, but would typically begin at year level, and go down to month or day.
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Each axis of the cube represents one dimension. The texts along the axes of the cube are the members of
the dimensions. Example members are m50, Asia, and 2nd quarter. The individual members aggregate
into the hierarchy structures of the dimension.
The values within the cube represent the measures, Unit Sales and Profit in this case. Each cell within the
cube will contain a value for each of the measures, and is formed by the intersection of the dimension
members. For example, the cell shown in red represents the intersection of (Product: m50, Region: Asia,
Time: 2nd Quarter), and the measure values are Unit Sales: 600, Profit: $217.
End users of a cube can determine each measures values for every intersection between the dimensions
by slicing and dicing with a tool such as XLCubed.
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Ways to retrieve data in XLCubed

XLCubed offers three ways to bring data into the workbook, which we describe very briefly here, and in
more detail in the relevant sections.
Grids
Grids are the most commonly used approach in XLCubed. At the lowest level grids are similar to a pivot
table. Each Grid is an individual object, with rows and columns, and they can be drilled down to additional
levels of detail and support slice and dice.
Grids remove many of the restrictions of pivot tables, with simple user calculations, rich ranking and
filtering, and can fully leverage the cube hierarchies. Grids can be modified or designed using the report
designer, through the grid task pane, or simply by direct drag and drop of the hierarchy labels.
Grids can connect to multidimensional cubes or tabular models and use MDX as the query language.
Formulae
XLCubed provides formulae to retrieve values and hierarchy members from the cube. The formula
approach gives total control over layout and formatting, and the formulae are easy to understand and
have user dialogs.
Formulae are most often used in dashboards and formal financial reports where the layout is key. The
simplest approach to create a formula report is to create a grid and then convert to formula.
Formulae can connect to multidimensional cubes or Tabular models and use MDX as the query language.
Grids or Formulae?
User preferences vary, and in many cases either reporting approach can be used, but some considerations
are:
Grids are stronger for slice and dice analytics, supporting drag and drop analysis
Grids handle dynamic data in terms of changing numbers of rows and columns
Like for like a grid will be faster than a formula report returning the same data
Formulae offer total flexibility in terms of layout and formatting possibilities
Tables
Tables can connect to multidimensional cubes using MDX, to tabular models using DAX, or relational
databases using SQL.
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Tables have similarities to grids, but have no concept of rows everything is a column.
Tables or Grids?
If your data is in a multidimensional cube, a grid will generally be a better fit as it is more flexible
and dynamic.
For in-memory tabular models (xVelocity) you can use grids or tables. Grids will give more flexibility,
in some cases Tables may have a performance benefit due to running a DAX query.
For direct query tabular models you need to use tables as they only support DAX.
For SQL you need to use a table
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QuickStart
Managing Connections
The Connections form is available from the XLCubed > Connections ribbon or menu item.
It allows you to view, edit and delete existing connections for the workbook, and to create new
connections when required.
Connecting to your data

One workbook can support multiple connections to different server/database/cube combinations.
Connection Manager
To make a connection select XLCubed, Connections and press Add
The display shows any recent connections, which can quickly be re-used by selecting and
pressing OK
For a new connection, select the New Connection tab, choose the server type and specify the
appropriate detail as below:
Analysis Services Server: Type the server name
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Analysis Services Server 2000: Type the AS2000 server name

Analysis Services Cube file: Browse to locate the local cube file
XLCubed Connection: Type the URL of the XLCubed Web Edition server to connect to
Once connected, select the required database on the left, then select relevant cube on
the right to add the connection.
Add additional connections to the workbook as required
Add a Grid
You can quickly and easily create a grid report. From XLCubed ribbon, click on the Grids & Tables icon and
select Grid.
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You will be prompted to create a connection or select a recent connection (see Connecting to your Data).
The Report Designer window will then be displayed. It has four main parts, as shown in the diagram
below:
A: The toolbar allows you to perform various operations and set certain options on the report.
B: The Available Hierarchies panel contains a tree that allows you to select new hierarchies from
the cube. Expand the dimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be
dragged from this area into Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report. The
different hierarchy types can be distinguished by their icon:
C: The selected hierarchies panels show you what hierarchies are currently selected for the
report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

D: The member selection panel shows the members selected for a hierarchy, as well as
advanced selections such as rankings and member properties. More information can be found
here.
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Moving Hierarchies
Hierarchies can be easily moved between axes by dragging and dropping. The member selections and
options for the hierarchy are preserved for the new position. To remove hierarchies from the report,
drag them to the Available Hierarchies panel (B above).
To select more than one hierarchy for moving, either hold down the Ctrlkey while clicking, or hold down
the Shift key to select a range of hierarchies.
Toolbar
Creating a simple grid report with a slicer

Simply drag and drop hierarchies from the Available Hierarchies area to Headers, Rows and Columns:
This gives a simple grid report with the default Measure, Reseller Sales Amount on Headers and
Product Model Categories and Calendar Date on columns:
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Now lets create a slicer on the Header (Measures) so that the user can report another measure apart from
Reseller Sales Amount.
Simply right-click on the member, Reseller Sales Amount to access XLCubeds right-click menu and choose
Add Slicer.
You will see that Reseller Sales Amount now has a drop-down:
You can then right-click on the slicer to edit it. From here you can set up the type of slicer that should be
displayed and the choices that should be offered.
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Book I Grids
Grid Reporting Overview
Grid reports (i.e. those generated using Design Grid option) are treated as a single object by XLCubed. The
report shape will always be rectangular, and some aspects will be familiar to users of Excel's PivotTables.
However, much of the power of Grid-based reporting is in the additional functionality not available
through native PivotTables. Grids are well-suited to analytical work, but can also be used in more formal
reporting, depending on the formatting required. For more flexible layout options, formula reports are
also possible.
Grid reports can be modified or designed using the Report Designer, or by simply dragging the hierarchy
labels to the axis where you require them.
More detail about your data can be obtained by double-clicking on the members (known as drilling), and
many other functions, for example Subtotals and Grid Calculations, can be accessed via right-click
menus on the Grid.
Multiple Grids can exist in one worksheet. There are shown in the XLCubed ribbon or toolbar.
Formatting, modification and deletion of Grids should be handled through XLCubed rather than native
Excel. Changes will otherwise not be retained when the Grid is next refreshed.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids
Grid Components
The main components of the Grid are listed below:
Header/Filter Area (C3:D5)
Dimension Labels (C3:C5, D8, C9)
Selected Dimension Members (B10:C20, D9:H9)
Data Area (D10:G20)
Basic Navigation
The XLCubed Grid basic navigation operates in a similar way to Pivot Tables in Excel.
Drilling applies to Members located on either Rows or Columns.
Drill up / down by double clicking on a Member.
Drill all currently selected members by right clicking on a Member and selecting
the Drill All option
from the XLCubed menu.

Keep only the selected Member(s) by right clicking on them and selecting the Keep Only
option from the XLCubed menu.

Exclude only the selected Member(s) by right clicking on them and selecting the
Keep All
Except option on the XLCubed menu.

Drag and Drop applies to any Dimension Labels
Swap Dimensions in the Grid by dragging one Dimension with the cursor to hover over another
Dimension.
Add/Remove Dimensions from Rows and Columns by dragging a Dimension with the cursor to
the desired location.
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Edit Grid
At any point it is possible to return to the Report Designer for the current grid by right clicking on
the grid, and choosing XLCubed> Design Grid.
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Grid Task Pane (2007 onwards)

The grid Task Pane can be toggled on and off via the Task Pane menu item in the XLCubed ribbon.
The task pane enables grid selections and the re-positioning / adding / removing of hierarchies
within the grid. Changes are optionally applied instantly or on the Apply button.
The Task pane displays the content of the currently active grid, and will
update accordingly as
each different grid is selected.
Saved Grid Report

When saved Grid Reports are re-opened in Excel, they are not initially connected to their data source and
are effectively static data, unless the Refresh Grid on open option is selected in the Grid Properties form.
This ensures the load time is kept to a minimum, and only those Grids required for the current session need
be activated.
To activate a Grid on a pre-saved spreadsheet you must do one of the following:
Double click on any part of the Grid
Right-click on any part of the Grid
Select the Grid from the Grid ribbon/toolbar
The grid is now active and can be used as normal.
Refresh Grid
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Right-clicking on an inactive grid will force a refresh.

Inserting or deleting rows in a grid will force a refresh.
Setting the check-boxes in the Refresh panel below will force a refresh. You can uncheck the
Refresh grid on open and Refresh when driving cells change boxes if you do not want this
behaviour
Use the Exclude from display, Keep all except, Keep only functionality of XLCubed to remove rows
if necessary.
If you want to refresh manually you can right-click, XLCubed, refresh grid or choose refresh grid
from the XLCubed ribbon.
If the active cell is in a grid you can press CTRL+SHIFT+R to refresh the grid.
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Report Designer
The Report Designer dialog can be accessed either when creating a new report (through the XLCubed >
Grid or Formula Report ribbon item), or when editing an existing Grid (via the XLCubed > Design Grid...
right-click menu item). When first creating a Grid or formula report, if the workbook has no connections,
then XLCubed will first prompt you to create a connection.
General Layout
The Report Designer has four main parts, as shown in the diagram below:
A: The toolbar allows you to perform various operations and set certain options on the report.
B: The Available Hierarchies panel contains a tree that allows you to select new hierarchies from
the cube. Expand the dimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be
dragged from this area into Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report. The
different hierarchy types can be distinguished by their icon:
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C: The selected hierarchies panels show you what hierarchies are currently selected for the
report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

D: The member selection panel shows the members selected for a hierarchy, as well as
advanced selections such as rankings and member properties. More information can be found
here.
Moving Hierarchies
Hierarchies can be easily moved between axes by dragging and dropping. The member selections and
options for the hierarchy are preserved for the new position. To remove hierarchies from the report,
drag them to the Available Hierarchies panel (B above).
To select more than one hierarchy for moving, either hold down the Ctrlkey while clicking, or hold down
the Shift key to select a range of hierarchies.
Toolbar
These are the toolbar options available within the Report Designer:
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Grid Properties
There are many Grid Properties settings available from XLCubeds right-click menu which give the user
more control over how the grid is displayed.
Behaviour options
Excel
Resize columns/rows after refresh: Automatically adjust the columns and rows to fit the data
Insert/Delete columns/rows when grid size changes: Determines the behaviour when members are added
or removed
Fill Formulae next to Grid: Detect and fill down/across any formulae directly adjacent to the grid as
members are added or removed.
Data
Remove empty columns/rows: Exclude columns/rows with no values from the result set
Replace 0 with null: Allows zeroes to be removed from report using the Exclude Empty options
Feed hierarchy member results: Use the MDX function Generate to allow dynamic ranking and filtering
(note: this option can be slower).
Use NonEmpty on Crossjoins: Use the NonEmptyCrossJoin MDX function
Exclude Calculated Members: by default XLCubed will show calculated members when drilling members to
display their children. This option means those calculations are no longer shown.
Where clause style: When aggregating in a hierarchy, XLCubed can generate MDX that:
With members
Sets
Subselect
Extracts each aggregate into a With member

Leaves the aggregates in-lined as a set
Uses an in-line subselect statement for the
aggregates
Drill Mode: Changes which members are shown when members are drilled
Standard
Drill and Replace
Drilled members are expanded in all

positions
Drilled members and their children are
shown. Drill the parent member to drill
back up
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Asymmetric
Drilled members are expanded only in then

location drilled. This applies if you have
more than one dimension on rows, when
the members can be repeated. This feature
was introduced in version 7.2
Refresh
Display error on invalid members: Displays a warning if invalid selections are found on any hierarchy
Refresh Grid on open: Causes the grid to update itself when the workbook is opened
Refresh when driving cells change: If the grid is driven from any Excel range then causes the grid to update
itself whenever any of these changes
Default Grid Options
The defaults for new Grids can be set by using the Save as Defaults button. To set a Grid back to the saved
defaults, use the Load from Defaults button.
Appearance options
General
Title: the title of the Grid, displayed in dialogs and menus whenever the Grid is referred to.
The following parameters can also be used to display information regarding the cube connection: {server}
{database} {cube} {lastupdate}.
Display Grid title: Display the Grid title in the worksheet.
Replace nulls with: Instead of an empty cell, XLCubed inserts the desired value.
Formatting
Apply formatting: Override formats on the Grid, or let you manage them manually.
Format Grid without borders: Exclude borders from the formatting applied to the Grid.
Apply Cube formatting: Retrieve and apply formats that are defined in the cube.
Merge repeating cells: When crossjoining, merge the repeated cells for the outer hierarchies:
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Show member properties in separate columns: If any member properties are selected, display each in its
own column, or in the same cell as the member caption:
Group member properties with the same name: Where member properties are being displayed, group
together those with same name.
Drilling
Show drill indicator: If a member is drillable, a symbol is displayed before the member's caption:
Indent members when drilling: The indentation of the members in a Grid reflects what level they are on.
The size of indentation can also be adjusted.
Grid Elements
In this section you can choose not to display sections of the grid. This allow you to place grids in specific
places without needing to hide rows/columns which is useful if they move when drilled.
This example screenshot shows the standard view and then below that the effect of hiding all areas except
Row Members on the second grid:
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Interaction Options
Track grid's active cell
The current cell in the Grid can be used as input for other Grids and formulae. See Active Cell Grid
Selections for more information.
Named Ranges
XLCubed can create named ranges based on Grid elements that can then be used by other Excel objects,
such as formulae and charts. See Named Grid Ranges for more information.
Lockdown Options
Password protect Grid properties: Before showing the Grid Properties dialog, a password is required.
Apply restrictions in Excel: Enforce the following permissions in Excel. If off, the restrictions are only
applied when published to XLCubed Web Edition.
Permissions
Show Grid menus: Show the right-click Grid menu. Note: The Grid properties dialog is always available
unless specifically excluded below.
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Allow hierarchy navigation: Show the Hierarchy Editor for any hierarchy.
Can change filter/column/row members: Show the Hierarchy Editor for the hierarchies on the given axis.
Can drill columns/rows: Allow drilling on members in the given axis.
Set All to No: Disallows all the above permissions.
Hiding Menu Items
These options allow you to hide specific operations from the Grid's right-click menu.
Writeback Options
See Book IV Web Edition for more detail about writeback in XLCubed.
MDX Options
Connection: Set the connection for the Grid
Auto-generate MDX (default): XLCubed controls the MDX for the Grid, given the selected options,
hierarchies and members.
Manual MDX: You may type your own MDX in the edit field. Using XL3Parm( Address ) allows you to
substitute parts of the MDX with cells on the worksheet.
Get MDX from Excel range: The entire MDX statement for the Grid is taken from a cell on the worksheet.
Performance Tips for Large Grids
Turn Off:
Apply formatting
Merge repeating cells
Turn On:
Hide draggable hierarchy labels
After making these changes to all the grids use XLCubed -> Connections -> Refresh connections to clear any
remaining hierarchy labels.
Saving Reports
Saving as a File
Using the Open Report and Save Report toolbar options, you can load and save the current report as
.xl3gridfiles, which can then be shared with other users.
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Favourites
You can add the current report as a favourite by using the Add to Favourites toolbar option, and reload a
saved one by selecting it from the Favourites dropdown.
Saved favourites can be viewed, edited and deleted in the XLCubed > Utilities > Manage Favourites
dialog.
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Slicers
Dimension slicers simplify the process of creating cube dynamic drop-downs.
For more information see Book V Slicers
Ranking, Sorting & Filtering

Ranking, Sorting and Filtering allows the user to control the order of the data displayed.
For more information see Book VI Ranking, Sorting & Filtering
Driving Grids from an Excel Range

For many standard reports, you will want to use data from the Excel workbook to influence your Grids.
Driving dimensions from a range provides a simple way to do this, especially when multiple Grids need to
use the same parameters.
If the input to the Grid can contain members that aren't found in the Cube, then the error message that is
shown for invalid members can be hidden. See the Grid Properties Display error on invalid members
option.
Example (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)
We will create a dropdown to automatically switch the Time dimension of our Grid.
1. Insert a Grid based on the Bicycle Sales demo cube, starting from A7. Select Time and Measures on
Slicers, Region on Columns and Product on Rows.
2. In cells B3 to B5, we enter the years we want to analyse:
3. To create a validation dropdown cell:

a. Select the B2 cell for the dropdown
b. Select the Data Validation ribbon item:
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c.
Choose a List type validation, and enter as the source:
d. Click OK, and the dropdown will be created in cell B2:
4. Now we need to drive the Grid from the dropdown cell:

a. Double-click on the Time label to display the Hierarchy editor.
b. Click on the Excel Range button, and choose B2 for the driving range:
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c. The selected range is added to the list of selections:
d. Click OK
5. The Grid will update to use the new range for the Time hierarchy. Because the range is currently
empty, the Grid seems to be unaffected, but if we now use the dropdown to switch the year
to 2003, we'll see the Grid update:
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6. As you can see, the validation list range can be hidden to keep the report tidy.
7. Even after drilling the Grid, the driving cell is still maintained:
Dragging and Dropping in Grids

One of the quickest ways to change a Grid report is to use the drag and drop feature. This allows you to
drag and drop hierarchies between the rows, columns and header axes of the report allowing you to
quickly produce detailed reports.
Click and hold the left mouse down on the hierarchy you want to move:
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As you move the mouse over the other hierarchies, the cursor will change. In this example, we
are swapping the two hierarchies:
Release the mouse button to complete the operation:
When over other hierarchies, the drop indicator will change to indicate whether the dropped field
will be placed before or after the current field, or whether they will swap positions:
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Grid Templates
You can save template reports outside of the XLCubed environment. In Design Grid click on the Save
Report icon
Save to a Windows folder - it will be saved as type XLCubed Grid
To retrieve a saved grid template click the Open Report icon
Open the template from the saved Windows folder:
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Saved Member Lists

These are lists of Dimension Members that can be saved and reused. As long as they are used on the same
Dimension/Hierarchy or a Dimension with the same values a Member List can be used by many users, in
different grids.
Note: A member list entered against a Dimension in a Grid will remain saved against the Dimension even
when the Dimension is not being actively used in the Grid. If it is not active i.e. in the Header, Rows or
Columns, the selections will have no effect on the data retrieved.
Clears the Current Member List
Save a Member List
Retrieve a Member List
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Advanced Row and Column selections

Named Sets
A named set is a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) expression that returns a set of dimension
members. Named sets can be created at cube level or within an application such as XLCubed. They can be
created combining cube data, arithmetic operators, numbers and functions.
From v6.5 two new options, Between and Manual MDX are available on Advanced tab Member Set when
editing hierarchies.
Between
This option allows the user to report for a particular range on that hierarchy. The only criteria is that both
members have to be at the same level.
For example, we can choose to report all data between 2002 and 2004 as below:
There is also an option to enter an Excel range as below - we will run the grid report based on values in
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$I$3 and $I$4. The start range value is in $I$3 and the last range value is $I$4.
Another feature of using the range option is that you can choose to leave one of the ranges blank.
Manual MDX
This option allows you to use MDX code - click on the ellipse to the right of the Manual MDX radio
button and you will be able to enter MDX code in the following window:
For example if you only want to report CY 2002 and CY 2004 you would enter {[CY 2002], {CY 2004]} in
the Manual MDX window. You can also specify an Excel cell range as the MDX source. Once you have
defined your named set you can then select to report Descendants, Lowest Descendants or Descendants
At.
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Task Pane
The XLCubed Task Pane is a sidebar designer which is very useful as an interactive drag and drop tool and
can be used as an alternative rather than going into the Report Designer. It can be used on grids, Tabular
Analysis Services reports and small multiples but not on SQL tables. Access the Task Pane on the XLCubed
tab, next to Options and Extras:
In the screenshot below there is a table report at A1 and a grid report at E1.
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On the right of the screenshot is the Task Pane. The focus is currently on the grid report so the Task Pane
shows information relating to the grid: Measures on header, ProductModelCategories on rows and
Geography on columns. You can quickly drag and drop as needed. Clicking on the table report makes the
Task Pane refresh to show the table report detail instead.
Inside the Task Pane the behaviour is the same as the Report Designer. For example, clicking on a column
inside the Task Pane, such as RegionCountryName displays all its members. You can also search for
members and set up criteria for which members to be retrieved.
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Hierarchy Editor
Double-clicking on a Grid's hierarchy label allows you to select the members using the Hierarchy Editor:
The dialog shows the hierarchy and its members. The tree can display either the members directly, or the
members grouped by hierarchy level:
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The tree can be expanded to its most detailed level where you can select values such as a specific name of
a customer. To select an item from the tree, either:
Double click on the item
Drag and drop the item into the right-hand selection area
To remove an item from the selection area, click on the delete icon at the end of the field. You can
also reorder the selected items by dragging the hand icon.
If you have a large hierarchy you can use the Search toolbar field to allow you to search all levels of the
hierarchy:
Having built a members list you can save it using the Save button. This can then be loaded into other
reports.
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Hierarchy Information
The file information dialog displays details about the hierarchy currently selected in the Report Designer or
the Hierarchy Editor dialogs:
Unique Name:
The unique identifier for the selected hierarchy
Caption:
A label of caption associated with the hierarchy
Type:
The type of the hierarchy, for example Date or Measures
Cardinality:
An estimate of the number of members in the hierarchy
Default Member:
The member that has been chosen as the default for the hierarchy
Description:
A description of the hierarchy
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Formatting Grids
In v7 formatting is available on XLCubed right-click menu as option, Format This Member.
So if we want to format Accessories row, we right-click on Accessories, XLCubed, Format This Member.
We are presented with the standard Excel Format Cells window from which we can choose any of the
usual settings to change.
We will choose Fill, select a colour and OK. The refreshed grid now looks like this:
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The lower half of the XLCubedFormats sheet shows that both Member Accessories and associated row
data will be filled in pink.
If you do not want the data to be filled go to the XLCubedFormats sheet, right-click the Data Format cell
for Accessories and remove the fill colour by setting the backgound to 'No Colour'.
Once refreshed, the grid now looks like:
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Formatting Rows and Columns

In v7.2 we now have the ability to set formatting on rows and/or columns for grid members. Here we have
a simple report where we have set formatting at different levels:
The format sheet looks like this:
Change the format sheet to ROWS as below:
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This format will now be applied for whichever hierarchy is on rows. Let's put Geography on rows instead:
As you can see this is a very simple way to create standardised reporting within an organisation. This could
easily be included in the master format sheet so that all grids created would have the same row format.
The same applies to columns.
Format this Level
Format this Level allows the user to easily format all members at a particular hierarchy level and is
available on XLCubeds right-click menu, Formatting, Format this Level. You will be presented with the
standard Excel Format Cells window from which you can choose any of the usual settings to change.
Level based formatting
You can format grid members depending on their level position in the cube structure. In the example
below we have a grid report showing the measure, Reseller Sales Amount with Geography on columns
and Product Model Categories on rows.
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We would like to apply some formatting on rows so that each level on the Product Model Categories
hierarchy is displayed in a different shade of blue.
We want to display All Products level in dark blue and then all levels (Category, Subcategory and Model
Name) in that hierarchy in lighter shades of blue. Make the changes to the XLCubedFormats sheet as
below:
[Dimension].[Hierarchy1]: enter the dimension and hierarchy
[Member1 Name]: rather than a member name, here we need to specify a level name. We must put the
asterisk (*) at the end of the level name to ensure that all members at that level are displayed in the
desired format. We can check the full level name by selecting a member at that level, and then going to
Grid Properties to check the MDX generated. We can also edit the hierarchy that we wish to format to
confirm the hierarchy level names.
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The report is formatted as below:
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Parent Child Dimensions

This method doesnt currently support parent child dimensions as the member unique names dont
contain the level name.
If you are using v7 onwards you can also use the syntax LEVEL: Number eg LEVEL:3
Conditional formatting
Overview
Excel conditional formatting allows the format of a cell to change based on its value or a formula.
Conditional Formatting in Grids
Conditional formatting can be setup on specific members, by using the "Format this member" right-click
option and then adding the conditional format to the data cell for that slice on the format sheet.
Conditional formatting can be applied to the whole grid by formatting the "Data Cell" value on the format
sheet.
XLCubedWeb Edition Restrictions
XLCubedWeb is limited to 3 conditional formats per cell and only supports the conditional formatting
available in Excel 2003, that is:
Format based on cell value

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Format based on Formula (the formula must keep all references on the same sheet as the cell being
formatted)
The Colour support is limited to the workbook set of colours, these can be seen in in the Excel Colour
picker under "More" => "Standard Colours":
XLCubedWeb supports "Solid data bars" but not the other options such as Icon Sets or gradient fills.
In cells, though not automatically in the Grid, XLCubedWeb also supports "Solid data bars" but not the
other options such as Icon Sets or gradient fills. In order to use this format in the Grid, you should deselect
the XLCubed > Properties > Appearance > Apply formatting Grid property, then apply it to the Grid area.
Overlapping conditional formats can cause an issue when a report is published. You may need to
rationalize these by going to "Manage Conditional Formatting" and select "Show Formatting rules for:" This
Worksheet
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Drilling in Grids
Drilling up and down is probably the simplest OLAP technique to master: it is simply a way of expanding
and collapsing the cells in a Grid report to show their component parts. Row or column members can be
drilled down to show the child members on the level below, or drilled up again to hide them.
To drill down on a cell, double-click on it. The following shows what happens when you double-click on
the All Customer cell:
Double-clicking on the cell again returns the Grid to its previous state.
Drilling Options
GRID PROPERTIES > APPEARANCE > SHOW DRILL INDICATOR
If a member is drillable, a symbol can be displayed before the member's caption:
GRID PROPERTIES > APPEARANCE > INDENT MEMBERS WHEN DRILLING
The indentation of the members in a Grid reflects what level they are on if this option is selected. The size
of indentation can also be adjusted.
Drill Across
New in Version 7.6
The drill across menu allows you to expand the grid using a dimension that isn't currently in the grid. In this
example we expand the data for 2007 by drilling into the promotions.
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The data is filtered to 2007, and drilled into the promotions.
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Drilling Multiple Selections

If several members need to be drilled at once, in order to save time the Drill All option can be used.
Select all the members to be drilled:
Select the XLCubed > Drill All right-click menu option:
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All the selected members are drilled:
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Drill Modes
When drilling down to the next level of detail contained in a hierarchy XLCubed grids can be set to behave
in one of three ways. The setting can be changed either from the grid ribbon as shown below, or in the
properties for the individual grid.
STANDARD
Standard is the default method, and is best described as Drill and Expand. In the example above, drilling
Canada will insert additional rows beneath the Canada member to show the provinces, while still
displaying the other countries. The before and after is shown below:
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DRILL AND REPLACE
This mode only shows two levels of hierarchy, the drilled member and the children, as shown below.
ASYMMETRIC
This mode behaves in the same way as standard while there is only one hierarchy on the axis. The
behaviour differs when there are two or more hierarchies on an axis. For Standard, when an inner
hierarchy is drilled, it is expanded for all the outer members, whereas for Asymmetric it is expanded just
for the outer member which was in context. This is shown below, where the Bikes member within Canada
will be drilled.
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Asymmetric Grids
ASYMMETRIC GRIDS
XLCubed has three quick select options on the right click menu for a grid. Right-click menu and select Keep
followed by This Member, All Other Members or Exclude from Display.
This Member retains just the highlighted members

All Other Members will remove the members that are selected
Exclude from Display allows for the creation of asymmetric grids
For example you may want to display only budget for future months and only actuals for historic months.
To achieve this select the items which you want to remove, and on the right click menu select Keep Exclude from Display. Note this is only applicable where there are two hierarchies on the axis, and the
user must select elements from both hierarchies. In the example below January 2004 is being excluded
specifically for Australia.
Excluded items can then be viewed in two ways. If items are excluded you will see a red triangle in the
corner of the report. Hover on the cell, right-click and Axis, Edit Axis (or Clear All to delete all exclusions).
If you Edit Axis you will see this window from here you can also delete exclusions individually or all at
once by clicking the highlighted icon:
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You can also view and delete from the report designer via the information icon which appears on the
relevant axis as shown below on columns (highlighted in screenshot below):
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Calculations Overview
XLCubed features a few ways to define your own calculations.
Grid Calculation Columns and Rows

Used only in Grid-based reports, Grid Calculations allow you to define your own dynamic calculations
within a Grid report.
They allow Excel formulas to be used within the Grid, based either on the visible data or on other elements
on the worksheet. See the Grid Calculations section in this document for more information.
MDX Calculated Members

MDX Calculations are a simple but powerful means to manage calculated members, sets and custom MDX
commands that live in the session, and are executed on connection.
They are more involved to implement than Grid Calculations, but enable more complex and flexible
calculations.
Please see Book X Miscellaneous and the section on MDX Calculations for more information.
XLCubed OLAP Formulae

XLCubed offers several formulas that allow you to bring Cube data into Excel. This allows you to create
complex workbooks interacting in all the sophisticated ways that Excel allows.
A more detailed description can be found in Book II - Formula Reporting.
MDX: and MDXSet: members

Grids and formulae can both refer to an MDX: calculation defined in an Excel cell. In addition, Grids can use
MDXSet: in an Excel cell to define a named set. Information can be found in the section on Mdx in Book X
Miscellaneous and also XL3Member in Book II Formula Reporting.
Grid Calculations
The Add Calculation option is available on the Grid's right mouse button pop-up menu.
For example, if you have the Time hierarchy on the columns and right click to add a Grid Calculation to Q2
you can add an additional Q2-Q1 delta column to the Grid. The column is inserted as an empty column to
which you can add a title and formula. The formula can be typed into any of the cells, and will be
propagated to all the other cells in the row or column automatically.
This column will be automatically refreshed as you drill or swap dimensions.
You can view or delete the inserted rows/columns on the XLCubed > Calculation > Manage Calculations
form.
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Examples (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)

We want to see the difference between 2004 and 2003 in a Grid.
Insert a Grid based on the Bicycle Sales demo cube, with the Time hierarchy on columns
Drill down Time's Allmember by double-clicking on B5:
Right-click on 2004(E5) and choose XLCubed > Add Calculation
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In the title cell (Calc, F5), type a name for the Calculation:
In one of the column's data cells (for example, F6) type the formula for the Calculation, =E6D6. You may need to resize the column:
The Grid Calculation column will now be used, even if the structure of the Grid is changed:
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Member Selector and Adhoc Groupings

Users can quickly add custom groupings into their reporting, with the calculations then available for
selection from the member selector across all grids and formulae sharing the same cube connection
within the workbook. This is done on the right click menu in the member selector as shown below:
Choose the members to group, and select group members.
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Then name the grouping as required, and choose the parent element which the group is to appear
under.
The new element will appear as a custom calculation. If you wish to amend or delete it, select the
custom calculation tab on the XLCubed ribbon.
Share to Base: Calculated Value on Measures

For measures, users can add a calculation which will show percentage contribution to specific
levels in a chosen hierarchy. This is available in the member selector for measures, on the right
click menu as shown below.
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In this example a calculation is added to show the Reseller sales amount as a percentage of the parent at
the country level in the Geography hierarchy.
Pareto Columns (new in v7.2)

The Pareto Principle is often referred to as the 80-20 rule, that 80% of outcomes are attributable to 20%
of causes. They are named after Vilfredo Pareto who lived in Italy in the 19 th century and observed that
80% of the land was owned by 20% of the people. Pareto charts have both bar charts and a line graph
where the bars represent individual values and the line represents the cumulative total.
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To use Pareto Charts from XLCubed, within a grid, right-click on the column header to access XLCubeds
right-click menu, Grid Charts and Add Pareto Analysis.
Take this simple grid showing Reseller Sales for Product Model Categories for Canadian cities:
Right-clicking on All Products to Add Pareto Analysis brings up this window:
Click OK to return to the workbook and you will see that we have a chart showing that the top 9 cities
provide some 80% of the sales.
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You could also include the rolling total and percentage in your Pareto Chart.
Notice that we now also have some extra columns on the grid showing the cumulative total of all
sales, the sales percentage per category and the cumulative percentage.
So that's Pareto Charts - in a nutshell, an easy to use graphical tool which ties directly into dynamic
XLCubed grids.
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Subtotals
Subtotalling by hierarchy is an option in Grid based reports where a crossjoin has been used. Subtotalling
can use any one of the Sum, Avg, Minor Maxfunctions.
To add a Subtotal, right-click on one of the members of the hierarchy you would like to add the Subtotal
to, and choose the function you require under the XLCubed > Apply > Show Subtotals menu:
To remove the Subtotal, select the XLCubed > Apply > Show Subtotals > None menu item.
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Cube vs Excel Mode

The default is Excel mode, this will use an Excel formula to calculate the totals - this would mean any
calculated members will be totalled after the query is run and may not return the number you want
(summing the average or percent numbers etc.).
Cube mode performs the sub-totalling as part of the query, such that (if the cube calculations support it)
any "Average" or "Percent" calculations will remain consistent.
You can use the "Grid" ribbon to switch between the 2 modes:
See the Grid Calculations section in this document for more information.
Visual Totals
Overview
Visual Totals is a new Grid Property in Version 7.6 - once enabled any parent member will show the total
for the members selected in the report.
For example:
Without Visual Totals enabled:
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The value for "All Geographies" is based on all the members in the cube.
With Visual Totals enabled "All Geographies" is based on the selected members only "Canada", "United
Kingdom" and "United States".
Restrictions
The order of the selected members is very important for how the totals are calculated.
For the members to be totalled they must appear in the member selector with the highest member before
the lower level members:
The following selections would total the members correctly to give the aggregate of the 3 countries:
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This example would display the real total for "All Geographies" as it appears underneath its children:
So the following example would give the total for France:
You cannot include the "Parent" or "Ancestor" members twice

If you try to include "All Geographies" twice - it will not work be displayed with visual totals enabled (even
if you try using Unions). This is a restriction with Analysis Services
Visual totals are calculated before Sorting and Unions
This means that if you want to display the Visual Total for "All Geographies", you can do this using the
"Reverse" sort:
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This only works if you just have a single member selection and no ranking,filter or exclusions
Visual totals work only with unsorted ranking and filter
So you could setup to show the top 3 countries and the totals:
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Note we use top 4 to include "All Geographies" and then the top 3 countries
But you couldn't then sort this result to show the total at the bottom.
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Actions
Actions defined in the Cube can launch applications, perform Drillthroughs, etc.
To launch an Action, right-click the cell in the Grid that you want to launch the Action from and select
XLCubed > Actions....
The following Analysis Services Action types are supported:
URL
HTML
Application
Drillthrough (2005 and later)
Outlier Grouping
Outlier Grouping allows the user to display a subset of selected members into a common set, often called Others.
For more information see Book VI Ranking, Sorting & Filtering
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Named Ranges
From Version 7.6, XLCubed allows the automatic creation of named ranges based on parts of the Grid or
Table. This simplifies many interactions between Excel and XLCubed, such as formulae or charts based on
XLCubed ranges. The feature can be found on the Grid Properties or Table Properties form, on
the Interaction tab. From here, you can see and edit existing ranges or set up new ones.
Named Range properties for Grids

Name
The name to give the named range; this is used to refer to the range in formulae and the chart dialogs
Scope
Where the named range is recognised - either all over the workbook, or tied to the Grid worksheet (for
example, Sheet1!MyRange)
Whole Grid - Members and data
The named range covers all members and data in the entire Grid
Whole Grid - Data
The named range covers all the data in the Grid
Members - Axis
The named range covers the members on the specified axis
Members - Hierarchy
The named range covers the members belonging to the specified hierarchy
Slice - Members and data
The named range covers the members and data belonging to the specified slice
Slice - Members
The named range covers the members belonging to the specified slice
Slice - Data
The named range covers the data belonging to the specified slice
Named Range properties for Tables

Name
The name to give the named range; this is used to refer to the range in formulae and the chart dialogs
Scope
Where the named range is recognised - either all over the workbook, or tied to the Table worksheet (for
example, Sheet1!MyRange)
Table - Headers and data
The named range covers all headers and data in the entire Table
Table - Headers
The named range covers all headers in the entire Table
Table - Data
The named range covers all the data in the Table
Columns - Headers and data
The named range covers the headers and data belonging to the specified column
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Columns - Headers
The named range covers the headers belonging to the specified column
Columns - Data
The named range covers the data belonging to the specified column
Example: Calculating an average of all the data shown in the Grid
Add a new named range with the following properties:

1. Name: GridData
2. Scope: Workbook
3. Whole Grid - Data

The formula =Average(GridData) placed anywhere in the workbook will now calculate the average
value of the Grid.
Example: Charting all the data shown for Calendar Year 2002 in the Grid
Based on the Adventure Works demo cube
Create a Grid with the years across columns, and Products on rows & then add three named ranges.
Named ranges are added through the Grid Properties, Interaction tab:

1. Name: CY2002Members
2. Scope: Workbook
3. Slice - Members, then add Date Calendar - CY 2002 to the slice
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1. Name: CY2002Data
2. Scope: Workbook
3. Slice - Data, then add Date Calendar - CY 2002 to the slice
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1. Name: ProductMembers
2. Scope: Workbook
3. Members - Axis Rows
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You should end up with a list like this:
Insert a new Excel column chart, then right-click on it, and choose Select Data
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Add a Legend Entry (Series) as Series name: =Sheet1!CY2002Members; Series

values: =Sheet1!CY2002Data
Edit the Horizontal category labels to =Sheet1!ProductMembers and click OK
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The chart looks like this:
The chart will now update its members and data when the Grid changes
Linking Grids
When using Grid reports it is possible to link multiple Grids together to be driven from the same hierarchy.
Insert the two (or more) Grids that you require

Select the Grid Links ribbon item (or in Excel 2003 and below, the XLCubed > Grid Links...
menu item):
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Select the Grid that you want to be the master in the dropdown:
Find the Grid that you want to be driven in the table, and click in the cells to select the
hierarchies you want to be linked. Either a Two-Way link (changing either Grid will drive
the other Grid) or a One-Way link (only changing one of the Grids will affect the link) can
be selected.
Linking means that whatever changes are made to the driving Grid's linked hierarchy will
be reflected in the driven Grids. The actual result will depend upon the structure of the
driven Grid. For example, if you linked on the Product hierarchy in the driven Grid and this
appeared as a column in all the linked Grids then drilling down the Product column in the
driving Grid will drill down all the Grids. This also applies to any member selection
operations.
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Grids can also be linked to Dimension Slicers and Small Multiple Charts.
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Member Properties in Grids

Member properties (also known as attributes) are available in the Hierarchy Editor for the hierarchy that
contains the properties, on the Display tab.
Both user-defined and system member properties are available, although system member properties can
be hidden if desired.
Examples (using the Internet Sales cube)

We want to see the Birth Date of the Customers visible in the Grid.
Start by inserting a Grid on the Internet Sales Cube. For details see Report Designer.
Drag Measuresto columns, and Customerto rows.
Click on the Customer hierarchy to show its details in the bottom-right panel
Select the Display tab, and tick the Birth Datemember property:
Click OK to insert the Grid

There are no member properties visible yet: because the member property only
applies to members at the Customer Keylevel, they will only be shown when we drill
down, or if we select those members, so drill down until you can see the member
properties
We can change the display style in the Grid Properties dialog
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Active Cell Grid Selections

From XLCubed v7.2, Grid reports can be driven from the current selected range of another Grid.
Example
We would like one Grid to show a high-level summary of time vs. region, then a second Grid to be driven
from the first, showing a breakdown of products vs. month for that region.
Insert the first Grid, with years on columns and countries on rows:
From the Grid's right-click menu, choose XLCubed > Properties, then select Interaction > Track
grid's active cell. Optionally, also turn on Apply tracking formatting
Insert a second Grid. Select the Time hierarchy on columns, and then the Active cell option:
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From the Active cell dropdown, select Children:
Select the desired Product members on columns (Lowest Descendants of Mountain Bikes here)
Select the Region hierarchy on headers, selecting the Active cell option as before
The report is complete. Note that clicking on the different data items in the first Grid selects the
appropriate members in the second Grid:
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Additional Options
Output Row/Column Members to
The selected Grid members will be copied to the selected cells. This allows formulae to be driven from the
active selection, for example. If you have several hierarchies on rows or columns you can select a range
and the members of the cross-join will be put into each cell.
On Click Navigate to
After cells have been selected, the selection is immediately changed to this cell. This allows the results to
be highlighted, or the worksheet to be changed.
Apply Tracking Formatting
The tracked and currently selected cells are highlighted, as specified on the XLCubedFormats worksheet
(see the Tracked Cell and Active Tracking Cell format)
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Propagate Across Sheets

Propagate Across Sheets allows the creation of one or more worksheets based on the current worksheet,
with members of one hierarchy swapped for other selections.
To activate the function, right-click on the selected member for the hierarchy you want to propagate (on
either a Grid or an XL3Member formula), and choose the elements which you want to create additional
sheets for. On the new sheets, the formatting and print layout are identical, with the only change being
the selected member on the propagated hierarchy.
There are a few options that affect the results:
Insert as Text
The result will vary depending on what was clicked to perform the propagation:
If a formula was right-clicked, the resulting worksheet(s) will have all their formulae converted
to values
If a Grid was right-clicked, the corresponding Grid on the target worksheet(s) will be converted
to values
Keep all Grids active on new sheet

The target worksheet(s) will have active Grids, otherwise only the values will be copied across
Move Grid references to new sheet
Any copied Grids will have any Excel range references moved to their new worksheet
Advanced Propagate
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Version 7.2 introduces advanced propagation - this allows the results to be based on a particular data
query. For example: give me a new sheet for each product with sales greater than x or any of the other
Ranking, Sorting and Filtering options.
Create new Workbook

Version 7.5 adds a new option to propagate to a new workbook. This will create a new workbook and
populate it with all the new Worksheets.
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Breakout Value
The Breakout Value option is available on the right mouse button pop-up menu when the currently active
cell contains an XL3Lookup function, an XL3ValueRankLookup function, or a Grid data cell.
The Breakout Value option allows an interesting piece of data to be further explored and broken down into
component parts. For example, if the cell showing Reseller Sales Amount for the United States region in of
2003 is broken out by product, then the result will be the top 10 (or however many items are selected to
Breakout by) products for the United States region in 2003. The items broken out can then themselves be
broken out by another hierarchy to analyse more deeply.
Select a cell to analyse

Select Break Out from the right mouse button pop-up menu
The Breakout dialog appears:
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The Position to insert breakout is used to specify the starting cell on the spread
sheet where the Breakout values are to be inserted
The Hierarchy to breakout field is used to select a dimension to use to Break out the cell
value
Show top or bottom members and Breakout count determines the number of rows of
Breakout information that are generated, and whether they should be of the highest or
lowest ranked members
The How to breakout hierarchy field (when Breaking out from a Grid), or the Rank by
selection field (when Breaking out a formula) is used to choose a selection from the
Breakout hierarchy
Show percentages include a % column to show that items contribution to the parent
value
Track active cell see section below
Display percentage bar include a incell bar to represent the % value
Include 'Others' grouping If breaking out to display the top 5 members - this option will
create an "Others" grouping to group all the items outside of the top 5
Exclude zeros exclude members with a 0 value from the breakout
Exclude nulls exclude members with no values from the breakout
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The result is inserted into the sheet.
An item in the Breakout can then be further broken out.
Track Active Cell

With "Active Cell Tracking" enabled then clicking on another data value in the source grid will update the
breakout values to reflect that selection. The "Active Cell" is highlighted to show the current selection.
Breakout of "United Kingdom", "All Periods"
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Breakout of "United States", "CY 2001"
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Converting Grid Reports

Convert to Formula
The XLCubed > Convert to > Formula option converts a Grid report into XLCubed formulae. In XLCubed you
can easily convert an existing grid report to a formula report.
To do this right-click on the grid, then select the XLCubed > Convert to > Formula menu item as below:
You will get a message asking you to confirm that you wish to convert to formula.
If you are converting a grid report that contains Slicers you will also get a message that links to any slicers
in the report will be removed and that you can manually recreate these links.
To manually recreate links to slicers you need to follow these steps:

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right-click the slicer and choose edit slicer

on the settings tab check box Update range with selection and point to the cell location
where the slicer choice is located; (if not already set)

select Caption from the drop-down (if not already set)
Next you will need to edit your formula statement to point to this cell location, right-click on a cell in the
formula report, edit the XL3Lookup statement as below to make sure the cell location which holds the
slicer choice is correct.
Convert to Values
The XLCubed > Convert to > Values option converts an XLCubed Grid report into just its values.
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Copying Grids
Selecting the XLCubed > Copy Grid... menu option allows you to quickly replicate Grids. Once this option
has been selected, select the destination cell and click OK to insert the copy.
Deleting Grids
Selecting the XLCubed > Delete Grid... menu option allows you to delete a grid. You will be prompted to
confirm that you do wish to delete the grid.
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Drillthrough
Drillthrough is used to list the base data from the database that constitutes the cell on the
spreadsheet. The Drillthrough option is available on the right mouse button pop-up menu
when:
the currently active cell contains an XL3Lookup formula
the currently active cell is part of the data area of an active Grid Reporting Overview
To display the Drill Through dialog, select a cell and choose XLCubed > Drillthrough... from the right
mouse button menu.
The Destination field determines where the Drillthrough information will be placed on the
worksheet.
The Limit rows field allows you to restrict the returned result set.
You can create a new worksheet to place the data on by clicking on the New Sheet button and
entering a name for the worksheet.

The Drillthrough places the returned data directly onto the spreadsheet. The values inserted are values
and not formulae.
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Expanding Large Hierarchies

When trying to show a very large number of members in the Report Designer or the Hierarchy Editor,
XLCubed will warn you:
You may do three things:

retrieve all the available members
retrieve a customisable number of members
cancel the operation
The limit is configurable by editing the Options > XLCubed Options > Main > Limit number of members
returned in tree XLCubed option.
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Grid Charts
Grid Charts introduce truly dynamic charting to XLCubed. One or more Grid charts can be tied to each
Grid. You have the ability to specify the level being charted (Entire Grid / Specific Level / Lowest Level) as
shown below, and the charts will change, grow and shrink with the Grid. Once created, the Grid chart can
be sized and formatted as with a standard Excel chart.
To create a Grid Chart, right-click on a Grid and choose XLCubed > Grid Charts and then the type of Chart.
Chart Types
Show Lowest Members
This option charts the cross-section of the lowest levels in the Grid:
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Show All Members

This option creates a Grid chart which shows details of the entire visible Grid:
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Show at Selected Levels

The levels option allows you to select which levels of the Grid hierarchies are used for the chart:
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Configuring Existing Charts

Right-clicking a Grid and choosing XLCubed > Grid Charts > Manage Grid Charts... allows you to change the
chart type and what members are being charted.
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Book II - Formula Reporting

When using formulae to retrieve information and data from the OLAP cube, each cell contains a formula
rather than the data itself (unlike Grid reports). It is therefore possible to put any value in any cell, and to
have fully disjoint reports.
Most formula reports are built primarily using just two XLCubed formulae:
XL3Lookup: retrieves the cube value from a specified slice, and will normally reference one or more
XL3Member formulae
XL3Member: returns the caption for a specified member
Formula reports will often be preferred where the required formatting is complex, or where existing
'static' financial reports are being replaced.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book II Formulae Reporting
Grid vs. Formula-based Reporting Key Differences

Grid reports
Grids are good for ad-hoc analysis, where the data needs to be sliced quickly. Drag and drop makes
it easy to quickly change the data on show
The report shape is always rectangular. Elements are always in familiar places
The grid contains comprehensive information about one slice of the data
Formats are created and maintained by the grid. Complex OLAP-aware highlighting and conditional
formatting are possible.
Grids can be edited simply by using the Report Designer
Grids are faster for very large numbers of cells
Formulae
Formulae are good for reports with a static layout, where design can be used to emphasize and deemphasize information as necessary
Any formula can be in any cell. The shape of the report can be as flexible as is necessary
Formulae can put the most important information in the most prominent position
Formats are maintained by Excel. All of Excels formatting options are available
Once inserted, formulae must be edited individually, using the Edit Lookup dialog or by hand
Formulae are slower if the number of formulae is very large
Drilling in Formula Report

A cell that contains an XL3Member formula can be drilled into to show details about its components.
To use the drill down feature, double-click on a cell that contains an XL3Member and depending on the
current state of the workbook, it will:
Drill down: the children of the hierarchy member double-clicked on will be displayed. This is done by
looking at which cells refer to the current cell. This option will drill down to the level beneath the one
selected in the current cell and will attempt to determine the best place to insert the new columns or
rows. Using this option with a heavily disjoint report may not produce expected results!
Drill up: the children of the hierarchy member double-clicked on will be removed from the report
Insert Value
This allows you to insert a value from the cube. XL3Lookupand XL3LookupRWformulae can be inserted
directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Value ribbon or menu option.
To insert a value lookup:
1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Value ribbon or menu option
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2. Choose a location for the new formulae

3. Choose the connection to use from the dropdown
4. Use the grid to select the hierarchies and member selections to retrieve the
value for
5. Click OK and the formulae will be inserted
Additional Options
If you want to insert the writeable XL3LookupRWformulae instead of
XL3Lookup, select the Insert XL3LookupRW checkbox
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Insert Members
This allows you to insert a member or list of members from the cube. XL3Memberformulae can be inserted
directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Members ribbon or menu option.
To insert members:
1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Members ribbon or menu option
4. Select the hierarchy the desired members belong to
5. Select the members to insert. An overview of how to select members can
6. Click OK and the formulae will be inserted
be found here
Additional Options
If you want to just insert the captions of the members instead of
XL3Memberformulae, select
the Insert as Text checkbox
If multiple members are selected, they can be either inserted vertically (Insert down) or
horizontally (Insert right)
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Insert Member Property

XL3PropertyLookupformulae can be inserted directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert
Formula
> Member Property ribbon or menu option.
To insert a member property:
1. Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Member Property ribbon or menu option
4. Select the hierarchy the desired property belong to
5. Select the member to use
6. Choose a member property from the Property dropdown
7. Click OK and the formula will be inserted
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OLAP Formulae
XL3Lookup
XL3Member
XL3RankLookup
XL3ValueRankLookup
XL3MemberLookup
XL3PropertyLookup
XL3KpiLookup
XL3KpiPropertyLookup
Returns the value for a given cross section of the Cube

Returns the caption(s) for a member or members
Returns the member at the specified position of a Ranking
Returns the Measure value at the specified position of a
Ranking
Returns the caption for a member key or unique name
(superseded by XL3Member)
Returns the Member Property text for a specified dimension
member
Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube
Returns a property for a given KPI
XL3DoWriteback
XL3LookupRW
Optionally writes a value to a specific cube cross-section

Returns the value for a given cross section of the Cube,
allowing a writeback to be performed on the cell
XL3MemberNavigate
XL3LastCubeUpdate
XL3UserName
XL3GridMember
Returns a member from its relationship to another (e.g.

parents, children, siblings etc)
Returns the time at which the cube was last updated
Returns user id of currently logged in user
Returns the member uniquename for the specified grid cell
XL3DataSeries
XL3DataSeriesLookup
XL3HierarchyLookup
XL3KpiLookup
XL3MdxLookup
XL3MdxMemberLookup
XL3MdxDataSeries
Returns a set of cube cell values

Returns a set of cube cell values
Returns the Dimension name
Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube
Returns a property for a given KPI
Returns the value from a specified MDX statement
Returns a member from a specified MDX statement
Returns a set of cube cell values from an MDX statement
XL3MemberAlias
Allows you to alias a member lookup to return a more readable

name
Returns the specified child for a given member
Returns the specified member for a given level
Allows the updating of object types properties
XL3MemberChildLookup
XL3MemberLevelLookup
XL3SetProperty
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Tabular Formulae
XL3LookupTabular
Returns the value of a measure for given filters
In-Cell Chart Formulae

XL3SparkLine
Creates a line, point or area chart that is rendered

in an Excel cell
Creates a monochrome line or point chart that is
rendered in the Excel cell
Creates a column chart that is rendered in an Excel
cell
Creates a monochrome column chart that is
Creates a win/loss chart that is rendered in an
Excel cell
Creates a monochrome win/loss chart that is
Creates a bar chart that is rendered in an Excel cell
Creates a monochrome bar chart that is rendered
in the Excel cell
Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel
cell
Creates a horizon chart that is rendered in an Excel
cell
Creates an indicator icon that is rendered in an
Excel cell
Creates a pie chart that is rendered in an Excel cell
Creates a box plot chart that is rendered in an
Excel cell
XL3SparkLineM
XL3SparkColumns
XL3SparkColumnsM
XL3SparkWinLose
XL3SparkWinLoseM
XL3SparkBar
XL3SparkBarM
XL3SparkBullet
XL3SparkHorizon
XL3SparkIcon
XL3SparkPie
XL3SparkBox
Relational Formulae
XL3RunSQLProc
Runs specified Stored Procedure
Report Management Formulae
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XL3Link
XL3RowVisible
XL3ColumnVisible
XL3DynamicPicture
XL3RefreshObjects
XL3RefreshObjectsNamed
XL3WebReportLink
Creates a hyperlink that opens a sheet and sets

parameters
Shows or hides a row
Shows or hides a column
Updates a Picture based on a URL (web address)
Refreshes objects in the report based on type
Refreshes objects in the report based on name
Creates a hyperlink that opens an XLCubed Web
report and optionally sets web parameters
Formula wizards
The XLCubed Excel Add-in provides a menu-driven, graphical user interface to facilitate easy building of reports. The
reports are built by combining XLCubed functions on a spreadsheet page. The following functions are supported by
the GUI:
Ribbon/Menu option
Insert Members
Insert Value
Insert Ranking
Insert Member Property
Insert Data Series
Insert Link
Insert Picture Link
Function
XL3Member
XL3Lookup/XL3LookupRW
XL3RankLookup
XL3PropertyLookup
XL3DataSeriesLookup
XL3Link
XL3PictureLink
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XL3Lookup
Returns a cube cell value for a given cross section of the cube.
Use the Insert Formula > Value menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here for
details.
Syntax
XL3Lookup( Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],?, [Hierarchy14], [Member14] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
Description
Connection number to use
Name of the hierarchy that the following member
applies to eg Measures or
[Customer].[Customer Geography]
Either a single member unique name or an
XL3Member formula

Revenue 2004.
=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Time]", "[Time].[2004]", "[KeyFigures]", "[KeyFigures].[Revenue]" )
Sum of Revenue 2003 and 2004.
=XL3Lookup( 1, "Time", XL3Member(1, "Time", "2003", "2004"), "KeyFigures", "Revenue" )
XL3Lookup using MDX
You can specify an MDX calculation for members using the MDX:syntax.
Variance %.
=XL3Lookup( 1, "Channel", "Direct Sales", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "MDX:(BudgetXLCubed v7 User Guide Book II Formulae Reporting
110 | P a g e
Actual)/Budget", "Time", "January 2003" )

% of Previous Year.
=XL3Lookup( 1, "Time", "2003", "Measures", "MDX:((Measures.Revenue,ParallelPeriod(Time.Year))(Measures.Revenue))/(Measures.Revenue,ParallelPeriod(Time.Year)))
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XL3Member
Returns a name or caption for a member or members. Multiple members can be specified (as separate
parameters) to allow a multi-member set to be used.
Use the Insert Formula > Members menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
Syntax
XL3Member( Connection, Hierarchy, Member1, [Member2],.,[MemberN] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
Description
Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to
eg Measures or [Customer].[Customer
Geography]
Members to use

Member name 'W6000/185'
=XL3Member( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]" )
Multiple Members
You can specify multiple members for an XL3Memberformula by using additional parameters.
When referred to by an XL3Lookupformula, it returns the sum of Allround and Mountain Bikes.
=XL3Member( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[Allround]", "[Product].&[Mountain]" )
XL3Member using MDX
You can specify an MDX calculation for members using the MDX syntax. These cells can then be referenced
112 | P a g e
by XL3Lookupformulae to use the created calculated members.

Eg the last month in 2005.
=XL3Member( 1, "[Time]", "MDX:[Time].[All].[2005].LastChild" )
Using XL3Member in other Formulae
To allow other formulae to use multiple members for a single hierarchy, it is necessary to use
XL3Member to create a calculated member. You can reference the XL3Member directly in the other
formula, or reference the cell that the XL3Member is in.
Using XL3Member in-line to perform a multiple member XL3Lookup: the sum of Allroundand Road
=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Product]", XL3Member( 1, "[Product]",
"[Product].[All].&[Allround]", "[Product].[All].&[Road]" ) )
Sharing an XL3Member between multiple lookups: the members between Q2 2003and Q1 2004
(inclusive)
In A1:
=XL3Member( 1, "[Time]",
"MDX:[Time].[All].&[2003].&[Q2]:[Time].[All].&[2004].&[Q1]" )
In A4(returns the value of the sum):

=XL3Lookup( 1, "[Time]", A1 )
In A5(returns a chart of products, for that timespan):

=XL3SparkColumnsM( XL3DataSeriesLookup( 1, XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]",
"[Product].[All]", "Children" ), "[Measures].[Value]","[Time]", A1 ) )
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Other Formulae
XL3DataSeries
Returns the set of values from a range of given time members. Often used to provide an
OLAP data source for In-Cell Chart formulae.
Syntax
XL3DataSeries( Connection, TimeHierarchy, PeriodMember, PeriodCount, Measure, Hierarchy1,
Member1,, Hierarchy12, Member12)
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
TimeHierarchy
PeriodMember
PeriodCount
Measure
Hierarchy1.HierarchyN
Member1.MemberN
Description
Name of the time hierarchy to use
The time member to use
The number of periods to return
The measure to use
Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg
Measures or [Customer].[Customer Geography]
Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member formula

Returns the set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004:
=XL3DataSeries (1, Time, December 2004, 12, Value, KeyFigures, Revenue)
Returns a column chart for a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004:
=XL3SparkColumnsM(XL3DataSeries (1, Time, December 2004, 12, Value, KeyFigures, Revenue))
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XL3DataSeriesLookup
Returns the set of values from a range of given members. Often used to provide a OLAP
data source for In-Cell Chart formulae.
Use the Insert Formula > Data Series menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here
for details.
Syntax
XL3DataSeriesLookup( Connection, MemberSet, Measure, Hierarchy1, Member1,?,
Hierarchy13, Member13 )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
MemberSet
Measure
Hierarchy1.HierarchyN
Member1.MemberN
Description
An XL3MemberSet formula specifying the set to return
The measure to use

Returns the a set of 12 Revenues for the months of 2003
=XL3DataSeriesLookup(1,XL3MemberSet(1,"[Time]","[Time].[All].&[2003]","DescendantsAt","[Ti
Returns a line chart for a set of 12 Revenues for the months of 2003
=XL3SparkLineM(
XL3DataSeriesLookup(1,XL3MemberSet(1,"[Time]","[Time].[All].&[2003]","DescendantsAt","[Tim
)
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XL3DoWriteback
Allows a writeback to be performed on demand. It can be used in conjunction with XL3Link to trigger the
execution.
This setup is designed to allow the calculation of any number of cells to be separated from the sometimes
slow writeback process. The final calculations for the cells can all be submitted in one batch, without
having to wait for the writeback to occur between each calculation.
Syntax
XL3DoWriteback (PerformWriteback, WriteValue, Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],, [Hierarchy13],
[Member13])
Parameter
PerfomWriteback
WriteValue
Connection
Hierarchy1,,HierarchyN
Member1,,MemberN
Description
A boolean value (TRUE or FALSE) specifying whether to actually
perform the writeback. If this is an Excel Range then that cell's
value will be reset to FALSE following the writeback operation
The value to be written. Typically an Excel cell reference.
Either a single member unique name or an XL3Member
formula
Example
This example shows an input template that could be achieved using XL3DoWriteback. While this template
has a single column, and writes back for just 5 members on 3 dimensions, the same concept could be
applied to many members over up to 14 dimensions. To use it:
1. Enter the new values in column C. These could be entered by:
Directly typing the values
Copy and paste from another document
Formula calculations based on other values
XL3Lookup formulae
2. Click the XL3Link in cell A1, which updates B1 to be TRUE
3. The XL3DoWriteback formulae in column E are triggered. The writeback speed can vary depending
on your cube
4. When the writeback is complete, cell B1 is automatically reset to FALSE
A
1 =XL3Link(,"Submit
Writeback",,XL3Address($B$1),TRU
E)
D E
FALSE
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2
3 =XL3Member(1,"[Department]","[Dep
artment].&[0001]")
1500
artment].&[0002]")
1400
artment].&[0003]")
1250
artment].&[0004]")
2700
artment].&[0005]")
2000
=XL3DoWriteback($B$1,$C3,1,"[Measures]","[Measures
].[Budget
Amount]","[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date].&[
1128]","[Department]",$A3)
].[Budget
].[Budget
].[Budget
].[Budget
The finished input template:
Legend
o
o
o
Control block: used to trigger the XL3DoWritebacks writeback action

New values: these values are written to the cube
XL3DoWriteback block: these XL3DoWriteback formulae control the cross-section of the cube the values are
written to
Notes
Writeback for the workbook must be enabled in the Workbook options screen for this to work
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XL3HierarchyLookup
Returns a hierarchy caption from a given hierarchy unique name.
Syntax
XL3HierarchyLookup (Connection, Hierarchy)
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Description
Unique name of the hierarchy to retrieve the caption for

Returns Product the caption of the [Product] dimension
=XL3HierarchyLookup( 1, "[Product]")
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XL3KpiLookup
Returns the value of a KPI for a given cross section of the cube.
Syntax
XL3KpiLookup (Connection, KpiName, KpiPart, [Hierarchy1], [Member1,,[Hierarchy13], [Member13] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
KpiName
KpiPart
Member1,,MemberN
Description
The name of the KPI to use
The part of the KPI to display. Possible values are:
o Value
o Goal
o Status
o Trend
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Returns a property of the given KPI.
Syntax
XL3KpiPropertyLookup( Connection, KpiName, KpiProperty )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
KpiName
KpiProperty
Description
The name of the KPI to use
The name of the property to return
KPI Properties
XL3KpiPropertyLookupsupports the following properties:
Parameter
MEASUREGROUP_NAME
KPI_NAME
KPI_CAPTION
Description
The associated measure group for the KPI
The name of the KPI
A label or caption associated with the KPI. Used primarily for display purposes.
If a caption does not exist, KPI_NAME is returned
A human-readable description of the KPI
KPI_DESCRIPTION
KPI_DISPLAY_FOLDER
A string that identifies the path of the display folder that the client application
uses to show the member
The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Value
KPI_VALUE
KPI_GOAL
KPI_STATUS
KPI_TREND
KPI_STATUS_GRAPHIC
KPI_TREND_GRAPHIC
KPI_WEIGHT
The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Goal
The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Status
The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI Trend
The default graphical representation of the KPI
The default graphical representation of the KPI
KPI_CURRENT_TIME_MEMBER
KPI_PARENT_KPI_NAME
The unique name of the member in the measures dimension for the KPI
Weight
The unique name of the member in the time dimension that defines the
temporal context of the KPI
The name of the parent KPI
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XL3LookupRW
Returns a cube cell value for a given cross section of the cube. Allows the formula to be typed on to
perform a writeback operation for the given tuple.
Use the Insert Formula > Value menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See here for
details.
Syntax
XL3LookupRW( Connection, [Hierarchy1], [Member1],?, [Hierarchy14], [Member14] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
Description
XL3Member formula

Revenue 2004.
=XL3LookupRW( 1, "[Time]", "[Time].[2004]","[KeyFigures]","[KeyFigures].[Revenue]" )
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XL3MdxLookup
Returns the value of an MDX statement.
Syntax
XL3MdxLookup( Connection, MdxExpression, [Column], [Row] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
MdxExpression
Column
Row
Description
The MDX expression to run
The result column to obtain the value from. 1based, and defaults to the first column if omitted
The result row to obtain the value from. 1-based,
and defaults to the first column if omitted

Returns the level ordinal of the product Mountain.
=XL3MdxLookup( 1, "WITH MEMBER [Measures].LevelOrdinal AS
'Product.CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL' SELECT {[Measures].LevelOrdinal} ON COLUMNS,
{[Product].&[Mountain]} ON ROWS FROM BicycleSales", 1, 1 )
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XL3MdxMemberLookup
Returns the member of a specified position of an MDX statement.
Syntax
XL3MdxMemberLookup( Connection, MdxExpression, [Axis], [Hierarchy], [Position], [Format] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
MdxExpression
Axis
Hierarchy
Position
Format
Description
The number of the axis to obtain the member
from. 1-based, and defaults to the first axis if
omitted.
The number of the hierarchy on the axis to obtain
the member from. 1-based, and defaults to the
first hierarchy if omitted
The number of the member on the hierarchy to
use. 1-based, and defaults to the first member if
omitted.
The format to use for the returned member:

Returns the 2nd child of the product group 'Mountain'
=XL3MdxLookup( 1, "WITH MEMBER [Measures].LevelOrdinal AS
'Product.CurrentMember.LEVEL.ORDINAL' SELECT {[Measures].LevelOrdinal} ON COLUMNS,
{[Product].&[Mountain]} ON ROWS FROM BicycleSales", 1, 1 )
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XL3MdxDataSeries
Returns the set of values given by the specified MDX. Often used to provide a OLAP data source for
In-Cell Chart formulae.
Syntax
XL3MdxDataSeries( Connection, MdxExpression, Measure, Hierarchy1, Member1,, Hierarchy13,
Member13 )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
MdxExpression
Measure
Member1,,MemberN
Description
The measure to use
XL3Member formula

Returns the a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004
=XL3MdxDataSeries( 1, "{ LASTPERIODS(12,Time.[December 2004])*{KeyFigures.Revenue} }", "Value" )
Returns a column chart for a set of 12 Revenues for January 2004 to December 2004
=XL3SparkColumnsM( XL3MdxDataSeries( 1, "{ LASTPERIODS(12,Time.[December 2004])*{KeyFigures.Revenue} }", "Value" ) )
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XL3MemberAlias
Allows you to alias a member lookup to return a more readable name.
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Description
Member
Member to use. This will often point to a cell containing an

XL3Member formula
Text that can be used to refer to the member specified. This
will often be used by a cell containing an Xl3Lookup formula
Alias

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XL3MemberChildLookup
Returns a name or caption of a child of a given member.
Syntax
XL3MemberChildLookup( Connection, Position, Hierarchy, Member )
Parameter
Connection
Position
Hierarchy
Member
Description
Number of the child to return
Member whose child should be returned

=XL3MemberChildLookup( 1, 2, "Product", "[Product].[Scenario W7000]" )
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XL3MemberLevelLookup
Returns a name or caption of a member at a given level.
Syntax
XL3MemberLevelLookup( Connection, Position, Hierarchy, Level)
Parameter
Connection
Position
Hierarchy
Level
Description
Number of member to return
Level whose child should be returned

Returns Asia, the 3rd member on level Continent
=XL3MemberLevelLookup( 1, 3, "Region", "Continent" )
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XL3MemberLookup
Note that this formula has now been superseded by XL3Member. It returns a name or caption for a
member or members.
Syntax
XL3MemberLookup( Connection, Hierarchy, Member, [Format] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
Format
Description
Geography]
Comma-delimited list of members to use for the
cross section
Defines the format of the caption

Member name 'W6000/185'
=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]" )
Unique member name [Product].&[W6000/185]
=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]", 3 )
Multiple Members
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You can specify multiple members for the Memberparameter by separating them with a comma.
When referred to by an XL3Lookupformula, it returns the sum of Allround and Mountain Bikes.
=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[Allround],[Product].&[Mountain]", 0)
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XL3MemberNavigate
Returns a member based on its relationship to the member passed in. Allows you to navigate a
hierarchy, moving between members and levels using formulae alone.
You can combine formulae, for example to move up a hierarchy, then along the level you get to.
Use the Insert Formula > Member Navigate menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
Syntax
XL3MemberNavigate( Connection, Hierarchy, Member or Level, Relationship, [Index],
[HierarchyN], [MemberN] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member or Level
Relationship
Index
Description
Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to eg
Member or Level to use as starting position
Relationship of the desired member to the Member or Level
passed in, see below
Index of the member in the Relationship, meaning depends on
the Relationship
Relationship types
The valid relationship types are as follows, and the meaning of the Index parameter is decribed for each.
Parameter
FirstMember
Member or Level
Level
LastMember
Level
Members
Level
Description
By default returns the first member of the specified
level. If the Index parameter is passed as 'x' it gets the
xth member of the level
By default returns the last member of the specified
level. If the Index parameter is passed as 'x' it gets the
xth member from the end of the level.
Equivalent to FirstMember or LastMember. If index is
positive it acts like FirstMember, if it is negative it acts
like LastMember
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Parent
Member
Next
Member
Previous
Member
FirstSibling
Member
LastSibling
Member
Siblings
Member
FirstChild
Member
LastChild
Member
Children
Member
FirstDescendantAtLevel
Member
LastDescendantAtLevel
Member
FirstDescendantAtDistance Member
LastDescendantAtDistance
Member
DefaultMember
Any
Gets the parent of the member passed in. If index is 2,

it will retreive the grandparent (parent of the parent),
3 the great-grandparent etc
Gets the next member following the member passed
in. If index is greater than one then it skips forwards
that number of members.
Gets the previous member preceding the member
passed in. If index is greater than one then it skips
backwards that number of members
Gets the first member with the same parent as the
member passed in. If index is greater than one then it
gets the child at that index
Gets the last member with the same parent as the
member passed in. If index is greater than one then it
gets the child at that index from the last sibling
Equivalent to FirstSibling or LastSibling. If index is
positive it acts like FirstSibling, if it is negative it acts
like LastSibling.
Gets the first child of the member passed in. If index is
greater than one then it gets the child as that index.
Gets the last child of the member passed in. If index is
greater than one then it gets the child at that index
from the last child.
Equivalent to FirstChild or LastChild. If index is positive
it acts like FirstChild, if it is negative it acts like
LastChild.
Gets the first descendant of the member at a level
specified by index. Index is one based. (new in v7.1)
Gets the last descendant of the member at a level
specified by index. Index is one based. (new in v7.1)
Gets the first descendant of the member at a distance
specified by index. An index of one is equivalent of
children. (new in v7.1)
Gets the last descendant of the member at a distance
specified by index. An index of one is equivalent of
children. (new in v7.1)
Gets the default member for the hierarchy (new in
v7.6)
Non-Empty behaviour
Sometimes you need to restrict the members by those with data. To do this you can specify
hierarchy/member pairs for which data must exist.
132 | P a g e
For example you may want the last date where data exists. To do this you could add a measure to a
XL3MemberNavigate on the LastMember of a level.
For example:
=XL3MemberNavigate(1,"[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date]","LastMember")
August 31, 2004
=XL3MemberNavigate(1,"[Date].[Calendar]","[Date].[Calendar].[Date]","LastMember", 1,
"[Measures]", "[Measures].[Reseller Sales Amount]")
June 1, 2004

Level Relationships
These examples assume that [Time].[Year] is in cell A1

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstMember" )
2002
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastMember", 2 )
2004
Member Relationships
These examples assume that [Time].[All].&[2003].&[Q2] is in cell A1

=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Parent" )
2003
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Parent", 2 )
All
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Next" )
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Q3
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "Previous", 2 )

Q4 (from 2002)
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstSibling" )
Q1
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastSibling", 2 )
Q3
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "FirstChild" )
April 2003
=XL3MemberNavigate( 1, "Time", A1, "LastChild", 2 )
May 2003
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XL3PropertyLookup
Returns a member property of a given member.
Use the Insert Formula > Member Property menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
Syntax
XL3PropertyLookup( Connection, Hierarchy, Member, Property )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member
Description
Name of the hierarchy that the following member applies to eg Measures or
(Customer).(Customer Geography)
Member whose member property should be returned
Intrinsic Member Properties

XL3PropertyLookupsupports the following Intrinsic Member Properties:
Parameter
MEMBER_UNIQUE_NAME
Description
The unique name of the member. For providers that generate unique
names by qualification, each component of this name is delimited
MEMBER_CAPTION
A label or caption associated with the member. It is used primarily for
display purposes. If a caption does not exist MEMBER_NAME is returned
LEVEL_UNIQUE_NAME
Unique name of the level to which the member belongs. For providers
that generate unique names by qualification, each component of this
name is delimited
LEVEL_NUMBER
The distance of the member from the root of the hierarchy. The root
level is zero (0)
CUBE_NAME
The name of the cube to which this member belongs
CATALOG_NAME
The name of the database to which this member belongs
CHILDREN_CARDINALITY
The number of children that the member has. This can be an estimate, so
you should not rely on this to be the exact count. Providers should return
the best estimate possible
MEMBER_ORDINAL
The ordinal number of the member. This is the sort rank of the member
when members of this dimension are sorted in their natural sort order. If
providers do not have the concept of natural ordering, this should be the
rank when sorted by MEMBER_NAME
DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME The unique name of the dimension to which this member belongs. For
providers that generate unique names by qualification, each component
of this name is delimited
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HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_NAME
MEMBER_NAME
PARENT_LEVEL
PARENT_UNIQUE_NAME
PARENT_COUNT
MEMBER_KEY
IS_PLACEHOLDERMEMBER
IS_DATAMEMBER
MEMBER_TYPE
The unique name of the hierarchy. If the member belongs to more than
one hierarchy, there is one row for each hierarchy to which it belongs.
For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each
component of this name is delimited
The name of the member
The distance of the member's parent from the root level of the hierarchy.
The root level is zero (0)
The unique name of the member's parent. NULL is returned for any
members at the root level
The number of parents that this member has
The value of the member's key column. Returns NULL if the member has
a composite key
A Boolean that indicates whether a member is a placeholder member for
an empty position in a dimension hierarchy
A Boolean that indicates whether the member is a data member.
Returns True if the member is a data member
The type of the member. It can be one of the following values:
MEMBER_TYPE_REGULAR (0)
MEMBER_TYPE_ALL (1)
MEMBER_TYPE_FORMULA (2)
MEMBER_TYPE_MEASURE (3)
MEMBER_TYPE_UNKNOWN (4)

Returns 3, the distance of 'W6000/185' from the root of the hierarchy.
=XL3PropertyLookup( 1, "[Product]", "[Product].[W6000/185]", "LEVEL_NUMBER" )
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XL3RankLookup
Returns the member at the specified position of a ranking. To return the value of the member instead, use
the XL3ValueRankLookup formula.
Use the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard. See
here for details.
Syntax
XL3RankLookup( Connection, Position, TopOrBottom, MaxCount, Measure, RankHierarchy, RankMembers,
Hierarchy1, Member1,?, [Hierarchy11], [Member11] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Position
RankingType
MaxCount
Measure
RankHierarchy
RankMembers
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
Description
Position in the ranking to return
The ranking type. Use the sum of the following
possibilities:
The maximum number of members to return in the

ranking
The measure on which to rank
Geography]
An XL3MemberSet formula to specify what to rank
over
Geography]
XL3Member formula to filter the ranking across
137 | P a g e

Returns 'AS800/195', the 2nd ranked product in the tuple ([Time].[2003], [KeyFigures].[Revenue],
[Scenario].[Budget]).
=XL3RankLookup( 1, 2, 0, 10, "[Measures].[Value]", "Product", XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]", "",
"DescendantsAt", "[Product].[Product]" ), "Time", "2003", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "Budget" )
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XL3SetProperty
This function updates XLCubed objects in the workbook such as grids, slicers and small multiples.
You can use this to update some setting from the properties screen or move hierarchies.
Syntax
XL3SetProperty( ObjectType, ObjectName, Property, Arg1, [Arg2],, [Arg27] )
Parameters
Parameter
ObjectType
ObjectName
Property
Arg1, [Arg2],, [Arg27]
Description
Object Type to update. Valid values are "Workbook", "Grid",
"Slicer", "SmallMultiple" and "Chart".
Name of the object to update. You can not update an object
unless you have given it a name in its properties screen
Name of the property to update. Valid names depend on the
object type. Details for each are below.
Value or values to set the property to. Valid values depend on
the object type. Details for each are below.
Workbook
For workbook level properties the object name refers to the area of the product being updated.
Object Name
ObjectType
Property
Description
Value
Spreadmethod Sets the formula spread method Valid values are
"USE_EQUAL_ALLOCATION",
"USE_EQUAL_INCREMENT",
"USE_WEIGHTED_ALLOCATION",
"USE_WEIGHTED_INCREMENT"
Grid
Grid Display
Property
Description
"RemoveEmptyColumns" Sets the columns to hide or
show members with no data.
"RemoveEmptyRows"
Sets the rows to hide or show
members with no data.
Value
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
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"HierarchiesOnHeaders"
"HierarchiesOnColumns"
"HierarchiesOnRows"
"MergeRepeatingCells"
MemberSelectionType
Sets hierarchies on headers.

Will move hierarchies as
required.
Sets hierarchies on columns.
required.
Sets hierarchies on rows. Works
as HierarchiesOnColumns.
Merge cells containing the same
member in cross-joins.
Sets the selection type of the
members, e.g. children, parent,
descendants etc
Hierarchy name or names.

TRUE or FALSE
See the Member Selection
Type section for more details
Grid Permissions
See Book I Grids and the section on Grid Permissions for details of what the following options do:
Property
"ColumnMembers"
" ColumnNavigation"
"RowMembers"
"RowNavigation"
"DimensionNavigation"
"Menus"
SlicerMembers
Value
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
Slicer
Property
"RemoveEmpty"
Description
Sets the slicer to hide or show
"Visible"
Show or hide the slicer (will only
be applied for published
reports)
"Multiselect"
Allow multi selection on the
slicer, dependant on slicer type
"MemberSelectionType" Sets the selection type of the
members eg children, parent,
descendants etc
Value
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
See the Member Selection Type
section for more details
Table
Property
Description
Value
140 | P a g e
"ColunmDisplay" Sets the column(s) shown and

their order (new in v7.1)
"Sorting"
Sets the column(s) to sort by

(new in v7.1)
Equivalent to setting up the columns on the Column

Display tab in the table properties. The column display
must be enabled in the properties for this to take effect.
Pairs of column name and direction. If no direction is
provided ascending is assume. e.g.
=XL3SetProperty("Table", "myTable",
"Sorting", "Product", "asc", "Profit",
"desc")
Small Multiple
Property
Description
"RemoveEmptyCategories" Sets the categories to hide or
show members with no data
"RemoveEmptySeries"
Sets the series to hide or show
"RemoveEmptyColumns"
Sets the columns to hide or
show members with no data.
"RemoveEmptyRows"
Sets the rows to hide or show
"HierarchiesOnCategories" Sets hierarchies on categories.
required.
"HierarchiesOnSeries"
Sets hierarchies on series.
Works as
HierarchiesOnCategories
"HierarchiesOnColumns"
Sets hierarchies on columns.
Works as
HierarchiesOnCategories.
"HierarchiesOnRows"
Sets hierarchies on rows. Works
as HierarchiesOnCategories.
"MemberSelectionType"
Sets the selection type of the
members, e.g. children, parent,
descendants etc.
"ChartType"
Sets chart type of the series.
"ChartType2"
Sets chart type of the series

once moved to the secondary
axis.
Value
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
TRUE or FALSE
Hierarchy name or names

See the Member Selection
Type section for more details.
Valid values are "Column",
"StackedColumn",
"StackedColumn100", "Bar",
"StackedBar", "StackedBar100",
"Area", "StackedArea",
"StackedArea100", "Line".
Same as ChartType.
141 | P a g e
Chart
Property
"YMin" or "YMax"
Y2Min or Y2Max
XMin or XMax
X2Min or X2Max
Description
Sets the limit of the Y axis
Sets the limit of the Y2 axis
Sets the limit of the X axis
Sets the limit of the X axis
Value
Numeric
Numeric
Numeric
Numeric
142 | P a g e
XL3ValueRankLookup
Returns the value at the specified position of a ranking. To return the member name instead, use the
XL3RankLookup formula.
Use the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
See here for details.
Syntax
XL3ValueRankLookup( Connection, Position, TopOrBottom, MaxCount, Measure, RankHierarchy,
RankMembers, Hierarchy1, Member1,?, [Hierarchy11], [Member11] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Position
RankingType
MaxCount
Description
Position in the ranking to return
The ranking type. Use the sum of the following
possibilities:
The maximum number of members to return in the

ranking
The measure on which to rank
Geography]
An XL3MemberSet formula to specify what to rank
over
Geography]
XL3Member formula to filter the ranking across
Measure
RankHierarchy
RankMembers
Hierarchy
Member1,,MemberN
143 | P a g e
Returns the value of 'AS800/195', the 2nd ranked product in the tuple ([Time].[2003],
[KeyFigures].[Revenue], [Scenario].[Budget]).
=XL3ValueRankLookup( 1, 2, 0, 10, "[Measures].[Value]", "Product", XL3MemberSet( 1, "[Product]", "",
"DescendantsAt", "[Product].[Product]" ), "Time", "2003", "KeyFigures", "Revenue", "Scenario", "Budget"
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XL3LastCubeUpdate
Returns the date and time that the cube was last updated.
Syntax
XL3LastCubeUpdate (Connection)
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Description
Connection number of the cube to retrieve the last update time for
146 | P a g e
XL3UserName
Returns the user id of currently logged in user, optionally including the domain name
Syntax
XL3UserName (Domain)
Parameters
Parameter
Domain
Description
Boolean value, pass True to return the domain as part of the username
DOMAIN\USER (optional)
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XL3GridMember
Returns the member uniquename for the specified grid cell. This can be useful for when you want to get
the unique name of a particular member from a grid for passing as an XL3Link parameter or to use in other
formulae (VLOOKUP, XL3Lookup etc.) - avoiding any issues with duplicate/translated captions etc.
Syntax
XL3GridMember ( )
Parameters
The parameters can take one of two forms:
Parameter
Grid cell location
Description
Shows member uniquename for grid cell
Or
Parameter
Grid name
Axis
Dimension
Member Index
Description
Name of the grid to get the member for
1 for columns, 2 for rows
Dimension on the axis to look at, 1-based
Member index to look at, 1-based
Examples
Form 1
Used in conjunction with XL3Link, the following formula copies the unique name from the row when the
report user clicks on "..." into the cell $A$14:
=XL3Link(XL3Address($D$7),"...",,XL3Address($A$14),XL3GridMember(A7))
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Form 2
The second structure provides a more dynamic way to address the members that appear on the grid, for
example:
Return the first member from the first hierarchy on columns:
=XL3GridMember("My Grid",1,1,1)
In the above example this is: [Geography].[Geography].[All Geographies]
Return the nth member from the first hierarchy on rows:
=XL3GridMember("My Grid",2,1,nth)
You would only need to consider the hierarchy number if the Axis has cross-joined hierarchies.
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XL3LookupTabular
Returns a value for a given measure for a specific filter,
Syntax
XL3LookupTabular( Connection, Measure, [Column1], [Value1],, [Column14], [Value14] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Measure
Column1,, ColumnN
Value,..,ValueN
Description
Measure to calculate
Name of the hierarchy that the following value applies to e.g.
"Date[Year]" or "'Customer Geography'[City]"
Value for the preceding column. Can be text, numeric, date or
boolean.
Examples
Revenue 2004.
=XL3LookupTabular( 1, "Revenue", "'Date'[Year]", 2004 )
Revenue 2004, USA.
=XL3LookupTabular( 1, "Revenue", "'Date'[Year]", 2004, "'Geography'[Country]", "USA" )
150 | P a g e
XL3Link
Creates a hyperlink that opens a sheet and sets parameters. When you follow the hyperlink, XLCubed
jumps to the sheet stored at LinkLocation and sets the parameters at the specified parameter addresses.
Use the Insert Formula > XL3Link menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
Syntax
XL3Link( [LinkLocation], [FriendlyName], [LinkType], [Range1], [Value1],, [Range13], [Value13] )
Parameters
Parameter
LinkLocation
LinkType
Range1,, RangeN
Value,..,ValueN
Description
A piece of text, indicating the location to jump to. Can be a
text string enclosed in quotations marks, or more commonly,
an XL3Address formula
The type of link. If Hyperlink is used, the cell is formatted with
the Excel style Hyperlink:
A reference to a cell where the following Value is placed when

the jump is executed. Usually an XL3Address formula
The value that will be passed to the corresponding Range.
Examples
The following XL3Link formula creates an hyperlink to the 'LinkTarget' sheet and shows in the hyperlink the text "Jump
to Target Sheet"
=XL3Link( XL3Address( LinkTarget!A1 ), "Jump to Target Sheet" )
You can use XL3Link to jump from one sheet to another sheet in the workbook, while passing some parameters. The
following formula jumps to the sheet 'LinkTarget' and sets value 'Car and Bike Stores' atLinkTarget!A2.
=XL3Link( XL3Address( LinkTarget!A1 ), "Jump to Target Sheet and pass 'Car and Bike
Stores'", 1, XL3Address( LinkTarget!A2 ), "Car and Bike Stores" )
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XL3RowVisible
Shows and hides the row the formula is in.
Syntax
XL3RowVisible( Visible )
Parameters
Parameter
Visible
Description
If set to TRUE the row is shown; if set to FALSE the row is
hidden
Examples
Hides the row if the value in cell A3is less than or equal to 10000.
=XL3RowVisible( A3 > 10000 )
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XL3ColumnVisible
Shows and hides the column the formula is in.
Syntax
XL3ColumnVisible( Visible )
Parameters
Parameter
Visible
Description
If set to TRUE the column is shown; if set to FALSE the column
is hidden
Examples
Shows the column if the value in cell C5contains an error.
=XL3ColumnVisible( IsError( C5 ) )
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Insert Ranking
A simple ranking report containing XL3RankLookupand XL3ValueRankLookupformulae can be inserted
directly into the spreadsheet using the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking ribbon or menu option.
To insert a ranking report:
Select the XLCubed > Insert Formula > Ranking ribbon or menu option:
Choose a location for the report
Choose the hierarchy to return a ranking for
Choose the type of selection:
o Rank at level: returns a ranking of the members at the selected level
o Rank by selection: allows you to choose a custom member selection to include in the
report
Click OK and the formulae will be inserted
Additional Options
Additional filters can be specified in the grid on the right of the dialog
You can choose whether to get the highest or lowest ranked members by selecting
Rank from Top or Bottom

The number of members to return in the ranking can be chosen
Various other options can be selected for the ranking:
Show title
Show headings
Show totals
Show percentages
Show cumulative percentages
Exclude zeroes
Exclude nulls
A brief summary of the ranking report is displayed

Displays a heading for each column of the report
Totals are displayed at the foot of each column
A column is added showing the percentage contribution for
each row
A column is adding showing the cumulative percentage up to
that row
Zero values are excluded from the report
Null values are excluded from the report
155 | P a g e
XL3SparkLine
Creates a line, point or area chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
Double-clicking the chart, or selecting the XLCubed > Format In-Cell Chart... right-click menu item allow
the editing of the chart format using the SparkLine Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkLine( Data, Output, InRows, [LineType], [LineColour], [PointColour], [NegativePointColour],
[PeriodLength], [PeriodColour], [StartColour], [EndColour], [MinColour], [MaxColour], [ReferenceValues],
[ReferenceColour], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale], [NormalLowerBounds],
[NormalUpperBounds], [NormalBandColour], [AreaColour], [ScaleFactor], [MissingValueHandling], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
Description
The data to chart. This can be a range or a formula
The target range in which to render the chart(s)
Specifies whether the input data are in rows or columns:
LineType
Specifies how to plot the data:
LineColour
PointColour
NegativePointColour
PeriodLength
PeriodColour
StartColour
EndColour
MinColour
MaxColour
ReferenceValues
The colour to use for the line

The default colour to use for the data points
The default colour to use for negative data points
The length of the period for alternate background shading
The colour of the alternate background shading
The colour to highlight the first point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
The colour to highlight the lowest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
The colour to highlight the highest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
A value or range to use for a reference line. To use the mean value instead, use
Average
The colour to use for the reference line, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
A value to use for the minimum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter to
use an automatic value
A value to use for the maximum vertical axis value, or an empty parameter to
Use 1 here to force all charts to use a common scale
ReferenceColour
Minimum
Maximum
UseCommonScale
156 | P a g e
NormalLowerBounds
NormalUpperBounds
NormalBandColour
AreaColour
A value or range to use for the lower bounds of the normal bands
A value or range to use for the upper bounds of the normal bands
The colour to use for the normal band, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
The colour to fill the chart area under the line, or -1 or an empty parameter for
none
ScaleFactor
The horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart
MissingValueHandling Specifies how missing values should be rendered:
Label
Specifies the text to use in the formula cell
XL3SparkLineM
Creates a monochrome line or point chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkLineM( Data, [LineType], [ScaleFactor], [Minimum], [Maximum], [MissingValueHandling] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
LineType
Description
Specifies how to plot the data:
ScaleFactor
Minimum

Maximum
MissingValueHandling Specifies how missing values should be rendered:
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XL3SparkColumns
Creates a column chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkColumns Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkColumns( Data, Output, InRows, [ColumnColour], [NegativeColumnColour], [ColumnWidth],
[PeriodLength], [PeriodColour], [NegativePeriodColour], [StartColour], [EndColour], [MinColour],
[MaxColour], [ReferenceValues], [ReferenceColour], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
ColumnColour
NegativeColumnColour
ColumnWidth
PeriodLength
PeriodColour
StartColour
EndColour
MinColour
MaxColour
ReferenceValues
ReferenceColour
Minimum
Maximum
UseCommonScale
Label
Description
The default colour to use for the columns

The default colour to use for negative columns
The width of each column
The length of the period for alternate column shading
The colour of the alternately coloured columns
The colour to highlight the first point, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
The colour to highlight the highest point, or -1 or an empty parameter for
none
A value or range to use for a reference line. To use the mean value instead, use
Average
The colour to use for the reference line, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
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XL3SparkColumnsM
Creates a monochrome column chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkColumnsM( Data, [Minimum], [Maximum] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Minimum
Maximum
Description
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XL3SparkWinLose
Creates a win/loss chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkWinLose Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkWinLose( Data, Output, InRows, [WinColour], [LossColour], [DrawColour], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
Description
WinColour
LoseColour
DrawColour
Label
The colour to use for win columns

The colour to use for loss columns
The colour to use for draw columns
XL3SparkWinLoseM
Creates a monochrome win/loss chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkWinLose Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkWinLose( Data )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Description
XL3SparkBar
Creates a bar chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkLine Chart Designer.
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Syntax
XL3SparkBar( Data, Output, InRows, [LongestBarLength], [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4],
[Colour5], [Colour6], [Colour7], [Colour8], [IsStacked100%], [ShowZeros], [Minimum], [Maximum],
[DataLabelAlign], [DataLabelFontName], [DataLabelFontSize], [DataLabelFormatString],
[DataLabelFontStyle], [DataLabelColour], [AxisType], [MajorTickmarkFrequency],
[MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
LongestBarLength
Colour1
Description
DataLabelAlign
The length of the longest bar

The colour for the bar chart, or the first section in a stacked bar, or -1 or an
empty parameter for default
The colour for the second section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the third section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the fourth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the fifth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the sixth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the seventh section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the eighth section, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
For bars with multiple data points; defines whether the bar length should be
the same for all charts, or whether the bar length should be proportional to the
total for that bar:
0
Total bar width varies according to the total, with the longest bar width
given by the LongestBarLength parameter
1
Bar widths are all equal, with the widths of individual data points
showing their proportion of the total
Specifies whether to draw bars for zero-valued data points
A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value, or an empty parameter to
A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value, or an empty parameter
to use an automatic value
Specifies the position of data labels for the bars:
DataLabelFontName
DataLabelFontSize
The typeface to use for the data labels

The font size for the data labels
Colour2
Colour3
Colour4
Colour5
Colour6
Colour7
Colour8
IsStacked100%
ShowZeros
Minimum
Maximum
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DataLabelFormatString
DataLabelFontStyle
DataLabelColour
AxisType
The format string for the data labels

Reserved
The colour for the data labels, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
The type of axis to render in the formula cell:
MajorTickmarkFrequency
MinorTickmarksPerMajor
TickmarkLabelFormatString
Label
The frequency of the major, labelled tickmarks

The number of additional labelless tickmarks per major tickmark
The format string for the axis tickmark labels
Specifies the text to use in the formula cell, if no axis is used
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XL3SparkBarM
Creates a monochrome bar chart that is rendered in the Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkBarM( Data, [Max Value] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Max Value
Description
The max value of the data to chart. This can be a range or a formula (new in
v7.2)
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XL3SparkBullet
Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkBullet Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkBullet( Data, Output, InRows, [BulletType], [Width], [PerformanceColour], [QualitativeRanges],
[Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [RangeOrder], [ReferenceValues], [ReferenceColour],
[ProjectionValues], [ProjectionColour], [ReferenceValues2], [ReferenceColour2], [AxisType],
[MajorTickmarkFrequency], [MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )
Parameters
Data
Output
InRows
Parameter
Description
BulletType
Specifies how the performance measure is indicatd on the chart
Width
PerformanceColour
The total length of the bullet chart

The colour for the performance measure, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
Values specifying the ranges to draw on the chart. This can be a range or
an array parameter
The colour for the first range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the second range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the third range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the fourth range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour for the fifth range, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
-1 to reverse the range order
Reference values to indicate on the charts. This can be a range or a value
The colour for the reference value indicator, or -1 or an empty parameter
for none
Projection values to indicate on the charts. This can be a range or a value
The colour for the projection bar, or -1 or an empty parameter for none
A second set of reference values to indicate on the charts. This can be a
range or a value
The colour for the second reference value indicator, or -1 or an empty
parameter for none
QualitativeRanges
Colour1
Colour2
Colour3
Colour4
Colour5
RangeOrder
ReferenceValues
ReferenceColour
ProjectionValues
ProjectionColour
ReferenceValues2
ReferenceColour2
AxisType
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Label

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XL3SparkHorizon
Creates a bullet chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkHorizon( Data, Output, InRows, [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [NegativeColour1],
[NegativeColour2], [NegativeColour3], [ScaleFactor], [Minimum], [Maximum], [UseCommonScale],
[MissingValueHandling], [NegativesFlipped], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
Description
UseCommonScale
MissingValueHandling
The colour to use for the first positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the second positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter
for default
The colour to use for the third positive range, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the first negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the second negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter
for default
The colour to use for the third negative range, or -1 or an empty parameter
for default
Specifies how missing values should be rendered:
NegativesFlipped
Label
Specifies whether the negative values should be flipped

Colour1
Colour2
Colour3
NegativeColour1
NegativeColour2
NegativeColour3
ScaleFactor
Minimum
Maximum
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XL3SparkIcon
Creates an indicator icon that is rendered in an Excel cell.
the editing of the chart format using the SparkIcon Chart Designer.
Syntax
XL3SparkIcon( Data, Output, InRows, [IconSet], [Operators], [RangeCount], [Border1], [Border2], [Border3],
[Border4], [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [RangeOrder], [AltData], [AltOperators],
[AltRangeCount], [AltBorder1], [AltBorder2], [AltBorder3], [AltBorder4], [AltRangeOrder], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Description
Data
Output
InRows

IconSet
Operators
RangeCount
Border1
Border2
Border3
Border4
A pipe (|) delimited list of icons to use. The possible icons are listed below
A pipe (|) delimited list operators to use. The possible values are > and >=
The number of icon ranges to use
The value above which the first icon should be used
The value above which the second icon should be used
The value above which the third icon should be used
The value above which the fourth icon should be used. Values below this value will use
the last icon
The colour for the first range
The colour for the second range
The colour for the third range
The colour for the fourth range
The colour for the fifth range
-1 to reverse the icon order
If specified, causes the colours to be driven from this instead of the Data parameter.
This can be a range or a formula
If AltData is specified, a pipe (|) delimited list operators to use for the colour ranges
If AltData is specified, the number of colour ranges to use
If AltData is specified, the value above which the first colour should be used
If AltData is specified, the value above which the second colour should be used
If AltData is specified, the value above which the third colour should be used
If AltData is specified, the value above which the fourth colour should be used
If AltData is specified, -1 to reverse the colour order
Colour1
Colour2
Colour3
Colour4
Colour5
RangeOrder
AltData
AltOperators
AltRangeCount
AltBorder1
AltBorder2
AltBorder3
AltBorder4
AltRangeOrder
Label
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Icon Sets
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XL3SparkPie
Creates a pie chart that is rendered in an Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkPie( Data, Output, InRows, [Colour1], [Colour2], [Colour3], [Colour4], [Colour5], [Colour6],
[Colour7], [Colour8], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
Colour1
Colour2
Colour3
Colour4
Colour5
Colour6
Colour7
Colour8
Label
Description
The colour to use for the first sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour to use for the second sector or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the third sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour to use for the fourth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the fifth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour to use for the sixth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour to use for the seventh sector or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the eighth sector or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
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XL3SparkBox
Creates a BoxPlot (also known as a box-and-whisker diagram) that is rendered in an Excel cell.
Syntax
XL3SparkBox( Data, Output, InRows, [Width], [WhiskerColour], [BarColour], [BoxColour], [MedianColour],
[BorderColour], [MeanDotColour], [UpperQuartileColour], [PercentileBoundary], [Minimum], [Maximum],
[AxisType], [MajorTickmarkFrequency], [MinorTickmarksPerMajor], [TickmarkLabelFormatString], [Label] )
Parameters
Parameter
Data
Output
InRows
Width
WhiskerColour
BarColour
BoxColour
MedianColour
BorderColour
MeanDotColour
UpperQuartileColour
PercentileBoundary
Minimum
Maximum
AxisType
Description
The total length of the box plot

The colour to use for the whiskers, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the bar, or -1 or an empty parameter for default
The colour to fill the box representing the lower quartile, or -1 or an
The colour to use for the median line, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for border of the box, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to use for the mean dot, or -1 or an empty parameter for
default
The colour to fill the box representing the upper quartile, or -1 or an
**Currently Unknown
A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value, or an empty
parameter to use an automatic value
A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value, or an empty
parameter to use an automatic value
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Label

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XL3RunSQLProc
Allows a SQL Stored Procedure to be run when required (used in conjunction with XL3Link to trigger the
execution)
Syntax
XL3RunSQLProc( ExcecuteSQL, ConnectionString, ProcName, [Parameter1],..., [Parameter27])
Parameters
Parameter
ExecuteSQL
ConnectionString
ProcName
[Parameter1],...,
[Parameter27]
Description
A cell reference that contains TRUE when the Stored Procedure should be run.
After execution the cell reference will be set to FALSE or an error message if an
error occurred.
The connection string to use to connect to the database
The Stored Procedure to run
Optional - The parameter values to use for the Stored Procedure
Examples
XL3RunSqlProc(B3, Variables!C2, C3)
When B3 is set to TRUE (via an XL3Link) then the Stored Procedure in C3 is run using the connection string
specified in Variables!C2. After completion, B3 will be reset to FALSE - ready for the next update by an
XL3Link. Note that to use this on XLCubed Web Edition, the XL3Link should be of type 3 (HyperLink with
submit changes on web).
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XL3DynamicPicture
Updates a Picture or Pictures to an image on the internet.
This allows you to display a Picture based on a parameter in Excel. For example if a report is driven by a
Store parameter, you could use this to display a picture of the store.
This function is primarily for use in reports published to the web where images update automatically. In
Excel you can force a refresh of the images by using the XLCubed -> Extra -> Refresh Dynamic Pictures
menu option (please note this will only retrieve a new picture in Excel if the formula has run in the current
session and had a different URL to the last run)
Syntax
XL3DynamicPicture( PictureName, Url )
Parameters
Parameter
PictureName
Description
Alt Text > Alternative text (or the Alt Text > Description in Excel 2010 and
higher) of the Picture to update. If several Pictures have the same name they
will all be updated.
URL
Web address of the image to use, in the

form http://www.example.com/logo.jpg
Example
You can setup a named image by inserting a picture using the standard Excel menu option.
Next set the Picture name by right-clicking it, and selecting properties. The name goes in the "Alt Text" box.
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Finally set up a formula, e.g.

=XL3DynamicPicture("MyLogo"; "http://www.example.com/logo.jpg")
Here the URL paramater is fixed, but it could be set to reference another cell or concatenated text.
Scheduling/PDF
For dynamic pictures in reports that are going to be scheduled or downloaded as PDFs/Workbooks, the
URL will need to be for a server that is accessible from the XLCubedWeb server and doesn't required any
authentication. So an internet site URL is fine if the server has internet access, or a local server would be
OK if that was setup to allow Anonymous access.
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XL3RefreshObjects
Refreshes objects in the report based on type. (new in v7.1)
This allows you to refresh objects on demand.
This function is for use with the XL3Link function, which can be used to switch the refresh on.
Syntax
XL3RefreshObjects( [RunRefresh], [RefreshGrids], [RefreshTables], [RefreshSlicers],
[RefreshSmallMultiples], [RefreshTreemaps] )
Parameters
Parameter
RunRefresh
RefreshGrids
RefreshTables
RefreshSlicers
RefreshSmallMultiples
RefreshTreeMaps
Description
Should the refresh fire. This should be a reference to another cell that contains TRUE
or FALSE. Once the refresh fires that cell will be reset to FALSE. Use XL3Link to set
the cell to true, causing a refresh.
TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Grids.

TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Tables.
TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all Slicers.
TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all SmallMultiples.
TRUE or FALSE. Refresh all TreeMaps.
You may also call the formula with just the RunRefresh parameter to refresh all types.
Examples
This example assumes you are using cell $A$1 to hold the RunRefresh variable. We will refresh just the
grids.
First, create the XL3RefreshObjects, as follows:
=XL3RefreshObjects($A$1, True)
Next set up the link to fire the refresh, as follows:

=XL3Link(XL3Address($A$1),"Refresh All",,XL3Address($A$1),TRUE)
Now clicking the hyperlink will refresh all grids in the workbook.
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XL3RefreshObjectsNamed
Refreshes objects in the report based on their name. (new in v7.1)
This allows you to refresh objects on demand. Objects could
be Grids, Tables, Slicers, SmallMultiples or Treemaps.
This function is for use with the XL3Link function, which can be used to switch the refresh on.
Syntax
XL3RefreshObjectsNamed( [RunRefresh], [Name1],, [Name29] )
Parameters
Parameter
RunRefresh
[Name1],, [NameN]
Description
Should the refresh fire. This should be a reference to another cell that contains
TRUE or FALSE. Once the refresh fires that cell will be reset to FALSE. Use
XL3Link to set the cell to true, causing a refresh.
Names of the objects to refresh
Examples
This example assumes you are using cell $A$1 to hold the RunRefresh variable. We will refresh a grid named
"MyGrid".
First, create the XL3RefreshObjectsNamed, as follows:
=XL3RefreshObjectsNamed($A$1, "MyGrid")
Next set up the link to fire the refresh, as follows:
=XL3Link(XL3Address($A$1),"Refresh My Grid",,XL3Address($A$1),TRUE)
Now clicking the hyperlink will refresh the grid specified.
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XL3WebReportLink
Creates a hyperlink that opens an XLCubed Web report and optionally sets web parameters.
Use the Insert Formula > XL3WebReportLink menu or ribbon item to insert the formula using a wizard.
Syntax
XL3WebReportLink( Report, [Link Text], [Link Type], [Param1], [Value1],, [Param13], [Value13] )
Parameters
Parameter
Report
Link Text
Link Type
Param1,,ParamN
Value1,,ValueN
Description
A piece of text, indicating the relative path of the report.
The jump text or numeric value that is displayed in the cell. If Link Text is
omitted, the cell displays the full address as the text
The type of link. Only used from XLCubed Web Edition:
The name of the web parameter where the following Value is placed when the
link is followed
The value that will be passed to the corresponding web parameter
Examples
Create an XLCubed workbook with three XL3WebReportLink statements as below:
Each link has a corresponding XL3WebReportLink:
Test111 =XL3WebReportLink("test111.xml", "test111", 1, "closecopies", "true")
Web1 =XL3WebReportLink("web1.xml", "Web1", 0, "text", $G$2, "closecopies", "true")
Test2 =XL3WebReportLink("test2.xml","test2",1)
Publish this workbook and open in Web Edition:
Click on a link and the report opens. If closecopies is set to true then when you click on a hyperlink to run
subsequent reports, you will find the previous report has been closed. This stops the user having many
windows open that all require closing manually.
Special Parameter Names
You can configure the workbook using parameters with reserved names. You do not add these using
the Web Parameters screen, you simply specify them in the formula.
XL3WebReportLink([Standard parameters], [SpecialParameterName], [Value] )
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Parameter
Description
XL3ActiveWorksheetName The worksheet to display when the report link is opened
Relative Paths
In v7.5 a relative path can be used by using the syntax ./Book2.xml this would load the report Book2
from the same source folder as the report containing the XL3WebReportLink.
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Clear all data values

New in Version 7.5 it is possible to clear all the data values from a workbook. Go to XLCubed -> Extras ->
Clear all data values. This does the following:
1. Clears all grids
2. Sets any XLCubed Formulae to "Working..."
The workbook can then be saved or published. For a saved workbook the numbers will only be reretrieved once the workbook is loaded and the grids & formulae are refreshed. For a published report,
the published file will not contain any data and the numbers will only be retrieved after the report is
viewed in Web Edition.
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XL3FlexMember
Returns a name or caption for a member or members used by Flex Reporting.
Syntax
XL3FlexMember( Connection, Hierarchy, Member, Flex Path, [Flexset Level] )
Parameters
Parameter
Connection
Hierarchy
Member
Flex Path
Flexset level
Description
Name of the hierarchy that the member applies to eg Measures or
Comma-delimited list of members to use for the cross-section
The name of the flex path to use for drilling this member
Used internally to track the current level when drilling

Member name 'W6000/185' set to drill using the "Test" Flex Path
=XL3MemberLookup( 1, "Product", "[Product].&[W6000/185]", "Test" )
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Member Selection Type

Arguments
When setting the member selection type you must pass two or three additional arguments
Argument
Hierarchy name
Selection type
Index (Optional)
Description
The hierarchy that will be
updated.
The type of selection to be
applied.
Which member to apply the
selection to. If not passed then
the selection will be applied to
all members.
Selection Types
Value
"Member"
"Children"
"Ancestors"
"Descendants"
"FirstChild"
"FirstSibling"
"LastChild
"LastSibling"
"LowestDescendants"
"Parent"
"SameLevel"
"Siblings"
"Next:X"
"Prev:X"
DescendantsAt:X"
Description
Only the member itself is returned.
Children of the member are returned.
All ancestors of the member are returned.
All descendants of the member are returned.
First child of the member is returned.
First sibling of the member is returned
Last child of the member is returned.
Last sibling of the member is returned.
Descendants of the member from the lowest level are returned.
Parent of the member is returned.
All members at the level of the member are returned.
All siblings of the member are returned.
The member and the next "X" members at the level are returned. X must be a
number
The member and the previous "X" members at the level are returned. X must
be a number
Descendants of the member from the level "X" are returned. X must be a
number, or level name
Flex Reporting
Introduction
Flex reporting is a new style of Formula Reporting introduced in Version 7.6. It allows a report designer to
define a custom drill path for a report, so the user of the report could drill, for example, from Products =>
Customers => Orders. The user can double-click to follow the defined drill path, or can use a right-click
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shortcut to go directly to any defined level in the drill path which gives huge flexibility in a controlled
environment.
Each Drill is performed so that only rows with data are returned, this means drilling into a particular
product would only return customers that have bought that product (this is dependent on the Measure
applying over both hierarchies).
Getting Started
The starting place for any Flex Report is to insert a Grid and define the starting structure, so which
dimensions will be on filters, rows and columns. As with traditional formula reports the structure of the
report is static once converted to formula so it's important to start with a grid that matches the final
structure.
Once the grid is ready, right-click and select "Convert to flex report", this will show the Flex Report form.
Flex Reporting Form
An individual drill level is called a "Flex Set" and a collection of these is a "Flex Path". An individual member
can be assigned a "Flex Path" and as the user drills they will navigate the "Flex Sets" in the path.
Flex Paths
A workbook can contain several Flex Paths, it's also possible to export and import the definitions so they
can be reused. Each flex path has a defined name, and it's this name that links a formula to a particular flex
path.
When converting a grid to a flex report, select or define the default path for the flex report and click OK
(you can always edit the formula to change the flex path later).
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Name
The name given to the path is referenced and in XL3FlexMember formulae that are set to use the path
Filter Members
If set to the filter members in the report then any drilled flex members will automatically update to show
the members with data for the new selection. The formula report will dynamically grow and shrink in a
similar way as grids.
After changing the filter member:

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Disable 'Drill To' menu

By default any XL3FlexMember will include a "Dill To" menu option, this allows the report's user to drill to
any valid attribute/hierarchy level. You can use this option to disable that functionality for the given path.
Flex Sets
A flex set is the level to drill to you can control the order the flex sets appear in by using the toolbar to
move them:
Each set can be given a name, this will default to the level name (the name will be shown on the right-click
menu) and can be changed to anything suitable.
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Name
The name given to the Flex Set will be displayed on the "Expand To" menu
Level
You can select a level of a hierarchy or attribute for the set to use.
Excel Range
An excel range can be used for the source of the flex set - enter any valid Set MDX in the cell
MDX
You can enter the MDX used to return the set here - enter any valid Set MDX
Auto Expand on Drill
When 'Auto Expand' is enabled then all members returned in this set will be automatically expanded to the
next flex set.
Restrictions
It is only possible to include a Hierarchy in a report once, so if the hierarchy is on the rows, columns or
filter area of the report then it cannot be used in any of the Flex Sets. This also applies within a flex path, so
once a hierarchy has been used it cannot be included again at another level.
This restriction does not apply to attribute hierarchies and as these are single level, then it generally makes
most sense to use the attribute hierarchy when defining the flex sets.
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XL3FlexMember
For more information about the XL3FlexMember please see the section on XL3FlexMember in Book II
Formula Reporting.
Navigating
Once a flex report has been created then drilling will work in the same way as Formula Drilling, but will
follow the Flex Path defined rather than the hierarchy levels.
Expand to
Right-clicking on a Flex report member will give an "Expand To" option, this can be used to skip to a
particular flex set level.
Drill to
The Drill to option allows drilling to any valid hierarchy/attribute in the cube, it's not possible to drill to any
hierarchies included in the report already so these will be disabled
Slicers
To add slicers to a flex report - highlight one or more filter members and select "Add Slicer" - this will add
slicers that are automatically cascading (that is they feed into each other top to bottom) and will also
enable the "Auto Filter" option on the flex path.
Picture Links
Version 7.5 added support for Picture Links these are pictures that can be inserted into a workbook that
provide the same functionality as the XL3Link formula.
Inserting
To insert a picture link, go to Insert Formula -> XL3PictureLink.
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Picture file to insert

Select the image to display in the picture link
Link To
Select the destination cell for where the user will be taken when the image is clicked on (this can be the
same sheet if the picture link is controlling something on this sheet or a different sheet to allow report
navigation)
Perform a "Submit Changes" on Web
With this enabled and the report has been published any writable cells or "Delayed Slicers" will be
submitted when the picture is clicked on, it acts the same as the "Submit" toolbar button on the web
Hyperlinks to update
You can provide a list of cells to update with either a value or the contents of another cell. This can be used
to drive a selection or copy ranges of values between worksheets or cells on the same sheet.
Editing
To edit an existing Picture Link, hold the "Shift" key when clicking and the standard Picture Link form will
be displayed
Using Camera Objects
To use a camera object as the source for an image, first insert the Picture Link selecting a temporary
picture. Then right-click on the picture to highlight it and then type the source range for the image in the
formula bar, i.e. Sheet2!a1:f10 would change the picture link to show the contents of the range, it can then
resized and re-positioned as required.
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Book III Charting & Data Visualisation

Standard Excel Charts
XLCubed operates within Excel and as such any data retrieved into the workbook using XLCubed can be
charted using any standard Excel chart type. If the data being plotted is static in shape and you need very
fine grain control over the chart formatting this is likely the best approach.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide - Book III Charting & Data Visualisation
XLCubed Grid Charts

XLCubed provides a way to tie a chart directly to an XLCubed grid. This caters for when the grid changes in
shape and the number of elements, and lets the user specify the hierarchical level of the data to be
plotted. The available chart types are a subset of the Excel Chart library. For more information see Book I
Grids and the section on Grid Charts.
In-Cell Charts
In-cell charts are small, focused charts which each fit within one Excel cell. They are designed to be used
within tables of data and allow the mixing of numbers and charts together in tables. They are often a very
space-efficient way to give context to, or highlight outliers in a data table.
In-Cell Charts can be used in two ways within XLCubed:

Formula-based: where an XLCubed formula controls the chart and the data being plotted must first be
returned into Excel.
Embedded in grids: where the charts are generated directly as part of the gird and support data growth.
For more details see the section in this document on In-Cell Charts in Grids
Small Multiples
Small Multiples, often known as Trellis Charts, are highly interactive and use individual charts to display
each slice of a data set. The axes are on a common scale and the only variable is the data set slice being
changed. They make it easy to see shared trend and pattern or outliers across the data set.
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For more information see the section in this document on Small Multiple Charts
Treemaps
A Treemap is a way to display hierarchical information using nesting rectangles or tiles. They are most
often set up where the size of the rectangle depicts one metric and the colour depicts another. They can
often help identify patterns which would otherwise be difficult to see.
For further information see the section in this document on Treemaps.
Mapping
XLCubed provides point and shape-based geospatial mapping. The maps can be zoomed and panned as
needed, and can be used as a selector for a report as well as just a display. For further information see the
section in this document on Maps .
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In-Cell Charts in Grids

In-Cell Charts can be used in two ways within XLCubed. Firstly, they can be selected in the measures
dialog. This is termed a Visual Grid. In this scenario, the In-Cell Charts behave in the same way as a
standard measure, and hierarchies can be dragged and repositioned during analysis with the In-Cell Charts
moving in sequence.
Secondly, in an environment where the hierarchies on rows and columns will not change, In-Cell Charts can
be inserted as Grid Calculations. This allows for the use of spark bars as, for example, deviation analysis, or
bullet charts. These can be configured to cater for row dynamic reporting as outlined below.
Visual Grids for Time Series Analysis

Visual Grids add visualization capability to the dynamic XLCubed Grid. In-Cell Charts add historical context
to the headline numbers and allow fast, effective parallel comparisons of trends and patterns, while fully
retaining the slice and dice environment. So in any XLCubed Grid you can now choose to display just the
numbers, just the historical trend through In-Cell Charts, or indeed both as below:
In this case we can see a revenue fall across all products for Europe in the same time frame, which
should be investigated further and understood. There are a large number of formatting options around
the charts, for example it's possible to use a common chart scale across the whole Grid, which can be
used to good effect with column or area charts.
The process of adding a chart into a Grid is initiated through the measure selection. In the Hierarchy
Editor for Measures, a drop down menu is available which gives the option to display the value (default),
or to chart the trend:
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On selecting InCell Chart, a dialog appears to allow you to configure the chart. The chart types most
relevant for time series analysis are the Line, Area, Column and Win Lose types. Further configuration
options are available depending on the chart type.
Once the chart type is chosen, the time context must be specified. The dialog defaults to the time
hierarchy (or the first time hierarchy if there are several). Choose the required hierarchy, then select the
members you wish to chart:
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Visual Grids for Performance Analysis

We will use Visual Grid charts to show a chart for Gross Profit and when its margin falls below a specified
value.
Start by following the MDX calculations in Book XI - Tutorials to create the initial report.
To create the Gross Profit bar chart:
Open the Hierarchy Editor for Measures by double clicking on the Measures hierarchy label.
Click on the Gross Profit dropdown, and select InCell Chart:
Select Bar as the chart type and choose the one with a value axis as the subtype:
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Select just Current Member for the Hierarchy members to chart.
To create the Gross Profit Margin alert indicator:
Select the Gross Profit Margindropdown, and choose InCell Chart.
Select 3-State Alert Icons (Red Shade) as the chart type
Click the Chart Format button to change the format, and change the first colour's condition to >
0.6 and the second colour's to > 0.55:
On the Label tab, set the chart label to Alert, then click OK
Select just Current Member for the Hierarchy members to chart
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Click OK again to accept the chart.

When we run the report, we see all of the Roadproduct group is in a warning state, and Road S8000is
in the alert state:
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Small Multiple Charts

Small multiple charts is a term popularised by Edward Tufte. They allow comparing data series as they are
repeated for different members. In XLCubed they are useful for visualising large amounts of data, as
hundreds of data points can be plotted and compared easily.
This allows users to find trends and outliers in the data more easily than by trying to study a large table of
data.
User Interface
As mentioned previously it can be difficult to understand outliers, trends etc when the data is presented
as just numbers and text as can be seen below. Using Small Multiples with this example below will guide
you through creating meaningful information from the data.
Task Pane: building a set of Charts Example Basic
As you can see the image on the right is a much easier way of viewing the data, compared to the grid.
Let's work through an example.
Category defines the Category (X Axis) within each individual Chart, in this case a Trend over Time
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The Series defines the number of data series to be charted.

In order to be able to visualise a simple trend this would be easier with Lines rather than Columns. Use
the Chart Type on the Options panel of the Task Pane to change the chart style.
By dragging the Region hierarchy onto columns, and then selecting Children of All, we can split data into
separate charts at Region level.
We can additionally split this by Channel by dragging the Channel hierarchy onto rows,
Now we have a graph for each Region by Sales Channel. The Scales (Y axis) are shared so that the charts
can be easily compared.
More detail is available for each chart by double clicking on the individual chart eg Direct Sales/ Australia
Pacific, where the data is unclear because of low numbers can be further explored like this. The scale is
automatically adjusted to give a clearer picture of the data. Use the back button to return to the higher
level.
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Manipulating the chart to show Each Product by Channel, simply drag the Products from the Series to the
Rows Below you can clearly see the effect of swapping the Product (Rows) and the Channel (Series)
Additionally you can drive the data selection by using Slicers or Excel ranges.
Here we have defined a Slicer on Time at Year level and used it to drive the Categories.
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Small Multiple Chart Designer

Insert a Small Multiples chart by using the Small Multiples option on the ribbon, or the Insert -> Small
Multiples Menu option.
After inserting a Small Multiples Chart the above windows will be displayed. The Small Multiples Charts Task Pane is automatically displayed on the right of the sheet. The Task Pane can also be accessed from
the right mouse button pop-up menu.
To delete the Small Multiple chart use the right mouse button pop-up menu -> Delete option.
To Move, Size or Close the Task Pane, drag it using the window bar or use the drop down menu on the
Task Pane Header.
The data within the Charts can be refreshed (like a grid) by using the right mouse button pop-up menu ->
Refresh option There is also an initial Warning displayed on the empty chart as it is essential for the design
of a Small Multiple Chart set that a Category is selected. This warning can also be seen on the Task Pane.
Display Options
Using some of the other features in the Options section of the Task Panel, charts can be made to display
data in order to be able to better view correlations and or outliers
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Define the number of Columns Displayed

When selecting the X Axis Children of the Geography we receive the following message, because there
more columns returned than the Max Number of Columns defined on the Properties for the Chart. i.e
there are 6 values, for Children of Geography
Wrapping
Alter the Max Charts on Columns to 6 to display all the Geography - Children.
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Note the Warning indicator icon in the bottom left corner of the Chart has now disappeared as all the data
is displayed.
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As there is nothing selected on the Rows, a better way to display this information, given its long narrow
nature would be to turn on Chart wrapping.
The data still has a common scale and is more easily compared
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Move the Legend

Using Right Mouse Menu select the position for the Legend, Right, Bottom or None. If None is selected the
Legend can easily be retrieved by using the Right Mouse button anywhere on the Chart.
Highlight a Series
Using the Legend series on the Charts can be highlighted, this is useful where series overlap. Here the
Reseller Order Count appears brighter. Multiple series can be selected by using Crtl Click.
Drill Into: for a breakdown on the Column
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Using the Right Mouse Menu Drill Into the data for Canada, you can continue drilling as far as the Hierarchy
allows.
Using the Back button returns to the previous level of Charts.
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Keep Only: for a closer look at a single Column
Click on the chart you wish to keep and use the Keep
Only menu option to remove the other charts
Keep Except: for a closer Comparison
Using this option you can get a closer comparison between two or more Geographies. Here we have
removed the United States and Canada, in order to get a better look at how the other Geographies
compare to each other. Notice the scales have been adjusted to reflect only the data displayed.
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Relationships between Measures

Colour Coding
Colour Coding can be applied to the data points in order to highlight differences. Colour Coding can be
applied using the plotted Measure, or another selected Measure. Tick the Colour box in the Options area
of the Task Pane; this makes the colour gradient active.
A warning will appear that No Values Hierarchy chosen next to the Values box in the Options area. Drag the
hierarchy to plot, normally the Measures to the Values box and select the Measure to be plotted (Y Axis)
Next select the value to apply the gradient to. This can either be the same Measure that is being charted
or another measure altogether.
On the left, the Reseller Sales Amount is plotted and Chart coloured based on the Reseller Order Quantity.
On the right, the Reseller Sales Amount is plotted and Chart coloured based on the Discount Amount. The
colours used for charting can be changed by using the button to the right of the colour swatch.
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Here by looking at the Sales Amount, coloured by different values we can see that although there were
large volumes of Sales in the USA they were also the most heavily discounted.
Plotting a second Series, using a second Y Axis
It would be useful to view the Order Numbers vs. the Reseller Sales Amounts; if they are both plotted on
the same scale it is almost impossible to see the Order Count values as they are so small by comparison.
Move to other axis allows you to see two Y Axis scales, one each for Amount and Count.
Using the Right Mouse Menu, whilst positioned on the Legend Entry for the series you wish to move Click
Move to other Axis
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Scatter Charts: plotting a correlation

Plotting a correlation, using a scatter chart option - firstly define the Y axis and then the X axis against which
it is to be plotted. Here we can see how the Sales Amount and Order Count are related - closely in Australia,
but spread out in the United States.
In a second example, for selected Geographies, we can apply colour to the chart using a third measure,
Discount Amount. Additionally the data is split by Product Category on the rows.
Heavily discounted sales can be seen as red data points.
Using the first example the chart type can be changed to a Bubble. Using the Discount Amount to determine
the size of the bubble it can be seen that the greatest discounts occur in the United States.
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Drilling through the individual charts, using the Right Mouse can then provide more details as to where the
actual sales occur. eg. in Australia, most Sales with high Discounts occur in New South Wales in the Lane
Cove area.
Use the back button to navigate back through the previous charts.
Headers: Filtering the Data
By moving the Measures to the Headers you can add to and or change the currently charted
measure.
By moving any of the other Hierarchies into the Headers area filters can be applied to the data. eg Here we
are looking at Reseller Sales for just Accessories and Clothing Sales.
Versus Sales for Components below: Components are sold in more locations than the Clothing and
Accessories. Note that these selections can be driven from an Excel range or Slicer and could therefore be
preset or selected by the viewer.
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Properties
The Small Multiple Chart Properties can be accessed either from the right mouse button pop-up menu > Properties or from the tool bar at the top of the Small Multiple Charts Task Pane
Appearance
Colour Palette: Select the Colour Palette for the Chart
Space chart areas: when ticked creates a space between each chart.
Max charts on Columns: the maximum number of Charts displayed in each Column. Max charts on
Rows: the maximum number of Charts displayed in each Row.
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Note: if the total number of charts exceeds the Number of Rows times the Number of Columns, then
some charts will not be displayed. To display them increase either the number or Rows or Columns or
both.
When Wrapping charts:
Auto Arrange: XLCubed overrides the Column and Row Counts to give a balanced view of the data.
Note: The Column and Row counts still apply as maximums, so if there are not enough spaces the warning
message will appear .i.e. if there are 3 columns and 1 row only 3 charts will be displayed, and a warning
message given if there are more that number of charts, however the charts will be displayed as a 2 by 2
block.
Fix Column Count: Uses the Column count first to determine the number of Columns displayed,
then display as many charts as possible given the row count.

Missing values: Defines how the null source values are handled
Plot missing values as zero: Plots the null values as if they were zeroes
Don't plot missing values: Leaves a space where the null values are
Interpolate missing values: Creates a value between neighbouring values to plot
Line chart line width: New in Version 7.5 the thickness of the lines for line charts.
Show Tooltip New in Version 7.5 the tooltip to display when hovering over a point in the chart.
Placeholders may be used to put data into the tooltip text:
%value%: The numeric vertical value at the point
%valuex%: The numeric x (horizontal) value at the point, if applicable
%category%: The category member at the point
%series%: The series the point belongs
%column%: The column member at the point
%row%: The row member at the point
Behaviour
Chart Name the Name of the Chart for easy reference
Output Cells New in Version 7.5 XLCubed places the selected member for the selected point into the
chosen cell. This value can then be used to drive other charts, formulae and/or Grid selections.
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In this example, the Column member Geography - France is placed in $A$26, and Product Categories - [1]
Bikes in
$A$27. This value can then be used to drive other charts, formulas and or grid selections:
Link To New in Version 7.5 when a point on the chart is clicked, this range is selected.
Placement Controls the behaviour of the chart when surrounding cells are moved and resized:
Free floating: The chart ignores all cell size changes
Move: The chart is moved together with the surrounding cells, but is not resized by them
Move and Size: The chart is moved and resized together with the surrounding cells
Show Back/Forward controls Controls whether back and forward controls are displayed on the chart to
undo and redo changes made to it
Enable high performance charts If ticked, high performance charts are used
Axes Controls the minima and maxima of the vertical axes
Titles and Axes

New in Version 7.5
Chart titles: The font used to display the column and row members
Chart axes:
Label font The font used to display the labels on the axis
Label angle The angle to show the label text at
Allow label truncation Allows label text to be shortened in order to display tidily
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Stagger labels Allows alternate labels to be shifted in order to improve readability

End label visible Shows or hides the last label
Category Labels: Determines the display of the Category Labels on the Chart.
Automatic: XLCubed will decide how many labels to display, based on the space available.
Every Category: each category will be displayed regardless of the space available.
None: No labels will be displayed.
Custom: The labels will be shown based on a number you enter.
Colours and Style

From Version 7.6
Chart background: the colour used to fill in the area behind the charts
Chart area background: the colour used to fill the individual charts
Axis colour: the colour used to draw the vertical and horizontal axes
Gridline colour: the colour used to draw any gridlines on each chart
Show columns and bars as cylinders: when ticked, column and bar charts are filled with a 3D effect
Marker style: for chart types that use them (e.g. scatter charts), the shape of the markers:
Triangle
Star10
Star6
Star5
Star4
Square
Diamond
Cross
Circle
Marker size: for chart types that use them (e.g. scatter charts, dot charts), the size of the markers
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Colour and Gradient Picker

The colour gradient picker is used to determine both the colours and the rate at which the colour changes.
This can have a dramatic effect on the impact on the data being displayed and is a valuable tool for making
sure that data becomes information
Here the only change was made to the centre of the colour bar
Chart type
Use the drop-down on chart-type as below to see the many different chart types available within XLCubed
for use within Small Multiples graphing.
Trendlines
New in Version 7.5 - you can right-click on a Series (or the chart for all series) to add a trendline:
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You can then select the type of trendline and formatting in the Trendline Options
Interactive Charting
New in Version 7.5 - charts can be made an interactive, clickable part of the overall report
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Small Multiple Charts based on other data sources

From XLCubed v7.5, you may also insert Small Multiple Charts based on data from sources other than
Analysis Services.
Small Multiple Charts based on SQL
From v7.5, XLCubed has the ability to create Small Multiple Charts from data in relational databases. To
insert a new chart:
1. Select the XLCubed > Insert > Small Multiples > SQL... ribbon item
2. Select the data source and query, as described in SQL Data Tables (Administrators)
3. XLCubed will then insert an empty chart for you, ready for your columns selections
These small multiple charts are identical to the Analysis Services based charts described on the Small
Multiple Charts page, except for a few differences:
There is no Header area: the charts are always based on the entire data set, and each returned
column can be placed anywhere on the chart designer.

Any numeric column can be selected for the Y Axis values. When appropriate, this also applies to
X Axis and Colour values.
To edit the connection, you may click the Select data source toolbar button in the Task Pane:
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Small Multiple Charts based on Excel Ranges

From v7.5, XLCubed has the ability to create Small Multiple Charts from data found on your Excel
worksheet. To insert a new chart:
Select the XLCubed > Insert > Small Multiples > Excel... ribbon item
Select the data source, if it has not already been selected for you
Tick the Read data in hidden cells option if you would like all rows to be charted, whether they
are visible or not
XLCubed will then insert an empty chart for you, ready for your columns selections
In this example, we can then drag MonthName to Categories, Category yto Columns and Color to
Rows to give this chart:
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These small multiple charts are identical to the Analysis Services based charts described on the Small
Multiple Charts page, except for a few differences:
There is no Header area: the charts are always based on the entire data set
Any numeric column can be selected for the Y Axis values. When appropriate, this also applies to X
Axis and
Colour values.
To edit the range, you may click the Select data source toolbar button in the Task Pane:
To quickly change whether hidden data should be included in the chart, you can use the Read data
in hidden cells toolbar button in the Task Pane:
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Interactive Charting
Version 7.5 provides the ability for more interactive, chart-driven reporting. This is achieved by extending
the existing Small Multiple Charts in the product. Users can now click a chart, or a datapoint within a chart
and have the rest of the report update in context, as in the example below where Road Bikes, Q2 has been
selected and the ranking table beneath has been filtered accordingly.
Small Multiples have been extended in three key areas:

Full control over selected chart and chart area, with associated formatting
More control over axis and title formatting
In addition to cubes, Small Multiple charts can also be built from an Excel Range or directly from
SQL.
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Chart Selections
When building reports, it's now possible to track any selected element of a Small Multiple Chart. This
includes an axis element, an individual chart, or any data point in the chart. This information can be
output to a range of Excel cells, and then other parts of the overall report, including grids and formulae,
can be based on the content of these cells. The chart will also indicate by colour which chart or datapoint
is selected. This is handled by all unselected elements being displayed in a much lighter shade, while the
selected item retains the original colour.
These output properties are configured in the properties for the chart control, as shown in the
screenshot. To track an element, select the relevant checkbox and chose the desired output cell.
'Link to' is also available as an option, where the focus can be moved to another area of the report in the
context of the selected chart or chart element.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book III Charting & Data Visualisation
Chart Formatting
A more granular level of control is now provided for the axis and chart name elements within the chart
control. This is available in properties as shown below.
SQL and Excel sourced Charts
Version 7.5 introduces the capability to build small multiple charts from non-cube data. This can be any
Excel range, or directly from a SQL query or stored procedure. When inserting a small multiple chart from
the XLCubed ribbon, you can now specify which data source this is for.
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In-Cell Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any In-Cell Charts in your report, and can be invoked in several ways:
For In-Cell Chart formulae
While inserting an In-Cell Chart formula, after choosing the desired chart type, clicking the ...
button under Chart Format
Right-clicking on an existing In-Cell Chart or formula, then selecting XLCubed > Format In-Cell
Chart...
Double-clicking on an existing In-Cell Chart or formula
For Grid-based In-Cell Charts
While inserting an In-Cell Chart member, after choosing the desired chart type, clicking the ...
button under Chart Format
In the Report Designer or the Hierarchy Editor, existing In-Cell Chart members have a ...button to
format the chart
The specific dialog that is displayed depends on which chart type has been selected for the In-Cell Charts:
SparkLine Chart Designer (including area charts)
SparkColumns Chart Designer
SparkWinLose Chart Designer
SparkBar Chart Designer
SparkBullet Chart Designer
SparkIcon Chart Designer
SparkPie Chart Designer
SparkHorizon Chart Designer
SparkBox Chart Designer
DotPlot Chart Designer
Lollipop Chart Designer
Bandline Chart Designer
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SparkLine Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkLine or SparkArea In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about
how to invoke the dialog, see the section In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
General
Title: Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to use as the member
name (when used in Grids)
Line type: Uses the desired rendering style for the data points
Line colour:
Point colour:
Negative point colour:
Stretch factor:
The colour to use for the line

The default colour to use for the data points
The default colour to use for negative data points
Point highlighting
Minimum value colour:
Maximum value colour:
Start value colour:
End value colour:
The colour to highlight the lowest point

The colour to highlight the highest point
The colour to highlight the first point
The colour to highlight the last point
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Missing values
Don't plot missing values: Leave a gap where there is a gap in the source data
Plot missing values as zero: Substitute gaps in the source data with zeros
Interpolate missing values: Fill in missing values with statistically appropriate values
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Axis Options
Vertical Scale
Automatic common scale:
If selected, overrides all the other vertical scale options and chooses one set
of scales to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member
Minimum
Automatic:
Selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually
Custom:
Specifies the minimum for all charts
Maximum
Automatic:
Custom:
Selects a suitable maximum for each chart individually

Specifies the maximum for all charts
Period
No period colour:
Period colour:
Disables alternate background shading

Enables alternate background shading, allowing you to specify the
alternate colour and the length of the period
Background Options
No background:
Fill area:
Normal band:
Normal band colour:
Standard deviations:
Custom:
Renders the chart as just lines and points (as previously specified), without
additional background
Renders the chart as an area chart, with the area below the line filled in the
specified colour
Renders a band on the chart, within which normal points are expected to fall
The colour for the normal band
Specifies that the normal band should be calculated as plus or minus the
specified number of standard deviations from the mean
Allows selection of custom values or values for the minimum and maximum
normal values
Reference Line Options

No reference line:
Reference line:
Reference line colour:
Automatic average:
Custom value:
Disables the reference line

Renders a reference line on each chart, and allows you to specify further
options
The colour for the reference line
Specifies that the reference line should be calculated as the mean of all the
points in the chart
Allows selection of a custom value or values for the reference line data points
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SparkColumns Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkColumns In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to
invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
General
Title:
Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to
use as the member name (when used in Grids)
The default colour to use for the columns
The default colour to use for negative columns
The width of each column
Column colour:
Negative point colour:
Column width:
Column highlighting
Minimum value colour:
Maximum value colour:
Start value colour:
End value colour:
The colour to highlight the lowest column

The colour to highlight the highest column
The colour to highlight the first column
The colour to highlight the last column
Axis Options
Vertical Scale
Automatic common scale:
If selected, overrides all the other vertical scale options and chooses one set
of scales to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member
Minimum
Automatic:
Selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually
Custom:
Specifies the minimum for all charts
Maximum
Automatic:
Custom:
Period
No period colour:
Period colour:
Selects a suitable maximum for each chart individually

Specifies the maximum for all charts
Disables alternate column shading

Enables alternate column shading, allowing you to specify the alternate
colour for positive and negative columns and period length
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Reference Line Options

No reference line:
Reference line:
Reference line colour:
Automatic average:
Custom value:
Disables the reference line

Renders a reference line on each chart, and allows you to specify further
options
The colour for the reference line
Specifies that the reference line should be calculated as the mean of all the
points in the chart
Allows selection of a custom value or values for the reference line data points
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SparkWinLose Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkWinLose In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to
invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
General
Title
the colour to use for win columns
the colour to use for loss columns
the colour to use for draw columns
Win column colour

Loss column colour
Draw column colour
SparkBar Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBar In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke
the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
Colours 1 to 8
Stacked bar chart

100% stacked bar chart
Custom bar length
Show zero bars
specify the colours used for the bars. If the bar is positive, the data points will
start with colour 1; if the bar is negative, the data points will start with colour
5.
the total bar width varies according to the total
the widths are all equal, with the widths of individual data points showing
their proportion of the total
specifies the maximum chart width
Specifies whether to draw bars for zero-valued data points
Value Label Options

Use value labels
Before bar
After bar
Number format
Label colour
Font
If selected, each bar is labelled with its total value

The value label is rendered to the left of the chart itself
The value label is rendered to the right of the chart itself
Specifies the format string for the value labels
the colour for the value labels
Allows you to choose the typeface and size of the value labels
Axis Options
Customise axis
Allows you to choose further options defining how the formula cell (for InCell Chart formulae), or the member name (when used in Grids) is rendered
Use title only
uses the given text as a caption
Axis with tickmarks above draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis
Axis with tickmarks below draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis
Custom tickmark frequency overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks
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Minor ticks per major tick

tickmark
Show labels on major tick
Number format
Custom axis minimum
Custom axis maximum
Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major
Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis
the format string to be used for the axis labels
overrides the automatic minimum for the axis
overrides the automatic maximum for the axis
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SparkBullet Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBullet In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke
Chart Options
This page has two modes. When the qualitative ranges are being driven from a range in your Workbook,
some of the controls will be uneditable or hidden, as the values they contain will be predetermined.
Qualitative ranges
Specifies how many qualitative ranges should be rendered in the bullet chart.
Available only when not being driven from a range
Reverse range order -1 to cause the qualitative ranges to be reversed when rendering
Use Excel range
Specifies that the qualitative ranges should be defined by values in the given range.
Show measure as
Specifies whether to render the measure value as a Bar or a Dot:
Measure bar colour

Bullet length
the colour to user for the measure bar or dot

the width of the bullet chart
When Use Excel range is enabled

Range colour
the colour for the given qualitative range
When Use Excel range is disabled

Lower limit
gives the lower limit for the first qualitative range
Subsequent rows give the colour and upper limit for each qualitative range.
Reference Value Options

Reference lines
No reference lines:
One reference line:
Two reference lines:
Colour:
Value:
The bullet chart is rendered without reference line

The bullet chart has one reference line
The bullet chart has two reference lines
The colour to use for the given reference line
The value to use for the given reference line. May be either a value or a
range
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Projection bar
No projection bar:
Project bar:
The bullet chart is rendered without a projection bar
The bullet chart has an additional bar or dot, showing the projected value for the measure
Colour:
The colour to use for the projection bar
Value:
The value to use for the projection bar. May be either a value or a range
Axis Options
Customise axis:
Use title only:
Uses the given text as a caption
Axis with tickmarks above: Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis
Axis with tickmarks below: Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis
Custom tickmark frequency: Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks
Minor ticks per major tick: Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major
tickmark
Show labels on major tick: Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis
Number format:
The format string to be used for the axis labels
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SparkIcon Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkIcon In-Cell Charts in your report. These charts have two ways of
being used:
Single data source: the colour and icon type are driven from the same data, giving two ways to
see the same information
Dual data sources: the colour and icon type have independent data sources, giving the
opportunity to increase data density of your reports
For details about how to invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Single Data Source Mode

Title
Icon count
specifies how many icon styles to use
Reverse range order

Icon type field
-1 to cause the icon ranges to be reversed when rendering

the icon type to use for the given value range.
Colour field
Operator and value fields
the colour to use for the given value range

together, these give the boundaries for the given value range. The highest
value range should be at the top
Separate Icons and Colour Converts the SparkIcon Chart to a dual data source chart
Dual Data Source Mode

Icon Options
Title
Icon count
Reverse range order
Icon type field
Merge Icons and Colours
specifies how many icon types to use
-1 to cause the icon ranges to be reversed when rendering
the icon type to use for the given value range
Converts the SparkIcon Chart to a single data source chart. Note that the
colour boundaries are discarded when using this option
Colour Options
Colour data
Colour count
Reverse range order
Colour field
specifies the data to use to render the icon colours

specifies how many colours to use
-1 to cause the colour ranges to be reversed when rendering
the colour to use for the given value range
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Icon Sets
The following icon types are available for use with the SparkIcon In-Cell Chart.
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SparkPie Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkPie In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke the
dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
Title
Colours 1 to 8
Specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae), or to use as
the member name (when used in Grids)
Specify the colours used for the pie sector
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SparkHorizon Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkHorizon In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to
invoke the dialog, see the section in this document on In-Cell Chart Designer.
General
Title
specifies a title to place in the formula cell (for In-Cell Chart formulae) or to
Positive colours
the colours to use for the positive regions, highest at the bottom
Negative colours
the colours to use for the negative regions, most negative at the bottom
Stretch factor
the horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart
Missing values
Dont plot missing values
leave a gap where there is a gap in the source data
Plot missing values as zero
substitute gaps in the source data with zeroes
Interpolate missing values
fill in missing values with statistically appropriate values
Vertical scale
Automatic common scale
if selected, overrides all the other scale options and chooses one set of scales
to suit all the charts controlled by this formula or member
Minimum
Automatic
selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually
Custom
specifies the minimum for all charts
Maximum
Automatic
selects a suitable minimum for each chart individually
Custom
specifies the maximum for all charts
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SparkBox Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any SparkBox In-Cell Chart in your report. For details about how to invoke
Chart Options
Length
the horizontal scale factor to use when drawing the chart
Use custom percentile boundaries a set of values to define the percentile boundaries for the box plot,
these are:
the sample minimum (smallest observation)
the lower quartile or first quartile
the median (middle value)
the upper quartile or third quartile
the sample maximum (largest observation)
Box Plot Anatomy
Colour
The following diagram shows the anatomy of the XL3SparkBox

diagram. The letters refer to the names of the colour selecting boxes
in the SparkBox In-Cell Chart Dialogue.
Additional Values
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New in Version 7.5 you can also plot additional values on the box plot, this could be the same
values already
used in the box plot to help visualize the distribution or another set of values to compare
distribution:
Axis Options
Customise axis
Use title only
Axis with tickmarks above
Axis with tickmarks below
Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis
Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis
Custom tickmark frequency Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks

Minor ticks per major tick Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major
tickmark
Show labels on major ticks Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis
Number format
Custom axis minimum
A value to use for the minimum horizontal axis value
Custom axis maximum
A value to use for the maximum horizontal axis value
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DotPlot Chart Designer

This dialog is used to format any Dotplot In-Cell Charts in your report. For details about how to invoke the
dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
Length
Colour
The colour to draw the plots
Plot symbol
There are two choices Dot and Circle
Stacking type
Based on the stacking type the values will be grouped and drawn either
varying the colour or the vertical position
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Stacking value type
Defines how dots are stacked - the number of values, an alternate set of
values or a random jitter:
Count, The Y value is defined by the number of values that are the same
Values, provide another range the same shape as the source values and this allows
plotting of specific X & Y values
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Jitter, the Y value is taken from a fixed set of random values to allow dots near each
other to be easily distinguished
Colours
Defines the Colours to use when stacking values
Axis
Use title only
Displays the text in the header cell for the charts
Axis will have tickmarks above the base line
Axis with tickmarks below
Axis will have tickmarks below the base line
Custom tickmark frequency
Controls how often an axis value will be displayed
Minor tick per major tick
Number of ticks to appear inbetween each value
Show labels on major ticks
Controls when to display the values
Number format
Specify the number format for the tickmarks
Custom x-axis min & Custom x-axis max
Controls the horizontal maximums and minimums
Custom y-axis min & Custom y-axis max
Controls the maximums and minimums for when stacking is

enabled
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Lollipop Chart Designer

This dialog is used add or edit Lollipop In-Cell Charts in your report. This chart type was introduced in
Version 7.1
For details about how to invoke the dialog, see In-Cell Chart Designer.
Chart Options
Length
Bar Colour
Pop Colour
Negative Bar Colour
Negative Pop Colour
Reference Values

The colour to draw the bar for positive values
The colour to draw the "Pop" of the Lollipop for positive values
The colour to draw the bar for negative values
The colour to draw the "Pop" of the Lollipop for negative values
This gives you the option to define a reference value for the chart (displayed as a
vertical bar) and select the colour for the bar
Axis Options
Customise axis
Use title only
Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels above the axis
Axis with tickmarks below Draws a horizontal axis, with tickmarks and optional labels below the axis
Custom tickmark frequency Overrides the automatic calculation of major tickmarks
Minor ticks per major tick Adds the given number of minor (labelless) tickmarks between each major
tickmark
Show labels on major ticks Specifies whether numeric labels should be rendered for the axis
Number format
Custom axis minimum
Overrides the automatic minimum for the axis
Custom axis maximum
Overrides the automatic maximum for the axis
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Bandline Chart Designer

Bandlines were invented by Stephen Few as an extension to Edward Tuftes Sparklines. They are intended
to bring context to a column of Sparklines by giving additional information about the scale or the numbers
without the need to use a shared scale, which in many cases will totally flatten out the trendline for the
smaller series.
In XLCubed bandlines are implemented as a background option within the Sparkline Chart Designer.
To add Bandlines to an existing Sparkline, edit the Sparkline to format it and go to the Background tab,
then turn on Banded Fill.
Bandlines are intended to show the spread of data across a defined set, and exactly how this is displayed
can be defined by the user. The user can set the background colour for Quartile 1, the Midrange (Q2 & Q3),
and Quartile 4, along with the colour of the Median line.
There are several approaches to displaying the band information:
Use the data set being plotted to define the quartile bands (the default)
In this case if you are plotting 28 days data, the trendline itself will be based on the individual row of data,
but the banding detail is worked out from the entire set of data being plotted.
Use an extended / alternate range to define the quartile bands

For example, it may be useful to look at the current month trendline set in the context of the previous 12
months. Here Data for bands must be checked and the appropriate range of data selected. This is on a
row by row basis (i.e. the range selected for the banding must have the same number of rows as the
range for the trendline) and the bands vary row by row.
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Use Custom Percentile Boundaries

Rather than use quartiles, its possible to define custom percentile bands. This approach still requires
one row of incoming data, specifying 5 ascending percentage values (typically starting with 0% and
ending with 100%).
Include Band data in Scale
There will be higher and lower values in the set of data being used to calculate the bands than in most
individual rows being plotted. The dialogs allow you to choose whether or not to include the defined
bands in the scale. Including the banding data will have the effect of flattening the trendline, so where the
overall values being plotted are fairly close, it may make sense to do include this. However, where there is
significant variance it is generally best not to include it, and to rely on the colour banding to display this
information.
The example below shows the potential difference in this approach, where the Sparkline itself shows the
previous 30 days volumes, and the bands are based on the previous 90 days. Where the bands are
included in the scale the trendlines are much flatter, and everything is on a consistent scale. With
Bandlines excluded from the scale here the individual trends are more obvious, and their position in the
overall spread can still be determined from the background colour of the associated quartile the values
are falling into.
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Maps
XLCubed Maps are an optional extension which allow plotting geographic data directly in Excel and
publishing to the XLCubed Web server.
You can plot the data locations, and optionally set the colour and size of the plotted points to show values.
User Interface
To create a Map from Excel simply highlight the relevant data and select Maps from the Visualise dropdown button in the XLCubed menu.
XLCubed expects your data to be arranged in a particular way to create maps. Generally there should be
several columns of data as described below.
Known Latitude and Longitude

The columns should contain the following:
Column
Map Name
Location Name
Latitude
Description
Title of the map, a map will be created for each different name. (For example to
create a map for each year.)
Title of the data point, shown when you hover over the point.
Latitude of the point.
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Longitude
Colour
(optional)
Size (optional)
Longitude of the point

Defines the colour of the point plotted, can be a number or text. If no column is
selected then all points will be the same colour. See Colours for more information
Defines the size of the point, this must be a number. If no column is selected then all
points will be the same size.
This would be a typical set of mapping data:
If you do not know the latitude/longitude you can look it up using the Extras ->
Lookup Latitude/Longitudemenu item.
Highlight the place names and select the menu item. This can take some time, so is not available as a
function. It is recommended you look up the locations once and then reference them, for example using
the VLookup()formula.
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Named places
Named places uses a predefined set of codes to identify locations. You can then plot either the outline of
the location of a point in its center.
XLCubed comes with defined outlines for
Countries of the World
US States
UK Counties
You may also add custom sets of locations, to do this please contact support@xlcubed.com.
The columns for the report should contain the following.
Column
Map Name
Location Name
Colour (optional)
Size (optional)
Description
Title of the map, a map will be created for each different name. (For example
to create a map for each year.)
Name of the place to plot.
Defines the colour of the point plotted, can be a number or text. If no
column is selected then all points will be the same colour. See Colours for
more information
Defines the size of the point, this must be a number. If no column is selected
then all points will be the same size. (Does not apply if plotting polygons.)
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Display
For named places you can choose to display the outline of the place rather than just a marker at its centre.
As of Version 7.6 you can customise the transparency of the shape and border.
Map controls
Output cells
In the properties screen you can set up "output cells" for the map and location names.
With these selected clicking a data point will update Excel. This can then be used to drive a detailed
report for the selected point.
If you turn on multi-select and pick an output range rather than a cell you can output multiple values.
Drawing tools appear on the map to allow you to pick many points, and OK the selection.
Colours
This column can contain numbers or text, and there are three ways the values could drive the
colour. Firstly, if you have numbers the colours can be from a colour gradient. E.g. Red-Green
shading.
Secondly, you can categorise the point. For example with stores the colour column could contain the store
type. Each store type would then be plotted a particular colour.
Finally the column could contain specific colours, using named colours or HTML syntax such as #ff0000.
This allows you maximum flexibility to drive the colour using any criteria you choose.
All of these options are configured in the map properties screen. Right click the map to bring up the
screen.
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Pie charts
Starting in Version 7.6 you can plot pie charts instead of simple points. In this case, columns after the
location column will be used as data values for the pie segments.
By default the size of the pie chart will be based on the total of all the data values. You can optionally set
the last column to be the pie chart size. This allows you to control the size based on another parameter, or
make all the charts the same size (by filling the final column with 1s).
Sizes
If no size column is found then all markers will be the default size specified in the map properties.
If a size column is included then the size of the marker will be between the low and High value sizes
specified in the Properties screen. The exact marker size is calculated by interpolating between these
values.
View
These options are new in Version 7.6.
Initial view
Defines the startup view of the map. The options are
Zoom to fit - Matches existing behaviour, map is zoomed and scrolled to show all data points.
Save on close - The zoom and scroll are saved with the workbook.
Custom view - You decide the zoom and scroll, click the "Set" button to select the current view .
Custom style
These settings allow you to customise the map layers, such as road, water and place names.
You can adjust all the layers at once, or individually. Click the "Apply" to see a preview of what the map will
look like.
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Treemaps
Treemaps are a new visualization available in Version 7.1 of XLCubed. They can show the relationship
between two measures, and their variance across a dimension.
The above Treemap plots Sales against Profit across the top ten states in the USA. In this example the size
of the area represents the total sales, and the colour shows how profitable the sales in that area were.
In XLCubed Treemaps can be sourced from a Table, and Excel range or from a cube.
Data sources
Table or Excel range
The data sources for tables and Excel ranges are quite similar.
In both cases you select a number of columns. XLCubed will use the last two columns as the size and
colour values to plot, and other columns provide the member values.
You can have several member columns, in which XLCubed will allow drill-down into the data.
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Example
If we start with the following data in Excel:
We can create the following Treemap, which starts at the top level:
We can drill into the areas by double clicking to get more detail:
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Data options
If you edit the Treemap, you get some options to customize its behaviour.
The Show second level option allows you to instantly see the make up of each outer area from its children.
For example, in the above example we see the product category, and how each sub-category contributes
to it. Drill and we can see the products in a sub-category:
The Total Size using and Total Colour using options allow you to choose how the data is aggregated.
By default a parent's number is made up of the sum of its children, but you may want to use another
method, e.g. totalling a percentage using the average of the children.
Finally you can use the number format text boxes to set the number format used on the Treemap. By
default data sourced from an Excel range will use the number format set in Excel.
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Cube
When sourcing a Treemap from a cube you get the usual member selector found throughout
XLCubed. You must put a hierarchy in the Plot area, and this defines the areas to be plotted.
The Header area performs the usual action of slicing the results, e.g. showing only data for a given
time period. The Behaviour tab allow you to control the data displayed.
The Values section allows you to pick the measures used for the size and colour of the Treemap. Although
measures is the default hierarchy, you can drop in a different one if you need to. From v7.5, you can also
select the number formats for the values, although these are overridden by the Apply Cube formatting
option, if that is selected.
The Split by section allows you to define a two level Treemap. The second level can be a lower level of the
hierarchy you chose to plot, or could be a different hierarchy entirely.
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Common Options
Gradient: Choose the colour scheme for the Treemap. Allow you to reverse the colour order in
cases there low numbers are good, e.g. losses.

Layout: Allows you to change the method by which the areas are laid out.
o Order by Size - Larger areas come first.

o Natural Order - Attempts to keep the areas in the order they started in. This is the
order they are found in tables and ranges, cube order when the data source is a
cube.
o Squares - Attempts to make the areas as square as possible, makes comparing sizes
easier.
Parent name position: Choose the title position when showing two levels in the Treemap.
Output range: Area to output the clicked area name. Allows you to drive another section of the
report from the Treemap. Note that if you have nested areas then you can pick a range of several
cells to contain the names at each level.
Link to: Use in conjunction with Output range, allows you to jump to the section of the report
updated when the Treemap was clicked.
Show back/forward controls: Show the arrows used to navigate when drilling.
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Book IV - Web Edition

XLCubed Web Edition allows you to publish your XLCubed reports to the web. It is more than just a
publishing tool, it lets you organise your reports on the web and provides OLAP functionality in your
browser - it is not just Excel running on a server.
Step 1. Design your report

Design your report in Excel using the XLCubed add-in, visualise the data using In-Cell Charts and standard
Excel Charting. Reports can contain grid and formula based report sections, use multiple sheets, and make
use of standard Excel formulae. Both standard Excel Charting and In Cell Charts are supported for
publication to the web.
Step 2. Publish your report

From within Excel you simply select the Publish option from the XLCubed menu and choose the location
on the server where you want it to be located - click publish and the report is published to the web.
Step 3. View the report in a browser

Its as simple as accessing any web page, point your browser at the Repository and youll see the report
as it appeared in Excel.
Step 4. Enjoy OLAP in a browser

The report isnt simply published, it contains the OLAP functionality that the XLCubed add-in has
become renowned for. You can perform member selection and drill-down, all within the browser
environment.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book IV Web Edition
Web Publishing
To publish reports from XLCubed you will need to have the XLCubed Web Edition installed on an
appropriate server. The publication process is very straightforward and any report that can be opened in
your XLCubed enabled version of Excel can be published.
Publication Process
To begin the publication process first open the XLCubed report and select the Publish to Web ribbon
item (or the XLCubed > Publish to Web menu option in Excel 2003 and below) in Excel. This will display
the Publish dialog:
The dialog allows you to connect to an XLCubed Web Edition server and select where the current report
should be published. The detailed steps are outlined below:
Connect to the server you want to publish to:

Enter the name of the XLCubed Web Edition server you want to connect to in the Web
Site field. This will depend on how you have installed the XLCubed Web Edition software
on your server. Click Connect, and if connection is successful the folders available on the
server will be displayed in the right hand side of the dialog (Folder to publish to).
Enter the Report details:

Type in the Name and Description that you want to give the report. The Name will
appear in the Navigation tree view and on the report's tab. The Description will appear
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in the Repository on detail pages.
Select where to publish:

Navigate through the folders on the server to find the location you want by clicking on the
tree on the right-hand side of the Publisher dialog. The report will be published to the
folder that is currently highlighted.
Existing reports are also shown in the tree. If an existing report is highlighted, then
XLCubed will attempt to replace it with the published report.
Depending on how your Administrator has configured the XLCubed Web Server it is quite
possible that although you may be able to see a folder, you may not have the required
security privileges to actually write (publish) to that directory. If this is the case a message
will be displayed informing you that publication was not possible and you must select a
folder to which you do have write permission. Contact your System Administrator to
discuss permissions further.
Choose options:
Check Web Compatibility allows XLCubed to check for some Excel features that are
unsupported in XLCubed Web Edition.
Display after Publish causes XLCubed to open the published report in your web browser
when the publication process is finished.
Publish:
You can click the Preview button to allow you to view the report in a browser without
permanently publishing it to the server. A new browser window is opened when this
option is selected. Click the Publish button to actually publish the report to the server. On
successful completion a message is displayed confirming that the report will now be
available in XLCubed Web Editions repository.
If you see a message below please see the Publishing more than 1000 rows page.
"The maximum number of rows that can be published is 1000. Sheet1 has xxx rows".
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Manage Repository
You can now right-click to manage your Repository folders. The following options are available:
Rename - renames the currently selected folder
Add Sub Folder- adds a new sub-folder beneath the currently selected folder
Add Top Level Folder - adds a new folder at top level of Repository
Delete - deletes the currently selected folder
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Web Edition
When you first connect to XLCubed Web Edition (the web address will depend upon your installation) you
will see the Homepage:
The Homepage is divided into four main sections:

Toolbar
Report Tabs
Repository
Report Area
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Toolbar
The following toolbar options are available.

Toggle Tree: allows you to toggle the screen display
Adhoc Grid: allow the creation of grid report - see section Creating Reports in Web Edition below
Logout: to exit Web Edition
Home: takes user back to Recent Reports
Help: takes you to our Wiki Help
Submit Changes: allows changes to be written back to the XLCubed report
Print: generates report in PDF format
Excel: allows user to save to Excel:
Fixed will not allow user to use XLCubed functionality
Live requires XLCubed Excel Edition to be installed on machine and will allow
updating
Save: Saves as an XLCubed Web report
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Refresh: Refreshes connection and report
Report Tabs
The Tabs are found just below the XLCubed Web Edition banner. Initially no tabs are displayed. As you
begin to explore reports you will see that as a report is opened or a new Ad Hoc report is created tabs will
be added, allowing you to switch between reports, without having to return to the Homepage or
Repository tab.
Once opened a report can be closed by clicking on the close icon on the right of the tab.
Report Area
The Report Area forms the bulk of the browser window and is where reports are displayed. Initially the
Report Area displays the last five reports that you viewed. Error messages are also displayed here.
Creating Reports in Web Edition

Connecting
Connecting to the XLCubed web server in a browser window shows a similar display as below. In this case
the right hand side of the window shows a history of reports run.
Creating a report
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This example uses the Adventure Works cube on the Adventure Works Demo database. After connecting,
select a cube and you will be presented with the following screen (the Report Designer screen):
The Report Designer is separated into 5 main areas:

Available Hierarchies
Lists the available dimensions and hierarchies within the active cube connection. Expand the
dimension to view the hierarchies which it contains. Hierarchies can be dragged from this area into
Headers, Rows or Columns to be used within the report.
Headers
The Header area, or filter area, provides a set of hierarchies for user selections, which will be displayed at
the top of the grid. User selections made within hierarchies in the Header area of the grid will determine
the numbers displayed in the report body.
Rows
The Rows area is a holder for hierarchies to be positioned on rows in the reports
Columns
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The Columns area is a holder for hierarchies to be positioned on columns in the reports
Member Selector
This displays the content of the selected hierarchy. The hierarchy tree can be expanded and members
are selected by dragging to the right. Selections can also be based on Excel cells, Slicers or specified as
related sets of data (children / descendants etc); this is covered in detail in the Member Selector section.
Drag items from the Available Hierarchies list to the Headers, Columns and Rows. Next, double-click each
member and in the right-hand area of the window (the Member Selector area) you can drill-down to
select the member to display. In this example I have double-clicked on Measures which has expanded in
the Member Selector area to allow me to select the measure, Reseller Sales Amount. I can double-click or
drag across to the right-hand side to select.
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You can use SHIFT and click or CTRL and click as normal to select members when you are selecting more
than one member.
Having positioned and made selections within the hierarchies as required, press OK to insert the report.
Double-click on entries in the grid to toggle between drill-down to expand and drill-up again. In the
example above double-clicking on Australia will expand to show the rows beneath (at state level). Doubleclicking on Australia again will return to just showing one row for Australia.
You can change the layout of the report by clicking and dragging the hierarchy labels. For example, in the
above report you can drag Geography from rows to columns or drag it to the Headers area. You can do
this with any of the hierarchies being displayed.
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Right-click menu
This report shows sales of products model categories across sales territories. Right-click on the grid and
you will see a menu as below:
Grid Properties: Behaviour, Appearance, Mdx:

These three tabs allow you to change certain aspects of the grid report
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Design Grid
This takes you into Report Designer as detailed previously.
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Number format: This allows you to format the cell values.
Breakout: This option allows you to take a subset of the grid report and display in more detail. In this
example we can set up the breakout options as below:
This result of the breakout shows the 10 highest models in the Product Model Categories:
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Drillthrough
Apply: Sort, Rank, Filter
This option allows you to sort (ascending or descending), rank or filter the grid report.
The screenshot below shows the above report sorted in ascending order on the measure Reseller Sales
Amount.
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New Chart: All

By selecting New Chart, All you can quickly create a chart of the grid report - see example below.
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Improved visuals in v7.2

Web Edition screens have been improve for example when adding an Adhoc grid in v7.2
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Concurrent Users
These are the XLCubed installation level defaults which are applied to any new workbooks opened
during the Excel session
Overview
XLCubedWeb licensing is based on a concurrent user model, a concurrent session is tied to the user's
session managed by IIS. The default timeout of a session is 20 minutes of inactivity, there is also a "Log
Out" option which will end the user's session immediately and release them from the concurrent user
count.
If the number of concurrent users exceeds the licensed amount then any additional users will receive a
"Too many users" error message.
Checking license
The Web Configuration tool will show you the number of concurrent users you are currently licensed for
under the "Licensing tab"
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Modifying session duration

To change the default sessions length from 20 minutes, you will need to launch Internet Information
Services Manager on the web server, and go to the XLCubed Website and select "Session State":
You can change the session time out under the "Cookies" section:
Viewing active sessions

The easiest method to monitor currently active users is to use Performance Monitor, you need to select
the event: "ASP.Net Applications" => "Sessions Active". You would need to limit this to the XLCubedWeb
Instance if running more than one website on the same server.
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Analytics books
Analytics books were introduced in Version 7.5, and add give users the capability to create books on the
web to slice, dice and visualise their data.
Creating a new book

To create a book simply click the button on the web toolbar.
You will be taken to the connection screen to select a cube, and choose the layout of the initial sheet in the
book.
Standard UI
Analytics book are made up of the report area on the left, and the designer on the right
The designer can be minimised by clicking the pin icon.

Hierarchies
In the designer you can drag and drop dimensions to set the layout of your report.
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Dimensions in the Headers area display an extra icon. This allows you to switch between two modes when
multiple members are selected:
Slice - a drop down is displayed that allows you to choose which member is applied to the data.
Total - The total for all the members selected is displayed.
Members
If you select a dimension in the designer, it will automatically switch to the members view. Yuo can select
individual members, or multi-select using the Ctrl and Shift keys.
Additionally, you can right click a member and use the menu to select descendants at a given level, as
seen here.
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Report Header
The top section of the report area contains two sections.
The first is the Title area. This gives a brief description of the current selection, and contains a few
buttons.
On the left are the back/forward buttons, which allow you to undo any changes you have made to
the report, for example navigating back up the dimension you have been drilling down into.
On the right is the sheet properties button. This allows you to alter the report layout, and set drill mode.
The second selection contains the slicers for dimensions in the header area. Slicers only apply when there
are multiple selections, so will not appear for single members, or when the header is in Total mode.
If no slicers are visible the section is automatically hidden to give more room to display the data.
Report Types
There are several sheet layouts available when you create a new sheet.
Grid
This is simply a table of data which you can manipulate. You can drill into the data using the drill
indicators, and sort the data by clicking the arrows in columns headers.
Context menus provide access to more complex functions such as ranking and filtering the columns
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Grid and Chart

This adds a chart that visualises the grid. You can set the chart type, and select data to allow you to
highlight outliers.
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Grid and Treemap

Treemaps allow you to visualise two measures at once, and compare their relative sizes. The UI
changes slightly in this mode so that you can easily pick the two measures to represent the size and colour
to the tree segments.
Small Multiple
Small Multiple Charts allow you to slice and display your data by a number of dimensions at once. Here
the UI changes to give you more positions for Hierarchies to exploit this ability.
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Small Multiple Scatter

Scatter plots display trends and clusters when two measures are compared, so in this mode the UI again
shows a member selector to allow you to easily pick these.
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Auto refresh
This is an additional setting within XLCubed > Workbook Options which allows the user to determine after
how many minutes the web-published report should be refreshed.
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Browsing the XLCubed Web Repository

When XLCubed requires the selection of an item from the Web Edition repository, it will present you with
the Browse Repository dialog. This dialog will allow you to connect to the Web Edition and select an item:
Type the XLCubed Web Edition address into the Web site text box:
Select the desired item from the repository tree:
Click OK to select the item

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Reporting Services
As of V7 XLCubed can integrate your Reporting Services reports with the XLCubed Repository. The first
step is to install the ReportViewer control, which is available for download from Microsofts web site.
Next, to configure this you will need to add the following settings in the web.config file of your
XLCubedWeb installation:
<appSettings>
 System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error: (401)
Unauthorized.
This issue can occur from Windows Server 2003 SP1 onwards, as described in this Microsoft Support
article (926642). To resolve the issue, the DWORD Value DisableLoopbackCheck registry value can be filled
in with the value 1. This registry value can be found, or should be created, here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa
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You may also need to follow the instructions found in this Microsoft Support article (281308) to
disable strict name checking.
Alternatively, this exception may be recorded:
System.ServiceModel.Security.MessageSecurityException: The HTTP request is unauthorized with
client authentication scheme 'Ntlm'. The authentication header received from the server was
'Basic realm="localhost"'. ---> System.Net.WebException: The remote server returned an error:
(401) Unauthorized.
This issue may occur if the XLCubedWeb server and the Scheduling service are configured to use different
authentication schemes.
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Book V - Dimension Slicers

Dimension slicers simplify the process of creating cube dynamic drop downs. Five display options are
provided:
From left to right and top to bottom we have Treeview, Combo Box, Buttons, List Box and lastly Member
Selector slicer (this allows efficient access to more advanced functionality, for example, searching).
Grid Slicers
To add a slicer to a grid, right-click on the relevant dimension member, and choose XLCubed and then
Add Slicer. Note that grid slicers can be positioned where required, and are not restricted to the grid
area.
The default will be an in-cell treeview with the last active member selected. Once inserted, right click on
the slicer and choose Edit for configuration and design options. Choose the required slicer display type,
and then, using the member selector on the right, choose the set of members to enable selection from.
These can be either static lists of members, or dynamic selections such as children, descendants at level,
Level x or even ranked lists etc.
Note that the slicer content can also be driven from an Excel cell (e.g. Children of E11). A slicer which has
been added to an individual grid can be used as the selection mechanism for multiple grids through the
Grid Links Dialog. It can also update a specified range with the uniquename of the member chosen, which
could for example be used as the argument for XL3Lookup formulae.
Standalone Slicers
A standalone slicer can also be added using the slicer button on the Ribbon. Here the required hierarchy is
chosen from the list of available hierarchies, and dragged into the Slicer Hierarchy control. From that point
the setup is the same as with Grid Slicers.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book V Dimension Slicers
Standalone slicers will need to be manually linked into grids as required. This is done by selecting the slicer
in the member selector form:
Alternatively you could use them to drive other XLCubed or Excel formulae and then other
reports/query tables.
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Member Selector Slicer

The Member Selector slicer is a space efficient control which gives full access to the member selector and
search functionality. From the Slicer tab on the XLCubed ribbon:
Insert a hierarchy slicer, choose your hierarchy and select the slicer type as highlighted below:
Click OK to return to your workbook and you will see the slicer similar to:
Click on the ellipsis and the Member Selector will be displayed, allowing you to run some of the Advanced
Member functionality such as searching.
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Date Slicer
Date Slicers can be based on an Excel range, or direct from SQL. This example shows you how to use it
from Excel, but a SQL statement which returns the same result set format can also be used.
The first thing to do is to set up two Excel cells to hold the date range. We have a start date and an end
date in cell locations B1 and B2 as below:
Next you insert an Excel slicer from the Slicer tab
You will see Insert Slicer Window displayed.

Set the Slicer Range to point to the Start Date and End Date (cells B1:B2 in this
example)
Select the Date Slicer type
Check the box to Update Range With Selection and enter a cell location. This will be where the date
selected will be held. The date selected is displayed as the serial number equivalent so that the user
can then choose to format the date as they need.
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Click OK to exit
Click the drop-down on the slicer and XLCubed will display a calendar control which can be
navigated between the specified start and end dates.
Click a date to select it and it will be written as the Excel serial number equivalent to the cell location
defined in Update Range With Selection.
You can then choose to format this by using the Excel TEXT function eg =TEXT(E1,"dd-mm-yyyy").
You can also include a third cell in your Slicer Range as Selection Type eg Day, Month or Year. Valid
selections are D, M or Y. Day is taken to be the default selection type and is the default display mode if no
selection type if specified.
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So let's change the slicer range to also include B3 (which holds our selection type) and click OK.
Set B3 to M and now when you click the drop-down box you will be able to pick only months between the
range specified:
Similarly change the type to D for day and Y for Y:
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Updating Excel Ranges

You can set up a slicer to output the selected item(s) to an Excel range which can then be used to drive
formula reports. If you have multi-select turned on then you should select a range instead of a single cell.
One selected item will be put into each output cell.
You can then use the XL3Member formula to reference the output range, and run XL3Lookup formulae
off of this. Setting two or more slicers to output to the same range will keep the slicers "in-sync" with
each other, so updating one of the slicers will also update the others.
Excel Range Slicers

In the scenario where a Slicer needs to be used to allow the selection of an item from a range of cells,
then have the corresponding selection passed to another report as a parameter, Excel range driven
slicers can be useful.
The screenshot below shows a selection list containing two continents and some of their children, each
with a corresponding region code. When the user selects a region, its corresponding region code should
be displayed.
This can be done through an XLCubed slicer. Create a slicer as follows:
Select the XLCubed > Slicer > Excel ribbon item.
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Set the Slicer range to =$A$1:$C$7. This range of cells contains three columns: the region code,
the caption, and the depth to be used for each item. The depth only applies to the treeview-style
slicer; select it here.
In the Properties section, check Update range with selection, select First Column and enter the
cell location where you want the country code to be displayed. In our example it is B11.
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The Slicer is created using the selections that we have chosen:
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When the user clicks on a slicer option, in this case France, its corresponding country code is
displayed in cell B11.
Members with no data / Non empty

By default XLCubed will not offer you members which have no data. You can change this behaviour so
that all members are returned by turning off the remove empty button, shown below:
Cascading and Advanced Slicers

Slicers have a filter area in their definition, which can be used to restrict the members returned based on
the presence of data. The example below shows the design for a slicer for Product Model Categories
which is being filtered on Geography based on what has been selected in the slicer at Sheet1!$C$3.
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In this example, the selections made by the user in the Geography slicer will cascade into the available
selections within this Product Model Categories slicer, and create an intelligent linked and data-dynamic
set of available report selections for the user.
Cascading slicers can also be configured within one hierarchy, where a user choice made at a higher
level restricts the secondary slicer selections to children of or descendants at level x. This is shown in
the example below for the Geography hierarchy.
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In this case the cascade is achieved by selecting the initial (country Level) slicer within the Geography
hierarchy, and then choosing Descendants at City.
Slicers can also be defined as a dynamic filter or ranking. To achieve this, the slicer content is defined as
an advanced selection, and the ranking, filter or sort is defined here, as shown below.
In this case the Product Model Categories filter content is restricted by Geography in the filter area, which
is in turn based on another slicer selection. The members to display are then defined in the advanced
dialog as the lowest level members where sales are over 400 units and sorted descending.
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Initial Value
When you create an XLCubed slicer under the Settings tab, you are now able to include an initial value
which can be any of the following:
Current Selection: sets the value of the slicer as when the report was published
First Selection: sets the value of the slicer to be the first in the list of possible selections
Last Selection: sets the value of the slicer to be the last in the list of possible selections
Default Member: sets the value of the slicer to be the default member -
usually the All member
Range: sets the value of the slicer to be whatever the cell value is in the range location defined
Version 7.5 allows multiple source cells for multi-select slicers and also includes a new option for when to
apply the initial selection, these are:
Selection becomes invalid: the default for new slicers, when the current member selection
becomes invalid then the initial selection will be applied

Report Opens: the default for existing pre-V7.5 slicers, the initial selection is only applied
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when the report first opens

Available items change: the initial selection will be applied if the available members changes
(even if the current selection is in the new list of slicers)
Disabling Slicers
If you show the title bar, you can optionally add a disable button to the slicer.
Clicking this will toggle whether or not the slicer filters objects it is linked to. This means a slicer can
easily be turned off to return all results. If the slicer is outputs to a range then that range will be cleared.
Wait for Submit on Web

With XLCubed Version 7.5 there is a new option for "Wait for Submit on Web".
This allows several slicers to be changed and rather than the report refreshing for each change it will wait
for the user to submit the selection either by click the Submit toolbar button or by using a "Submit"
XL3Link or Pictures Links.
This also removes the individual "Submit" button from multi-select slicers.
Use query restrictions for children (new in v7.6)

For tree slicers, the default behaviour is to show all children when expanding a member. By checking this
option you can restrict the children using the same query used for the initial member list.
This is most useful when restricting the tree to show only members with data, as the non-empty will be
applied to the children as the tree is expanded.
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Book VI - Ranking, Sorting and Filtering

XLCubed provides two modes of Ranking: Hierarchy Ranking and Axis Ranking.
Hierarchy mode is accessed through the Advanced tab on the member selector for the relevant hierarchy.
The following tutorial shows how to use Hierarchy Ranking to filter, sort and rank using different members
of a Cube. It uses the Internet Sales cube.
Axis Mode is a different approach to Ranking, Filtering and Sorting, and can be thought of as result set
ranking.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book VI Ranking, Sorting and Filtering
Simple Filtering
Let's say we want to find the products at Product Keylevel that sold more than 25 units in 2003, Quarter 1
and show the sales figures for those subcategories during 2003and its quarters.
Start by clicking the Grid ribbon item (or the XLCubed > Design Grid menu item in Excel 2003
and below), and selecting the Internet Sales cube file
Drag Calendar Period to Columns and Product to Rows. You can also drag any other
hierarchies to Headers. In the example image below, Measures and Customer have been
added there.
Click on the Product hierarchy so that its details appear in the bottom-right panel.
Drag the Product Keylevel over to the right of the dialog. You can switch between the
members view and levels view by clicking on the Show Levels icon
Click the Advanced tab to show the advanced selection pane:
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Click the Members dropdown and choose Filter result:
Click the Calendar Period edit control in the grid to change its selection to the desired
member (2003, Quarter 1):
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Select the This measure radio button, and select Order Quantity as the desired measure.
Change the Operation to >, and type 25 in the edit field on the right:
Click OK. The new filter is displayed in the advanced selections tab:
Click OK again to run the Report the Grid shows the members that fit our criteria:
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Sorting on a different dimension

Now let's sort the report in descending order of the Q1 sales:
Display the Hierarchy Editor for the Product hierarchy by double-clicking on the Productlabel in
the Grid
If its not already visible select the Advanced tab
Click the Sort result toolbar button
Change the Calendar Periodselection to 2003, Quarter 1:
Click the Sort Descending (9-1) radio button

Click OK. The new sort is displayed in the advanced selections tab
Click OK again to run the Report
(As of version 7.2 you can set the sort direction to a range. In this case desc or descending
will set the sort to descending, otherwise it will be ascending.
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Combining Ranking, Filtering and Sorting

Now let's add a ranking to find the bottom 8 selling products at the Product Keylevel that have sold more
than 25 units in Q1:
Display the ProductHierarchy Editor dialog

Click the Rank result icon
on the advanced selections tab to display the Edit Ranking dialog
Select the Bottom radio button, and type 8into the edit field
Select 2003, Quarter 1 for the Calendar Period hierarchy in the grid below:
Run the Grid: only the lowest 8 members are returned
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Sorting slicer elements

Let's sort the slicer elements so that they appear sorted in ascending order
Right-click on slicer and select Edit

Select Advanced tab and then choose to Sort Result.
Click the drop-down by Sort Asc and Edit Sort.
Select Sort Ascending(A-Z) and then OK.
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Sorting by sub-category within category

The grid report below is based on the Bicycle Sales cube and it shows a measure called value in 2002
against the three bicycle product groups: Allround, Mountain and Road.
We then include the sub-category into the report and you can see the bicycle models appearing
as a list beneath the bicycle product groups.
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We would like to sort the grid members so that the categories, Allround, Mountain and Road are
sorted by the current measure (value). We also want the sub-categories of bicycle models to be
sorted on the same measure within that first sort.
This is achieved by editing the member selector and making sure all members to be reported are
included.
Click on Advanced and select Sort

or click drop-down on Member button and select Sort
Result.
In the following window you need to choose whether you are sorting the measure in ascending or
descending order. It is also important to check the Keep children under parent box. Click OK twice
to save changes.
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You will see the grid has refreshed and sorted in ascending order of value of sales of the
category as
well as value of sales of the sub-category.
Allround sales are the lowest, followed by Road and then Mountain with highest. Within each of these
categories, the individual model sales are ranked in ascending order showing that, for example, within the
Allround category, Scenario W7000 has the lowest sales, whilst Scenario W6000 has the highest sales.
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Excluding members from a report

It is very simple to exclude members from your XLCubed reports. Here we have a simple grid which
shows lowest level descendants of Promotions on rows and Geography on columns.
We would like to rank this report and also exclude the Promotion No Discount which is not really adding
any value to the report.
Edit the Promotions hierarchy and set up the exclusion of the No Discount Promotion.
Click the Advanced tab and then the Add Member List icon and you will see a window as below:
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Now click the drop-down on the right-hand side member list and select Edit. This will allow us to
edit the member set:
We are going to exclude No Discount so select it and drag it across.
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Next we need to choose one of the following operations to perform on our two member lists:
o Add: left and right sides combined
o Common: must exist on left and right side
o Subtract: left side minus right side
We will select the subtract operator and click OK.
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Let's rank these Promotions based on the current measure, Reseller Sales Amount:
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The Promotions hierarchy has now been edited to exclude No Discount and then ranked.
Our report now looks like this:
As you can see the report now excludes No Discount row and has been ranked to show the top 10
Promotions across All Geographies.
Driving Reports from Excel

As well as the normal ability to drive member selections from Excel ranges, you can also drive other
parameters.
Ranking Count: Sets the number of items to be returned. (Any number)
Ranking - Type (v7.5 onwards): Set whether to return the top or bottom n elements. (Valid values are
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top or bottom)
Filter Operator: How to compare the measure when filtering. (Valid values are >, >=, <, <=, =, <>)
Sorting Direction: Allows you to reverse the order as required. (Valid values are asc, ascending, desc,
descending)
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Axis Ranking
XLCubed provides two modes of Ranking: Hierarchy Ranking and Axis Ranking.
Hierarchy mode is accessed through the Advanced tab on the member selector for the relevant hierarchy.
In this model, the ranking is contained within the hierarchy itself, so that if you move the hierarchy from
rows to columns, the ranking is then applied on columns. The screenshot below shows a grid displaying
the top 5 Products for CY2004. On the right, Geography has been added to rows, so that the Product
hierarchy is nested within Geography.
As the top 5 ranking has been added to the Product Model Categories hierarchy, we now get the top 5
products for each split of the Geography hierarchy.
Axis Ranking, Filtering and Sorting

Axis Mode is a different approach to Ranking, Filtering and Sorting, and can be thought of as result set
ranking. Here the ranking is applied to an entire axis. So for example if you apply a top 5 ranking while
Geography is on rows you get the top 5 Geographies, but if you switch Geography with Product, you will
get the top 5 Products without having to apply the ranking. Where you have two hierarchies on the axis,
the result will be the top 5 intersections between the two hierarchies, as shown below.
Axis ranking is applied through XLCubeds right-click menu, and is based from the column header, not
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from within a specific hierarchy. Right-click on the column header that you wish to rank (in our example
you would right-click on CY 2004) and then select XLCubed, Apply, ranking, Top x Rows. You can see that
Top 10 and Bottom 10 appear as options. If you wish to rank any other count you select Top x Rows/
Bottom x Rows and you will be prompted to enter a figure.
You will notice that the first member on the right-hand hierarchy has a little red indicator in the corner,
see screenshot below:
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If you hover over this cell it displays an informational message that the rows are being ranked and that you
can right-click to edit axis or clear the axis ranking.
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Clear All: Use this option to clear all axis ranking options.
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Edit axis: You will be presented with the window below showing the current ranking setting. You can click
the drop-down box to amend this if necessary.
The excluded slices tab allows you to remove certain members from your report.
To add an exclusion list:
To clear all current exclusions:

We will add France to our excluded slices list. We select the Geography hierarchy and then in the
Selection area choose France. When we click OK France appears in the top half of the window as a
member to exclude.
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The report is refreshed and you can see that France has been removed from the report
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Outlier Grouping
Outlier groupings allow you to display a subset of the selected members grouped together into a
common set, often called "Others".
You can select the criteria to define what is grouped and give the group a name.
Ranking
The simplest example is using a Ranking. Normally we return the top 10 members, but we may also want a
summary of the items not displayed.
We start with a long list of products:
If we add a normal ranking we get the top 10, but lose the other products which may be significant:
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Instead we will remove the ranking and add an Outlier Grouping.
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In this dialog we will just use the default top 10 ranking, although we could also group by value (Filter), or
chose certain members that will go into the group.
This results in the following grid:
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Note that we choose "Keep these members separate". We could change this and select "Group these
members" to have the top 10 grouped, and all other members shown as normal.
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User driven grouping

In this example we will have members picked, and allow the user to select which go into the "Others"
group by selecting some of them in a slicer.
We start with a simple grid listing the Sales Territories. We would like the user to be able to select some of
the territories, and have those go into the "Others" group. The remainder will be displayed as normal.
This is the initial setup with the slicer not linked to anything
We open the member selector for Sales Territory and add the Outlier Grouping. The settings here are to
group "Specific members", and to "Group these members".
All that is left to do is define the members in the grouping, so we simply pick the slicer we already have.
The end result is a slicer allowing the user to dynamically group the results.
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Book VII - SQL

Relational reporting in XLCubed is handled through Tables and Slicers.
There are two levels of SQL reporting user in XLCubed, with differing levels of design access. This provides
a controlled level of SQL reporting to non-technical users, giving access to SQL-based data without the risk
of allowing free access to designing their own queries.
Administrators: can create new connections and design new SQL queries from scratch
using the Query designer. Administrator users can also publish pre-built queries to
XLCubed Web Edition, for use by standard users.
Standard Users: have no SQL designer access, but can use pre-published SQL queries
from the SQL report library on XLCubed Web.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book VII - SQL
SQL Server 2012

In SQL Server 2012 Microsoft introduced the BI Semantic Model - "BISM". BISM encompasses the
different deployment options for Business Intelligence within SQL Server 2012. The highest level choice is
between Multi-dimensional Analysis Services and Tabular. Multi-dimensional is the latest incarnation of
the hierarchical
Analysis Services model which has been in widespread use since SQL Server 2000, and was heavily
revised in SQL 2005 and 2008. Tabular is a new deployment option specific to SQL 2012 and based
around tables rather than hierarchies.
MDX is the query language of hierarchical cubes, and continues to be used to query SQL 2012 Multidimensional. It can also be used to query Tabular models which have been deployed to the xVelocity
(previously VertiPaq) in-memory engine within Analysis Services. So Tabular models which have been
deployed this way can be queried by any MDX generating client tool (by and large anything which could
connect to Analysis Services previously), or also through the DAX language.
Tabular models can also be deployed using Direct Query mode, but these can only be queried through
DAX, and not MDX. In terms of the native client tools for SQL 2012, Pivot Tables use MDX, and PowerView
uses DAX. To connect to all the BISM deployment modes you would need both Pivot Tables and
PowerView. XLCubed felt users would benefit from a consistent experience whichever flavour of BISM was
being accessed, and so version 7 can query using MDX or DAX (with the new table object). The diagram
below outlines this.
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SQL Administrators
SQL Administrators are responsible for creating connections and queries for all relational reporting in the
organisation. These connections and queries can then be distributed to Standard SQL Users in one of two
ways:
Distribution of workbooks
Publication of queries using XLCubed Web Edition
Once distributed either in workbook form or via XLCubed Web Edition, the connections and queries
become read-only to standard users, though any parameters provided in the query will still be editable.
SQL Administrators will continue to be able to modify the queries.
Standard SQL Users

Standard SQL Users have no SQL designer access, and are only able to consume relational reports designed
for them by
SQL Administrators. Connections and queries can be made available to them in two ways:
Distribution of workbooks
Publication of queries using XLCubed Web Edition (see this article for more detailed instructions)
Once distributed either in workbook form or via XLCubed Web Edition, the connections and queries
become read-only to standard users, though any parameters provided in the query will still be editable.
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SQL Data Tables (Administrators)

XLCubed can query your relational databases directly. Similar to Grids, the relational query can be
seamlessly built into an interactive report using SQL Slicers and dynamic Excel ranges.
Inserting a SQL Data Table
Select the XLCubed > Grids & Tables > SQL... button from the XLCubed ribbon
Select the type of connection you want to create - for this example we are using Microsoft SQL
Server:
Type the server name and select the authentication type with which to connect.
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Click Connect and you should then see all the databases on the server to which you have
access. Select the desired database and click OK to continue.
Select the destination cell for your statement and then build up your query by dragging
tables and views into the main tab.
As you pick the fields you will see the SQL statement build up in the lower half of the
screen. You may also type the SQL statement directly. Click OK when finished.
The SQL table will be inserted at the point you selected.
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Using Parameters
When designing a query, parameters will be automatically discovered by XLCubed and made available for
editing. The parameter values can be supplied as a static value, pulled in from an Excel range, or driven by
a SQL Slicer.
Using Stored Procedures

Data-returning stored procedures can be used with SQL data tables. When designing the query, use the
EXECcommand to run the desired stored procedure. As with SQL queries using parameters above, when
Stored Procedures with parameters are used, XLCubed will automatically detect the parameters when
they are typed in the query. For example:
Enter the command in the query designer:
EXEC MyStoredProcedure @Param1, @Param2

The parameters appear in the parameters grid on the left of the form
Publishing Queries
Relational queries can be published for reuse by all users. To do this:
When you are satisfied with your query, click the Publish Query toolbar button at the top of
the designer:
Type the address of the XLCubed Web Edition site and click the Connect button
Select a folder to publish the query to, give it a name and optionally a more verbose
description
Click OK to publish the query
Alternatively, select the XLCubed > Web > Publish to Web > Publish SQL Query... ribbon item or the
XLCubed > Publish SQL Query... menu item in Excel 2003 and lower, and select the item you would like to
publish.
The query will now be available to both SQL Administrators and Standard SQL Users, for data tables and
Slicers. Standard users will not be able to edit the query, but will be able to edit any parameters defined
when it was published.
To quickly insert a new data table based on the query:
Select the XLCubed > Favourites > Published SQL Queries... button from the XLCubed ribbon
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Type the address of the XLCubed Web Edition site and click the Connect button
Select the desired query
Click OK to insert the table
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SQL Data Tables (Standard Users)

Inserting a SQL Data Table
Select the XLCubed > Insert Data Table > SQL... button from the XLCubed ribbon.
Enter the name of the XLCubed web site to connect to:
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Select the desired query and click OK to continue:
If applicable, enter the parameters you wish to use.
The SQL table will be inserted at the point you selected.
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Using Parameters
When inserting a query, parameters will be automatically discovered by XLCubed and made available for
editing. The parameter values can be supplied as a static value, pulled in from an Excel range, or driven by
a SQL Slicer.
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SQL Slicers (Administrators)

Introduction
SQL slicers allow you to take data and metadata from your relational data sources (for example, SQL
Server) and use it to easily make selections on linked reports.
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Using Slicers for Table Parameters

To automatically add a linked Slicer:
Select XLCubed > Edit Parameters... from the table's right-click menu
Select <Add new slicer> or <Add published slicer> from the dropdown for the parameter
you would like to drive using a slicer:
Create or select the query to use to return the ID, caption and depth columns. The first column
will be used as the parameter; the second will be displayed in the Slicer itself. If you have
selected a treeview-style slicer, the depth column will control the item's depth.
Select a range to insert the Slicer
When you accept the dialogs, the new Slicer will be available for input
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Standalone Slicers
As with Dimension Slicers, standalone slicers can be added using the XLCubed > Slicer > SQL... ribbon
button. These can be used to place their output into an Excel range, or can be linked to one or more SQL
data tables, as described above.
Tree Slicers for Hierarchical Data

Data returned from a relational database can be displayed in a hierarchical form using tree slicers. More
information on how to construct these are in the following example.
Constructing a Tree Slicer for SQL
As for Excel Range Slicers, SQL Slicers can also allow users to select items in a familiar tree style. The key is
to have three columns returned by the SQL query:
ID column
Caption column
Tree level column
Any additional columns will be ignored.
In this example, we will use Microsoft's Adventure Works demo relational database, and the DimProduct,
DimProductSubcategory and DimProductCategory tables, which will be familiar to users of the Adventure
Works cube as the Product dimension sources.
1. After making a connection to the Adventure Works relational database, you should enter a query to
bring back the three columns listed above:
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2. This query can be used for this case:
SELECT
'c' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p3.ProductKey) AS Id
,
p3.EnglishProductName AS Caption
4 AS TreeLevel
p1.EnglishProductCategoryName + p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName +
p3.EnglishProductName AS Ordering
FROM dbo.DimProduct p3
JOIN dbo.DimProductSubcategory p2
ON p3.ProductSubcategoryKey = p2.ProductSubcategoryKey
JOIN dbo.DimProductCategory p1
ON p1.ProductCategoryKey = p2.ProductCategoryKey
UNION ALL
SELECT
'b' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p2.ProductSubcategoryKey) AS Id
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p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName AS Caption
3 AS TreeLevel
p1.EnglishProductCategoryName + p2.EnglishProductSubcategoryName AS
Ordering
FROM dbo.DimProductSubcategory p2
JOIN dbo.DimProductCategory p1
ON p1.ProductCategoryKey = p2.ProductCategoryKey
UNION ALL
SELECT
'a' + CONVERT(varchar(10), p1.ProductCategoryKey) AS Id
,
p1.EnglishProductCategoryName AS Caption
2 AS TreeLevel
p1.EnglishProductCategoryName AS Ordering
FROM dbo.DimProductCategory p1
ORDER BY Ordering
There are a few points to note about this particular query:
The three columns mentioned above are the first three columns to appear in the query
There is a fourth column that doesn't affect the slicer output, but is used by the query to order
its output
The key column gives an initial letter (a, b or c) to indicate the level selected, followed by a
number giving the key
3. The tree type should then be selected in the Insert Slicer dialog:
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4. This gives the following output:
5. If the Update range with selection property is selected, and the First column option chosen, then
the composite key that was mentioned above will be output to the cell. This can then be simply
parsed with Excel formulae, for example (assuming the output cell is A1):
Level
=IF(LEFT(A1,1)="a","Category",IF(LEFT(A1,1)="b","Subcategory",IF(LEFT(A1,1)="c","Product","Unkn
own")))
Id
=MID(A1,2,LEN(A1)-1)
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SQL Slicers (Standard Users)

Introduction
SQL slicers allow you to take data and metadata from your relational data sources (for example, SQL
Server) and use it to easily make selections on linked reports.
Five display options are provided:
Using Slicers for Table Parameters

To automatically add a linked Slicer:
Select XLCubed > Edit Parameters... from the table's right-click menu
Select <Add published slicer> from the dropdown for the parameter you would like to drive
using a slicer:
Select the query to use to return the ID, caption and depth columns. The first column will be
used as the parameter, the second will be displayed in the slicer itself. If you have selected a
treeview-style slicer, the depth column will control the items depth.
Select a range to insert the slicer
When you accept the dialogs the new slicer will be available for input.
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Standalone Slicers
As with Dimension slicers, standalone slicers can be added using the XLCubed > Slicer > SQL. ribbon
button. These can be used to place their output into an Excel range or can be linked to one or more SQL
data tables, as described above.
Driving a SQL connection from an Excel range

The relational connection used by Tables and other objects can be driven from a range.
To do this, when creating the connection:
1. Type a valid connection string into an Excel cell, for example:
Provider=SQLOLEDB;Data Source=localhost;Initial
Catalog=AdventureWorksDW;Trusted_Connection=Yes
2. Select the Custom OLEDB Connection option from the connection type
dropdown:
3. Click the Select Range button

4. Select the cell you typed the connection string into in step 1
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Using SQL Parameters

Creating SQL Parameters
When editing the SQL query, the SQL Administrator can create parameters that can later be edited by
Standard SQL Users.
To create the parameter, type the SQL query as usual, but substitute @paramNameto create a parameter
named paramName. The parameter can then be edited by clicking on the Parameters grid. The following
screenshot shows a parameter named @pAccTypecreated in the Parameters grid:
These parameters can then set them from several different data sources, shown below.
Static Values
To use a single, static value in a SQL report, the value can be typed in directly:
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Values from an Excel range

To drive the Table or Slicer from an Excel range, click the select range button:
Select a range in the dialog that appears, and the range reference will appear in the parameters grid:
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Values from a Slicer

You can either select an existing Slicer or create a new one.
Selecting an Existing Slicer
If a Slicer already exists in the workbook, you may select it directly in the Edit Parameters dialog:
Creating a New Slicer

If no appropriate Slicer exists, you may create a new one.
In the Edit Parameters dialog, select the <Add new slicer> option:
Select the published slicer query (or, for SQL Administrators, design your query):
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When you click OK you will have the opportunity to select any parameters if applicable, and to
select a location for the new Slicer.
Passing multiple values (using the IN clause)

As of Version 7.6 you can pass multiple values to a parameter. To do this simply tick the Multi Value
checkbox and select either an Excel range, or a multi-select slicer.
You must only pass one parameter to the IN clause, which will be expanded when the query is run.
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Book VIII - Tables

XLCubed tables can be inserted from several sources:
SQL data sources
Multidimensional
Tabular cubes
Once the table has been inserted, several features are available which apply to all tables.
SQL
Relational reporting in XLCubed is handled through Tables and Slicers.
There are two levels of SQL reporting user in XLCubed, with differing levels of design access. This provides
a controlled level of SQL reporting to non-technical users, giving access to SQL-based data without the risk
of allowing free access to designing their own queries.
Administrators: can create new connections and design new SQL queries from scratch
using the Query designer. Administrator users can also publish pre-built queries to
XLCubed Web Edition, for use by standard users.
Standard Users: have no SQL designer access, but can use pre-published SQL queries
from the SQL report library on XLCubed Web
Please see Book VII SQL for more details
Multidimensional Table Designer

This designer allows you to create an XLCubed table from an Analysis Services cube. This can be useful for
list style reporting.
When compared to grids, these reports are easier for new users to create, but offer less functionality and
interactivity.
Designer
After selecting a cube to report on, you will be presented with a simple designer with three areas.
On the left is a list of the hierarchies in the cube. There can be dragged to the center section to include
them as a column in the table. Individual members can be picked to restrict the rows returned.
Finally the Measures section allows you to select the numbers you'd like to see for each row. These are
displayed after the columns for the hierarchies.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book VIII - Tables
SQL data sources
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Tabular
SQL Server 2012 Tabular models can be deployed either in-memory to the xVelocity engine, or using Direct
Query mode. Any MDX client tool can access Tabular models deployed to xVelocity. If the model is
deployed using Direct Query mode, they can only be queried through DAX, and not MDX. XLCubed version
7 can use both MDX and DAX, and so can access any of the BI deployment modes available in SQL 2012.
The diagram below outlines this.
The new Table object in XLCubed can connect to Analysis Services cubes (MDX), Tabular Models (DAX), or relational
SQL (SQL). The DAX tables provide access to all Tabular models in SQL 2012.
Grids
Grids can be used against In-Memory cubes, and all the standard XLCubed functionality can be accessed.
See the normal Analysis Services pages for information on how to use these features, they function
consistently with Multidimensional cubes.
Tables
Tables provide a simple way of querying a tabular model. All of the standard functionality provided by
XLCubed tables can be used.
Insert a table by going to the XLCubed ribbon and selecting Insert Data Table -> Analysis Services Tabular
This will allow you to select a connection to a Tabular cube, and bring up the report designer.
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Slicers
Slicers give users simple to use pick lists which can be used to filter reports.
By adding a slicer based on Tabular Analysis Services you create a slicer that can be linked directly to a
Table
As with standard cube slicers, you can restrict the members shown to those with data by putting a
measure into the Filters section.
The following slicer gives all the years for which there is Sales data.
Hierarchies
As of Version 7.6 XLCubed supports tabular hierarchies, provided the server is on SSAS2012 SP1 or above.
Hierarchies can be used in two ways:
Placed on the Filter area - you get a treeview to select the report filter.
This can also be linked to a treeview slicer if required.
Placed on the Selected Columns area - you can drill into the data by double clicking a value, and drill
back up by double clicking the column header.
Calculations
You can create new DAX calculations for your report without updating the cube.
These calculations are stored with the workbook, and are available from any grid, table or formula in the
book. Click the DAX button (highlighted) to create a new calculation, and then use the controls on the right
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to select:
Table the measure will appear in
Name for the measure
Formula to define the measure
You can drag tables, columns and measures from the tree on the left into the formula area to insert their
names.
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Tabular Designer
The tabular designer allows you to automatically create table reports against Analysis Services cubes in the
DAX language.
These are simpler to create than a Grid, and can run against In-Memory or DirectQuery cubes. (Grids
cannot query DirectQuery Cubes)
Report layout
The tabular report designer is split into three parts.
First is the database browser, which allow you to see the Tables, Columns and Measures which exist.
Next is the report layout section, where you can specify the columns and measures on filters (above the
table) and in the table.
Finally is the criteria area. Here you can select the members retrieved, and filter the rows based on
measure values.
By dragging columns or measures into the "Filters" and "Selected Columns" areas you can specify the table
layout.
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Member filters
When selecting a column you can chose only to return rows for specific members.
To select a member, drag it from the left to the right panel. You can also add selections based on Excel
cells and XLCubed Slicers.
If you have a lot of values in the columns, you can use the search box to find members you are interested
in.
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Measure filters
If you select a measure you can add a filter to include only values that fit the criteria you want. These can
come from an Excel cell if required.
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Table Properties
Behaviour
General
Title: The title of the Table, displayed in dialogs and menus whenever the Table is referred to.
Formatting
Resize columns/rows after refresh: Automatically adjust the columns and rows to fit the data.
Apply formatting: Override formats on the Table, or let you manage them manually.
Fill formulae next to Table: Detect and fill down any formulae directly adjacent to the Table as rows are
added or removed.
Merge repeating cells: When data is repeated, merge the repeated cells for the outer values
Insert/delete columns/rows when Grid size changes: Determines the behaviour when rows are added or
removed.
Refresh
Refresh Table on open: Causes the Table to update itself when the workbook is opened.
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Refresh when driving cells change: Causes the Table to update itself when cells driving the query are
updated.
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Appearance
Pivoting
These options apply when pivoting data:
Group by pivoted value: Pivoted values are kept together, e.g. all columns for January will be together
Nest by pivoted value: Numeric columns are kept together, e.g. all columns for Sales Value will be
together
Show in-cell charts: Useful when pivoting on a date, automatically displays a chart of the data.
Pivot fixed on column name: By default XLCubed stores the pivoted column index. You can instead switch
so the column name is used. This is useful if the query can vary the columns it returns, e.g. from a stored
procedure.
When using named query for pivot: For SQL queries you can specify the order for pivoted columns to be
displayed (by default alphabetical order is used). If you specify an order query, you can also decide
whether to emit all columns in the order query, or just those which have data.
Sections
This is used to configure the columns used as section headers, as described in the section help.
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Column Display
When enabled, this feature allows you to reorder the columns of the query before they are displayed, and
to suppress any columns that aren't required.
This reordering is done after any pivoting has been done, so only affects the final displayed results.
Query
Auto-generate Query (default): XLCubed controls the query for the Table given the selected options.
Manual Query: You may type your own query in the edit field.
Get Query from Excel range: The entire query statement for the Table is taken from a cell on the
worksheet.
Performance tips for large tables
If you have very large tables, the following options will speed up data refreshes:
Turn off
Apply Formatting
Resize Columns
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Formatting Tables
As with grids, formatting for tables is defined on the XLCubedFormats worksheet. Tables will automatically
pick up the default formatting for the column headers and data area. In addition you can also define
formats that will only apply to certain sections of the table.
Formatting Columns
You can format specific columns easily by right clicking the table and selecting "Format Column" or
"Format Column Title" from the menu. This will show the Excel standard formatting dialog, and
automatically create the relevant rows in the format sheet.
This can also be done manually on the format sheet. To do this type the word "Column" as the column
name, and then the name of the column.
You can the format the header and data areas. The following example makes the "SalesTerritoryKey"
header bold, and uses italic formatting for the data.
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Formatting Values
You can highlight specific values in a table by entering the column name and value, and setting the data
cell format. The following example highlights December in red, and makes months starting with "A" bold.
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Calculations
You can add your own calculated columns to an XLCubed table, which can contain any Excel
formula. To add a calculation, simple right click a column header and select "Add Calculation".
When you enter a calculation in the first cell, it will automatically "fill down". If the calculation references
and columns in the table these will be stored as references to the column, so they will continue to work
even if the columns are reordered.
In this example the total value is calculated from two columns retrieved, and the calculated column has
been formatted as currency, as described in the formatting section.
Paging
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If you have a large amount of data, it is often useful to display it in a series of pages. This is easily done
with XLCubed tables.
The simplest way is to simply right click the table and select "Insert Pager".
Alternatively, go to the Slicer menu, and select "Insert data table pager". Right click the pager to configure
which table you wish to page, and the page size, and click OK. This is useful when you want the pager to
be on a different sheet to the table
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Sorting
Tables can easily be sorted by right-clicking a column header and selecting the sorting option.
You can sort by several columns by sorting them one after the other, and clear all sorting by selecting the
appropriate menu item.
In the following example we sorted the "SalesTerritoryKey", and then the "Sales Amount". This gives a
report with the Sales Terrorities in sorted order, and within these the values are in ascending order.
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Sections and Pivoting

These are two features that change the layout of a table from that returned by a query, making the result
more useful for users. Repeating data can be eliminated, and layout improved (e.g. for charting).
Sections
Often one or more columns will repeat their value for many lines in the report. Often this is not useful
information, and Sections can reduce this redundancy.
When you enable sections, column values will be written once as a header. As an example, take the
following report.
EnglishCountryRegionName is repeated a great deal, and does not add much value to the report. By going
into the Table Properties screen, we can enable sections, and use one column in the header.
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The result is as follows (EnglishCountryRegionName column has been configured to highlight in bold,
using the standard formatting sheet).

The style of the sections can be controlled using the Table Properties form:
Sections in one cell:
Sections in separate cells
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Sections in separate rows
Display column names
Toggles the column name as part of the section.
Using a combination of sections and the format sheet, it is possible to produce a classic "Reporting
Services" style report:
Hide repeating values

New in Version 7.5 there is an option to hide repeating values - so only the columns with a changed value
will be displayed in each section.
With this option enabled, "Car and Bike Stores" would be shown once and each sub-category listed
underneath:
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Pivoting
Pivoting a column takes the values for that column, and makes a new column for each.
For example, instead of having months going down, with one month on each row, we can pivot the column
and have months go across the columns. The following example shows this in action.
This screenshot shows one column for month names:
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Click on the column to pivot and right-click. From the XLCubed menu select Pivot 'columnname'
Now we have one column for each month and a table that is much easier to read.
Data source specific functionality
Depending on where the data for a table originated from there may additional options for interacting with
the data.
SQL
Edit Parameters: Link the query parameters to Excel cells or slicers.
Edit Connection Range: Link the Connection String to a cell, allows driving the server or database from
other parameters in the workbook.
Tabular Analysis Services
Breakout (available from measure columns): Create a ranked list of the top or bottom values making up
the number selected.
Performance tips for large tables
If you have very large tables, the following options will speed up data refreshes:
Turn off
Apply Formatting
Resize Columns
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Book IX - SharePoint
The XLCubed SharePoint Webpart, available from XLCubed version 6.5, allows XLCubed Reports to be
embedded into SharePoint pages and allows connections between filter web-parts and other XLCubed
Report web-parts.
Installing
Copy the CAB file onto the SharePoint server, for example
c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions
SharePoint 2010
Enable full trust in IIS - run Internet Information Services Manager

o Click on the server and select .Net Trust Levels
Change the trust level to Full (Internal)
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book IX - SharePoint
Enable full trust on the SharePoint website
Click on the SharePoint website and select .Net Trust Levels
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Change the trust level to Full (Internal)
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Run the SharePoint 2010 ManagementShell (Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products -> SharePoint
2010 Management Shell:
Register the .CAB with Sharepoint:

o Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions\XLCubed.Sharepoint.cab
Deploy the webpart to the SharePoint websites:

o Install-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications -forcesharepoint
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The webpart will now be available in the list of available webparts, under the "Miscellaneous" items
SharePoint 2013
You will need Version 7.5 to run in Sharepoint 2013
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Run the SharePoint 2013 ManagementShell (Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products ->
SharePoint 2010 Management Shell:
Register the .CAB with Sharepoint:
Add-SPSolution -LiteralPath c:\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\extensions\XLCubed.Sharepoint.cab
Deploy the webpart to the SharePoint websites:
Install-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications force -FullTrustBinDeployment
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The webpart will now be available in the list of available webparts, under the "Miscellaneous" items:
Uninstalling
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SharePoint 2010
Run the SharePoint 2010 ManagementShell: Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Products ->
SharePoint 2010 Management Shell
Remove the webpart from the SharePoint websites:

UnInstall-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications
Remove the .CAB from SharePoint:
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Remove-SPSolution xlcubed.sharepoint.cab
SharePoint 2013
Run the SharePoint 2013 ManagementShell (As Administrator) Start -> Microsoft SharePoint 2013 Products
-> SharePoint 2013 Management Shell:
Remove the .CAB from SharePoint:

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Remove-SPSolution xlcubed.sharepoint.cab
Remove the webpart from the SharePoint websites:

UnInstall-SPSolution -Identity xlcubed.sharepoint.cab -allwebapplications
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Using WebPart
Configuring
Insert the XLCubed Webpart:
Edit the Webpart:
Setup the XLCubed web server details and click OK:
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Now the Report browser button will be enabled
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Click on the button and browse to the report to display on this page:
Give the report a defined height (if not already inserted into a control with a height defined)
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Click OK/Apply to see the report embedded in the page:

Linking XLCubedReport WebParts
XLCubed Webparts can be linked via Web Parameters - once a link is in place then when the web
parameters with the same name are passed between the linked WebParts.
Insert 2 or more webparts in the same page, then select the Connections menu when editing the
webpart:
Linking to filter WebParts

XLCubed Webparts can be linked to Filter webparts so that the parameters can be passed into the XLCubed
Report - first you would need to defined the Web Parameters to be driven by the Filter control. Then
select the connections menu and Inbound Parameters - select the filter control to receive the parameter
from:
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Select which Web Parameters is to receive the data from the filter:
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Troubleshooting
If the SharePoint website is in the browser's "Trusted Sites" list then you may need to enable "Access
data sources across domains". This can be found in the browser's Tool -> Internet Options form, under
"Security" click "Custom" for "Trusted Sites.
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SharePoint Integration
XLCubed have developed an option for tighter integration with SharePoint, allowing SharePoint to act as a
repository for XLCubedWeb reports, so publication and report navigation is contained within SharePoint.
Installing
There are several steps to complete configuration, this requires XLCubedWeb to be already setup and
configured. There are 2 ways to display the reports, as standalone pages redirecting the user to
XLCubedWeb or by creating a "Container" page so the report is displayed within a standard SharePoint
page.
Option 1
Option 2
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Custom Handler
XLCubed Handler Assembly
The first stage is to install the custom handler for XLCubed Reports on the SharePoint server. You
need to download and extract following file:
http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubedhandler.zip
Once installed this needs to be installed in the GAC, the easiest way is to use Windows Explorer to
drag the file into the \windows\Assembly folder.
Windows Server 2012

To install an assembly to the GAC in 2012, you will need to run PowerShell as an Administrator and use the
following commands (assuming the assembly has been extracted to "c:\xl3"):
Set-location "c:\xl3"
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::Load("System.EnterpriseServices, Version=4.0.0.0,
Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=b03f5f7f11d50a3a")
$publish = New-Object System.EnterpriseServices.Internal.Publish
$publish.GacInstall("c:\xl3\xlcubed.handlermapping.dll")
iisreset
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Register Handler with IIS

You now need to register the Assembly with IIS, this can be done by editing the SharePoint web.config,
usually in:
\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80
in the
<system.web>
<compilation>
<assemblies>
collection add the line:

<add assembly="XLCubed.HandlerMapping, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=add6446b63d88928" />
in:
<system.webServer>
<modules>
Add the following:

<add name="XLCubedModule" type="XLCubed.HandlerMapping.XLCubedModule,
XLCubed.HandlerMapping, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral,
PublicKeyToken=add6446b63d88928" />
Set icon file type

Download the following file: http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubed.gif and copy it to the
"Template\Images" folder, for example:
\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\Template\Images
Or for SharePoint 2013 (the 14 folder exists, but use the 15 instead)
Then edit "docicon.xml" in the "Template\Xml" folder (\Program Files\Common Files\Microsoft
Shared\Web Server Extensions\14\Template\Xml) and add the following line to:
<DocIcons>
<ByExtension>
<Mapping Key="xl3wbz" Value="xlcubed.gif"/>
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Custom Report Page (Optional)

If you want to display the XLCubed Reports within the context of Sharepoint (Option 2 in the example
screens), then you can do that by using creating a page containg a custom webpart.
WebPart Installation
Follow the standard SharePoint guide, but use the following file for the updated webpart:
http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/XLCubedSharepoint_Integration.zip
Page creation
Create a page to display all XLCubed reports in, in this case we'll call it XLCubedReport.
Insert an "XLCubed Page Viewer" web part and edit it:
Set the height of the web part and change the "Chrome Type" to none:
Under "Custom Properties" set "Custom String" to the following (updating it to reflect the actual
xlcubedweb location):
http://servername/xlcubedweb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx
After setting the properties you should see an XLCubed error message, this is fine it's showing that the
page is able to find the server but hasn't supplied a report to display yet.
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Configure redirect
The next step is to add the configuration items required for the custom handler installed previously. Open
the SharePoint web.config, usually in:
\inetpub\wwwroot\wss\VirtualDirectories\80
To the section:
<configuration>
<appSettings>
Add a new key:
<add key="XLCubedReportURL" value="http://hvxl3sp/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint&toolbar=true" />
If you are going for "Option 1" enter the XLCubedWeb server address:
http://xlcubedservername/xlcubedweb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=Shar
ePoint
If you have created a custom SharePoint page then use that instead:
http://sharepointserver/SitePages/XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint
If you want to include a toolbar when display reports, you can add the following:
&toolbar=true
Subsites
You can also use a relative path to keep navigation within the context of any sub-sites:
./XLCubedReport.aspx?rep=%rep%&embedded=SharePoint
With this kind of configuration a SharePoint XLCubed Report page would need to be created in the every
location to which reports can be published (i.e. \sites\subsite\sitepages\xlcubedreport.aspx,
\SitePages\XLCubedReport.aspx etc.)
Searching
To allow published reports to be indexed by SharePoint you need to register the report extension type with
SharePoint and then add the file type to the list of files to be indexed.
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The SharePoint crawler will index the contents of the Workbook as it was at publication time.
Register file extension

Add the following reg keys (updating the version of SharePoint if not 2010):
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office
Server\14.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.xl3wbz]
@=hex(7):7b,00,32,00,30,00,45,00,38,00,32,00,33,00,43,00,32,00,2d,00,36,00,32,\
00,46,00,33,00,2d,00,34,00,36,00,33,00,38,00,2d,00,39,00,36,00,42,00,44,00,\
2d,00,39,00,30,00,46,00,34,00,46,00,36,00,37,00,38,00,34,00,45,00,42,00,43,\
00,7d,00,00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools\Web Server
Extensions\14.0\Search\Setup\ContentIndexCommon\Filters\Extension\.xl3wbz]
@=hex(7):7b,00,32,00,30,00,45,00,38,00,32,00,33,00,43,00,32,00,2d,00,36,00,32,\
00,46,00,33,00,2d,00,34,00,36,00,33,00,38,00,2d,00,39,00,36,00,42,00,44,00,\
2d,00,39,00,30,00,46,00,34,00,46,00,36,00,37,00,38,00,34,00,45,00,42,00,43,\
00,7d,00,00,00,00,00
You can download an exported reg file from the following link:
http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/xlcubedsharepoint_regkey.zip
Add file types to be indexed

Go to the SharePoint Central Administration Website, under Application Managment => Manage Service
Applications => Search Service Application:
Under "Crawling", select "File Types" and click "New File Type":
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enter "XL3WBZ" as the extension.
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Sharepoint on different server

If SharePoint is on a different server to XLCubedWeb and XLCubedWeb is using "Windows Authentication"
then by default the User's credentials will not be passed from XLCubedWeb to Sharepoint, this will prevent
the reports from displaying correctly (you'd get an invalid or no login credentials error when accessing the
reports)
You could configure Kerberos, this would allow the credentials to be passed correctly (XLCubedWeb uses
WebDav to access the reports) or enable the following setting on the XLCubedWeb server:
<add key="UseAppPoolUserForSharepointDownload" value="false" />
With that setting enabled then any SharePoint access from XLCubedWeb will be done using the Application
Pool identity, so set that to run as an account that has the required permissions in SharePoint
Published Connections, Queries and Favourites

To allow publishing of Connections, Sql Queries and Favourites you must create the following folder
structure at the root of the SharePoint site, the users would need to connect at the root level to use this
feature:
/XLCubed
/PublishedConnections
/PublishedGrids
/PublishedSQLQueries
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Using
Once setup the SharePoint integration allows users to publish XLCubed reports directly to SharePoint
Publishing
Enter the SharePoint server for the XLCubedWeb server address and check the "SharePoint" checkbox:
You can add any sub folders directly to the address you enter, for example:
http://sharepoint/SitePages/Reports
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Viewing
Any published reports will be displayed and viewed within SharePoint:
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Customising
Adding a Load to Excel option
If you want to add an option to load a report directly into Excel you can define a Custom Action with a URL
of:
http://xlcubedserver/xlcubedweb/webform/showreport.aspx?rep={SiteUrl}{ItemUrl}&XL3Repor
tType=excelfixed
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Book X - Miscellaneous
XLCubed Options
These are the XLCubed installation level defaults which are applied to any new workbooks opened
during the Excel session
Main
Format File: the default FormatSheet location

Language: selects XLCubed's interface language
Hide format sheet: sets whether the format worksheet is hidden when created in new workbooks
Default at level view in member tree: sets the default view of hierarchies to be level based, rather
than member based

Default at level view in measure tree:
sets the default view of the measures hierarchy to be level
based, rather than member based

Sort hierarchies alphabetically: rather than the cube defined order
Show dimensions in folders: display folders shown at a level above the dimension rather than
beneath the dimension
Limit number of members returned in tree to: limits to specified value in user interface.
Show right-click menu option at top (restart Excel to apply): the XLCubed right click menu option
is by default at the bottom
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book X - Miscellaneous
Use single members on filters: implements 'select and replace' on hierarchies in the filter area of
grid (selecting a member replaces any existing selected member)

Automatically select Children of first member
Display Dimension Name with Hierarchy Name: prefixes the hierarchy name with the dimension
name
Disable Tabular columns in Designer: sets whether XLCubed automatically attempts to disable
unrelated columns for the tabular report designer

controls whether XLCubed warns when it restricts the
number of charts it shows in a Small Multiple chart
Auto apply changes in Task Pane: grid task pane defaults to 'Auto Apply', i.e. changes are made
instantaneously
Don't show Small Multiples warning:
Unicode Compatibility (Excel 2003): this is required for Unicode support in Excel 2003 and earlier.
Note should it only be set in Excel 2003 / XP if Unicode member names exist
Display Conversion Options: shows the Convert from V5 options in the XLCubed ribbon
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Web Publication
Default Web Address: the default web address for publishing

Maximum number of columns allowed: the maximum number of columns allowed per page
Maximum number of rows allowed: the maximum number of rows allowed per page
Log Publication Process: in the event of a problem, logs additional detail
Check Web Compatibility: checks the workbook pre-publication for any known compatibility
issues.
Workbook Defaults
Controls the defaults for new workbooks.
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Available Actions - Ignore multiple filter members:
if multiple members are selected on filters,

these are ignored when determining which Actions to display
Replace null values: replaces null values with the contents of the Replace null values with text
field
Remove nulls when drilling: if there are any null rows/columns when drilling down on a member,
they will be removed so that there are no fully empty rows/columns in the report.
Remove 0 values when drilling: if there are any rows/columns when drilling down on a member
that only contain zeros, they will be removed so that there are no zero rows/columns in the
report.
Resize Columns after drilling: this allows a column to resize itself when drilled
Indent drilled members: when the user drills down on a member, they will be displayed indented
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Workbook Options
These are the workbook level options that can be set for each workbook.
Workbook
Maximum calculation depth during grid refresh: if a workbook has "Circular" dependencies in grids,
then this setting controls the maximum number of times to recalculate the same grid
Available Actions - Ignore multiple filter members: with this setting enabled, then the available
actions uses only the first member for each filter hierarchy (if more than one member is select). This
can speed up the display of the action form if lots of members are selected
Worksheet protection password: setting the password value used to "protect" the worksheets will
allow XLCubed to unprotect the sheets during grid refreshes, the sheets are protected again after the
refresh is completed. (This feature is new in Version 7.1)
Reset Format Sheet: this removes any customised formatting from workbook by replacing the existing
FormatSheet sheet with the default sheet as defined in Options > XLCubed Options > Main
Web Publication
Specifies the behaviour and options available in the report once published to XLCubed Web.
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Auto Refresh (minutes): sets an interval after which the published report will automatically refresh in
the user's browser
Display Submit Changes: controls display of Submit Changes toolbar button on XLCubed Web - default
is Yes
Allow Printing: controls display of the Print toolbar button on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Allow save workbook to Excel: controls display of save to Excel on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Allow save active sheet to Excel: controls display of save to Excel on XLCubed Web
Allow save to repository: controls display of save to Repository on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Display Refresh button: controls display of Refresh button on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Enable Right-Click Menus: controls availability of right click menus on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Save Custom View: controls availability of save custom view on XLCubed Web
Drill Formulae: whether formulae can be drilled on XLCubed Web - default is No
Edit Member Formulae: whether XL3Member formulae can be edited on XLCubed Web - default is Yes
Auto Reload: whether the report auto-reloads if IIS has timed out due to inactivity - default is No
Edit XL3LookupRW without unlocking: enable LookupRW formulae for editing - default is No
Open Links in same Window: whether any XL3Link formulae to other websites or reports are opened
in the same or different windows - default is Yes
Use V5 Chart Rendering: For historical (pre v6 reports) this option allows charts to be rendered as per
v5 - default is No
Allow save to Excel live: whether the workbook can be saved as "Live" (i.e. remain interactive) when
downloading from the web - default is Yes. This is new in Version 7.1.
Handle Excel chart types:
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Formula Options
Replace null values: replaces null values with the contents of the field Replace null values with:
Remove nulls when drilling: if there are any blank rows/columns when drilling down on a member,
they will be removed so that there are no empty rows/columns in the report.
Remove 0 values when drilling: if there are any rows/columns when drilling down on a member that
only contain zeros, they will be removed so that there are no zero rows/columns in the report.
Resize Columns after drilling: this allows a cell to resize itself when a formula is inserted to display the
result correctly.
Indent drilled members: when the user drills down on a member, they will be displayed indented.
Lighten background colour on drill: when the user drills on a member a slightly lighter version of its
background colour will be used for the new members (new in Version 7.6)
Writeback
Formula Writeback
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Enable Writeback: enables Writeback, whether or not this happens on or offline is controlled by the
individual Grid Properties
Allow at Lowest Level Only: data is entered at leaf level only.
Allow at Any Level: data is entry at any level is allowed, select one of the following Analysis Services
Writeback spreading methods. Note this can be overridden at Grid Properties level
Equal allocation: each constituent cell is assigned an equal value.
Equal increment: every constituent cell will be changed according to an incremental value
Weighted allocation: each constituent cell will be assigned an equal value that is weighted against
a formula
Weighted increment: every constituent cell is changed incrementally according to a weighting

formula
Lowest Level Indicators:
Highlight members: this highlights the members that are available for Writeback.
Highlight data: this highlights the data that is available for Writeback.
Relational Writeback
Analysis Services is the default writeback method. However, when working with XLCubed or XLCubed
Authorised partners on a consultancy basis it is also possible to use 'Relational' Writeback.
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When using relational writeback, the server and database being used must be specified in the dialog
above.
Connections
Connection details can optionally be specified within defined Excel cells in the workbook. These can also be
parametrised for web deployment.
In Excel, any changes made to the connection via the defined cells will only take effect after closing and reopening the workbook. When published, if they have been set as web parameters, the connection detail
can be passed into the report as part of the calling URL. This enables straightforward switching of
published reports between development / acceptance and production databases in environments where
the reporting is hosted within other portals such as SharePoint.
To access the parameters in the published report, click on the view parameters icon from Recent reports,
as shown below.
Connection details can optionally be specified within defined Excel cells in the workbook. These can also be
parametrised for web deployment.
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This is accessed via the Options > Workbook Options > Connections tab. Specify the values for each
parameter, and where required change the server, database, cube, and whether the report requires a
password before pressing Get URL.
On accessing the report through the URL, the connection will switch to the server and database specified.
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Language Options
New in Version 7.5 - you can define on this tab the report name and description to be displayed in for
different language users.
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MDX Calculations
Not all OLAP environments are as rich as we, the analysts would like. These examples show how XLCubed
allows the power of OLAP to be simply used to improve our analyses.
Creating Calculated Members (based on the Bicycle Sales cube)
We will create new Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin measures.
Start by creating a connection to the BicycleSales Demo Cube. This cube only has one measure, Value, but
several different 'views' of the data, provided by the KeyFigures hierarchy.
To create the calculated measures:
1. Open the Manage Calculations dialog by selecting the XLCubed > Custom Calculations ribbon or
menu option.
2. To create the Gross Profit member, click the Insert a new calculated member toolbar button
3. A new 'untitled' member will appear. Fill in the following details for the new member:
Name
Parent Hierarchy
Parent Member
Expression
Gross Profit
KeyFigures
[KeyFigures].[All]
[KeyFigures].[All].&[Revenue] - [KeyFigures].[All].&[Cost of Sales] [KeyFigures].[All].&[Production Costs]
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4. Create a second calculated member for the Gross Profit Margin member and fill in the following
details. To enter the format string, Show advanced controls must be clicked:
Name
Parent Hierarchy
Parent Member
Expression
Format String
Gross Profit Margin

KeyFigures
[KeyFigures].[All]
[[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit] / [KeyFigures].[All].&[Revenue
0%
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5. We now have members in the KeyFigures hierarchy but if we want to use them as normal measures
we need to create two more members in the Measures hierarchy:
Name
Parent Hierarchy
Parent Member
Expression
Gross Profit
Measures
Leave empty
[[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit Margin].[Measures].[Value])
Name
Parent Hierarchy
Parent Member
Expression
Format String
Gross Profit Margin

Measures
Leave empty
[[KeyFigures].[All].[Gross Profit Margin].[Measures].[Value])
0%
6. Click on OK to create the calculated members

We can now see the new measures in context. Let's find badly performing product groups
for 2004.
1. Click on the XLCubed > Grid ribbon item (or the XLCubed > Design Grid menu item in Excel
2003 and below). For more information about using this dialog, see Report Designer.
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2. Move Measures to columns, Product to rows and Time to headers.

3. Click on the Time hierarchy, then select 2004, the year we want to analyse.
4. Click on the Measures hierarchy to select the Gross Profit and Gross Profit Margin measures.
5. Click OK to insert the Grid.
6. When we drill down on the Product hierarchy, we can see that Road S8000 is the failing
product.
We could extend this report to use In-Cell Charts.
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Creating Named Sets

A named set is a Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) expression that returns a set of dimension members.
Named sets can be created at cube level or within an application such as XLCubed. They can be created
combining cube data, arithmetic operators, numbers and functions.
You create a named set from the Custom Calculation tab:
Click
to Insert a new calculated set.
In this example I have created a named set, RacksAndStands, which is a grouping of Bike Racks and Bike
Stands.
The expression needs to be inside braces as below { } and separated by commas.
{[Product].[Product Model Categories].[Subcategory].&[26],[Product].[Product Model
Categories].[Subcategory].&[27]}
The next step is to include the named set in the report:

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You must be editing the hierarchy/dimension that the named set is linked to, in this example Product
Model Categories.
Click on the Advanced tab and select Member Set

You should see your named set appearing as below, select it and click OK.
You can then select to include/exclude the named set in your report.
In this example the members of the named set will not appear in the report.
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Show with Captions

New in v7.2 there is an option within Custom Calculations to switch from showing unique names to
captions
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Writeback
Writeback allows you to either permanently edit values in the Cube (if the administrator has allowed it),
or to do simple what-if analysis in Excel.
XLCubed Excel Edition supports writeback in a number of ways through Grids, Formula-based and
relational writeback. In both cases the cube itself must be write enabled.
Writeback in XLCubed Grids
To enable writeback on an XLCubed Grid, select XLCubed > Properties... from the Grid right-click menu,
then select the Enable Writeback option from the Writeback tab. On this tab you can also adjust a few
other options, described below.
Online Entry Mode
Using Online mode, each value is submitted to the cube when typed: the value will be written and the
data optionally re-retrieved (so that any aggregated data is updated straight away on the report).
By default, entry is allowed only at the leaf level of the data, as this is the most common environment.
Offline Entry Mode
In Offline mode, you can enter multiple updates at once, then submit them in one batch. To view the
updates that are ready to be sent to the server, select the XLCubed > Writeback > Manage Offline
Writeback right-click menu option, and to upload the changes, select XLCubed > Writeback > Submit
Outstanding Writes.
Non-Leaf Level Writeback
When not entering data at leaf level, you must choose from the four Analysis Services spreading methods:
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Data can then be entered for aggregate levels in the cube, and will be spread according to the rule
specified.
Note that non-leaf Writeback in the Analysis Services environment should be used with caution since it can
be time-consuming, depending on cube size and dimensionality.
Formula Writeback
There are two XLCubed formulae which handle Analysis Services writeback:XL3DoWriteback formula and
XL3LookupRW formula.
XL3DoWriteback allows a value held in another cell to be written back to the cube whereas with
XL3LookupRW the formula itself is overwritten directly.
In most cases XL3DoWriteback offers more flexibility and control.
There is also XL3RunSQL formula which is available for relational SQL updates.
Relational Writeback
In XLCubed > Options > Workbook Options, you can specify whether to use Standard (Analysis Services) or
Relational writeback. Relational writeback requires certain cube customisations, and is typically a
consultancy-led process to provide additional flexibility or performance over the standard writeback
processing.
Relational writeback in XLCubed allows writeback operations to call SQL Stored Procedures - these
procedures can be used to store additional data (i.e. text commentary) or perform advanced
transformation on the written values before applying them to the cube.
Analysis Services Cube Configuration
The cube needs to be enabled for writeback, using the standard approach,
An additional table (henceforth RWritetable, mirroring the fact table structure, is created in the
source SQL database, and added into the datasource view,

An additional ROLAP Partition is added to the AS database, using the RWritetable,
The standard writeback table needs to remain in place although is essentially unused.
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ANALYSIS SERVICES 2008 R2
In Analysis Services 2008 R2, the additional table RWritetableis an optional step. Instead, it is possible to
change the storage mode of the Writeback table to be ROLAP, it is then possible for the Stored
Procedure to make updates directly to the standard Writeback table (NB. if using this approach then the
SQL updates cannot update the same slice/measure being written back by the user, but can update
other measures/slices. This is useful, for example, in a Workflow situation to move data from one slice
to another).
Stored Procedure Config
A stored procedure must be created within the source SQL database, configured to the rules outlined
below. It is only this stored procedure which will be called from XLCubed when a relational writeback is
invoked, though it can of course call other procedures as required. The fundamental job of the
procedure will be to populate the RWritetable.
Procedure Name
[dbo].[XL3_DatabaseName_CubeName_Writeback]
Replace any spaces in the database or cube name with _
PARAMETER NAMES
@Dimension_Hierarchy
(Hierarchy unique name without the [ ], replace . With _)
The values for members will be the member keys, passed as
NVarChar(max)
@Value
Values will be passed as T-SQL float (.Net double).
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For measures the measure caption will be passed as there is no
row key.
EXAMPLE
A very simple example procedure follows. (This is the simplest case, anticipating the entered value as
Budget, rather than handling the possibility of several measures being available for entry):
AS Database Name
Retail
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AS Cube Name
Retail Forecast
Created Relational Writeback table
RetailRelWriteback
CREATEPROCEDURE[dbo].[XL3_Retail_Retail_Forecast_Writeback]
@Accounts_ChartOfAccounts nvarchar(50),
@Measures nvarchar(50),
@Period_Periodnvarchar(50),
@Unit_Category1nvarchar(50),
@Unit_Organisationnvarchar(50),
@Value double precision
AS BEGIN
SET NOCOUNT ON;
insert into [dbo].[RetailRelWriteback](
[Account],
[Unit],
[Period],
[Budget], [Forecast],
[Actual], [Phasing],
[cCurrency], [nEntity]
)
)
values(
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@Period_Period,
@Value,
@Accounts_Char NULL,
NULL,
tOfAccounts,
NULL,
@Unit_Organisati
NULL,
on,
1
END
GO
XLCubed Client Settings
By default, the writeback setting will be standard Analysis Services. To switch to relational:
Go to XLCubed > Options -> Workbook Options, and then to the writeback tab. Here the method
to be used can be varied at a connection level as shown below:

Then click on the Configure button for the connection to specify the relational database source
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Once relational is specified, the writeback process will be unchanged from a user perspective, but will
call the stored procedure specified in steps 1 and 2.
It's worth noting that the change is now applicable for the connection, so relational writeback will now be
used for grids as well as the writeback formula (XL3LookupRW and XL3DoWriteback.
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Converting ProClarity Reports

The ProClarity import option allows ProClarity Briefing Books to be converted to XLCubed Reports. This
feature was added in Version 7.1 of XLCubed.
Importing a Briefing Book

Select the source file, this can be either a Briefing Book (.bbk) or a XML Briefing
Book (.xml). The contents of the report will be displayed.

Each item on the report will be imported into a new worksheet, you can change
the name of the destination worksheet before the import.

By default each report item will be converted to an equivalent XLCubed type, for
example charts will become Small Multiple charts and TreeMaps will map to
treemaps etc. You can override the default selection or choose to ignore an item
entirely.
During the conversion it is important that the source cube is available as it is
accessed by the conversion process.

After closing the import form the entire Workbook is refreshed.
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Publishing PowerPivot Reports

From XLCubed v7.5 users can take XLCubed workbooks which connect to PowerPivot data, and
publish these to XLCubed Web Edition. This enables sharing of the reports or dashboards with
non-PowerPivot users through XLCubed Web Edition and also provides increased scalability and
security options.
The publication process moves the data model directly onto the specified Tabular Analysis
Services instance, and dynamically changes the data connection on the published report. The
publication process does not require SharePoint or Excel services.
Requirements
XLCubed Web Edition v7.5 Enterprise Edition with the scheduling feature set up
Microsoft Analysis Services 2012 in Tabular mode
Overview
XLCubed can monitor one or more directories on the Web Edition server, usually in the
Web repository. When an appropriate set of files is created or updated in that directory,
the PowerPivot connections are published to Analysis Services:
The connection file is uploaded to a common network share
The information is copied to an Analysis Services database
The XLCubed report is modified to point to the newly created database
Configuration
A new configuration file must be created in the XLCubed Web Edition repository:
\Repository\_xlcubed_\_scheduling_\monitor.xml
This configuration file is an XML file containing one or more powerPivot elements, enclosed in
a single monitor element:
<monitor>
<powerPivot
folder="C:\inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository\PowerPivot Reports"
includeSubfolders="true" server="as2012server" uploadShare="\\as2012server\powerPivotFiles\"
serverLocalPath="C:\powerPivotFiles" allowOverwrite="true"
/>
</monitor>
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Each PowerPivotelement defines a repository folder to watch, and information about

what to do with new files:
Folder
the folder to watch
Include subfolders
whether to also watch subfolders of the main folder
Server
the Analysis Server 2012 Vertipaq server on which to create the database
uploadShare
a shared directory on the Analysis Services server, which can be used for temporarily
holding the connection information. The user running the scheduler service must
have write access to this folder
serverLocalPath
the same directory as uploadShare, but from the point of view of the server
allowOverwrite
defines whether any existing database should be overwritten. Can be set to true or
false
roleMembers
a semicolon delimited set of usernames and groups to give access to the new
database
notificationEmail
an email address to send the notification to when a new database is uploaded.

Optional; uses the first available SMTP server
If the server is on the same machine as XLCubed Web Edition, then uploadShareand
serverLocalPathcan both be left blank, and the scheduler will just use the workbook where it is.
Note that the scheduler user must have permissions on the Analysis Services server to restore a database.
Any messages, success or failure, will be written to the standard scheduling error log file.
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Using Grids with Protected Worksheets

XLCubed Grids can coexist with protected worksheets in several ways.
Set the XLCubed Workbook Options to use your password
In the XLCubed > Options > Workbook Options... dialog, you can set the Workbook > Workbook
protection password. The Grids should then update as required.
Using the Grid on the protected worksheet
The Grid may be placed directly on the worksheet that is to be protected. To do this, follow these steps:
On the Grid Properties > Appearance tab, deselect Apply formatting and Merge repeating
cells
Set all the Grid cells to be unlocked. See this Microsoft article for details on how to lock and
unlock specific cells.
If the Grid can be edited by drilling or other member selection methods, also unlock cells to
accommodate the potential expansion.
Protect the sheet. At least the following options must be allowed:
Format cells
Format columns
Format rows
If Format columns and Format rows protection are desired, then Grid Properties > Behaviour > Resize
columns/rows after refresh must be disabled.
Placing the Grid on a non-protected worksheet
The Grid can be placed on a non-protected worksheet, and the data brought to the protected sheet by
using either:
The Camera tool
Formulae
Alternatives
Publishing the finished reports
Using Formulae instead of Grids
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Copy Sheet
New to v7.2 this is available as an Excel standard right-click menu option. To use it hover on the sheet tab
that you wish to copy and right-click. You will see an XLCubed option to Copy Sheet:
You will be presented with this window and you can select to copy to the same or a different workbook:
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Macros
The following XLCubed macros can be called from VBA:
Code
Application.Run
"XL3RefreshGrid","Sheet1!a1"
Application.Run XL3RefreshAllGrids
Application.Run XL3RefreshTable,
Sheet1!A1
Application.Run XL3RefreshAllTables
Application.CalculateFull
Description
Include an address for the
grid is to be refreshed
Refreshes all grids
Include an address for the
Table to be refreshed
Refreshes all Tables
Force a calculate of XLCubed
formulae
Introduced
v6.1
v6.0
v7.1
v7.0
All
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Adding Round Corners to Excel

Version 7.1 introduces the ability to easily create rounded corners.
Adding Round Corners
Highlight the required area:
Go to Extras -> Add/Edit Round Corners:
The Colours and Border thickness will be picked up from the selected cells. Select the corners to be made
round (in this case the Top Left and Top Right corners):
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Click OK to apply the borders
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Editing Existing Corners

If the cell has manually created corners then they will need to be deleted before adding new corners using
XLCubed, if the corners were created by XLCubed then you can just highlight the cell or range and Go to
Extras -> Add/Edit Round Corners. The changes will be applied to the existing corners (or the corners can
be removed by unselecting them)
Resizing Columns/Rows
If the Column or Row is re-sized then the corners may now be in the wrong place, to fix this go to Extras > Add/Edit Round Corners and then click OK. Any existing round corners will be moved to the correct
location.
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Pie Charts in Web Edition

Chart in Excel before publishing:
After publishing to web:
To resolve this you need to:

Click on the pie chart in Excel and choose Format data series
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choose solid fill rather than automatic and choose a fill colour - this will set everything to one
colour
then right-click to select each data series individually and choose Format Data Point and set to the
appropriate colour for each one
Having done that it will publish as you see it in Excel.
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Set Searching
Member Search
Starting with XLCubed v6.5 you can filter a report by searching for members in a hierarchy. The report
below shows a simple grid with Geography on rows and Fiscal Years on columns.
We would like the report to only show those members on Geography whose name begins with B.
Edit the Geography hierarchy, and select Clear All by clicking:
Next, click Advanced tab and then select All Hierarchy Members by clicking:
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Then, click on Member Search and the following window will be displayed.
At this point you have three options:

enter a value in the Search Value field - in our example we enter B as we want to
report all
members whose name starts with the letter B

click the ellipse and add some filtering using MDX
use Excel range to hold the value that should be used
In our example we are using the value in cell F2 to determine the filtering on our report. You can also
determine the 'search by' criteria as below:
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The Advanced window is now displayed as:
As you can see the report now only shows those members of the Geography hierarchy that start with B.
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Removing Zeros from a Grid Report

To remove zeros values from a Grid Report, use the XLCubed > Apply > Filter > Remove Zeros right-click
menu option.
This function adds an axis-wide filter to the Grid.
Example
We'd like to remove any zero-valued members (in this case, the Additional Equipment and Other members)
from the report.
1. Right-click on the member that you want to filter against. In this example, we want to filter against
the All Periods member, because we want to remove any members that are zero for all time:
2. Select the XLCubed > Apply > Filter > Remove Zeros menu option:
3. The zero-valued rows are removed from your report:

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Editing the filter

1. Open the Report Designer
2. Double-click the blue icon added to the axis with the filter applied:
3. The filter is shown on the Axis Designer. You can now edit the filter in the same way as a normal
filter, by clicking on the menu button and selecting Edit...:
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Refresh Grid and Formulae

Grids
Grid Properties determine whether or not a grid will be automatically refreshed when the workbook is
opened:
All Grids can be refreshed at any time by using the Refresh All option under Grids & Tables on the Refresh
Menu:
Individual Grids can be refreshed by:
selecting the required Grid from the list under Grids & Tables
or by using the right click XLCubed Menu -> Refresh Grid option
or pressing CTRL+SHIFT+R while the active cell is in the grid
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Formulae
Formulae can be refreshed by:
using the Refresh Formulae on the Refresh Menu
or by using standard Excel keys (F9 / Ctrl/Alt/Shift/F9 etc)
Slicers
Slicers can be refreshed by using the Refresh Slicer on the Refresh menu:
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MDX
Description
The Mdx: or Mdx Colon feature allows you to easily combine snippets of Mdx with your existing
XLCubed Grids and other report objects.
The Mdx: statement could be a fixed piece of text, or created by using an Excel formula.
You can use this to create members or sets depending on your requirements.
Syntax
The Mdx: statement is made up of two or three parts.
Part
Optional?
Mdx: or MdxSet: No
Caption:=
Yes
Mdx
No
Description
Select based on whether your mdx snippet returns a single
member or a set of members
Puts a user friendly caption against the member when it is
returned.
The Mdx snippet to run.
Examples
Valid examples would be:
Mdx:nextYear:=[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2002].NextMember
Mdxset:{[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2001]:[Date].[Calendar].[Calendar Year].&[2003]}
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In these examples the Mdx: statement is made using other Excel references, so that when these change
the grid will also be updated.
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Managing Favourites
Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite for my own use
Create grid report and in Report Designer click Favourites icon highlighted
You will be prompted to enter a name and then OK.
This will add the report to your Favourites.

Click Favourites icon in XLCubed Excel Edition and in the drop-down you will see your report
Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite and share with other Excel Edition users
This is intended as a way for Excel Edition users to share favourites. To enable this you publish them to
the web rather than save locally.
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Create grid report and in Report Designer click Favourites icon highlighted:
You will be prompted to enter a name:
You can make it a Web favourite by clicking Web button where you will be prompted to enter the
name of the web server and folder.
All users who have appropriate Repository permissions will be able to access these Web Favourites
through XLCubed Excel Edition.
Click Favourites icon in XLCubed Excel Edition and then click Web Favourites.
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Click Connect to connect to your web server and you will be able to browse the Repository and select
your report.
Create a grid report which I want to save as a favourite and share with other Web Edition users
The best way to do this is to create a new folder on the Web Edition with an appropriate name (e.g.
Web Favourites), and then publish a series of starting point grids into this folder. Users can then open
these up on the Web Edition as needed.
Create a grid report and Publish Workbook to Web

At Publisher window: to create this shared Favourites folder, right-click to create
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I have created a top-level folder called WebEditionFavourites which all my team members have
permissions to access.
Publish report to this folder. Your users can then use this report as a starting point template.
Create a workbook template that I can save as a favourite and share with other Excel Edition users
This will allow you to publish the current workbook as a template to Web Edition. This can then be
accessed and used as a starting point by users of XLCubed Excel Edition.
Create your workbook template and then select Publish Workbook as Template under Publish to Web
icon
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You will see the normal Publisher window and the Published Templates folder. You can right-click and
add new top- or sub-folders as required.
Give the template a name and click Publish.
The next time an Excel Edition user wants to this template they can access it from Favourites, Open
Template. Connect to browse the Repository and they should see the templates stored in the Published
Templates folder:
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Select one and OK and they will be prompted to save their copy of the template workbook. Once saved
they can make changes as required.
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Data Configuration Settings

XLCubed's data access behaviour can be configured using xml files.
It is not recommended to change these without advice from XLCubed support.
File Locations
These files are found in the following places:
Excel Edition - Install folder e.g. C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed

Web Edition - Install folder\bin e.g c:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\bin
Config Files
XLCubed.Data.xml
This file controls XLCubed's cache behaviour. XLCubed will cache metadata to improve performance, but
will not cache data (query results).
Here you can control when the cache is cleared, and which metadata to cache.
The cache settings can be configured per cube and schema. If a specific setting is found that will override a
general one. (e.g. a specific schema setting will override that for * schemas).
Caches can have the policy type and size set.
Policy types are:
PublicChecked - Shared between users, but on the first request the cube will be queried to check the
user has permission to read the object.
PublicUnchecked - Shared between users, on the first ever request the cube will be queried to get the
metadata which is then shared between subsequent users.
Private - Cache is per user, cube is queried for metadata the first time each user requests it.
PrivateBySession - Cache is per user session, the cube will be queried for different connections from
the same user.
Cache policy sizes can be:
0 - Do not cache
-1 - Cache all objects
N - any positive number, maximum cache size before objects are removed. N is the count of objects
stored.
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XLCubed.Data.AnalysisServices.xml
This file controls some aspects of XLCubed's connectivity to Analysis Services.
Connections:
keepopen - For use on the web, keeps connections open between page loads. Occasionally useful for
AS2000 servers.
keepsession - For use on the web, keeps sessions open between page loads.
usenativecom - Controls the internal implementation of some data reading.
useconnectionpooling - Shares connections between users, useful for .cub files where a maximum of 5
connections can be made at once.
Metadata:
hierarchies : useindexnameascaption - For backwards compatibility, returns the unique name with
brackets removed as the hierarchy caption.
hierarchies : usefirstmemberasdefault - Used for some situations when the default member may not
be visible to the users.
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Book XI - Troubleshooting
XLCubed Excel Edition
Installation Troubleshooting
Prerequisites
Details of prerequisites can be found here.
Could not access network location \Hewlett-Packard\\

When installing XLCubed, you get the above error message. This is because of a
faulty InstallLocation registry entry, found in these two places:
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\
You can either back up, then remove it manually, or follow the instructions listed in this article.
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book XI - Troubleshooting
XLCubed Ribbon or menu doesn't appear

Please try each step in order, each time checking if the ribbon has appeared by restarting Excel.
XLL may not be registered

You can use the Enable or Disable XLCubed V7 item in the Windows Start menu.
If this doesn't work, the following command should be run to register XLCubed assemblies.
Windows Start button, Run, depending on your computer:
"C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /reg
"C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /reg
Check it is not in Disabled Items in Excel

Select File, Options, Add-Ins as below:
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Select Manage, Disabled Items from the drop down and Go.
If there are any Disabled Items they will appear in the following window.
You will have to select, enable and close this window before restarting Excel.
Check it is not in Disabled Items in Registry
Check it is not appearing as a disabled item in the registry. Sometimes Excel may not list it as disabled item
even though it is disabled in the Registry.
Look in the following location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Excel\Resiliency\Disabled Items
The sub-folder below Office in the above location varies depending on the version of Office:
Office XP: 10.0

Office 2003: 11.0
Office 2007: 12.0
Office 2010: 14.0
If there is an entry in the above registry location you will need to delete it.
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If you do not have administrator privileges you can download and run the application referenced
in Removing any disabled items from registry section.
Check that all prerequisites are installed
For a full list, see the Prerequisites page.
Run the fix utility on the installation
Run command: "C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /fix
Rename your XLCubed setting folder

Use Explorer to browse to %appdata%\XLCubed Ltd, and rename the XLCubed Excel Edition folder.
Reboot your computer
Recent Windows Updates and other software installations can sometimes leave software components in
an unusable state until the computer is restarted.
Are XLCubed functions working?

Open the Excel workbook, put =XL3Lookup in any cell and click anywhere. If #NAME? appears where you
entered =XL3Lookup that means the functions are also not working. If there is a number in that location it
means that XLCubed functions are working but the ribbon is not loading.
Is there a conflict with other addins?

Untick them all then tick each, one by one, till you find the one that is conflicting with XLCubed.
Are other addins also disabled?
Enable all others addins that are disabled.
Is the Automation Security Level too restrictive?

This usually only applies if the Microsoft Office security settings are managed via Group Policy by your
domain administrator, or were configured via the Office Customization Tool.
The Automation security setting can restrict the loading of the XLCubed ribbon if it is not set to Macros
enabled (default) .
More information about this setting can be found in these TechNet articles:
Office 2007: Security policies and settings in the 2007 Office system.
Office 2010: Plan security settings for VBA macros for Office 2010
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Necessary Office components not installed

If the 'Visual Basic for Applications' and '.NET Programmability Support' components are not installed, functions and
the ribbon/menu may not work.
Solution:
Go to Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and select the entry for Microsoft Office.
Change, Add or remove Features.

Office Shared Features > Visual Basic for Applications make sure there is not a cross against
Visual Basic for Applications
Microsoft Office Excel > .NET Programmability Support make sure there is not a cross against
.NET Programmability Support
Removing any disabled items from Registry

Download & run the application from:
http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/RemoveAllDisabledItems.zip
It will pop up a console window and then proceed to delete any disabled add-in entries in registry.
You are receiving an error while processing XLCubed.dna

There was an error during processing of C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed
Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.dna:
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There is an error in XML document (0, 0).

The type initializer for 'System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializationReader' threw an
exception.
Error while processing XLCubed.dna

When you open XLCubed, you get the following error message:
There was an error during processing of C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed
Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.dna:
There is an error in XML document (0, 0).
The type initializer for 'System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializationReader' threw an
exception.
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This error can be caused by problems with one of several configuration files:
XLCubed.dna, XLCubed64.dna, XLCubed.xll.config or XLCubed64.xll.config, all

found in the XLCubed installation folder (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\XLCubed
Ltd\XLCubed)
Excel.exe.config, found in the Excel installation folder (usually C:\Program Files
(x86)\Microsoft Office\Office15 or similar)
machine.config, found in the Microsoft.NET configuration folder
(usually C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\Config andC:\Window
s\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\Config)
The problems can be caused by several underlying issues:
The files do not exist (except for XLCubed.xll.config and Excel.exe.config, which are not
necessary)
The files exist, but are protected and not accessible by Excel while it is loading
The files exist, but are corrupted
In particular, installation of some IBM Client Access providers can cause problems with
the machine.config file. See this IBM support article for details.
Grid Troubleshooting
When I try to create a Grid Chart, no chart types are listed, and I cannot press OK to insert it.
Your formats file may be missing or corrupted. Please back it up, then copy a new version from the
XLCubed installation folder. Typical locations are:
Installation version
C:\Program Files\XLCubed
Ltd\XLCubed\FormatSheet.xls and FormatSheet.xlsx
User's customised version
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed Excel Edition
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Slicer Troubleshooting
You receive a Cannot insert object error when inserting a Dimension Slicer
This error is caused by some of the XLCubed assemblies not being correctly registered. To re-register them,
you must run the following command as an elevated administrator:
"C:\Program Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.Installer.Utility.exe" /regctls
In version 6.1 and prior versions, the /regctls switch wasn't available. In this case, use this instead, again
using an administrator account:
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe /tlb /codebase "C:\Program
Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.UserInterface.dll"
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v4.0.30319\RegAsm.exe /tlb /codebase "C:\Program
Files\XLCubed Ltd\XLCubed\XLCubed.Excel.UserInterface.dll"
You receive a Can't exit design mode because Control 'ExcelDimensionSlicer1' can not be created error during
normal operation
This error is caused by some corruption in your saved workbook when saving as Excel 97-2003 format (.xls).
It is caused by a limitation of the .xls file format and can occur from time to time when using slicers. To fix
the corruption, save the workbook as the more modern .xlsx file format instead. If this is not available to
you, the workbook can be temporarily fixed by:
1. Save the file as .xlsx
2. Close Excel
3. Open the .xlsx workbook and resave as .xls
If you are using Microsoft Excel 2003, and are unable to save as .xlsx, you may need to install the Microsoft
Office Compatibility Pack, which should allow you to save as the newer .xlsx format. Alternatively, for some
workbooks you may be able to save as the XML Spreadsheet (.xml) type instead.
Miscellaneous Issues
Error when editing calculated members based on calculated sets
You may receive this error:
The selected calculation could not be executed:
The 'NamedSetName' named set cannot be created because a set with the same name already exists.
Please check the details and try again.
You may receive this error when using a named set in a calculated member created on a non-Measures
hierarchy.
For example (based on Adventure Works):
Named Set 'MySet'
[Geography].[Geography].[Country].members
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Calculated Member 'MyMember'

Aggregate([MySet])
Editing the above results in an error. This is because of a problem executing the necessary MDX with
Analysis Services. You should instead use the following, making sure you set the solve order of the
calculated member to 1:
Named Set 'MySet'
[Geography].[Geography].[Country].members
Calculated Member 'MyMember'
Aggregate(StrToSet('[MySet]'))
In order to successfully create this once the error has been triggered, you will also have to rename the
named set.
XLCubed Web Edition

Publishing Troubleshooting
Connection failure
When you click "Connect" in the publishing dialog XLCubed will try to contact your web server.
If you can't connect to the web server, you can try the following
Client configuration
If you use a proxy server to access the internet this can prevent XLCubed connecting correctly
To allow the connection turn on the option to bypass the proxy for local addresses.
Note that you only need to do this is you use a proxy, otherwise there is no need to make this change.
If this fails an administrator can check the following to try to resolve the problem.
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If this fails an administrator can check the following to try to resolve the problem.
Windows Authentication
IIS SETTINGS
Depending on your IIS version, take the following steps:

IIS 5/6
Right click the XLCubedWeb directory and select "Properties" Select the "Directory Security" tab Ensure
that "Integrated Windows authentication" is checked and all others are not.
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IIS 7/7.5
Select the XLCubedWeb directory and open the "Authentication" section.
Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and Windows Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.
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If you do not have these options you must add them from Control Panel > Programs > Turn Windows
features on or off
IIS 8
In addition to the IIS 7/7.5 steps, the HTTP Activation feature must also be installed.
Server Manager > Roles and Features > Add Role or Feature > Features then select .NET 4.5 > WCF
Services > HTTP-Activation.
Web.config
You will need to change the web.config file to include entries for all bindings. These entries are dependent
on the authentication mode (Basic, Windows or Anonymous) and whether or not you are using HTTPS.
Please note that when using HTTPS the security mode should be equal to Transport.
Authentication
Using HTTPS?
Windows
Yes
Windows
No
Web.config: on all bindings

<security mode="Transport">
<transport
clientCredentialType="Windows"/>
</security>
<security
mode="TransportCredentialOnly">
<transport
clientCredentialType="Windows"/>
</security>
Basic Authentication
IIS SETTINGS

IIS 5/6
that "Basic authentication" is checked and all others are not.
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IIS 7/7.5/8
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Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and "Basic Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.
Web.config
Authentication
Using HTTPS?
Basic
Yes
Basic
No

<transport
clientCredentialType="Basic"/>
</security>
<security
<transport
clientCredentialType="Basic"/>
</security>
Anonymous Authentication
IIS SETTINGS

IIS 5/6
that "Enable anonymous access" is checked and all others are not.
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IIS 7/7.5/8
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Ensure "ASP.NET Impersonation" and "Anonymous Authentication" are enabled, and others are disabled.
If you do not have these options you must add them from Control Panel -> Programs -> Turn Windows
features on or off
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Web.config
Authentication
Using HTTPS?
Anonymous
Yes
Anonymous
No

<transport
clientCredentialType="None"/>
</security>
<security
<transport
clientCredentialType="None"/>
</security>
Publishing failure
If you can connect to the web server, but cannot publish a file, you can try the following troubleshooting
steps.
Validate IIS Config
Navigating to the repository web service on the server will give a detailed error message if there is a
problem with the configuration (if everything is configured correctly you will see some sample code about
using the service). For example, navigate to:
http://localhost/xlcubedweb/webservices/RepositoryServer.svc
If this returns without error, then try with the exact URL the user would enter, for example:
https://www.someserver.com/xlcubedweb/webservices/RepositoryServer.svc
A full error message should be displayed giving details of the configuration that needs changing. Here a
some example errors and their solutions:
The HttpGetEnabled property of ServiceMetadataBehavior is set to true and the HttpGetUrl property is a
relative address, but there is no http base address. Either supply an http base address or set HttpGetUrl
to an absolute address.
Locate the <serviceBehaviors> section and update it to the following:
<serviceBehaviors>
<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.RepositoryServerBehavior">
<serviceMetadata httpGetEnabled="false" httpsGetEnabled="true" />
<serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="false" />
</behavior>
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<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.SmallMultipleChartServerBehavior">
</behavior>
<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.MapServerBehavior">
</behavior>
<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.PrintRendererServerBehavior">
<serviceDebug includeExceptionDetailInFaults="true" />
</behavior>
<behavior name="XLCubedWeb.WebServices.SchedulingServerBehavior">
</behavior>
</serviceBehaviors>
Permissions
Users need write permission to the repository directory in order to be able to publish files.
If this permission is missing often users can connect to the web server, but don't see a "My Reports" folder,
and get an error when attempting to publish a file.
To check if this is the problem you can grant Read and Write Access to the Repository directory in the
XLCubedWeb site to everyone and retry publishing.
If the publish then succeeds then permissions was the issue, and you can restrict access to the users you
wish to be able to publish.
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Publishing more than 1000 rows

If you try to publish a workbook with a large number of rows or columns you may get a message telling you
that a sheet has too many rows or columns.
Note the small scroll bar indicating that there are a lot of rows in use.
While XLCubed Web can handle a large number of rows, browsers will hang if given very large tables to
display. To avoid giving web users a poor experience XLCubed will warn you when you try to publish a
sheet which is very large.
From here you have several options:
If the sheet is used for calculation, and does not need to be shown to the user then it can be hidden. As
it the sheet cannot be shown in a browser the publication limit will not apply.
If you are displaying a large Grid or Tables, consider using a Pager.
If you really need to show such a large number of rows, the limits can be adjusted in the XLCubed
options screen.
If you don't think you are using 1000 rows you can follow the instructions below.
Reducing the used range

Excel controls the used range of the sheet, this is the limits of the cells with contents. XLCubed uses this to
count the number of rows and columns used on a sheet before publication.
This normally includes cells with content, but formatting large areas can cause it to get recalculated.
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Sometimes the used range can get incorrectly calculated. In this case you can delete the rows or columns
you know are unused to fix the used range.
To do this:
Select any cell in the worksheet

Press Ctrl+End - this will move you to the last cell in the used range.
Select the entire row by clicking on the row number
Use the scrollbars to move to the end of the report
While holding Shift, select below the last row in the report, again by clicking the row number.
Right click and Delete the range.
You can now publish again, and the used range will be recalculated.
If the scrollbar is still very small you can force excel to recalculate the used range by going to the VBA
editor and entering the following in the immediate window.
?ActiveSheet.UsedRange.Address
Slow Web Edition

XLCubed Web Edition's startup performance can be affected by several factors.
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Disabling Active Directory User Lookups

The QueryActiveDirectory web.config setting can be set to false in order to skip querying the Active Directory
domain controller to resolve the user name. Please see Book IV - Web Edition and the section on Behavioural
Configuration for more information.
Disabling Certificate Revocation List Checks

On startup, signed assemblies that are used by XLCubed Web Edition are verified. In order to do this, Windows first
checks for invalid certificates. If the server doesn't have sufficient internet access, then this will time out. You can
disable this check by disabling the 'Check for publisher's certificate revocation' option in Internet Options.
Web Performance
Web Startup
The following gives some information about optimising the startup of the web - either for the first user of
the day or for each user's first access
IIS Configuration
By Default IIS will unload the XLCubed Website after a certain period of inactivity, this can have the side
effect that the website is then slow for the first user of the day.
From IIS 7.5 there is a setting on the application pool that can keep the website loaded, in IIS Manager go
to the XLCubed Application Pool, right click and select "Advanced Settings":
Web.config
When a user first connects to XLCubedWeb it will make a call to get the full name of the user (displayed on
the default startup page). On some domains this call can take a few seconds. This can be turned off via
the following web.config setting:
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<add key="QueryActiveDirectory" value="false" />
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XLCubed v7 User Guide Book XII - Installation
Book XII - Installation

XLCubed Excel Edition
Installation Prerequisites
XLCubed Excel Edition requires several packages installed in order to operate correctly. These will be
downloaded and installed automatically when you run the XLCubed Excel Edition Setup program.
If access to the internet is unavailable, the packages can be installed manually prior to installation.
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0

Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable (x86) or (x64) Note: install the version appropriate for
the Excel architecture you are using
Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0 (x86) or (x64)
Microsoft SQL Server 2000 PivotTable Services (Analysis Services 8.0 OLEDB Provider) (x86 only)
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services 9.0 OLEDB Provider (x86) or (x64)
Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services 11.0 ADOMD.NET Provider (x86) or (x64)
Supported environments
Excel Edition:
Windows XP / Vista / 7 / 8
Office XP, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013
Microsoft .NET Framework v4
Supported Versions of SQL Server:
SQL Server 2000 Standard or higher

SQL Server 2008R2 Standard or higher
Silent installation
To create a silent installation for XLCubed Excel Edition, first install the appropriate prerequisites as
detailed on the previous section Installation Prerequisites. The Windows Installer MSI may then be
obtained by entering the following at the command line:
XLCubedInstaller.exe /ExtractCab
where XLCubedInstaller.exe should be replaced with the full path of the setup executable. This will extract
the MSI into a subdirectory called SupportFiles. This MSI can then be invoked silently by passing
the /q switch:
msiexec.exe /i "MSINAME.msi" /qn
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Using this method, any prerequisites must be installed manually.
XLCubed Excel Edition Installation Logging

The XLCubed Excel Edition installation program is a standard Windows Installer (MSI) program wrapped in
a bootstrapper EXE. You can log any errors by using the following command line switches.
Windows Installer (MSI)

"XLCubed Excel Edition.msi" /l*v C:\LogFiles\Log.txt
Windows Executable (EXE)

XLCubedExcelEdition.exe /ComponentArgs "XLCubed Excel Edition":"/l*v C:\log.txt"
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XLCubed Web Edition

Overview
To install XLCubed Web:
Run the setup program while logged onto the server as a user with administrator permissions
Once installed, copy the provided license key (xl3web.license) into the website folder, which is by
default: C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb
When installed, the application is accessed by navigating to http://<yourservername>/XLCubedWeb
XLCubedWeb is the default website name during installation, but can be changed as required during
the installation process
Please note versions 5 and below are not upgraded: this version will install as a separate product
Installation Prerequisites
Server Requirements
Windows 2000 Server or above

Internet Information Services (IIS) 5.1 or above (including the required authentication methods, static
content and asp.net)
Microsoft .NET Framework version 4.0
Hardware Requirements
Recommended specification is dependent on the cube size and design, the number of users, and the
pattern of usage. Having Analysis Services on the same machine will also have an impact.
As an absolute minimum we recommend:
Memory: 2GB
Processor: Dual Core 2.2 GHz
Client Requirements
Internet Explorer 7.0 or above

Google Chrome 5.0 or above
Mozilla Firefox 3.6 or above
Safari 5.0.6 or higher
Pre-Requisites
The installation will automatically download and install any required Microsoft redistributables. If desired
or if Internet access is restricted, these can be downloaded and installed manually before running the
XLCubed setup process. A list is available here.
IIS8/Windows 8
The following features must be enabled for XLCubed Web to work:
Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off / .Net Framework 3.5 /
Windows Communication Foundation HTTP Activation
Control Panel / Programs and Features / Turn Windows features on or off / .Net Framework 4.5
Advanced Services / WCF Services / HTTP Activation
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Configuration
After the installation has completed you will be shown the configuration utility:
(If the server is running a version of IIS older than 7 you will need to follow the old installation guide here)
Authentication
You will need to decide on the type of Authentication, here's a brief summary of each option:
Anonymous
A user account needs to be specified, all users will connect to the data source as this user. The database
server can be on a different machine to the web server.
This would be typically used where XLCubedWeb needs to be available to everyone with no restrictions,
such as on the Internet or available to an entire organisation (with no restrictions) on an Intranet.
Basic
The client will be prompted for a user-id and password - this will be authenticated against local users (if no
domain is specified) or the active directory users. The database will be accessed using the given account
and can be located on a different server to the web server.
This would typically be used where it's not possible to configure Kerberos or if the set of users need to be
maintained locally on the machine (independent of the Active Directory/Domain users)
Windows
The default and most common method. The client's current credentials will be passed to the server and
they will be used when connecting to the datasource. If the database server is on a different server then
they will only receive the credentials if Kerberos has been configured, see Book XII Installation and the
section on Kerberos for more information. (Kerberos will need to be set up and configured by a domain
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administrator. Most large organisations will have an existing process for doing this - the previous article
contains all the information required.)
This method would be used in most organisations as authentication, and therefore access, is controlled
through the same mechanisms as other network resources.
HTTPS
If the website has been set up to use HTTPS (see this Microsoft support article for more information) then
"Use HTTPS" will be checked. Click the "Apply" button to ensure XLCubedWeb has the correct settings to
support this.
Repository Access
The repository, visible in the left hand pane of the web application, is simply a folder on the Web Server
within which additional subfolders can be added. All published reports are held within the repository
folder, or subfolders within it. The permissions for the repository can be controlled by clicking on
"Repository Access". You will be presented with the form for maintaining which groups have access and
the level (write for publishing reports, or read-only for viewing reports only)
Finer control can be maintained by navgating to the repository folder in windows explorer, the folder
location will by default be:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository
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Additional folders can be added as required, at the level immediately beneath the Repository folder itself,
for example one folder per user group. If the user has the permissions, they can maintain the folder
structure by right-clicking on the "Publish Report" screen in the Excel client.
The Temp folder should also have these permissions set on it. Its default location is:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\temp
Windows permissions determine which folders are visible within the web application to any given user, e.g.
can be configured such that the 'Sales' function cannot see the 'Finance' function folder and vice versa.
This is all handled transparently by the application, and set at the Windows folder level permissions level.
The same logic is true of read/write vs. a read-only split between user groups.
Note that every user has a 'My Reports' folder, which is the equivalent of 'My Documents' in Windows, and
is only accessible by the individual user. These are held in the location below:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Repository\__userfolders__
Licensing
To apply a license key, click on "Licensing":
Click "Apply New Key" and select the appropriate license key file. You will be given a summary about the
key (such as the number of concurrent users and any expiration date)
Setting up the XLCubed Web Edition application manually

This step is usually not required, as the setup program will create the web application for you. It may be
necessary if:
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During the setup process, the Add XLCubed Web Edition to IIS checkbox was unselected
Your web server is set up in a non-standard configuration, especially where the Default Web Site has
been modified
You wish to create the web application yourself for whatever reason
Note that in the non-standard configuration, you may receive the following error message from the setup
program: Failed while processing WebVirtualDirs. (-2147024894)
In any of these cases, the setup program will have copied the application files to the web server, but you
will have to create the site yourself. To do this:
1. Open Internet Information Services Manager (inetmgr.exe)
2. Under the Application Pools node, ensure that the XLCubed application pool has been set up. It
must be configured to use v4.0 of the .NET Framework and use the Classic pipeline mode.
3. Under the Sites node, open the website in which XLCubed Web Edition should be made available
(usually the Default Web Site).
4. Usually the XLCubedWeb Virtual Directory will already exist within the website. If this is the case,
then right-click on it and select Convert to Application. If not, right-click on the website instead and
select Add Application...
5. In the Add Application dialog, ensure that the XLCubed application pool is selected and, if
necessary, choose the correct path.
This will set up the application's web site. Further security setup and other configuration will likely be
necessary. Information can be found below.
Functional User Permissions

Access to the application, and the type of access is controlled by two files located in:
C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWeb\Xml\Security
To enable or disable user or group access to the Web Edition, enable or disable read access for the relevant
user or group to:
system.xml
'Ad hoc' access gives users the ability to build their own report from scratch. This access is controlled via
the adhoc.xml file. To restrict users to be able to view only pre-published reports, revoke access to:
adhoc.xml
The scheduling features allows users to schedule reports, if Web Edition scheduling is licensed. To enable
or disable user or group access to this feature, enable or disable read access to:
scheduling.xml
Published Connections
When a user publishes a connection to XLCubed Web, which may contain custom calculations etc they are
published to:
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C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWebv6\Repository\__xlcubed__\__connections__\Published Connections
or to subfolders which have been created within this.
Published Favourites
When a user published a report favourite to the web, they are published to:
C:\inetpub\wwwroot\XLCubedWebv6\Repository\__xlcubed__\__grids__\Published Favourites
Accessing XLCubed Web reports from SharePoint and other portals

XLCubed Web reports can be accessed either through the Web Edition homepage, or accessed directly by
URL within other portals.
To get the URL for a specific report, in the homepage of XLCubed Web:
Click on the View parameters icon:
Then press the Get Url button:
The provided URL can be used to embed the report within other portals and frames as required. In the case
of SharePoint, the URL is used within a sitelink web part.
Additional configuration options accessible as suffixes on the URL are:
HorizontalScrollbar true/false
VerticalScrollbar
true/false
SheetTabs
true/false
Toolbar
true/false
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DefaultTargetFrame text
For example, for the report above, to include the toolbar in the rendered version, the URL would become:
http://localhost/XLCubedWeb/WebForm/ShowReport.aspx?rep=XLCubed/Management
Book.xml&dpi=96&Toolbar=True
System Configuration Settings

Behavioural Configuration
The web.config file held within the XLCubedWeb folder determines various behavioural aspects of the
product. The following settings are held within the <appSettings> section.
LogErrors
LogPerformance
ShowErrorMessages
DefaultChartSeries
MaxChartSeries
DisplaySystemMemProps
DrillthroughDefaultMaxRows
DrillthroughAbsoluteMaxRows
RepositioryRootUNC
ClearLevelsMovedToFilters
DefaultCulture
QueryActiveDirectory
WritebackTimeout
PdfConverterUserName
PdfConverterPassword
PdfUseAppPoolUserForXpsPrint
PdfUseAppPoolUserForPdfConversion
write errors to Error.log

for debug only
show detailed error messages or just a reference
to the log file
default number of series to chart on an ad-hoc
report
maximum number of series to chart on an ad-hoc
report
show system member properties available for
selection
default maximum rows on a drillthrough
maximum permitted rows on a drillthrough
No longer supported - listed for compatibility
reasons. To create a shared repository, use
MKLink [1] to replace the folder with a Symbolic
Link to a network share.
Where an entire level is selected on an axis
(potentially a large number of members), and is
dragged onto the slicer, the selection is changed to
the default member (Typically 'All'). This is to
prevent users accidentally creating a very slow
running query by individually aggregating all the
members dragged to the slice
Backup culture where it cannot be retrieved from
the browser
Used to display the user name on homepage
Writeback timeout in milliseconds
No longer required
No longer required
true to use the IIS configured application pool user
for creating the XPS during the PDF print; false
uses the impersonated user. Must be true for 64bit application pools
true to use the IIS configured application pool user
for creating the PDF during the PDF print; false
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uses the impersonated user. Must be true for 64bit application pools
used when embedding XLCubed within an iframe
on a different server
DocumentDomain
PDF Printing Configuration

To configure the web edition to use the impersonated user instead of the application pool user, see Version
7.1 instructions.
1. Set PdfUseAppPoolUserForXpsPrint and PdfUseAppPoolUserForPdfConversion to true
2. Ensure the application pool user has read and write access to the "Temp" folder,
\inetpub\wwwroot\xlcubedweb\temp
Data Configuration Settings

Updating Data Configuration Settings (see section in Book X Miscellaneous) may be done to affect
connection behaviour by advanced users, although it is not recommended to do this without advice from
XLCubed support.
Application Usage
Please refer to the help menu within the product for an overview of all functionality.
Kerberos Delegation - Introduction

Delegation will need to be configured if XLCubedWeb is installed on a different server to the underlying
database and the Website is configured to use Windows Authentication.
If you have this type of setup and Delegation isn't configured then you will receive a message such as
"Server is unavailable" for Analysis Services or a "(null) user" error for SQL Server when trying to access
published reports.
Most corporations have a standard setup for Delegation and this would be handled by the Domain
Administrators. The following is a guide to how to configure Delegation in the simplest case but is no
means a "Best practice" guide as each domain setup and infrastructure can vary enormously.
There are also many other factors that can impact a successful implementation Delegation, such as
network infrastructure, client security settings and software. The following guide will assume that all the
clients will be running Internet Explorer and there is only one domain with everything located on the same
physical network with no firewalls/routers that could filter Delegation requests.
Preparation
Before beginning it is worth ensuring XLCubedWeb is working correctly including loading a report (at which
point it should give the server is not available error)
Ensure the XLCubed Website Application pool is running as either NetworkService or a specifically created
domain user and then only "Windows Authentication" and "ASP.net Impersonation" are enabled in the
Authentication settings of the website.
Check/clear any existing SPNs for the servers - if any already exist and they are invalid then the
configuration will not work. The following link contains some good information about how to do that:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2009/02/13/searching-for-duplicate-spn-s-got-a-little-easier.aspx
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Information Required
Before configuring Delegation you will need to know the following information:
What the networks domain name is - this is needed to get a server's Fully Qualifed Domain Name
(FQDN): server.domain
The name and FQDN of the Web Server: Webserver
The name and FQDN of the Analysis Services: ASServer
The name and FQDN of the SQL Server (if allowing SQL connections): SQLServer
The port SQLServer is running under (if allowing SQL connections)
The User ID for the XLCubed Application Pool configured for the XLCubedWeb website: WebUser
The User ID the Analysis Services service is running as: ASUser
The User ID the SQL Server service is running as: SQLUser
User ID format
If the User IDs are domain accounts then the format needed is simply:
domain\user
If the service or application pool is set to run under NetworkService then use the server name:
server
Access Required
You will need to be a Domain Administrator to perform all of the configuration steps
Domain configuration
Enable Server Delegation
The first step is to enable delegation on ALL the machines involved in the process:
WebServer
ASServer
SQLServer
This is a domain level setting and is set using the "Active Directory Users and Computers" administrative
tool which is part of the Microsoft Admin Tools Pack and would normally be on the Domain Controller.
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If there is more than one domain controller then you would need to either initiate a propagate or wait for
this change to be applied to all the domain controllers.
Set SPNs
The Service Princial Names (SPNs) are set using a Command Line tool: setspn. This needs to be run in an
Administrator Command Prompt with an account that has Domain Admin privileges. It needs to be run for
BOTH the server name and the Fully Qualified Domain Name.
If there is more than one domain controller then you would need to wait for this change to propagate to all
the servers
WEB SERVER
setspn A http/WebServer WebUser

setspn A http/WebServerFQDN WebUser
Example:
setspn -A http/webserver domain\appooluser
setspn -A http/webserver.domain.com domain\appooluser
ANALYSIS SERVICES
setspn A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServer ASUser

setspn A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServerFQDN ASUser
Named instance
Where InstanceName is the name of the instance:

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setspn A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServer:InstanceName ASUser

setspn A MSOLAPSvc.3/ASServerFQDN:InstanceName ASUser
You may need to also setup an SPN for the SQL Browser Service, see the following for more
information: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950599
SQL SERVER
setspn A MSSQLSvc/SQLServer:1433 SQLUser

setspn A MSSQLSvc/SQLServerDQDN:1433 SQLUser
Where 1433 would be replaced with the appropriate SQL Server port number
USER ACCOUNT DELEGATION
Now the SPNs have been set you will need to enable delegation for the service account and application
pool users, this is again done in Active Directory Users and Computers administrative tool.
IIS Configuration
After making the following changes and running the Kerberos configuration run an IISReset before testing.
Check the providers and order
In IIS Manager, right click on "Windows Authentication" under the Authentication section and select
providers, ensure they match the following:
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Advanced settings
You may need to disable "Enable Kernel-mode authentication" - this is accessible by right clicking on
"Windows Authentication" under the Authentication and selecting "Advanced Settings". If Delegation
doesn't work initially try toggling this setting (with an IISReset)
XLCubed Configuration
There are no steps required within XLCubed - the whole Delegation process is handled between the
browser and the various servers before XLCubedWeb starts to process user requests
Troubleshooting
Microsoft Kerberos testing tool
Microsoft have a tool available to test that Delegation has been correctly configured, this can be
downloaded from here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39046
Alternate testing tool
There is also a Kerberos website that you can install - it would need to be setup to duplicate the exact
configuration and can then be used to check the configuration. It will also provide options to fix any
problems it finds. It can be downloaded from the following link:
http://www.xlcubed.com/downloads/kerberos.zip
Non-IE browsers
It is possible for some non-Internet Explorer browsers to use Kerberos, here are some tips that may help,
but if you can't get it working then Internet Explorer would need to be the fall back or consider setting
up Dual Authentication for access to remote clients.
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CHROME
You would need to add all the servers involved in the process to the "White List", this is done via the
shortcut for the browser:
"C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe" --auth-serverwhitelist="ASServer,WebServer,SQLServer" --auth-negotiate-delegatewhitelist="ASServer,WebServer,SQLServer"
More information
The following pages contain some very useful information or tools regarding Delegation:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929650
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/psssql/archive/2009/02/13/searching-for-duplicate-spn-s-got-a-littleeasier.aspx
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=39046
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929650
http://blogs.technet.com/b/surama/archive/2009/04/06/kerberos-authentication-problem-withactive-directory.aspx
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/717.service-principal-names-spns-setspnsyntax-setspn-exe.aspx
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XL Cubed Versión 7 UserGuide

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XLCubed v7 User Guide

Book I Grids ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Book II - Formula Reporting ................................................................................................................ 102

Tabular Formulae ...................................................................................................................................................... 108

Book III Charting & Data Visualisation .............................................................................................. 188

Book IV - Web Edition ......................................................................................................................... 258

Web Publishing ......................................................................................................................................................... 259

Book V - Dimension Slicers ................................................................................................................. 338

Book VI - Ranking, Sorting and Filtering............................................................................................... 353

Book VII - SQL ..................................................................................................................................... 382

Book VIII - Tables ................................................................................................................................ 408

SQL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 408

Book IX - SharePoint ........................................................................................................................... 434

Book X - Miscellaneous ....................................................................................................................... 463

Book XI - Troubleshooting ................................................................................................................... 518

Book XII - Installation.......................................................................................................................... 541

Introduction & Overview

XLCubed and Cube Terminology

Dimensions, Hierarchies and Levels

measures, Unit Sales and Profit, and three dimensions:

Ways to retrieve data in XLCubed

Connecting to your data

To make a connection select XLCubed, Connections and press Add

Analysis Services Server 2000: Type the AS2000 server name

Add additional connections to the workbook as required

report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

Creating a simple grid report with a slicer

the Drill All option

from the XLCubed menu.

option from the XLCubed menu.

Except option on the XLCubed menu.

the desired location.

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

the grid, and choosing XLCubed> Design Grid.

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Grid Task Pane (2007 onwards)

each different grid is selected.

Saved Grid Report

Double click on any part of the Grid

Right-click on any part of the Grid

Select the Grid from the Grid ribbon/toolbar

The grid is now active and can be used as normal.

Right-clicking on an inactive grid will force a refresh.

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

report. Clicking on a hierarchy shows the current member selection in D.

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Extracts each aggregate into a With member

Drilled members are expanded in all

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Drilled members are expanded only in then

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Hide draggable hierarchy labels

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Ranking, Sorting & Filtering

Driving Grids from an Excel Range

3. To create a validation dropdown cell:

XLCubed v7 User Guide Book I - Grids

Choose a List type validation, and enter as the source:

d. Click OK, and the dropdown will be created in cell B2:

4. Now we need to drive the Grid from the dropdown cell: