A Free Form Planning aka Essbase SaaS Journey — part 7, I didn’t know what (DTS) time it was

I didn’t know what (DTS) time it was, Then I met you

What is Dynamic Time Series (DTS)? I am ever so glad you asked ‘cos if you didn’t, there wouldn’t be much to this post, would there? To quote (and illustrate) from the Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide (oooooh, the very latest 19c one out in the cloud). Note that it is not entirely accurate.

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

Just what is DTS? Again, per the DBAG:

A screenshot of a cell phone Description automatically generated

What this means is that you can calculate all sorts of period-to-date members in BSO without having to write code or do math in Excel or a standard report. Lovely.

Oh, what a (non)lovely time it was, How (un)sublime it was too

I’m here to tell you a (small) secret. This functionality wasn’t always there in Essbase SaaS. In the very early days of this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious product, It Wasn’t There. Ugh. But that is the past.

I didn’t know what day it was, You held my hand, Warm like the month of May it was, And I’ll say it was grand

The present is rather different – DTS is fully supported and it’s super easy to set up just as it is in the on-premises Essbase

…

The ODTUG Learn From Home Series, Free Form Planning aka Essbase SaaS, The Changing Landscape of EPM, and Yr. Obt. Svt.

A plague is upon us. Shall we make a virtue out of necessity?

Snark is, next to laziness and general incompetence, my stock in trade, cf. this blog (and the previous one) in post after post after post. But there’s not really all that much to mock or deprecate or even gently poke fun at in the face of a global pandemic and the unknown economic cost to come.

Better then to celebrate grit and determination and optimism in the face of adversity, which is exactly what ODTUG has done with a brilliant concept: the ODTUG Learn From Home Series. If the world+dog cannot come to Kscope20, then Kscope20 will come to you. For free. Really.

Click on the below graphic that I shamelessly stole from ODTUG’s website to begin your registration:

A screenshot of a cell phone

Description automatically generated

I can’t write this better than ODTUG (cf. laziness).

We are excited to announce the Free ODTUG Learn from Home Series taking place May 19 – May 22. Get ready for four days packed with over 90 sessions plus mini Oracle symposiums—all covering a range of Oracle-related topics to keep you on the cutting edge of the latest technology.

The ODTUG Learn from Home Series

…

A Free Form Planning aka Essbase SaaS Journey — part 6, the Mac Smart View Revolution

A point fully stretched to the breaking point

Essbase on Macintosh has always been a poor relation. But it was not always thus. There was a time when ~~Apple~~ Power Computing really was Thinking Different and that difference was revolutionary. I was a (small) part of it. The emotions invoked were strong, to wit:

This is (I think) Bill Gates being tortured by Mean Girls; you can substitute Essbase on Mac for Mr. Bill. Ouch. Was Yr. Obt., Lyl., Fthfyl., & Hmbl. Svt. ever treated thus at a birthday party? If so, he cannot remember, but probably.

The last time I used Essbase and a Macintosh that wasn’t also running a VM, was in – gasp! – something like 1994, just about when I started with Essbase. Yes, there really was an Essbase add-in for Mac and I used it on my Macintosh IIfx.

Given that Macs now run Intel, this poster isn’t totally accurate but is too cool to not include:

Supposedly there’s a version around with Sluggo Smith punching Mr. I-used-to-be-the-richest-man-in-the-world-but-I’m-not-doing-too-badly-thanks-for-asking in the face but I’ve never actually seen it. This is good enough.

Evangelizing Macintosh aka being a Mac fanboi

Why, when Windows

…