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RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 5:42 pm
by gtonkin
I think many who use picklist will agree that not have a code/description style picklist is a major issue when you expect users to pick values from a list of codes that may be IDs or other generated references.

I have loaded RFE 82432 to request that we basically be allowed to use syntax like: subset:<dimension>:<subset>:<alias> to do this. Please go and vote for this!

What would be really cool if you use Picklist cubes is to have subset:<dimension>:<MDX>:<alias> as you could then code the MDX within the Picklist cube. This would be useful if for instance you select an option and the MDX brings back a filtered set based on the option e.g. you have a table with account and countries. When a particular country is selected, the MDX would be written to filter and return the countries that are valid. Let me know if you think this option is useful and depending on the responses, I will request it too.

Thanks for your vote.

For those who do not have access to view the RFE, this is what it says:
Description
When assigning a subset based Picklist to a measure, the picklist is linked to a named subset. Based on the elements in the subset, the selected value is stored in the cube. Depending on the subset, this may be the PrincipalName or may be an Alias.

From a user's point of view however, a list of IDs is meaningless and they require a view of a human readable list, normally an alias.

Ideally you want to store the PrincipalName of the element rather than an alias which may change over time.

Use Case
A model contains a dimension with transaction codes from the line of business system. A mapping table is required to map the incoming transaction codes to a reporting transaction code.

A subset has been created on a dimension where the source system transaction codes reside and this is linked to the picklist.

Users updating the mapping table are faced with a list of IDs and need to refer to another sheet or table to find the correct value.

Picklists should work just like any other combo box environment where you can show a code and description, let the user select and bring back the code (PrincipalName) into the cube.

Business Justification
Not having the ability to see the descirption or an alias wastes time, is prone to error and to some users is more of a hinderance.

With 3rd party integration, you run the risk of sending mal-formed data as you may be sending an element with a description which the receiving system cannot handle or does not expect. This can lead to exception reports and increases operational risk.

Data integrity is at the core of any system and without this feature, the use of subset based picklists puts this in jeopardy.

Having the ability to specify an alias e.g.
subset:<dimension>:<subset>:<alias>
would make the picklist more functional, reduce time waste, protect data integrity and make TM1 more user friendly.

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 9:58 pm
by declanr
Might be imagining it but i thought you could do this by simply having subsetaliasset (or manual equivalent) used on the subset... could be an old version or just in my head if not though.

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 6:55 am
by gtonkin
Hi Declan, it is not so much being able to toggle an alias on/off on a subset but more about what is returned once the element is selected from the picklist linked to a subset.

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:22 am
by lotsaram
gtonkin wrote:Hi Declan, it is not so much being able to toggle an alias on/off on a subset but more about what is returned once the element is selected from the picklist linked to a subset.
I would have said the same as Declan; that a subset picklist will use whatever alias to display elements as per the alias set for the subset. But from what you said above it seems that what you want is for the value entered into the cell to be the principal name and not the value displayed in the picklist. I think that's a good idea and I would support that but I think you need to rephrase the RFE a little as this isn't clear.

Also since picklist display is procedural there seems no reason why there couldn't be another picklist mode "MDX" in addition to static, dimension and subset where a list would be generated by MDX. This is a good idea.

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2016 9:12 am
by gtonkin
lotsaram wrote: I think that's a good idea and I would support that but I think you need to rephrase the RFE a little as this isn't clear.
Thanks for the feedback lotsaram - I have updated the RFE to
Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

I am not sure how to change the topic of this post - possibly an admin could do this for me please.

Re: RFE 82432-Subset Picklists to allow option to display an Alias

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 5:04 pm
by sachin
gtonkin wrote:
Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name
May be I am missing something here; however I did not quite get the use case.

Let's say we display the alias name in the picklist, then user makes a selection and that value is stored in the cube. If working with TI you could use DimensionElementPrincipalName to get its principal name. If you are working with rules, you'd need to use DimNm (DimIx ()) to derive the principal name.

During Cognos EP days we use to do intermediate steps in the D-List items (dimension elements in TM1) and then hide them in the contributor. Perhaps you could try doing that.

Re: Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Posted: Mon Feb 29, 2016 6:16 pm
by gtonkin
HI Sachin,
That is one way of doing it but obviously requires additional elements, processes, fiddling and faffing. Why not just have a product that behaves in a way that users expect it to?

Re: RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Posted: Mon Jun 20, 2016 12:45 pm
by lotsaram
It might just be Christmas after all based on the IBM Anwendertag last week in Germany.

Re: RFE 82432-Picklists based on Subset to have an option to display an Alias but return Principal Name

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2021 1:53 pm
by lotsaram
For the sake of completeless linking this topic to viewtopic.php?t=11372#p78364
Where it seems that this RFE is actually delivered just that no one at IBM bothered to document it.