{"id":101235,"date":"2016-09-07T10:58:30","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T14:58:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/?page_id=101235"},"modified":"2022-08-31T14:13:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T18:13:43","slug":"tips-tricks-archive","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/tech\/support\/buworks\/newsletters\/bw\/tips-tricks-archive\/","title":{"rendered":"BW Tips and Tricks Archive"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tips & Tricks<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Most, but not all, of the following tips were originally published in the Business Warehouse Newsletter. This is a list of items that seek to answer a spectrum of\u00a0 “how do I….” questions raised by report users.<\/p>\n

Running a Report: Tips for Using the Variable Entry Screen<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Entering Dates<\/h2>

\nHere\u00a0is something\u00a0that you may not know about: instead of entering date information in the long format that\u00a0SAP uses, you can enter dates using\u00a0simpler notation. Complete information is available in the Help document BW How to – Specify Report Dates<\/a>, but here are a few examples:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Instead of…<\/strong><\/td>\nYou can enter this…<\/strong><\/td>\nNote<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
01\/01\/2015<\/td>\n1\/1\/15<\/td>\nCalendar Year notation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
03\/28\/2014 – 06\/14\/2014<\/td>\n3\/28\/14 – 6\/14\/14<\/td>\nDon’t forget to use the delimiter\u00a0space + dash + space<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
04\/2015<\/td>\n4\/15<\/td>\nFiscal Year notation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
01\/2015; 02\/2015; 03;2015<\/td>\n1\/15 – 3\/15<\/td>\nRemember the delimiter!<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
To specify all periods in FY 2015 through the current period<\/td>\n>=1\/15<\/td>\nSelects periods 1 through the current period (doesn’t work in all reports)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Using Patterns in the Variable Entry Screen<\/h2>

\nThis tip is somewhat esoteric, and it is not guaranteed to work for all BW reports, but there are times when it comes in handy. Suppose you want to view all Internal Service Request (ISR) or Facilities Service Request (FSR) activity for a\u00a0Funds Center during a specified period. You know, I hope, that nearly all of the GL accounts associated with ISRs and FSRs begin with 89. Using this fact, you can run a report and specify GL \/ Commitment Item<\/strong> on the Variable Entry screen like this:<\/p>\n

\"transaction_detail_isr_fsr\"<\/a><\/p>\n

All you need to do is enter 89, the first two digits of the GLs you seek, followed by a wild-card character (“*”). This specification\u00a0limits\u00a0report data to only GL account numbers that begin with 89, regardless of what characters follow these key digits. By the way, you can use this tip (or is it a trick?) when finding open commitments, as described in the previous tip.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

Another example is this: suppose you want to see all supplies expenses. Examining the current list of GL account numbers posted on the Comptroller’s Resources page (http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfo\/comptroller\/resources\/<\/a>), notice that all numbers associated with supplies begin with 5100. Given that\u00a0pattern, you could specify this string in the GL \/ Commitment Item<\/strong> field on the Variable Entry Screen:<\/p>\n

\"transaction_detail_supplies_gl\"<\/a>
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Create and use a Report Variant<\/h2>

\nDo you find that you frequently specify the same variable values when executing a BW report? By using a Variant, it is possible to save those variable values so they can be recalled, thereby avoiding the need to specify them again. Unlike a saved View (aka favorite<\/em>), a Variant is available only to you and only to the report for which the Variant is created. You can create as many Variants as you need for any BW report and it’s easy to delete Variants when you no longer need them.<\/p>\n

This video demonstrates the simple steps to create and\/or to use a Variant: watch the video<\/a><\/p>\n

Would you prefer to read a document? This Help guide describes what you need to know:\u00a0BW How to – Save and Use a Variant<\/a>.
\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

Tips\u00a0for Filtering Report Data<\/strong><\/h3>\n

<\/span>Overview of Filtering<\/h2>
<\/span><\/p>\n

Two resources exist to describe in detail how to filter report data:<\/p>\n