Automatic log in AnaplanXL

Ckkk

Hello there,

we are using AnaplanXL to pull data from 3 different sources into one Excel file. Two of them are Azure SQL data bases and the third is Anaplan itself.

Whenever the Excel is opened 3 pop up windows to log in to each data base appear. Until they appear and everything is entered or clicked already 2 minutes are gone. After the log in the file loads again between 10 seconds and 3 minutes (I guess to verify the connections) even though all grids are disabled to refresh when the file is opened or inputs are changed.

Meaning it can take you up to 5 minutes to just open the file. If you just want to do manual entries or look at your data, it is really annoying and makes it hard to work with on a daily basis.

Is it possible to disable the automatic log in to the data bases and only log in to the relevant data base whenever data is pulled?

Thanks for your help

Best regards

ElizabethS

Hi, yes, the functionality that are you are talking about likely lives in various settings. If you have not already, I would encourage you to take the on-demand training that is available in Academy, review all available settings (Anaplan XL options, Workbook Options, Connections Properties, and Grid Properties), you can use Anapedia to see how those various settings will modify your workbooks.

And you may need to update to the current AXL version to apply those settings. A few things to keep in mind though - if you update to the current version - you will want all users who share files from the master templates are all on the same release version. Additionally, while each person will need their own version of the file, you can apply some of these settings in the template and they will apply to the individual users copy.

• Setting 1: Anaplan XL Options → User Interactions → Set Anaplan XL Workbooks to be disabled by default
  • This is an indivdual user setting
  • This will mean that EVERY AXL workbook you open will require an activation first before refreshing. This can trip people up since it is not live data until activated and refreshed.
  • There will be an ACTIVATE Workbook on the AXL ribbon if this is enabled.
• Setting 2: Workbook Options → Workbook → Set Manual refresh mode
  • This will be set at the workbook level for anyone who takes a copy of the workbook
  • Again this means that data will not refresh until you manually refresh - so you will see stale data until you refresh - which again can trip people up if they are not aware of the setting in the workbook.
• Setting 3: Grid Properties → Behavior → When to Refresh - pick the options you want for that specific Grid.
  • If you want to save these settings as the default behavior for future grids you can save to your default (another tab in the Grid Properties)
  • Again need to make it clear to others with copy of the workbook.
• Setting 4: Freeform Report Properties → Appearance → Refresh - pick from the available refresh behavior
  • Same as above about making sure people know.

There is not a way to only partially refresh formula reports or specific forumals which is another reason to limit those in your workbook.

Final thought: The more connections you have to different Anaplan models and different sources it will natually take longer to sign in as you not only have to pass the credentials, verify permissions, etc for each connection made to a different source. As AXL is an an on-prem solution we are not able to provide a single sign on experience. If you want to limit the time to open the file, I would recommend limiting the number of unique sources and connections in a file. Across the board it will perform better if you don't try to put everything into a single workbook.