Ability to rename a line item without breaking the import mapping

AnaplanIdeas

Description of the enhancement:

If a line item which is used as the source of an import is renamed, its mapping is removed and the action must be re-mapped.

 

  To re-create:

* Setup an import from "LineItemA" in ModuleOne to LineItemB in ModuleTwo. The line items will need manually mapping since they have different names.
* Rename "LineItemA" to "LineItemZ" and re-run the action.
* Completion dialog will show the import completed successfully but with nothing shown as updated.
* Edit the action and it shows LineItemA mapped to LineItemB, but LineItemZ is not mapped, even though LineItemZ and LineItemA are the same line item.

 

How will this enhancement improve your processes:

The line items have to be manually mapped, adding a significant amount of time to the process. 

 

AnaplanIdeas

Status changed to: In Review

AnaplanIdeas

Description of the enhancement:

As an admin, I used to be able to make changes to my dashboard at anytime then press save.

Now if I apply these changes, there is no more "save" button. Only an "edit" button, and it resets all the edits that you've already applied to the dashboard.

I would like to be able to save to master dashboard when in run time mode.

Rebecca

Status changed to: In Review

Rebecca

For more information, please see: https://community.anaplan.com/t5/Releases/What-s-New-November-17-2018/ba-p/38787

Kavadera

@Rebecca sorry for such a late reply. But is the idea still considered to be delivered? The problem is actuallt still there. The symptoms aren't the saem as before, but you still cannot rename the column headers, because the imports will definitely stop wroking correctly.

xin

@Rebecca Hi, I assume with delivered status you are referring to saving changes to dashboards in run-time mode as mentioned in the third comment. But the original issue of ability to rename a line item without breaking the import mapping is still not fixed.

Asslam

Hi, Really required this in the near future road map, as we could have various reasons to change the line items name, It will not be feasible to check and remap every time. This happened this month in our PROD deployed model, caused lot of down time.  

Strongly support for this enhancement. 

Kavadera

@Asslam, get ready to fix lots of imports and recieve tons of negative feedback

 

Actually I am the author of this thread, but Anaplan created it themselves 3 years ago when Idea exchange site has been created. Last time I tried to escalate this idea (it was third time if I recall correctly) Anaplan made error even more deceptive. Previously you received a critical error and end users would come each time and we fixed errors quicly. Now if you change the columns name the import won't even return error - it just ignores the values and you may find the error only several months later %)

 

In order to fix it you have to delete mappings, close the imports and then reopen it again and reset anew. One of the worst sides of Anaplan platform

traynham

Adding support for the original thread's request, as this has caused multiple problems in our ICM build.  Even though it's something we know and try to avoid, it's too easily missed and can have significant consequences.

WillB

The following information might be helpful for some:

 

The mapping relationships saved in the import action appear to be based on the characters used for the name of the line item rather than some type of object identifier for the line item itself. 

For example, let's say we create the following setup:

• Module 1
  • one line item called "LineA" with formula set to 1
  • one line item called "LineZ" with formula set to 2
• Module 2
  • one line item called "LineB"
• Import from Module 1 to Module 2, with LineA mapped to LineB, and LineZ mapped to nothing
  • check that the values in LineB update to 1
• Change the name of the first line item in Module 1 from "LineA" to "LineX" and the name of the second line item from "LineZ" to "LineA"
• Run the same import again from the Actions tab
  • check the values in LineB, and they will be 2, not 1

Furthermore, if we delete all line items in Module 1, and then create a new line item called "LineA" with formula set to 3, and then run the same import again from the Actions tab, the values in LineB will be 3. 

Kavadera

@WillB what you say is applicable only to imports into Modules

 

When importing to Lists, Anaplan doesn't refer to "characters used for the name". You can rename LineItems in the source, the import will still work fine. Even if you delete a LineItems and create another with the same name, the imports will still be broken.

 

Also renaming a source Module breaks imports if the source and target Models are in different workspaces. For models in a single workspace, the Module name may be changed without any effect on imports