Drill down function showing lists in incorrect format

jatinnayi

Hi all,

 

Wanted to ask for a best solution of this question if possible.

 

I have a set of data which is populated by a subset. When I drill down into the data, the order of the lists are not in the order they should be. I have checked the list which shows the correct order. Is it possible to change the mappings/settings of the drill down options to show the lists in the correct order?

Screenshots attached below showing the correct order vs the incorrect order in the drill down function

 

 

usman.zia

Hi @jatinnayi,

 

Is the list you are using a numbered list? 

 

If it is then then the creation ID will display the order of how it shows in the drill down. 

 

Otherwise I would expect it to show in the correct order as in your hierarchy structure. 

 

Please can you explain which type it is.

 

Thanks,

 

Usman

jatinnayi

Hi @usman.zia 

 

Thanks for your response. We are using a 'Composite Hierarchy List'. I'm not sure when I drill down why the list is changing order.

 

Thanks, Jatin.

JaredDolich

@jatinnayi, 

@usman.zia hunch is the same as mine. You can tell if it's a numbered list by checking your General Lists tab. If the list is checked in the Numbered column, it's a numbered list. 

 

 

usman.zia

@jatinnayi 

Also could you show the formula for the cell that you are drilling down on? 

 

Thanks,

 

Usman

rob_marshall

@jatinnayi ,

 

I believe @usman.zia is correct in that the sort or display is based off the internal address of the member which correlates to the order it was created, whether it is a numbered list or a "regular" list.

 

Rob

JaredDolich

@rob_marshall , @usman.zia ,

This would be good for me to learn too.

Are you saying then to get the order corrected, the lists must be reloaded in the order you want them sorted?

 

usman.zia

@JaredDolich @rob_marshall 

 

List item order management is something that can be difficult to manage in models that are always growing. 

 

Has there been a best practices guide published on this? 

 

Thanks,

 

Usman

rob_marshall

@JaredDolich @usman.zia ,

 

You have to be very careful, currently, when wiping a list and then recreating it because all of the data associated with that list will be wiped as well, so that is not feasible.  I need to see if this in idea exchange and if it is not, I will add it because I think think this is a big miss.

 

Rob

usman.zia

Thanks @rob_marshall  please be sure to share the link to idea and you'll have my support! 

 

JaredDolich

@rob_marshall 

You have my support too. I'm surprised I haven't run into this before.

This only happens on composite lists that use subsets?

rob_marshall

@JaredDolich ,

 

I don't believe so, I think it happens on all lists and will test it in a bit.

DavidSmith

One of my initial investigations/priorities is around sorting and the list order.

There is obviously a "natural" order embedded in there; that is how CUMULATE on a list works, but I want to explore the implications of resetting that, or using a defined order instead

David

JaredDolich

I did a few tests.  I couldn't recreate it but it may have something to do with the composite lists with a subset which I didn't try.

I moved this list item up to the top. Sorts fine.

Also deleted a list item and entered a new one in the middle. Still no problem.

Anxious to hear what you find.

 

jatinnayi

Hi all,

 

Thanks for your responses and investigations.

 

After conducting some testing of my own I found that @JaredDolich  point about reloading data in the order you want them to be sorted is correct.

 

We began to reorder data in the format that we wished for it to be populated in (e.g. directorate levels in numerical as the screenshot attached shows) and then switched to entering data for the last directorate (7) and then moved back to doing it for directorate 4. This then began to throw out the order of the drill down views as you can see in the screenshot.

 

We realised that selecting the data in the order we want them to be sorted in will bring back the correct results but after a forecast/actual is added – it will then throw out the order of the list.

Looking forward to see what the next steps might be.

Thanks, Jatin.

 

CallumW

Hey Jatin!

 

I found this useful instruction online regarding reorganising list items and it seems to be the only way to do it at the moment (thanks to @davy_widianto )

 

"Re: Numbered Lists renumbering

To physically sort list members, you need to destroy the list (delete all members) and reload the members sorted. If this list is not used in too many line items that contain stored data, you can create a process that include the following (assume that the list that you want to sort is called LIST_A):

 

1. Copy all members of LIST_A to another temporary list (call it tmpLIST_A). Create a module dimensioned by tmpLIST_A (call it tmpMODULE_A). The line items in the module should include at least the name, code, parent name, and parent code of the list members. All other property values should also be included in this module.

 

2. Copy parent-child information (name, code, parent name, parent code) of the list along with other properties to tmpMODULE_A. In tmpMODULE_A, create a view that shows all line items sorted by the member list name (call this view vwSortedView).

 

3. Copy the contents of all line items (dimensioned by tmpLIST_A) to temporary modules.

 

4. Delete all members of LIST_A.

 

5. Import vwSortedView back to LIST_A

 

6. Import back the line items that contain data. This are the line items that are backed up in Step-3.

 

7. Finally, delete all members in tmpLIST_A so that it is ready for the next sort.

 

All of the above actions can be place in a single process so that the admin can just run the process to sort the list."

 

There is currently this idea on the community that I would urge you to vote for (https://community.anaplan.com/t5/Idea-Exchange/Sorting-items-by-code-or-name-in-number-lists/idi-p/34843) and is currently being considered for the roadmap.

 

Best,

Callum

JaredDolich

@CallumW glad this on the roadmap.

I would slightly amend the work around solution you have above. If, by deleting the list, you potentially could lose data you may want to also export out the data, even if it's a flat file.

I upvoted the idea! Hope it's soon.

Jared

jatinnayi

Hey Callum,

 

Thanks for your response! It was very useful to learn that this workaround can be processed in a single step. I agree with the idea of the enhancement, I look forward to putting this in use.

 

Thanks a lot! Jatin.

AndrewHall

Hello,

Did this issue ever make it through to a resolution?

I have encountered this on a list where a member was split into two and a new parent was added. The list isn't a numbered list. The old member was renamed to child 1 and had a sibling added (child 2) under a new parent.

When using drill down to analyse variances at the total level, child 2 appears at the bottom of the list after items which were created before it so looks to still be happening.

Thanks,

Andrew

DavidSmith

I have not been able to replicate the issue, but I did check that when the list is sorted through the new action, the drill down does correctly reflect the new order, including for new items that were added

David