150 Line items

Hello everyone,

I have a module without Time Range(I can't have it). I need to calculate a quarterly item in 30 years.

Actually, the module is in 7 years old and we have one line item per quarter, but if I want to continue this method, I must have 150 line items.

Any suggestion?

Thanks in advanced,

Roba

Accepted answers

All comments

nathan_rudman

well it's not great but if you cannot do otherwise (which means using time) for a good reason then 150 line items will work.

AntonMineev

Hello! Can you put out the blueprint? I am sure that it is possible to come up with a solution based on Lineitem Subsets or technical LI with Real Time. Or redo the whole source module (why not?)

MaartenGijbels

Why don't you just use a custom list? A list specifying:

2016 Q1

2016 Q2

...

2020 Q4?

This could also be done using 2 lists:

Year: 2015, 2016, ... , 2020

Quarters: Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4

Both would require only 1 line item and the size would be roughly the same.

Something to consider:

Anaplan is not designed for storage of data/information. Using it as a data warehouse can become quite costly due to the size-implications. So it might be good to consider alternative solutions.

All the best,

Maarten.

johndorma

I'd be interested in why you can't use time. While it might be the case that you really can't use the time dimension, I would take a step back and rethink why you can't use the time dimension. Understanding that the model is older and it likely would be a lot of work to deploy the change, it will likely be well worth the effort and time to make the change. Over time it will probably even save time overall due to maintenance and scalability issues.

nathan_rudman

ps: I share the concern of the others. The only good solution is to use time. If you really cannot (although I don't see how that could be) use time then 150 line items works, but it will be nightmarish to maintain.

RobaSajadian

Thanks Nathan,

RobaSajadian

Thanks Marteen,

Good solution! I'll try it.

nathan_rudman

wait if you can use a list can't you use time range ?

RobaSajadian

Thanks John,

To add the time range in this module, I need to change the time range of two source modules (in fact, their time range is 10 years). This developer uses 4G in production and my client does not have enough space.

RobaSajadian

I don't know if I can use your solution or not. We have 2 source modules that have been used by the other modules and I cannot easily change them.

For add a time range in 30 ans, I have the problem of space.

nathan_rudman

there's no difference between a TR of 30 years vs a custom list of 150 elements vs 150 line items in terms of size.

RobaSajadian

I do not agree.
I can only add line items in the target module, but I sould add the time range in 2 source modules and the target modules.
Also, because of dimensions, adding 30 years is not the same as adding 150 line items.

nathan_rudman

Nothing to agree here, Anaplan size is simple multiplication of list items.

150 = 150

I'm not saying it is easy to do though, adding line items obviously doesn't impact anything existing. But refactoring with time is the best way for long term.

RobaSajadian

Hi Nathan,

Thanks for your answer.

Misbah

@RobaSajadian

If I understood your question, you have two source modules with Time ranges (of 10 years) which is feeding data into your current module which is without time range. Currently you have created line item for each quarter of the year. Now the requirement is to extend the calculation to 30 years

Based on above understanding there can be two scenarios:

1. If your source module does all the calculations and your current module is only for reporting purpose then you can go ahead and change the time range of your source modules from 10 to 30 Years. DON'T worry it will not have any negative impact on the reference modules, those will continue to work seamlessly.Meaning you don't have to change the time range of every module which gets data from these two source modules.

2. If your current module does all the calculation then you can add time range of 30 years into your current module without worrying about the time range of the source modules.

Now following up on the conversations that you have had with other champs it looks like more of scenario 1. As @nathan_rudman suggested you can use time range I second that. You can take his approach. But If you are not comfortable then you can create fake time scale as @MaartenGijbels suggested but your fake time scale has to be maintained with the Native time scale all the time. Both the approaches will take equal amount of space whether you use Time range or Fake Time.

Hope that makes sense.

RobaSajadian

Thank you Misbah,

I can not do it. Because in production base, yit takes 4G and I don't have enough space.

It is therefore not possible to add a time range in 2 source modules.

If I don't have a time range in my source, I need to add 150 line items in my target module to calculate my items. It is possible but I am looking for a better solution.

AntonMineev

@RobaSajadian Think of a business sense. Why the horizon in 30 years (also with quarters?). This is a whole generation. In the current situation, many companies do not make forecasts for the horizon for more than six months. Moreover, having sizing restrictions. Can you describe the purpose in more detail and take screenshots of the modules?

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