Formula in list or module

Hi, Background I’ve a CSV file, 300K to 400K lines, with 3 fields, “Salesperson”, “OrderID” and “OrderAmt”. This file is loaded into a list, “List_Orders”, which in turn drives a module “Module_Orders”. “Module_Orders” is 2-dimensional, with “List_Orders” in the columns field and line items in the rows field. It’s used to filter orders for different countries, through saved views based on a calculated field, “Country”. The different views are then exported to other lists for further processing through actions. The list and module structures are as below: [img height="231" width="780"]https://us.v-cdn.net/6037036/post-image/kCmn6jH.jpg[/img] [img height="144" width="780"]https://us.v-cdn.net/6037036/post-image/EtyfJ1i.jpg[/img] There are 2 calculated fields, “Country” and “Actual_OrderAmt”, and they are calculated in the list. The “Module_Orders” module only contain links to refer to the “List_Orders”. Issues It takes a long time for “List_Orders” to be updated from the CSV file. The actions to export views are also time-consuming. Questions [list=1]

  • The 2 calculated fields are created in the list. Will processing be faster if the calculated fields are created in the module instead? As a general rule of thumb, will it be better for formulae to be placed in list or modules?   [list=1]
  • Will processing be faster if “List_Orders” is “copy-pasted” or imported directly into “Module_Orders”, instead of “Module_Orders” using links to refer to “List_Orders”? I know Excel goes faster with paste-values instead of links, not sure if Anaplan works in the same way too.  

Answers

  • Hi Wee

    The performance depends on your Internet speed.

    Further once you copy paste in Anaplan all the values need to be saved to cloud too so it would take time. I guess you having formula in module or list does not make much difference.

    As a best practice would suggest you to have your calculations in modules as much as possible than in the lists if they are not actual master data.
  • Hi there,

    Would you be able to share how long is your waiting time? I just loaded a sample 400k sales orders with your example and it took about 2,5 -3 mins depending on your internet speed.

    IMHO, the waiting time is to load data into Anaplan from your data location, not so much to process the calculation.
    I don't think you can't avoid the loading of sales order ID but you could always avoid duplicating the information in multiple places like both in list and module.

    For formula of Country, you could always create it in list but for Amt it is better in module. This would make your formula building experience less tricky.
    I am sharing some of my screens with you below for reference. 


    image
    imageimage

    Not sure if it was of any help. 

    Thanks,

    Leo
  • Thanks for the clarification!
  • Glad I could help. 🙂