For former Prophix Smart Client users

This topic is for those that formerly used Prophix Smart Client. (In other words, if your organization has never used Smart Client, you can ignore everything here.)

The information below describes the various ways Smart Client may affect your use of Web Client, and vice versa.

First steps

If you are a current user of Prophix Smart Client, you will probably feel at home pretty quickly, as your Favorites and Workflow Tasks should appear in the Dashboard page. Try some of the following:

  • If you have any items in Workflow Tasks, click one to open it.
  • If any items such as reports appear in your Favorites, open one to see how it looks in the Prophix Web Client.
  • Open Document Explorer and look for your files and favorites, and have a look at the content in the Public area. It should all feel familiar fairly quickly.
  • Open Ad Hoc Analysis and open an old data view or create a new one, and play around with selecting dimensions and exploring data.

Ad Hoc Analysis structural modes

What are structural modes?

Every dimension has a predefined structure that is one of two types: level-based or parent-child. Both of these structures are hierarchical. However, when working with a dimension in Ad Hoc Analysis, the dimension's structure can change from hierarchical mode to "flat" mode, which means that you are viewing the dimension as a simple list.

I don't remember this feature in Prophix Smart Client.

Flat mode is a new feature and exclusive to Prophix Web Client.

How do I switch from hierarchical mode to flat mode?

The following actions take a dimension from hierarchical mode to flat mode:

  • Change the current member selection for the dimension
  • Open a data view definition that was saved in the Prophix Smart Client

Document Explorer

I tried to delete an empty folder and got a message stating that it contains hidden or read-only files. Why?

The folder may contain unsupported file types from Smart Client. Contact your Admin.

How are unsupported files from Prophix Smart Client treated in Web Client?

The following Smart Client file types are visible only to Global Administrators:

  • Template Designer
  • Relational Data View
  • Journal Entry Binder
  • Template Studio
  • Cell Comment Report

A Global Admin can see, delete, cut, and rename (but not open) these unsupported file types.

File types in Document Explorer

The types of files you may see in Document Explorer that relate to Smart Client are as follows:

  • (Bm) Bookmark

    This file type is created in Smart Client only and exists in Web Client as a legacy file type. If edited or renamed in Web Client, a Bookmark file is automatically converted to the Web Client file type (Wl) Web Link.

  • (DA) Drill Across

    This file type exists in Prophix Web Client only and is equivalent to a Relational Data View file in Prophix Smart Client. The file stores a drill across definition.

  • (TSC) Template Studio Classic

    A template created in the Prophix Smart Client using Template Studio. Clicking this type of file opens it in Template Studio, where it can run in any of the modes: Design, Data-Entry, or Reporting.

Templates

Template types

In Prophix Web Client you may see the following template file types:

  • Template Studio (TS file)

    A template created in Prophix Web Client Template Studio.

  • Template Studio Classic (TSC file)

    A template created in Prophix Smart Client Template Studio.

  • Template (T file)

    A template created in Prophix Smart Client Template Designer. (This template type can be converted in the Smart Client Template Studio; for more information, see the Smart Client online help.)

Using Smart Client templates in Web Client

Can I open a Template Studio Classic file in Web Client Template Studio?

Yes. However, if you edit and save, it is saved as a Template Studio or TS file (you are given the chance to rename it, and the original TSC file remains unaffected).

Can I open a Template Studio Classic file in a workflow task in Web Client?

You can open all template types in a Web Client workflow task.

Using Web Client templates in Smart Client

Can I see Web Client templates in Smart Client?

Yes. In Smart Client, Document Explorer shows all template types. You can also Document Explorer to rename, delete, and cut and paste Web Client templates; however, you can't open them.

Where can I add a Web Client template in Prophix Smart Client?

You can add a template from Web Client (a TS file) to the following:

  • a report binder
  • certain workflow tasks (Approval Only, Data Entry, and Detailed Planning)
  • a detailed planning review schedule

To open a Web Client template in a workflow task or a review schedule, the task or schedule must be opened from Web Client.

Is there any place I can't add a Web Client template in Prophix Smart Client?

In Process Manager (specifically, the Template Calculation and Offline Workbook processes).

Template Studio

Can I edit templates created in Prophix Smart Client?

You can open Template files created in Smart Client (known as Template Studio Classic files) but to work with them, you must save them as Template Studio files.

Save your work at any time.

  • Select File > Save or Save as.

     Note:  The Save and Save as dialogs show Prophix Web Client template files only; template files created in the Prophix Smart Client are not shown.

Data-entry triggers and Calculation Modes

For Calculation Modes, the default setting is Off. The system completely ignores data-entry triggers, and values for Procedural Calculation accounts are recalculated only when the Procedural Calculation process is run in Smart Client's Process Manager.

Data-entry triggers for admins

How do I change the Calculation Mode?

As stated above, to turn on data entry triggers, you must change the Calculation Mode setting in web.config for the web client web service. Be sure to keep the following in mind:

  • Make changes to web.config with care—an invalid value for the web client web service produces unpredictable results.
  • Software upgrades to Prophix overwrite web.config; a best practice is to save your modified settings and restore them after upgrading.

What are the differences between data-entry triggers in Smart Client and Web Client/Prophix Cloud?

The major differences between Prophix systems is as follows:

  • The Smart Client immediately performs an automatic recalculation of affected accounts after every cell is updated (instead of waiting for a user action such as clicking Refresh). As a result, the Web Client feels more responsive during data entry in some situations involving Procedural Calculation triggers.
  • In the Smart Client, if Procedural Calculation triggers are defined for a cube, all data entry in a template or in Ad Hoc Analysis always results in the system attempting to recalculate the affected accounts. That is, there is no Calculation Mode option.

What are the differences from a performance perspective?

The differences from a performance perspective are:

  • In situations where a small number of calculated values (less than 50 to 100) are produced by updating trigger accounts, performance should be similar.
  • In models where Batch mode can be successfully used in the Web Client, and where a relatively large number of calculated values are produced (more than 100), the Web Client will tend to perform Procedural Calculations trigger-related recalculations faster than the Smart Client.
  • In more complex models where Individual mode is required and a large number of calculated values are produced, the Smart Client will tend to be faster than the Web Client.

Data Connector Designer

Can I edit data connectors that were created in Smart Client?

You cannot open or edit the following Smart Client data connector types: Text, Excel, Access.

Can I use Smart Client's Process Manager to edit data connectors created in Web Client?

Yes.

Detailed Planning Manager

Attributes and the DPO

In Custom attributes the data type known in Smart Client as a Double is now called Numeric (floating point).

Drill Across Designer

What is a drill across definition?

It is a data set drawn from a data source outside Prophix, typically a relational database. A drill across definition is similar to a relational data view in Prophix Smart Client. However, a drill across definition can only be created and used in Prophix Web Client.

Process Manager

The note below applies to the following processes:

In the Target Mapping tab:

  • For Source, if the process was created in Prophix Smart Client and uses custom transformation fields, these fields cannot be edited in Prophix Web Client.
  • For Transformation, if the process group was created in Prophix Smart Client and contains custom transformation fields, these fields cannot be edited in Prophix Web Client.

Procedural Calculation process

If Smart Client's PPM (Prophix Performance Manager) is enabled, any data that is not published to the fact table is excluded from the calculation processing. Therefore, it is important to publish PPM data prior to executing a Procedural Calculations process, to ensure results are as expected.