Before detailing the procedure for saving a PowerExcel Slice in the Cloud—whether the Income Statement.xls used in earlier exercises or a new Slice—we should emphasize, just like any spreadsheet, a PowerExcel Slice can be saved using the standard File→Save As function in Excel. So, a Slice can be saved to a local or any other drive; upon re-Open and Refresh (F9), the Slice will re-establish its connection to the model.
As well, a user can save PowerExcel Slices so that they become accessible to other users who connect to the PandA model in the Cloud.
To save the PowerExcel Slice in the Cloud:
1. Create or Open a PowerExcel Slice, as shown in the example below.
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2. Click on a cell containing a PowerExcel reference.
3. In the Excel ribbon, go to the PowerExcel tab and click the Save icon. The Save (Slice) as dialog appears.
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4. Type the <name of the Slice>, e.g., EBIT Descendants by Month.
5. Click Save. You will see a prompt that says, "Slice saved successfully."
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6. Click OK to close the message prompt.
Next, another user—assuming he or she has a connection to the PandA model—can proceed as follows:
7. Launch Excel and create a new workbook.
8. From the PowerExcel ribbon, click on Open.
9. The Open Slice dialog appears, as shown below:
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10. Once again, assuming the next user has a connection to the database, he or she will see it (assuming the same Connection name—here, PandA_QS_Connect is also used as the Connection name, although using the same name is not required), the available Cubes will be shown (here, Financial Data). Directly below, the available Slices are listed.
In the image, the Slice saved by the first user, EBIT Descendants by Month appears. By selecting this Slice, the user can create and insert it into a New Workbook, a New Worksheet or the Current Worksheet in the specified location with PowerExcel by using one of the Slice Types (Perspective, DB Functions, and Power Analyzer). Other Slice options are also available.
The new Slice will be the same as the one saved by the original/last user—e.g., as shown in the previous steps. This next user can now save it locally or to another drive for continuous use, may change a Filter or reorder Dimensions, etc., and may want to rename if it is important to keep the “original” Slice as is.
In this manner, any person working on the collaborative model may see any Slice that has been saved, and therefore, be dynamically connected to the most updated data Furthermore—and this is a key point—the next (or any connected) user will also be able to contribute budget/forecast figures to a company-wide planning model, if that is the intended purpose for the Slice. (The ability to “write back” to a shared planning model is discussed in the topic Data Entry – Typing in Values).