In this blog post I will be describing the comment functionality in SAC. Often during development, we come across situations where comments are to be enabled in reports having lot of calculated measures or dimension property filters. I will describe how we resolved such issues during my project implementation.
First, let us have a look into different commenting options in SAC
To add a comment to a chart/widget, on the page tab bar, select the Drop-down menu → Display → enable the comment Mode. (to enable the comment display)
To add the new comment select the chart -> More Action -> Add -> Comment
We can format the comment text. Also we can also add other story hyperlink or external URL in the comment. When user will click on the URL it will automatically open the new page and view the content.
Comments added by self can be deleted. Comments of other users can be deleted with required privileges.
Comments does not get saved when below functions are performed
You can add the story level comment as below.
Click on Story -> Comment
Comment widget allows to add comments related to your data and also displays data point comments. The comments are displayed as per the filters chosen from the Builder panel of the commenting widget. By default, a category and an account member can be selected.
To add the comment widget, Go to insert menu -> Add-> Comment Widget
With the help of story level filter we can include comments with the different filter combination.
As Comments in Comment widget are also one type of Data point Comments, users can see same Comments in Table if same dimension context is used in table
Note: When measure is selected in builder panel we need to make sure it is not calculated measure. Because Comment Widget is not supported for the calculated measure.
In SAP Analytics Cloud, we can add comments for particular values in a table. Access Rights on measures applies to comments also.
In our scenario, we had to show difference of cost between 2 years where cost is a calculated measure. Requirement is to enable comments at row level for each product
Comment option is disabled in this case as metric is a calculated measure.
To overcome this, we created dummy measure and enabled the comments on it and then made it as hidden field in table. If we do not have any input measure without formula in model, we can create one else use any available input measure
Create dummy measure or leverage any available input measure.
Add this dummy column or available measure column in the report, where you want to provide the comment.
Add the comment option by Right click on dummy column -> Add calculation -> Comment -> Single
Hide the dummy column. Right click on Dummy column -> Hide and you can enter the comment.
Other limitation in SAC – Comments are not enabled if dimension properties are included in table widget. We had master data with dimension property for active/inactive and we applied active filter in reports. As comment was a mandatory requirement, we maintained active and inactive as hierarchy instead of property and applied filter on active hierarchy.
First, let us have a look into different commenting options in SAC
- Chart/widget level comment
- Story level comment
- Comment Widget
- Data Point Comment
1) Chart/widget comment
To add a comment to a chart/widget, on the page tab bar, select the Drop-down menu → Display → enable the comment Mode. (to enable the comment display)
To add the new comment select the chart -> More Action -> Add -> Comment
We can format the comment text. Also we can also add other story hyperlink or external URL in the comment. When user will click on the URL it will automatically open the new page and view the content.
Comments added by self can be deleted. Comments of other users can be deleted with required privileges.
Comments does not get saved when below functions are performed
- On copying story
- Using Save As option
- Duplicating Widgets
- Exporting story as PDF
- Comments are not visible and cannot be added in Digital Boardroom
2) Story Level Comment
You can add the story level comment as below.
Click on Story -> Comment
3) Comment Widget
Comment widget allows to add comments related to your data and also displays data point comments. The comments are displayed as per the filters chosen from the Builder panel of the commenting widget. By default, a category and an account member can be selected.
To add the comment widget, Go to insert menu -> Add-> Comment Widget
With the help of story level filter we can include comments with the different filter combination.
As Comments in Comment widget are also one type of Data point Comments, users can see same Comments in Table if same dimension context is used in table
Note: When measure is selected in builder panel we need to make sure it is not calculated measure. Because Comment Widget is not supported for the calculated measure.
4) Data point comment
In SAP Analytics Cloud, we can add comments for particular values in a table. Access Rights on measures applies to comments also.
Use Case:
In our scenario, we had to show difference of cost between 2 years where cost is a calculated measure. Requirement is to enable comments at row level for each product
Comment option is disabled in this case as metric is a calculated measure.
To overcome this, we created dummy measure and enabled the comments on it and then made it as hidden field in table. If we do not have any input measure without formula in model, we can create one else use any available input measure
Resolution Steps :
Step 1:
Create dummy measure or leverage any available input measure.
Step 2:
Add this dummy column or available measure column in the report, where you want to provide the comment.
Step 3:
Add the comment option by Right click on dummy column -> Add calculation -> Comment -> Single
Step 4:
Hide the dummy column. Right click on Dummy column -> Hide and you can enter the comment.
Other limitation in SAC – Comments are not enabled if dimension properties are included in table widget. We had master data with dimension property for active/inactive and we applied active filter in reports. As comment was a mandatory requirement, we maintained active and inactive as hierarchy instead of property and applied filter on active hierarchy.
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