App User Guide – Kepion Support Center

Introduction

Kepion Apps are designed for easy data collection and reporting across the enterprise. You can access the Apps that are available to you by selecting the APPS node from the navigation pane.

This guide will walk you through the various actions that users can perform from the perspective of an App Contributor, Reviewer and Approver.

App Navigation

From the APPs page, you will see the Apps that you have access to. When an App is selected, you will see all related App Instances listed on the right pane. You can create a new App Instance from an App by clicking the NEW icon, or you can continue to work with an existing App Instance by clicking on the right pane.

Note: If you are unable to create multiple App Instances, please contact your App Designer. There is an option to enable multiple App Instances in the Dashboard App configuration.

Tip: An App Instance is also known as a submission when used in workflow.

Use the ACTION filter to list the App Instances by the action that you can perform on them. For example, if you select the Approve action, it will show you the list of App Instances that you can approve.

When creating a new App Instance, you will be automatically redirected to the App starting page. When continuing from an existing App Instance, you will be taken to where you left off. See below for an example:

As Apps are fully customizable by the App Designer, you may find navigation in other styles and in different positions on the page. In the example below, the navigation resides on the top part of the page.

App Control Buttons

App actions are organized in the top right corner of the page.

- Refresh: this will refresh all forms and charts on the page.

- Export: this will export forms to Excel.

- App Information: this will show the App Information window.

App Information

Click to view App Information.

The APPROVAL tab shows the approval chain for the current App Instance if the workflow type of the App is set to Advanced.

ACTION

The ACTION is a drop-down list of actions that you can perform on the App. This list includes general actions, together with workflow actions, that are available to you based on your workflow role.

The common actions include:

Post: Post the values entered in Forms to the Database.
Save: Save all the formulas and filter selections.
Submit: Submit your App Instance for approval.
Discard: Discard the App Instance.
Exit: Exit the App Instance and return to the APPS page.

These actions can also be built into the Dashboard for ease of use. For example, an update or refresh button can be linked to the Post action on the Dashboard. The available workflow actions will be discussed in the Workflow Actions section in more detail.

Common User Functions

Publish Data Changes

Most Dashboards are built with buttons, such as ‘Update’, which link to the Post action. After entering data into a Form, either click an Action button or select the Post action directly from the drop-down menu.

Save App

Each module has a Save option in the top-right drop-down menu. Upon saving, your filter selection, the current page, and on-sheet formulas will be stored into the database, so that you can come back and start from where you left off. Saved views are private to the user who initially saved the App.

At save, you can give it a name by entering into the Name field. This will be the name you see on the APPS page later.

Note: Saving does not affect the data you entered in the Forms. The data entered is saved to the database when you click Post.

Exit App

Each module has an Exit button in the top-right action drop-down menu. Click Exit when you are ready to exit the current App.

Click Save to save your filter selections. You can also rename your App Instance at this point.
Click Exit to exit without saving updated metadata (if any) about your App. Please note, all data entered is saved to the database when you click Post.
Click Cancel to close the Exit App window, and you can continue working on your App.

Return to a Saved App Instance

You can access your saved App Instances on the APPS page. Select the module on the left pane, e.g., 1-Management Reports. The right pane will display all your App Instances.

Click to start an App Instance.

Tip: It is a good practice to keep your saved App Instances as organized as possible. For example: Save and rename your App Instances with friendly names; restart from existing App Instances if possible; delete unused App Instances over time.

Delete Existing App Instances

Click to delete an App Instance.

Note: All your planning data, e.g. projects, assets, forecast numbers, are managed within the module and published to the database instantly. A saved App Instance just provides a shortcut to the slice of data that you have been working on. Deleting a saved view will not delete your data – just like deleting a file/folder shortcut on your laptop will not delete the original file/folder.

Filters

Filters are used to navigate between different sets of data within the App.

The following actions are available in the filter window:

Expand All/Collapse All: You can click on the Expand All or Collapse All action which affects how the hierarchy members are displayed – either in fully expanded mode with all descendants visible or in fully collapsed mode where each member will need to be clicked on to drill down to the children members.
Search: Members in the filter grid are searchable. Type in any search term in the region below the column heading and a search will be automatically performed for that column.
Clear: Remove the current selection of the filter.

Linked Filter

In an App, you may find that certain filters are linked with other filters.

Tip: Ask your App Designer if you would like to change the behavior of the linked filters.

Forms

Color Codes

In Kepion, we use color codes to indicate different type of data cells. The default colors are shown below and can be configurable by the App Designer.

Take the above Form as an example:

- Indicates read-only numbers/text.

- Indicates a number input.

- Indicates a text input for annotation.

- Indicates a drop-down selection.

- Indicates an aggregation line.

Form Action Icons

- Show rows with empty data.

- Hide rows with empty data.

- Show columns with empty data.

- Hide columns with empty data.

- Enter into full-screen view.

- Exit out of full-screen view.

Numeric Data Entry

Data cells that are numeric data input enabled will be highlighted in yellow by default in Kepion. Your App Designer may use other colors.

Drop-Down Entry

Another method of cell data entry is with Form Drop-downs. Drop-downs enable controlled entry by having the user select a range of valid inputs for a particular input field. Drop-downs can be configured so that each set of input values can vary depending on the context for that particular data cell.

Text Data Entry

You can enter text into data cells using the following two methods:

Right click and select Insert Comment
Enter text directly to the annotation data cells

Right click on a writeable data entry cell and select Insert Comment.

The Add Comments window is used to input comments for a data cell. This window also supports the Clear action which will clear the selected cells of any comments.

Cells with comment will be marked by a red triangle on the top-right corner.

The second method of entering text is directly into an annotation cell. These cells will be highlighted by the Annotiation Indicator color. Here, the user is able to enter any text to the data cell which will be stored as annotations to the data model.

Note: Comments and Annotation need to have the Query includes annotation and text cells option enabled in the Form Advanced Settings.

Formulas

Forms support full arithmetic operators such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. For example, “=1+3/3+2*2” results in the value of 6. In addition, the following functions are supported by the formula engine:

Worksheet Function	Syntax
SUM	=SUM(D6:E6)
AVERAGE	=AVERAGE(C9:E9)
IF	=IF(FALSE, "DISPLAY TRUE","DISPL AY FALSE")
VLOOKUP	=VLOOKUP(105,C2:E7,2,TRUE)
HLOOKUP	=HLOOKUP("B", A1:C4, 3, TRUE)

The image below shows an example of a cell with a formula.

Clear Data Cell Input

Right-click on an input enabled data cell and you will see three options to clear data.

Clear Changes: Clear the change and revert back to the cell value that was pulled from the server.
Clear Formula: Clear the formula but keep the value.
Delete Data: Delete any contents in the cell.

Cell Details

The Cell Details option allows you to see the properties of a data cell.

Here is an example of the Cell Details window and its fields:

Value: The value of the cell.
Formula: The formula of the cell.
Comment: The comment stored within the cell.
Is Lowest: Checks if ALL the Members are on the lowest level of the Hierarchy. If this was false, we could use the Slice information below to investigate further. The value is the MemberId of the Dimension. It has to be non-zero. If its value is 0, it means that we’re not on the lowest level.
Is Writeable: Checks if the user has permission to write to the model and dimension that the cell is associated with.
Is Input: Checks if ALL the Members that define the cell have their Input attribute set to 1.
Is Annotate: Checks if ANY of the Members have their Annotation attribute set to 1.
Is Locked: Indicate whether the cell is locked or not. This property is determined by the app lock option. This option is in the Dashboard App configuration.
SLICES: One or more model dimension member that show the context of the cell.

All the dimensions of an input enabled cell must be set to the leaf levels within their hierarchy. Only data at the leaves of a hierarchy will be allowed for data entry. You can use Cell Details to investigate when a cell is not input enabled when it is supposed to be. A cell is editable when you have the following:

Is Lowest: TRUE
Is Writeable: TRUE
Is Input: TRUE
Is Locked: FALSE

For text input cells, this will need to be set:

Is Annotate: TRUE

Freeze Pane

Right-click on the data grid and click Freeze Pane.

Both the row and the column will be frozen in place as indicated by solid lines.

To unfreeze the pane, right-click on any cell in the Form and select Unfreeze Pane.

Drill-through (Analytical)

Drill-through (Analytical) allows you to drill-down to a lower level of data in the cube. Right click on any numeric data cell in a Form and click Drill-through (Analytical).

You can drag and drop different slicers from the left pane over into the analysis design region on the right side.

To view the data, click on the Drill-through button and you will be taken to the RESULTS tab.

You can go back and forth between the CUBE DETAILS tab and the RESULTS tab to analyze your numbers, or click Cancel to exit the window.

Drill-through (Transactional)

Drill-through (Transactional) allows you to drill-through the data in the transactional database.

You can perform drill-through in a Form only when:

You are an Advanced Contributor of the App, and
Your App Designer has defined transactional drill-through in the Form

If these two criteria are met, you can right-click on any data cell in the Form and click Drill-through (Transactional).

The SOURCE DETAILS tab will list all the available drill-through definitions on the Form.

Select one and click Drill-through and you will be taken to the RESULTS page.

Click Export to save the results as a .csv file to your local machine. You can click the SOURCE DETAILS tab to perform another drill-through, or click Cancel to exit.

Rules

There are multiple methods to run a rule within an App:

Run on Post
Run Dashboard Rules
Run from a Form
Run upon Workflow Actions

Run on Post

One or more rules can automatically be triggered to run on a user Post action. On Post rules are configured by the App Designer. Usually it is used to update calculated metrics or accounts based on user inputs on the Form.

Run Dashboard Rules

A user can click on a Dashboard Rule button and run the rule on demand.

A dashboard rule can be triggered immediately after clicking, or pop up a window to take parameters from the user. A parameter can be a numeric value, free text, or selection from a pre-defined list.

Run from a Form

A user can right-click on a Form and choose from a set of Rules to run.

You can run rules on a Form only when:

You are an Advanced Contributor of the App, and
Your App Designer has enabled Show Run Rules on the Form

If these two criteria are met, you can right-click on one or multiple data cells on the Form and see the available rules. Rules are tied with the icon on the right-click menu.

Selecting the desired rule will bring up the Run Rules window, where you can enter the required data.

Click Run to run the rule and leave the Run Rules window open, or click Run & Close to run the rule and close the Run Rules window.

Run upon Workflow Actions

A rule can also be run upon a workflow action, such as Post, Approve, Reject, etc. Click here for more details.

Workflow Process

For Apps that have Advanced Workflow, multiple users can participate in a workflow process where users can submit, approve, and reject based on their particular role.

Workflow User Types

There are three types of workflow users:

Contributor: Contributors are the main group of workflow users who submit data updates via an App. Use the HOME tab to view the Apps where you are a contributor.
Reviewer: Reviewers can review App submissions from Contributors. Reviewers have the workflow action of Comment which allows them to provide their feedback during a workflow process. Use the REVIEW tab to view the Apps that are available for review.
Approver: Approvers are the final gate-keepers for any submitted Apps. Approvers have the ability to approve or reject submitted Apps made by Contributors. Use the APPROVE tab to locate available App Instances for approval.

Workflow Actions

App Contributor Usage

As a Contributor, you can create a new App Instance from an App by clicking the NEW icon, or you can continue to work with an existing App Instance by clicking on the right pane.

The following workflow actions can be available for a Contributor:

Post: Post action allows Contributors to apply immediate updates from the App’s data directly into the data model. If the App Instance has not yet been saved before a post action, then the App Instance will prompt the user to first save before it will post the data.
Save: The Save action will save the App Instance to the application. Saved App Instances can be retrieved at a later time to restart the App Instance. The difference between Post and Save is on the type of data that is affected. Post affects numeric values and annotation data and will persists them to the data model. The Save action persist additional supporting information such as user formulas, additional worksheets and filters selections to the server for use at a later point in time.
Submit: The Submit action is used to finalize the changes made to the App Instance by the Contributor. By submitting, the Contributor is indicating the changes are ready for approval. If there is no Approver in the authorization, no approval is needed. In this case the submit action will result in data being written to the data model, and the App Instance is done. If approval is required for the App Instance, the user will need to pick an Approver on submit. When an App Instance is rejected, the Contributor will need to re-submit the changes in order for it to be available for approval again.
Discard: Discard action can be invoked to remove the App Instance from the workflow process. Discarded App Instances can no longer be accessed by users of the application. Discard action can only be carried out when the App Instance is not final. Only the creator and approver of the App Instance have permission to discard.
Recall: The Recall action can be invoked in order to pull back a submitted App Instance before an Approver has the chance to approve it. Choose to recall the App Instance when you need to make additional updates yet have already submitted the App Instance for approval. Recalled App Instances will enter into the saved state and not be available for review or approval except when it has been posted, in which case the Reviewer can still view the App Instance. No recall is available when the App instance is final. If there is no approval required on the App Instance, then there will be no Recall action available after the submission.

App Reviewer Usage

As a Reviewer, you can view Apps that require your review from the APPS page by selecting the REVIEW tab. Clicking on an App will show the existing App Instances on the right pane. You can click on the Start button to access the dashboard.

Note: As a Reviewer, you will always see a Read-Only App Instance on the right pane. It allows you to preview the data without having to wait for contributors to submit their app instance.

The following workflow action is available for a Reviewer:

Comment: Reviewers have the ability to use the Comment action to add in their review notes during a workflow process. The Comment action does not change the state of the App Instance.
Open: Reviewers can view a list of existing app instances and select one to open without going back to the APPS page.
Exit: Exit the App Instance and return to the APPS page.

App Approver Usage

As an Approver, you can view Apps that require your approval from the APPS page by selecting the APPROVE tab. Clicking on an App will show the existing App Instances on the right pane.

When you click on an App, you will see the App Instances that have been submitted to you on the right pane. For each submission, you can view the approval process - every chevron represents a user along the approval chain. Hover over on a chevron to see the user name and their latest action. Click on the Start button to access the dashboard.

The following workflow actions can be available for an Approver:

Post: Post action allows Approvers to apply immediate updates from the App Instance’s data directly into the data model.
Approve: The Approve action can be performed by an Approver to send the App Instance into the approved state. Once an App Instance is approved, no further workflow actions can be applied to the approved App Instance.
Reject: The Reject action is used to reject a submitted App Instance by an Approver. Rejected App Instances can be re-submitted to send the App Instance back to the approval process.
Open: Approvers can view a list of existing app instances and select one to open without going back to the APPS page.
Exit: Exit the App Instance and return to the APPS page.