How to Create a Drop-Down Box Smart List Prompt

Image 1: Business rule containing Smart List Run Time Prompt

This blog has been migrated from my old blog*

Smart Lists are very powerful tools within Oracle EPM Planning / PBCS. I have recently created a forecasting system that utilises Smart Lists to drive the forecast process; allowing users to populate the forecast using a customised forecast method selection tool. 

The Forecast Process is as follows:

1. An admin will load in the latest month of Actual data and open the new Forecast for use;

2. A business rule will be launched to pre-populate the whole Forecast with a single Forecast Method of choice;

   For example - The forecast method ‘Average’ is chosen and so ‘Forecast 3+9’ becomes populated with 3 months’ worth of Actual data and the remaining 9 months are populated with the average of the first 3 months’ Actual data, for the whole forecast.

3. Users then review the forecast and apply the following actions;

   1. Select alternative forecast methods for individual Account/Entity combinations (Image 2 displays this);

   2. Launch a rule to populate a whole division or account sub hierarchy with an alternative forecast method (Image 1 displays this).

Image 2: Smart List in use with a Form

Here are the steps involved for creating the drop-down list:

These steps involve: Calculation Manager, Business Rules, Smart Lists, Variables / Run Time Prompts.

1. Create the Smart List;

2. Navigate to Rules (Calculation Manager) -> Variable Designer;
   

   

   Image 3: Accessing the Variable Designer

   
   

3. Navigate to the relevant database in the Variable Navigator;

4. Click Actions -> New;

5. Name the Variable;

6. Change the variable type to ‘Numeric’ (Misleading, I know!). A Smart List box will appear;
   

   

   Image 4: Selecting the Smart List: ‘FcstCalc’ containing the Forecast Methods

   
   

7. Select the Smart List;

8. Tick RTP (Run Time Prompt) and enter the RTP Text – this text will display upon launch of the rule next to the drop-down box;

9. Optional: Select a default value or limit the entries the user can select;
   

   

   Image 5: Applying Limits to the Run Time Prompt

   
   

10. Reference the Run Time Prompt in a business rule using the format: {RTPName}.
    

The result should appear as follows in the user interface:

Image 6: End user view

The main benefit of this – aside from the smooth end user process – is that the Forecast Method selected by the user gets dropped into the variable referenced in the business rule and can therefore be used as a direct Smart List reference as if it was written: [[SmartList.Entry]] in the business rule.

I hunted, unsuccessfully, online looking for help on how to achieve this in PBCS because I never would have thought ‘Numeric’ would be the variable type for a Smart List!