Insert Data Input columns

Lumel EPM provides six (6) different options to manually enter data in your Microsoft Fabric report, which are listed below. Data can be entered into a single cell or multiple cells simultaneously, and they can be formatted in various ways. There are several settings that you can adjust to make data entry easier for you.

Input type	Description
Number	Double-click and start typing values in directly into a cell
Text	Enter text with multi-line support and word wrap
Dropdown	Use the available presets or create your own list of values; supports both single-select and multi-select
Date	Add a date from the calendar/date picker
Checkbox	Used in case of binary selections
Person	Input users from your organization (only available in Inforiver Writeback Matrix)

In this video, we discuss the data input functionality in the reading and editing modes.

To insert a data Input Column, go to the 'Home' Tab and choose the type of Data input Column to be inserted.

Insert Column Ribbon

Before we look at inserting data input columns, let's look at some common properties available for all the Column input types.

Common properties

Let's discuss the common properties of the Inserted Row model.

1. Insert as

Data input columns can be inserted as a measure or a column.

1.1 Visual measure: If there is a column hierarchy, the input column is inserted for each category. In case of no column hierarchy, a single column is inserted.

In the image below, a text column has been inserted as a measure by selecting 'Insert as' -> 'Visual measure'.

Visual Measure

1.2 Visual column: Irrespective of whether there is a column hierarchy or not, a single column gets inserted.

In the below image, a text column has been inserted as a visual column by selecting 'Insert as' -> 'Visual column'.

Visual Column

2. Allow input

By default, inputs are enabled in both read and edit modes in Power BI. But, based on your requirement, you can allow inputs only in edit mode or based on a formula.

Allow Input modes

2.1 In both Power BI read and edit modes:

When the option 'In both Power BI read and edit modes' is selected, you can enter data in the reading view as shown below.

Restrictions on input

2.2 Only in edit mode:

When the 'Only in edit mode' option is chosen, the text can be edited in the Edit mode and the text editor is disabled in the Reading Mode.

Text Edit is disabled in the Reading Mode

Text can be edited in the Edit Mode

2.3 Based on a formula:

You can allow data input only if a certain condition is met. The formula entered should return a boolean.

In the below image, data input is allowed only if Total Gross Margin Value > 100million.

You can see that the text fields for which the condition fails are greyed out.

Allow Text Edit based on Formula

3. Input Type

The type of data input column can be changed from the initial selection before creating the column by clicking on 'Create'.

Input Type

4. Column and Row Aggregation

By default, totals, and subtotals are defined as the sum of child rows as shown here. There are several other options such as average, minimum, maximum, etc. that are explained in detail here.

Aggregation Types

5. Distribute parent value to children

The values entered at a parent level are distributed to the child rows when enabled. This is very useful when creating budgets or forecasts.

Distribute parent value to children

6. Other Properties

• Minimum Value: You can optionally specify the minimum threshold value for the leaf-level cells, which can be a static number or value from the selected measure. When set, Lumel EPM ensures that both user input and the allocations to these cells are always more than this value.

• Maximum Value: You can optionally specify the maximum threshold value for the leaf-level cells, which can be a static number or value from the selected measure. When set, Lumel EPM ensures that both user input and the allocations to these cells are always less than this value.

• Default Value: In cells where the user has not entered any value, instead of displaying empty cells you can choose to display a default value. The default value can be selected from any native or formula measure as explained here. If the underlying native or formula measure is updated, the default value will reflect the latest value.

• Description: Option to add a note for reference.

Other Properties

3. Access control

Lumel EPM allows setting explicit read/write access on data input columns for specific users. To set user access control, open the Manage Columns menu and click on the user icon.

Data input access

In the Data Input Access dialog box, you can assign access to users for each column or measure.

Setting user access for data input columns or measures

3.1 Enable Visual Adjustments

Within the Data Input Access pop-up, we have the Enable Visual Adjustments toggle.

Enabling this toggle allows the report user with read-only access to request a change in the report data. The report owner and the supervisor get notified of the requested adjustment, which can be accepted or rejected.

This Adjustment request and its progress can be tracked in the Adjustment Window.

The Adjustment can only be requested for Number Data Input Measures.

_{Enable Visual Adjustment toggle}

Consider this example: a report user with read-only access requests an adjustment in the Number Data input column, Contribution Margin, and R&D Expense. The report owner gets notified of the adjustment request through email.

When the report is opened, the requested adjustments are shown in red and accepted adjustments are shown in yellow.

Adjustment is notified

Click on the adjustment icon to open the Adjustment Window, which shows the status of the Adjustment as To Do or Resolved. Click on them to view more details.

Status of the Adjustments

Details of the Adjustment

Once the changes are accepted the adjusted values are shown in a new the Adjustment column highlighted in yellow.

Adjustments highlighted

4. FAQs

1) Can multiple users enter data in a single published report?

Yes. When you use Lumel EPM, multiple users can enter data in the same form in the reading view. Using the audit module, you can also keep track of changes made to your table by different users.

2. Will a user be able to see data entered by other users?

By default, yes. But if you enable row-level security, users will be able to see only the records they are authorized to see.

3. This is too good to be true. Is there something specific I should set up or configure so that my users can enter data?

Nothing. Use the 'Data Input' feature to add fields of various types.

4. All of this is great. Can I write back this data to a database?

Yes. You can write back data to a destination database or shared drive storage. Lumel EPM supports destinations such as SQL, Snowflake, Azure, BigQuery, MySQL, Sharepoint, OneDrive and more. You may also simply export the data to a PDF or Excel file.

In the next section, we'll be looking at inserting number columns.

Resources

5 types of manual data entry options in your Power BI table/matrix

Allow multiple users to enter data in a blank table/form in Power BI

Input & Edit Sales Forecasts in a Power BI Report