Text, checkbox & date

In addition to number and dropdown input columns, you can also use columns of types text, checkbox and date to capture manual data.

Let's cover them one by one.

1. Text

Text Data can be inserted into the report using the Text Data input Columns. To insert a Text Data Input Column, go to Home > Text.

Configure the settings in the Data Input side panel.

You can choose to insert the text as a visual measure or column. Text entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the 'Allow entry on total/subtotal rows' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the 'Allow input' option. You can also set field validations, which will be discussed later in this section.

Click 'Create'.

The text column gets inserted. Double-click on any of the cells and start typing the text in the editor. Press Enter to commit the text entry.

1.1. Word wrap

Lumel EPM provides an option to wrap the text for long entries that get truncated.

Click on the word wrap icon in the Format tab to wrap text as per the width of the field.

1.2. Text validations

Lumel EPM provides data validations for text inputs. You can add validations to check the length and type of the data(numeric/text/alphanumeric, etc) entered. You can specify the Minimum and Maximum Length of the Text to be entered.

You can even customise your Field validation by providing a regular expression using the Custom option.

Customised text can be entered in the Field Validation section, and text that contains the Field Validation text is allowed, while others throw an error.

The image below shows a Custom Text 'Punctuation' and Minimum and Maximum Length set.

The image below shows the error message when Custom Text validation fails.

The various Field Validation types are shown. When text is entered, Lumel EPM validates the entered text data type. If validation fails error is thrown.

Field Validation

Allowed Text

Any Value

Allows number, alphabets, punctuation, special symbols

Numeric

Numbers

Non - Numeric

Everything except numbers

Alpha - Numeric

Numbers and Alphabets

Email ids

URL

URL Links

Custom

Any given Text

1.3. Default values

Blank fields do not add value and are likely to reduce the appeal of a report. You can choose to use default values instead of displaying blank text data input fields while creating a text column. You can either enter a static default value or assign a dimension or measure.

You can refer here to know more about Dimension and Measure default value.

2. Checkbox

Checkbox columns or measures can be inserted to capture binary inputs. Click on 'Checkbox' in the Home Tab.

The checkbox column side panel is shown in the below image.

You can choose to insert as a visual measure or column. Entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the 'Allow entry on total/subtotal rows' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the 'Allow input' option.

Click 'Create'.

Click on the checkboxes to check orn uncheck them

Checkboxes are widely used in reports for data selection, such as shortlisting specific transactions or marking approval and review status. You can filter data based on checkbox values using the 'Checked' and 'Unchecked' options. Writeback - an application within Lumel EPM would use the checkbox filter to Writeback only the checked or unchecked records based on the Custom filter.

3. Date

Date columns or measures can be inserted by clicking on 'Date' in the 'Data input' dropdown. You can insert an empty column or copy the dates from the rows in the report.

Go to Home > Date. Here we have 2 options

Create an empty series
Copy fom rows

We will see them in detail below.

i) Create an empty series

When you select this option, an empty date column is created, and the side panel opens as shown in the image.

You can choose to insert it as a visual measure or column. Entry can be enabled or disabled in the total/subtotal rows using the 'Allow entry on total/subtotal rows' checkbox. Input access can be configured using the 'Allow input' option.

You can also configure other optional fields as below:

Format

The date format can be changed by clicking the 'Format' dropdown. Choose the desired date format.

Minimum and Maximum Date

You can set the minimum and maximum date ranges for the date input. Users will not be able to enter any dates that fall outside this range. You can enter both dates to specify a range, or just the minimum or the maximum date. To select a date, click the calendar icon.

Default value

In a report that has thousands of rows, manually entering or copying dates in a data input-date field can be a tedious task. In such cases, you can set a default date. All rows will be filled with the configured default date as soon as you click Create.

There are multiple options to set a default date:

Static value: Use the date picker to set a common date for all the rows. In the image below, the created date column is pre-filled with the default date - 13/11/2025.

Measure/Column: Measure or Column is displayed depending on the insert as option selected. Select the measure/Column (native measure/formula measure/date input column) from which the default date should be sourced. In the example below, the default value is sourced from a date column that is available within the same report.

Dimension: When you have a date dimension in your row, you can select the row dimension from which the default date must be picked. The default date in the example below is picked from the row dimension, 'Date_US'.

The default date option is available for both visual measures and visual columns. Invalid date format errors are implicitly handled as blanks for a clean export and writeback.

After configuring the required settings, click Create.

The date measure gets inserted.

Entering a date

To enter data, double-click on a cell. Select a date from the calendar/date picker.

The date gets captured in the chosen format.

ii) Copy from rows

If your report has a list of calendar dates in the row dimension, and you want to replicate the same dates in an input column, you can use the ‘copy from rows’ option, instead of manually entering it for each record.

Lumel EPM automatically detects the date format which can be verified from the pop-up.

In rare cases when the format mapping is not as expected, you can map them manually using the help suggestions and click Submit.

The date column is inserted as shown, which follows the dates in the rows. By default, the first of January is the fiscal year's start.

Note: Lumel EPM accepts both hierarchical and non-hierarchical date formats. Unconventional date formats are also accepted and automatically mapped. For example, date formats such as half-years, quarters, and months assigned as individual fields instead of a date hierarchy are automatically mapped using the custom formats.