Data Discovery
Consider a scenario where you are looking at a number and want to understand where the data is coming from or how it is being used in FCC calculations. This is exactly where Data Discovery helps. It helps to understand the data flow in FCC calculations and troubleshoot issues.
This feature was introduced in Dec 22 patch update and can be run from Data forms or from Smart View.
Where is this in the application?
Data Discovery can be accessed under Tools in the application.
Data Discovery page contains two options — Settings and Rules.
Settings — specify the configuration for different types of Data Discovery analysis.
Rules — These rules are read-only, so users cannot modify or create new rules.
Other than selecting the configuration options and ordering the dimensions for drill-down, there isn’t much a user needs to do on the Data Discovery page. The real user action comes when we add Data Discovery into the Data Forms.
Before you can use Data Discovery, the respective context menu needs to added to the form.
Go to the Other Options tab in Data Form Designer. Under Context Menus, add Data Discovery to the Selected Menus section and save the form.
Running Data Discovery
Open the form, select the desired cell, and click on Run Data Discovery.
Data Discovery can also be run from Smart View, provided you’re on Smart View version 22.100 or later.
When you run Data Discovery for the selected cell, the process generates notes on metadata, error messages and diagnostic suggestions. It also generates grids based on the Data Discovery settings, rules, and the level of the cell.
Data Discovery Output
The grids generated are available under the folder Data Discovery Grids in Library. Each form from which you run Data Discovery has its own sub folder named _Form Name.
Grids directly under each subfolder are the latest ones, old grids will be moved to a subfolder names Previous Runs_Form Name.
Every time you run Data Discovery, a Data Discovery Note#<Sequence Num>.txt text file is generated and attached to the cell. This can be identified by the symbol in the top-right corner of the cell.
Understanding the Generated Grids
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The output grids generated depends on the cell level.
- Running Data Discovery on a cell with the Account member Total Balance Sheet and the Movement member Closing Balance triggers the Out of Balance grid.
- If you have selected the Find lowest-level Consolidation member in OOB drill-through option in Settings, when you run Data Discovery from this grid, it will drill down to the lowest Consolidation member.
- When you run Data Discovery on a high-level cell, two grids are created: the Drill-through Grid and the Drill-through Grid (Simplified).
Drill through grid drills down to a level 0 member in each dimension.
The simplified drill through grid has fewer columns compared drill-through grid. it filters duplicated columns using certain rules.
- Running Data Discovery from a level-0 cell in the simplified grid creates four additional grids:
Reference Grid — Helps users understand the data flow of a data cell.
Ownership grid — Generated if ownership is enabled in the application.
Rates Grid & Effective Rates Grid — Generated if multi-currency is enabled
- The ICP Variance Grid is generated along with the Reference Grid for Intercompany Accounts or Plug Accounts.
That covers the Data Discovery feature in FCC. Now, let’s take a look at a Generative AI capability introduced as part of the 26.09 updates to Oracle EPM Cloud.
With this update, Data Discovery gets a Generative AI option. It uses Generative AI to summarize, render, and format the output from the Data Discovery Notes and calculation trace files. The result is presented as an HTML dashboard attached to the cell, making the output much easier to read and navigate.
To use this capability, you first need to enable Generative AI under Settings. This is an important step in FCC, as Gen AI needs to be enabled before you can use many of the AI-powered features.
Once Gen AI is enabled, click Run Data Discovery and review the comments. Instead of generating a Data Discovery Note in text format, FCC creates a Data Discovery Dashboard in HTML format.
If a calculation trace is applicable, the dashboard brings together the Data Discovery attachments and presents the information in a more readable and interactive format. Users can expand or collapse the individual calculation steps, making it easier to follow the calculation flow and understand how the result was derived.
Data Discovery provides a useful way to understand what is happening behind a value in FCC. There is a certain learning curve with Data Discovery, but if you can master it, this will be your go-to assistant while troubleshooting data issues.
Happy Learning, and thanks for reading!
