Schedule Data Locks in the Calendar

In the SAP Analytics Cloud calendar, you can create data locking tasks to make sure that model data is locked at the right time.

Context

You may want to gather data for different parts of your plan at different times, and at other times, you may want to prevent further changes. With data locking, users who are responsible for different regions (or data slices) of model data, as well as users with the Modeler role, for example, can lock or unlock them. To learn more, see Configuring Data Locking.

Data locking tasks in the calendar provide structure for your planning process: You'll decide what data is involved, whether to lock or unlock it, when to make the change, and who's responsible for changing the locks. If you're the data locking owner of a specific region (or data slice) of a model, you can schedule automatic data locks, and the system will set the locks at the specified time. If someone else is responsible, you can set up the task and assign it to the responsible persons. Then, the assignees can quickly apply the required data locks you defined by simply submitting the task.

Before you create a data locking task, you should get familiar with how data locking is set up for the model, and which users own the locks. They'll be your assignees for the task, or, if you're the owner, you can schedule an automatic task. If you need to, you can set up the task first and then edit the model to match it.

Procedure

In the Calendar, select (Create) Data Locking Task.
Provide a Name.
Decide whether the data locks should be set automatically at a certain point in time, or if they should be set by an assignee in a certain timeframe.
To proceed, click the respective button in the interactive image below:

Set Data Locks Automatically

Prerequisites

If the data locking task runs automatically, make sure that you have the necessary permissions to set data locks for the region (or data slice) of the model you'll define in a later step.

Procedure

Define the Start date and time.

Optional: If you need to create a recurring task, for example, to close your monthly forecasts, select Add Recurrence and then fill in the recurrence settings.

Option	Description
Recurrence Pattern	Set the task to repeat by Minute, Hour, Day, Week, or Month.
Every	Set the recurrence frequency. For tasks that occur in a minute interval, enter a number between 5 an 9999. The minimum interval is every 5 minutes, the default interval is every 30 minutes. Note A high recurrence frequency like every 5 minutes can put extra load on the system and may slow it down. Automatic data locking tasks with a preceding task occurrence that is still running are automatically canceled. For tasks that occur in a weekly interval, pick a specific weekday. For tasks that occur in a monthly interval, define the day of the month. For example, you can set the task to occur on the 5th day every 2 months. When you enter `31` as day of the month, the event will occur on the last day of the month (February 28th, March 31st, April 30th, for example).
Start Date of First Occurrence	Set the start date and time for the first occurrence.
Due Date of First Occurrence	Set the due date and time for the first occurrence.
End Recurrence by	Set when the recurrence pattern ends: End Date: fill in the end date details. Repetitions: set the number of repetitions; this includes the first occurrence. No End Date

Note

Note that you can't add a recurrence when a parent process is selected.

Optional: If you don't want the task to start automatically on the selected start date, turn off Activate the task at start date automatically.
Optional: If there's an overall process for the task, such as the Q3 2021 Forecast, add the task to the process:
- Choose Add Parent Process and select the process.
- If you selected a process in the calendar before creating this task, this process will be selected as a parent process by default. You can remove it and add a different parent process if needed.
Creating this structure helps you stay organized when the planning process involves unlocking, updating, and locking data at different times.

Note

You can select only the processes that you can edit. You need to be the owner or the assignee of the parent process.

If you've set up recurrence for your task, you can't add it to a parent process.
Select Create.

The data locking task is added to the calendar and opened in the Details panel. If you created a recurring task, the Details panel will open with the Series tab selected instead of the Task tab.
In the title area, you can select a different style for the task or create a new style.
Optional: If you suppose that the duration of the task will be different from the default duration of 10 minutes, select Estimated Due Date and specify the due date you expect.

Note

The duration of an automatic task is fixed. Changes to the parent process won't influence the duration of the automatic data locking task.
Select Add Context to specify the data to lock or unlock.
1. In the Model field, select and choose a model.
  
  If data locking isn't set up for your model, you’ll see a message. You can still create the task, but remember to add data locking to the model afterwards.
2. Set filters if you want to lock or unlock a specific slice of the model data. Select Add Filter, choose the dimension and the members that you want to include, and repeat as needed. Remember that only driving dimensions will be selected for data locking.
  
  For example, if you’re creating a task to lock the forecast for Q3 2021, you'd set a filter on the version and time dimensions. Otherwise, the task will change the lock state for all the data that's set up for data locking.
3. When the context is set, select Close.
The context is added to the Data Locking section.
To view the data locking dialog of your model, you can click on the slice in the Data Locking section.

The Data Locking dialog appears, where you'll see the filters that you've previously set for the model. You can also view the data locking status here.
Select Update to see the current lock state.

If you don't have permissions for the model, or if data locking isn't enabled for any of the data, you won't see the current state.

Choose the target lock state that will be set automatically:

Lock state	Description
Open	The data will be unlocked and can be changed by any users who have permissions to enter values for the model.
Restricted	The data will be locked, but data locking owners can still change values.
Locked	The data will be locked, and only Admin users and the model creator can change values.

If you want other people to be able to see the task, select Add Viewers.
- You can add individual users or teams that have been created in SAP Analytics Cloud:
  
  Adding teams instead of individual users may help save you time, and you don't need to define who's taking care of the task. You can choose to Resolve the team so the individual users are displayed, and adapt the list according to your needs.
  
  Note
  
  After you resolve a team, the reference to that team is removed. Instead, the system behaves like you added all the team members individually. Any changes to the team on the SAP Analytics Cloud Security page (like adding or removing team members) will not be reflected in the People section of your calendar task.
- You can also add someone who isn't already a member:
  1. To add a non-member, in the appropriate People section, select the dropdown list and then select Invite Non-Member by Email.
  2. Type the person's email address.
Optional: If you haven't done so already, you can add the task to a process in the Hierarchy section.
- Choose Add Parent Process and select the process, for example, the Q3 2021 Forecast.
- If you've already set a parent process, it is displayed as the parent process. You can select it to see its details. You can remove it and add a different parent process if needed.
Creating this structure helps you stay organized when the planning process involves unlocking, updating, and locking data at different times.

Note

You can select only the processes that you can edit. You need to be the owner or the assignee of the parent process.

If you've set up recurrence for your task, you can't add it to a parent process.
When you have finished filling in the details and are ready to send the task out, select Update below in the Details panel.

Make sure to click the dropdown list next to the status and then select Activate & Notify.

When you activate the task, and you've added some teams that haven't been resolved yet, the teams are resolved automatically. You can remove individual users of the team, for example. Users assigned to multiple teams are only counted once.

If the task has already been activated, you can select Update and Notify to confirm your changes.

Results

The data locks will be set automatically at the specified time. After running the task, its status will automatically change to Successful or Failed, depending on the outcome. Notifications are sent to the involved people.

Set Data Locks Manually by an Assignee

Procedure

Set the Start and Due dates and times.

These times set the window when the data locking owners should change the lock states.

Optional: If you need to create a recurring task, for example, to close your monthly forecasts, select Add Recurrence and then fill in the recurrence settings.

Option	Description
Recurrence Pattern	Set the task to repeat by Minute, Hour, Day, Week, or Month.
Every	Set the recurrence frequency. For tasks that occur in a minute interval, enter a number between 5 an 9999. The minimum interval is every 5 minutes, the default interval is every 30 minutes. Note A high recurrence frequency like every 5 minutes can put extra load on the system and may slow it down. For tasks that occur in a weekly interval, pick a specific weekday. For tasks that occur in a monthly interval, define the day of the month. For example, you can set the task to occur on the 5th day every 2 months. When you enter `31` as day of the month, the event will occur on the last day of the month (February 28th, March 31st, April 30th, for example).
Start Date of First Occurrence	Set the start date and time for the first occurrence.
Due Date of First Occurrence	Set the due date and time for the first occurrence.
End Recurrence by	Set when the recurrence pattern ends: End Date: fill in the end date details. Repetitions: set the number of repetitions; this includes the first occurrence. No End Date

Note

Note that you can't add a recurrence when a parent process is selected.

Optional: You can choose Assign to me, if you'd like to schedule a data locking task for yourself that you need to perform in a certain timeframe.

For example, in your planning process you might want to review the data entries first, before you set the data locks.
Optional: If there's an overall process for the task, such as the Q3 2021 Forecast, add the task to the process:
- Choose Add Parent Process and select the process.
- If you selected a process in the calendar before creating this task, this process will be selected as a parent process by default. You can remove it and add a different parent process if needed.
Creating this structure helps you stay organized when the planning process involves unlocking, updating, and locking data at different times.

Note

You can select only the processes that you can edit. You need to be the owner or the assignee of the parent process.

If you've set up recurrence for your task, you can't add it to a parent process.
Select Create.

The data locking task is added to the calendar and opened in the Details panel. If you created a recurring task, the Details panel will open with the Series tab selected instead of the Task tab.
In the title area, you can select a different style for the task or create a new style.
You can now choose to discontinue the task automatically on the due date. In the Time area, select Advanced Settings. Turn on Discontinue the task at due date automatically.
Select Add Context to specify the data to lock or unlock.
1. In the Model field, select and choose a model.
  
  If data locking isn't set up for your model, you’ll see a message. You can still create the task, but remember to add data locking to the model afterwards.
2. Set filters if you want to lock or unlock a specific slice of the model data. Select Add Filter, choose the dimension and the members that you want to include, and repeat as needed. Remember that only driving dimensions will be selected for data locking.
  
  For example, if you’re creating a task to lock the forecast for Q3 2021, you'd set a filter on the version and time dimensions. Otherwise, the task will change the lock state for all the data that's set up for data locking.
3. When the context is set, select Close.
The context is added to the Data Locking section.
To view the data locking dialog of your model, you can click on the slice in the Data Locking section.

The Data Locking dialog appears, where you'll see the filters that you've previously set for the model. You can also view the data locking status here.
Select Update to see the current lock state.

If you don't have permissions for the model, or if data locking isn't enabled for any of the data, you won't see the current state.

Choose the target lock state that will be set when the assignees submit the task:

Lock state	Description
Open	The data will be unlocked and can be changed by any users who have permissions to enter values for the model.
Restricted	The data will be locked, but data locking owners can still change values.
Locked	The data will be locked, and only Admin users and the model creator can change values.

In the People section, add the relevant data locking owners as assignees for the task.
Make sure you include the right data locking owners. For example, if you want to lock the forecast for EMEA and you assign the task to the data locking owner for Germany, the assignee can only lock part of the data.
- You can add individual users or teams that have been created in SAP Analytics Cloud:
  
  Adding teams instead of individual users may help save you time, and you don't need to define who's taking care of the task. You can choose to Resolve the team so the individual users are displayed, and adapt the list according to your needs.
  
  Note
  
  After you resolve a team, the reference to that team is removed. Instead, the system behaves like you added all the team members individually. Any changes to the team on the SAP Analytics Cloud Security page (like adding or removing team members) will not be reflected in the People section of your calendar task.
- You can also add someone who isn't a current member if they will receive a user with the required data locking permissions before the start date of your task:
  1. To add a non-member, in the appropriate People section, select the dropdown list and then select Invite Non-Member by Email.
  2. Type the person's email address.
Tip

If you add an assignee and then decide to substitute someone else, select the user name or the team name, and then choose Change. In the Change User dialog, select the new name.
Decide whether to select Activate the task at start date automatically.

If you want to work on your tasks before sending them out to others, do not enable this option.

Note
You must have at least one assignee and a context defined before you can activate the task.
Optional: You can add additional owners for your task, or share the task with other users: Add the user names or the team names to the Owners and the Viewers list, or invite non-members who'll have access to SAP Analytics Cloud before your task starts.
Optional: If you haven't done so already, you can add the task to a process in the Hierarchy section.
- Choose Add Parent Process and select the process, for example, the Q3 2021 Forecast.
- If you've already set a parent process, it is displayed as the parent process. You can select it to see its details. You can remove it and add a different parent process if needed.
Creating this structure helps you stay organized when the planning process involves unlocking, updating, and locking data at different times.

Note

You can select only the processes that you can edit. You need to be the owner or the assignee of the parent process.

If you've set up recurrence for your task, you can't add it to a parent process.
Provide additional information or reminders.
When you have finished filling in the details and are ready to send the task out, select Update below in the Details panel.

Make sure to click the dropdown list next to the status and then select Activate & Notify.

When you activate the task, and you've added some teams that haven't been resolved yet, the teams are resolved automatically. You can remove individual users of the team, for example. Users assigned to multiple teams are only counted once.

If the task has already been activated, you can select Update and Notify to confirm your changes.

Results

Notifications are sent to the involved people. The assignees can submit the task between the start date and the due date. When a data locking owner submits the task, any data slices that they own within the context of the task are set to the target lock state.