Automate a Planning and Predictive Workflow Using Multi Actions
Multi actions help you orchestrate a set of planning and predictive operations across multiple planning models and versions in SAP Analytics Cloud. They link together a sequence of steps such as data actions, version management steps, and predictive steps, which all run from a single planning trigger.
Get to Know Multi Actions
Multi actions can help users save time when they need to run multiple data actions in sequence, publish versions, run predictive scenarios, or combine these operations.
Consider using multi actions if your planning process involves running data actions on multiple versions or models, or publishing data between data actions.
Comparing Data Actions and Multi Actions
Multi actions and data actions are similar in some ways. They both consist of a sequence of steps that you set up in a separate designer. When they’re ready, users can run them in stories or analytic applications using a planning trigger.
The focus is different, however: Data actions let you design a variety of calculations to manipulate planning data; multi actions are all about combining existing operations in a way that simplifies a task for users.
To use multi actions, you also should understand how data actions, parameters, and embedded data action steps work. Refer to Get Started with Data Actions for Planning, Add Parameters to Your Data Actions and Multi Actions, and Adding an Embedded Data Action Step for details.
For example, embedded data actions also let you run multiple data actions with different parameter values. But unlike multi actions, they only work on a single version at a time, and they can only publish that version at the end of the operation.
To determine whether to use a data action or a multi action, check this table:
Use case | Example | Object type |
---|---|---|
Run a data action multiple times on the same version, and then publish it afterwards | You want to run depreciation calculations on several fixed assets for a single budget version. | Data Actions or Multi Actions |
Run data actions on multiple different target versions | You plan on multiple versions simultaneously and you want to populate all of them with initial data. | Multi Actions |
Run data actions on multiple different target models | You need to copy data from a strategic planning model to multiple models such as workforce, sales, and finance models. | Multi Actions |
Run a data action, publish data, and then run another data action | You want to copy initial data to a version, publish it, and then run an advanced formulas calculation on the version to prepare for planning. | Multi Actions |
Run Data actions to prepare data for time series forecasting, refresh the predictive model, and the predicted forecasts in the story version. |
You want to refresh the input data for predictive planning and refresh the predicted forecasts. |
Multi Actions |
Permissions and Prerequisites for Multi Actions
Before creating a multi action, set up the models and data actions involved. For more information, refer to Create a New Model and Get Started with Data Actions for Planning.
To work with multi actions, you’ll need a role with permissions for the Multi Actions object. These permissions can be set in general, and individually for each multi action. For background information, refer to Permissions.
Permission | Description | Standard roles | License requirement |
---|---|---|---|
Create | Lets you create multi actions. | Admin, Modeler | SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, professional edition |
Read | Lets you open the multi actions start page and open multi actions in the designer. It’s also required to add a multi action to a planning trigger, and to run a multi action. | Admin, Modeler, Planner Reporter, Viewer | SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, professional edition or standard edition |
Update | Lets you edit existing multi actions. | Admin, Modeler | SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, professional edition |
Delete | Lets you delete multi actions. | Admin, Modeler | SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, professional edition |
Execute | Lets you run a multi action. | Admin, Modeler, Planner, Reporter, Viewer | SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, professional edition or standard edition |
If you do not have the permissions listed above, you can still add a planning trigger with a multi action to a story, but you will not be able to execute it.
To carry out specific tasks for multi actions, you may also need permissions for the data actions involved, as well as access to the model data that will be changed.
This can include permissions for the model as well as privileges for data access control, model privacy, and data locking, if they are set up. For details, refer to Learn About Data Security in Your Model.
You can read, update, delete and execute a multi action that you’ve created without multi action permissions, but you will need the required permissions to publish your changes.
Multi action permissions | Data action permissions | Model data access | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Task | Read | Update | Execute | Read | Execute | Read | Maintain |
Add a data action step to a multi action | X | X | X | X | |||
Add a version management step to a multi action | X | X | X | ||||
Add a predictive step to a multi action*** | X | X | X | ||||
Set up a multi action trigger* | X | ||||||
Run a multi action with a data action step** | X | X | X | X | X | ||
Run a multi action with a version management step** | X | X | X | X | |||
Run a multi action with predictive step** | X | X | X | X | X | X |
*You can add a planning trigger to a story without Read permission for the multi action, but you will need this permission to select the multi action in the multi action designer. Setting up multi action triggers also requires permissions to edit a story or analytic application.
**If Publish target version automatically was selected on the multi action, a role with the Maintain permission for the planning model is required to successfully publish the changes. You can still run the multi action, but the changes will not publish. Refer to Create, Publish, and Manage Versions of Planning Data for details about publishing permissions.
***You will also need predictive scenario permissions to add a predictive step to a multi action. For more information, refer to Roles and Permissions for Predictive Scenarios.
Create a Multi Action
Prerequisites
You’ll need permissions to create and update multi actions, and read access to any data actions you want to include. For details, refer to Permissions and Prerequisites for Multi Actions.
Context
Planning modelers and admins can create multi actions in the multi actions app by adding steps, arranging the sequence of steps, and adding parameters.
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Data Action Step: Runs a data action with parameter values that you specify in the step, either by setting fixed values or by applying parameters from the multi action.
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Version Management Step: Publishes a version from the model that you specify. You can set the version, or apply a parameter from the multi action.
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Predictive Step: Runs a time series forecast predictive scenario to answer business questions using a predictive model. This step retrains a predictive model based on the current state of your data, and then writes a forecast to a public or private planning version.
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Data Import Step: Runs using data imported from other sources. You can use data from multiple different sources by adding multiple data import steps to the multi action.
NoteThe following import jobs are not supported for multi actions:
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Imported master data
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Job group
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Export job
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Unsupported data source types such as Concur, ERP, Fieldglass, Dataset, and SalesForce
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Imported models from local files
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If there’s an error while running a step, the following steps won’t run. The previous steps will still take effect.
If you will be adding multiple data actions based on the same model and version, it is recommended to embed these data actions into a new data action first. You can then add the new embedded data action to your multi action to improve performance. For more information on embedded data actions, refer to Adding an Embedded Data Action Step.
Procedure
Results
You can also schedule your multi action in the Calendar. For more information, refer to Schedule Multi Actions in the Calendar
Manage Multi Actions
Context
From the multi actions start page, you can open, search, copy, or delete existing multi actions.
Procedure
Task | Steps |
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Find a multi action |
In the Search field, enter the name or description of a multi action, or the user who created or last changed it. To sort the list, hover over a column and select or . |
Copy a multi action |
Select a multi action and choose (Copy the selected multi action). |
Delete multi actions |
Select one or more multi actions and choose (Delete the selected multi actions). |
Refresh the list |
Select (Refresh multi action list). |