Create a Data Action

In SAP Analytics Cloud, you can create a data action by specifying a source model, and then add steps to the data action.

Prerequisites

To create a data action, you must have the appropriate permissions for the Data Action item. For example, the modeler and admin roles contain these permissions.

Context

Follow these steps to create a data action from scratch. You can also copy an existing data action by opening (Data Actions) from the side navigation, selecting a data action, and choosing (Copy the selected data action).

Procedure

  1. Select (Data Actions) from the side navigation to open the data actions start page, then select Data Action in the Create New section.

    When working on a planning model in the modeler, you can also create a data action based on it by selecting (Actions) and selecting Data Action.

  2. In the Data Action Settings pane, type a Name for the data action, and optionally type a Description.
  3. Select the Default Model for the data action.

    Most steps will use this model as the data source and target. For cross-model copy steps, this model will be the target, and you can pick a different source model. You can also read and copy data from different models in advanced formulas steps.

    To open the default model in the modeler, select .
    Note

    You also have the option to change the default model after adding steps. If you change the default model after steps have already been added, you might get some validation errors. The validation errors will be marked and you can fix them manually.

  4. Select (Save Data Action).
  5. Create parameters for the data action as necessary. To learn how, see Add Parameters to Your Data Actions and Multi Actions
  6. Add copy steps, cross-model copy steps, allocation steps, embedded data action steps, conversion steps, and advanced formulas steps as necessary.
  7. Complete the data action by editing, reordering, copying, and deleting steps as necessary.
    • To open a step for editing, select it in the left pane.
    • Undo or redo any changes by selecting (Undo) or (Redo) in the Operations toolbar.
    • To reorder steps, drag them up or down in the left pane.
    • To copy a step, select it in the left pane and choose (Duplicate Step).
    • To delete a step, select it in the left pane and choose (Delete Step).
  8. When the data action is complete, select (Save Data Action).

Results

You can debug your saved data action with tracing, to make sure it works as expected. For more information, see Get to Know the Data Action Tracing.

When your data action is ready, it can be set up to run it in a few different ways: