AX2175
File groups are sets of files that are used to develop planning or financial data. Each installation of Axiom Software can have as many active file groups as desired.
This section contains conceptual information and design considerations for file groups.
Each file group in Axiom Software uses the following components:
-
Templates define the structure and user interface of the plan. Templates also define where data is brought into each sheet, and other controls.
-
Calc methods define the calculation logic and formatting to be applied to the data in the plan. Each file group has multiple calc method libraries that hold the standard calculations for the plan.
-
Drivers store information and statistics for the plan. Driver files control plan-wide settings, such as the current planning period, and contain plan "drivers" (such as Payroll-related rates and percentages, production or utilization statistics, and conversion rates) that are used in the plan files to calculate and spread data.
-
Plan files are automatically created using a combination of templates, calc methods, and driver data. Once the "base case" plan is created, department managers and other users can access their plan files to complete plan inputs and adjust planning data and calculations as needed (and as permitted by security). The resulting planning data is saved to the database from the plan files.
-
Utilities perform associated functions for a particular file group, such as allocations. Utilities are defined as needed for each file group—your file group may have no utilities, or several.
-
Process management can be used to manage plan files through a set of defined planning steps. When using a plan file process, each plan file has an assigned owner who is responsible for the "task" of editing or reviewing the plan file for that step.
All file group components are stored in the Axiom Software database. Both the source files and the resulting data are stored, so that you can always see the details of how a particular plan value was calculated.
In the Axiom Software file system, each file group has its own folder in the \Axiom\File Groups folder. Within each file group folder, there is a sub-folder for each major component. Administrators can access these folders using Axiom Explorer.
You can access file groups from the Axiom tab or from the Explorer task pane. Using these file group buttons, you can open, create, and process plan files, and manage file group components such as templates and drivers.
By default, only administrators can see the file group administration menu for each file group. Non-admin users only see this menu if they have been specially granted permissions to certain files or features—such as permission to run Process Plan Files, or permission to access a particular driver file. In that case, the menu is limited to only showing what the user has permission to access.
If an end user does not have any special file group permissions, then that user can only see the file group if the user has permission to any plan files in that file group. The file group menu does not display in this case; instead the user sees a single item with the file group name, which can be used to open plan files in the file group.
Although the Explorer task pane displays all file groups that you have security permission to access, the Axiom ribbon tab is configurable and only displays the file groups that have been explicitly placed there for display. For example, a user might have access to four file groups (including file groups for past planning cycles) but the Axiom ribbon tab may be configured to only display the two file groups that are currently in active planning cycles. For more information on how to show file groups on the Axiom ribbon tab (or on other custom ribbon tabs), see Placing file groups on the ribbon.
Plan code tables for file groups
When a file group is first created, it is assigned a specific reference table to be used as the plan code table for the file group. The plan code table holds the list of plan codes for the file group. For example, budgets might be created at the department level, forecasts at the division level, and capital plans at the project level.
The plan code table can be any reference table in the database, representing any list of items that you want to plan for. The same reference table can be used as the plan code table for multiple file groups. Essentially, the plan code table defines the "dimension" by which you want to plan.
Generally speaking, there is a plan file for each code in the plan code table, although there does not have to be. For example, multiple codes in the plan code table could be mapped to another code, and then all planning for those codes could be done in one plan file.
The plan code table can be a predefined list of items, such as departments, or an undefined list that is created on demand, such as ID codes for capital project requests. File groups that use undefined lists are known as on-demand file groups, and have some additional setup considerations and differing process flows than "standard" file groups. For more information, see On-demand file groups.
In addition to the list of plan codes, the plan code table can contain a number of other columns. These columns can be used for grouping and filtering purposes (for example: VP, Region, Manager) or to enable certain system processes. For example, you can create a column that controls whether a particular plan code will be included in file group processes. Any column can be used for these system processes; when you define the file group, you specify which column is to be used (if any).
The plan code table must already exist in order to create a file group that uses it. Once a file group has been created, you can only change its plan code table if the file group has no plan files; otherwise the setting is locked and cannot be changed.
Each Axiom Software system can have as many file groups as necessary to meet your planning needs. Multiple file groups can be used for many different purposes:
-
Differing levels or categories of planning. For example, you might have one file group for department-level budgeting, and another file group for division-level forecasting.
-
Archival. Once a planning cycle is complete, you can create a new file group to start a new cycle of planning, and keep the old file group as an archive. You can also clone a file group at any point in time to create an archive copy of it.
-
Scenarios and versions. You can clone a file group to create a different version or scenario, make changes to the drivers, and compare the differences.
-
Security. For example, you may need to restrict access to certain areas of the budget, such as payroll. You could use several file groups, all tied to the same plan code table, but where the plan files in each file group cover a different aspect of planning—payroll, capital, revenue, expenses. You could then limit user access on a per file group basis. Because plan files can query the database like a report, you could have a summary section in each plan file, summarizing the totals of the other budget areas for reference, but not revealing the detail.
