AX1501

Designing Home files for Axiom Software

Home files are designed using Axiom reports. They can be regular spreadsheet reports, form-enabled reports, or web reports. Your organization may use one Home file for all users, or you may use multiple Home files that are designed for different roles.

Using spreadsheet reports as Home files

You can use almost any Axiom Financial Planning feature in a spreadsheet Home file. For example, you can use Axiom queries and other query methods in the Home file to show current data that refreshes when the file is opened.

The primary goal of the Home file should be to communicate information, not to perform tasks. The Home file can be graphical and use text to communicate information about the planning process to your end users. Some features, such as save-to-database, cannot be performed in spreadsheet Home files.

The default Control Sheet is automatically hidden for any file that is used as the home page. You do not need to manually hide this sheet when designing a spreadsheet Axiom report to be used as a Home file.

NOTE: If a spreadsheet Home file has refresh variables, the refresh variables cannot be displayed when the file is opened. If the file is configured with Refresh Forms Run Behavior of OnManualRefreshAndOpen or OnOpenOnly, the variables will not display and the refresh-on-open query will not be run.

Using Axiom forms as Home files

Many clients use Axiom forms as Home files, because the web presentation is well-suited to the purpose of a home page, regardless of which client you are using. Web pages can present summary information in a more attractive and user-friendly way than a spreadsheet.

Additionally, Axiom forms provide pre-built support for certain information that is commonly included in Home files, such as:

  • Announcements
  • Current process tasks
  • Process summary

Although it is possible to present this information in spreadsheet Home files, it requires developing a custom solution. Axiom forms support standardized, configurable components that are specifically designed to present this information.

When using an Axiom form as the Home file in the Web Client, keep in mind that the Home file is displayed instead of the built-in browse page for Axiom forms. Therefore, all necessary form navigation should either be incorporated in the Home file itself, or included in the navigation panel of the Web Client container.

Editing Home files

You can edit Home files just like any other Axiom report. If you are using the default Home file in the Startup folder, only administrators can edit that file. If you are using custom Home files located in the Reports Library and assigned via Security, access to those files is controlled using normal file security.

If the Home file that you want to edit is currently open as your Home file in the Desktop Client, then you must first close the Home file so that you can open it with read/write permissions.

  1. Click the X button on the Home file tab to close the Home file (or right-click the file tab and click Close). Note that you must have at least one other file open before you can close the Home file (otherwise Axiom Financial Planning will close if no files are currently open).

  2. Open the file using Axiom Explorer, and edit it as desired. Once you have finished your edits, save and close the file.

  3. You can now re-open the file as the Home file by clicking Show Home in the Axiom ribbon.

Because you have reopened the Home file, you will see your edits immediately. Other users will see the changes the next time that they log in (or if they close and then reopen the Home file within their current session).

NOTE: If the Home file has been configured as non-closeable in Security, then you will not be able to close it. In this case, you must use Save As to save the Home file with a different name, then make your edits in that file. To replace the existing file with your new file, you should export the new file, then rename it locally to have the same name as the original file, then import it over the original file. This process will retain the document ID of the original file.