Einstein Analytics: Using XMD (Extended Metadata) for Percentage

Getting Started
When we configure Einstein Analytics Dataset, we not realize have been playing around with XMD (Extended Metadata).

When you explore dataset to a lens, and click "Fields" for:
- Rename
- Edit Values
- Number Format
Save the changes will update Dataset XMD.

Let us load a CSV file

Here is the blank structure of XMD file:
{
  "dataset": {},
  "dates": [],
  "derivedDimensions": [],
  "derivedMeasures": [],
  "dimensions": [],
  "measures": [],
  "organizations": [],
  "showDetailsDefaultFields": []
}


Let us create a dashboard based on that CSV file

Now, let us do "Fields" edit from lens with Rename, Edit Values, and Number Format. Here is the updated XMD file
{
  "dataset": {},
  "dates": [],
  "derivedDimensions": [],
  "derivedMeasures": [],
  "dimensions": [
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "customActions": [],
      "field": "Column1",
      "label": "Name",
      "members": [
        {
          "label": "John",
          "member": "Lee"
        }
      ],
      "recordDisplayFields": [],
      "salesforceActions": []
    }
  ],
  "measures": [
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Data_1",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"0.00%\",100]"
      }
    },
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Data_2",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"#,###\",1]"
      }
    }
  ],
  "organizations": [],
  "showDetailsDefaultFields": []
}

Highlight notes:
- Yellow = rename
- Green = edit value
- Aqua = number format as Percent
- Fuchsia = number format as Number


Now, open back the dashboard (you need to close it first if the dashboard still open).

Usage in SAQL field
Let us do a simple SAQL to the widget to produce total Data-1 + Data-2 and Data-1 / Data-2.

q = load "percent_data";
q = group q by 'Column1';
q = foreach q generate 'Column1' as 'Column1', sum('Data_1') as 'sum_Data_1', sum('Data_2') as 'sum_Data_2';
q = foreach q generate 'Column1' as 'Column1', 'sum_Data_1' + 'sum_Data_2' as 'Total', 'sum_Data_1' / 'sum_Data_2' as 'Result_1';
q = order q by 'Column1' asc;

* notice that we still use Column1 as this is referred to the field API name

The SAQL produce two new fields which do not exist in the dataset: Total and Result_1.

However, we need to show them in the percentage format, so we need to add in the XMD file, because this is a measure field and it does not exist in the dataset, we should add it into derivedMeasures.

{
  "dataset": {},
  "dates": [],
  "derivedDimensions": [],
  "derivedMeasures": [
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Total",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"#.##%\",1]"
      },
      "label": "Total",
      "showInExplorer": false
    },
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Result_1",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"#.##%\",1]"
      },
      "label": "Result",
      "showInExplorer": true
    }  
  ],
  "dimensions": [
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "customActions": [],
      "field": "Column1",
      "label": "Name",
      "members": [
        {
          "label": "John",
          "member": "Lee"
        }
      ],
      "recordDisplayFields": [],
      "salesforceActions": []
    }
  ],
  "measures": [
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Data_1",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"0.00%\",100]"
      }
    },
    {
      "conditionalFormatting": {},
      "field": "Data_2",
      "format": {
        "customFormat": "[\"#,###\",1]"
      }
    }
  ],
  "organizations": [],
  "showDetailsDefaultFields": []
}

Notes:
1. add those field under derivedMeasures
2. field name can be different with label
3. you can set the field visibility in explorer


Here is the end result:

When you browse the dataset into a lens and open the Fields

JSON Online Editor
When you download XMD JSON file from Einstein Analytics and open in Notepad++, it would be show as one row only, where it is impossible for you to read.edit it. You can use JSON Online Editor to show as tree format, by copy and paste the JSON text into the left text area, click the right arrow to show as tree format.

Then to get human eye friendly JSON format, click left arrow and the text at the right will reformat.

Reference:

• Extended Metadata (XMD) Overview
• Tool: JSON Online Editor

Einstein Analytics: Default Widget Style and Transparent Widget

Default Widget Style
When you drag a new widget into dashboard designer, in many times we need to change the widget style, from: background color, border, border color, border width, border radius. You also need to make sure to have a consistent style across the widgets. It is not an issue if you have only a few widgets, but when you have more and more widgets, this manual setting takes time and you may choose the wrong color or style.

Make use of Default style
When you expand Widget Style property, the 1st option and it is ticked by default is "Use defaults".

When this option is selected, all properties defined for Widget Style will be ignored.

Defined Default Widget Style
From Dashboard Properties (click  ... icon at top right)

Then you will found "Widget Default Properties", so configure the background color, border, border color, border width, border radius here.

So when you drag a new widget, the style will be applied, if not, make sure "Use default" is selected. If you change the default style from dashboard properties, all the existing widget will be adjusted to the new style.


Layout Properties
Just to make it clear, dashboard properties is not the same with layout properties, even both applied to the whole pages (if you have multiple pages in the dashboard). You can set layout properties by clicking gear icon with layout name (by default is called "Default"), at the top left of dashboard designer.

In layout properties, you can define:
- Name
- Number of Columns
- Row Height
- Cell Spacing: Horizontal and Vertical
- Max Dashboard Width
- Background Color: Grid and Gutter


Transparent Widget 
Transparent widget means, no background color for the widget, it will follow layout properties grid color. You can define the transparent background color as default widget style or to for independent widget.

For default widget style, from dashboard properties, click the background color, then select Custom scroll the bar to the left

You can implement the same for an individual widget, just make sure "Use defaults" is not selected. You can compare the following 2 widgets below, the upper one with transparent background, and the lower one with white background.

Salesforce: ForecastingQuota and ForecastingItem object

ForecastingQuota, this object stores an individual user’s or territory’s quota for a specified time period. The “Manage Quotas” user permission is required for creating, updating, or deleting quotas.  The “View All Forecasts” permission is required to View any user's forecast, regardless of the forecast hierarchy. Available in API versions 25 and greater. Object Id prefix is 0J9.

Once the quota added from the setup menu or Data Loader, it will be stored in this object and you can query it.

Query ForecastingQuota
SELECT Id, ForecastingTypeId, QuotaAmount, QuotaOwnerId, QuotaOwner.Name, StartDate FROM ForecastingQuota ORDER BY StartDate DESC

ForecastingItem, this is a read-only object used for individual forecast amounts. Users see amounts based on their perspectives and forecast roles. Available in API versions 26 and greater. Object Id prefix is 0G3.

The amounts users see include one of the following when forecasting in revenue: AmountWithoutAdjustments, AmountWithoutManagerAdjustment, ForecastAmount, OwnerOnlyAmount.

The amounts users see include one of the following when forecasting in quantity: QuantityWithoutAdjustments, QuantityWithoutManagerAdjustment, ForecastQuantity, OwnerOnlyQuantity.

Additionally, note that users:
- with the “View All Forecasts” permission have access to all ForecastingItem fields.
- without the “View All Forecasts” permission have access to all fields for their own subordinates and child territories.
Other users can see the ForecastingItem object, but not its records.

Let us see a sample of how the data is stored
SELECT Id, OwnerId, Owner.Name, ForecastAmount, ForecastCategoryName, ForecastingTypeId, PeriodId FROM ForecastingItem WHERE Period.StartDate = 2019-07-01 ORDER BY ForecastingTypeId, Owner.Name, ForecastCategoryName

** unfortunately we cannot do relationship query for ForecastingType

figure 1

Notes from the above query and the result:
- ForecastCategoryName is Forecast Category which is mapped to Stage
- There is no forecast period in this object, but PeriodId, so we can use it to determine Forecast period
- ForecastingTypeId is referred to Forecast Type configured

Query ForecastingType
SELECT Id, DateType, DeveloperName, MasterLabel, RoleType FROM ForecastingType WHERE IsActive = true

soql result from ForecastingType

Now let us see the data by running an Opportunity report:

figure 2

Then let us also see the Forecast result:

figure 3

Now, let us compare how is the data stored in ForecastingItem object, remember this object is read-only, so we can't update it manually.

• Figure 1; row 1; Charlie User C in Jul 2019; for Forecast Category = Pipeline with Forecast Amount = $55,000 -- if you see figure 3, it is $0 for Charlie User C, but since Dave User D is reported to Charlie in the role hierarchy, so amount from Dave roll-up to Charlie
• Figure 1; row 2; Charlie User C in Jul 2019; for Forecast Category = Closed with Forecast Amount = $295,000 -- look at figure 3, this amount is sum of $120,000 (Dave's amount) + $139,500 (Charlie's amount). If we further drill Charlie's amount of $139,500 -- look at figure 2, it is the sum of row 1 ($50,000) and row 2 ($89,500)
• Figure 1; row 3; Dave User D in Jul 2019; for Forecast Category = Pipeline with Forecast Amount =$55,000 -- as no one report to Dave in the role hierarchy, this number is only his opportunity, drill down to figure 2, it is row 3 ($15,000) + row 4 ($40,000) 
• Figure 1; row 3; this is simply Dave User D amount for Forecast Category = Closed
• Figure 2; row 6; this is not calculated into ForecastingItem, because forecasting setting in this example in monthly, while row 6 closed date is Aug 2019.

In this sample, we are using monthly forecast setting, Salesforce also supports option to use Quarter forecast period too.


Reference:

• ForecastingQuota
• ForecastingItem

Salesforce: Forecast attainment report

Forecast is always a big part in CRM, and of course, it is available in Salesforce. Forecast has been gone through 3 types in Salesforce, with the current Forecast called "Collaborative Forecast", even you will see it just as "Forecast" in the setup menu, tab, and label.

We have discussed collaborative forecast many times in this blog, and today will discuss Forecast attainment report. But, here are blogs related to collaborative forecast:

• Forecast Category (Jun-2013)
• Forecast Hierarchy and Roll-up (Nov-2014)
• Configure Collaborative Forecast (Dec-2014)
• Adding Quota in Collaborative Forecast (Dec-2014)
• Adding Opportunity Split in Collaborative Forecast (Dec-2014)
• Setup Overlay Splits Forecast (Feb-2018)
• Using Custom Field for Forecast (Feb-2019)

Some of the above blogs probably not updated, particularly since the Lightning experience, e.g. to set user quota, there is a setup menu in Lightning called "Forecasts Quotas", this menu is not visible in Classic setup menu, but of course, you can still use Data Loader to load user quotas.


Here is the step to create a quota attainment report:

Create Custom Report Type
1. For Primary Object, select Forecasting Quotas
2. For Report Type Label, enter Forecasting Details
3. Add description, such as "Forecast Items and Quota"
4. Store in Forecast category
5. Select Deployed and Next
6. Click to relate another object, select object Forecasting Items
7. Select "A records may or may not have related B records"
8. Click Save

Add Quota from the Setup menu
1. Make sure you are in Lightning and "Show quotas" has been enabled in Forecasts Settings.
2. Navigate to the setup menu and search for Forecasts Quotas.

3. Select a forecast period and forecast type, then click "Show Quotas".
4. Search by username or roles; then enter the Quota and Currency for each user within the selected period.


Forecast
Let us see a sample of Forecast with some adjustment made by the manager and the user.

As you see there are a few manual adjustments marked with orange triangles.


Quota Attainment Report
Now, let us create a quota attainment report using report type created above in this blog.

Notes:
- Maria Jones quota for Q2-2019 is USD 80,000.00 -- this is "Quota Amount"
- Maria Jones closed won opportunity for Q2-2019 is USD 30,000 -- this is "Forecast Amount"
- There is an adjustment of USD 5,000.00 made by Maria Jones's manager for Q2-2019 for Booked category

- Mars Rover quota for Q2-2019 is USD 100,000.00 (Quota Amount)
- He has closed won opportunity USD 150,000.00 (Forecast Amount) which is 50% over his target
- There is an adjustment of USD 7,000.00 made by Mars Rover himself for Q2-2019 for Booked category



Reference: Trailhead module Create Forecasting Reports

Einstein Analytics: Handling null values

This blog is not related to Null Handling in Measures. As per this article, null values in Dimensions are not completely supported in Einstein Analytics, however, we often deal with null values in many scenarios.

To prevent data quality issues, Einstein Analytics will disregard any fields in Salesforce (or columns in external data) that are entirely null.

Grouping with Null
Date field by default is null, when you use it in a chart for grouping, null value will not be shown. To overcome this, if you pull data from Salesforce, use defaultValue (e.g. 1900-01-01) to override in sfdcDigest.

Dimension field by default is null, when you use it in a chart for grouping, null value will not be shown. To overcome this, if you pull data from Salesforce, use defaultValue (e.g. NA, " is not needed) to override in sfdcDigest.

Measure field by default will become 0 for null value. We cannot use Measure field for grouping, but we can use it for filter.


Filter null records in SAQL
q = load "DTC_Opportunity_SAMPLE";
q = foreach q generate 'Account_Owner' as 'Account_Owner', 'Product_Name' as 'Product_Name', (case when 'Product_Name' is null then "" else 'Product_Name' end) as 'PM';
q = filter q by PM == "";
q = order q by 'Account_Owner';
q = limit q 10;

Count Not null records in SAQL
q = load "Lead";
q = foreach q generate (case when 'SFDC_Lead_ID__c' is null then "" else 'SFDC_Lead_ID__c' end) as 'SFDC_Lead_ID__c';
q = filter q by 'SFDC_Lead_ID__c' != "";
q = group q by all;
q = foreach q generate count() as 'count';

To group null as NA
q = load "DTC_Opportunity_SAMPLE";
q = foreach q generate coalesce('Product_Name',"NA") as 'Product_Name', count() as count ;
q = group q by 'Product_Name';
q = foreach q generate 'Product_Name' as 'Product_Name', count() as count;
q = order q by count desc;


Augment transformation cannot find the parent will cause Null

SAQL Expression in above computeExpression case when 'Acq.Industry__c' is null then "Parent not available" else 'Acq.Industry__c' end

Data in Salesforce

Result in Einstein Analytics

Notes from above screenshot:

• 1st row for Parent Industry = NA, because we set the default value to NA in sfdcDigest.
• 1st and 2nd row for Account Source = null, because we set the default value to null in sfdcDigest.
• 1st row for Employees and 2nd row for Annual Revenue = 0, Einstein Analytics auto set 0 for Measure field with null value.
• 3rd and 4th row for Parent Industry = Parent not available, this is because there is parent lookup value, we use computeExpression to set the value, this is different with 1st row, where the parent lookup value is available, but Industry for that parent record is null.

Reference:

• Enable Null Measure Handling
• Limitations of Null Values in Dimensions in Einstein Analytics
• Null Handling in Einstein Analytics
• Overriding Salesforce Field Metadata

Salesforce: Account Hierarchy columns & Recently Viewed columns

Can we customize the Account Hierarchy columns?

Classic - NO
This is the article and this is the idea.

Lightning - YES
Here is the article and here the steps:

• From Setup, at the top of the page, select Object Manager.
• In Account, click Hierarchy Columns and then click New button if never created, or Edit link to edit the columns.
• You can include up to 15 columns.

When you create Hierarchy Columns, system will auto create a new list view called "Org_Account_Hierarchy" and added to the Accounts list view menu, you can rename it, but not to change the sharing setting, deleting this item resets the columns to the defaults.

By default -- no hierarchy column setup, account hierarchies display the same columns as the Recently Viewed Accounts standard list view. However, the list view columns don’t change when you customize the hierarchy columns.

Recently Viewed List
In Classic, when we click a tab, such as Accounts tab, by default it will show "Recent Accounts" with columns defined in Search Layouts - Tab

While switching to Lightning, click Accounts tab will bring open the "Recently Viewed" list view (if pinned list view has not changed), list view columns in "Recently Viewed" is defined in Search Layouts - Search Result. This view isn’t deletable, change the visibility, or rename.

However, you will found another list view with a similar name but include object name in Lightning, e.g. Recently Viewed Accounts, however, we cannot configure the columns for this view (until Summer '19 release), and unable to delete, change the visibility, or rename it. So the easier is just to ignore it.

Reference:

• Unable to customize the standard 'Account Hierarchy' view in Classic UI
• Set Up Account Hierarchy in Lightning Experience
• Select Fields to Display in the Recently Viewed List on Object Home Pages in Lightning Experience
• Duplicate view when viewing 'Recently Viewed' objects in Lightning