GL Wand User Guide

Version
4.05
GL Wand Installation & User Guide
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Excel4Apps (Pty) Ltd
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Using GL Wand
Toolbar
The GL Wand toolbar gives you access to all the functionality of GL Wand.
The Menu
Functions can also be accessed from the GL Wand drop down menu.
Shortcut keys
Frequently used functions like calculate Range, calculate Sheet and calculate All can also be
executed with ALT+CTL+R, ALT+CTL+S and ALT+CTL+A.
Logging on
- Not logged on, click to log on
- Logged on, click to log on again
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The first step in using GL Wand is to log on to the Oracle instance that you intend using.
You can log on to the online Vision instance or you can log on to your own Oracle
Applications instance.
See also the Creating Connections section.
There are two possible logon methods that GL Wand can use. The method is determined by
a setting on the GL Wand Options form. The method can be Oracle or Excel. It is also
possible to access your segment values descriptive flexfields by enabling the option during
the logon.
Oracle Logon Method
The Oracle option is the new logon method which utilizes the Oracle web based screen to
capture your user name and password. This method is also compliant with Oracle Single Sign
On. When you click the sign on button you are presented with the screen below where you
select which Oracle connection you wish to use.
When you click the logon button the Oracle log on screen will appear. Enter your applications
user name and password.
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When you click Login on this web browser the window will close and you will be presented
with a list of responsibilities that are linked to your user name. You will see one of the two
windows displayed below. If your site is licensed to use the GL Wand Multiple Sets of Books
feature, you will see the image on the right. Else the screen will appear like the image on the
left. Trial users using an in-house trial key will by default have access to the Multiple Set of
Books (MSOB) feature.
Select the responsibility that you wish to use and click ok. If you are licensed to use the GL
Wand MSOB feature you can select multiple responsibilities. Click an item to select it and
click it again to unselect it.
If you are licensed to use the MSOB feature you also have the option of logging on to all the
available sets of books. This option must be enabled by setting the applicable profile option
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at user level. With the profile option set to yes for a particular user, that user will have an
extra item in the list of available responsibilities. This All Sets of Books option allows a user
to log on to all the sets of books configured in the Oracle instance without needing to select
multiple responsibilities.
Please note that when logging on with the All Sets of Books option, no security rules are
enforced. For this reason you must enable this option for those GL Wand users that are
authorized to report across all the configured sets of books. By default this options is
disabled for all users.
If you log on to an Oracle Release 12 instance and the data access set linked to the chosen
responsibility contains more than one ledger or ledger set you will be logged on to all the
applicable ledgers.
Excel Logon Method
The Excel logon method is the same mechanism that was used in previous GL Wand
versions. This method should not be used unless the Oracle method does not function
correctly. Again there are two possible windows that you will be presented with depending in
whether you are licensed to use the GL Wand Multiple Sets of Books feature.
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Descriptive Flexfields
If you wish to report on segment value descriptive flexfields, tick this option on the logon
form. This will load the descriptive flexfield information. This option is by default un-ticked as
loading this information unnecessarily would slow down the logon process.
Proxy Authentication
If you are connecting to an Oracle instance on the Internet and your organization uses a
proxy server that requires authentication to access the Internet (in addition to the domain
logon), GL Wand will prompt you for your proxy user name and password if required.
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Enter the required user name and password and click OK. Then click the logon button again.
License Key
If you have not yet obtained a trial license key for the instance that you are logging on to,
you will prompted with the option to request a key. Click Yes to open a web page where
you can request a trial key or No to continue without requesting a key.
Customers that have licensed GL Wand will use this exact same process to request the final
non-expiring keys.
Set of Books and Segment Selector

- Set of Books and Segment selector
Once you have logged on, the set of books and segment list dropdowns will be populated.
Set of Books
The set of books drop down list can be used to select the set of books that you wish to work
with. If you log on to a single set of books this dropdown list will contain a single value only.
However, if you are licensed to use the GL Wand Multiple Sets of Books feature or are in
trial, then this list will contain multiple values in the following situations:
If you selected multiple responsibilities during the logon process all the sets of books
linked to those responsibilities will be listed.
If you selected the special All Sets of Books option all the sets of books configured
in the Oracle instance will be listed.
If you log on to an Oracle Release 12 instance and the data access set linked to the
chosen responsibility contains more than one ledger or ledger set, then each of these
ledgers will be listed.
The number in brackets () indicates the Set of Books identifier. This number can be used in
various GL Wand formulas and other functionality in order to obtain information from a
specific Set of Books.
Segments
This dropdown list will be populated with a list of the segments that are available in the
currently selected Set of Books. The number in brackets indicates the segment number. The
segment list also includes the special value Period which is used for discovering the period
names in your set of books.
In the example shown the selected segment is Company and it is identified as segment 1.
Certain dynamic functions require the segment number as an input parameter.
Discovering
The discover tools allow you to extract segment information from the Oracle Applications
database and populate Excel cells with this information. You can use the discover tools to
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extract segment values, segment properties, periods or child ranges or the full segment
hierarchy. For segment values you can use the discover level to choose whether to retrieve
child values, parent values or both.
Discover Segment Values
- Discover Down
- Discover Down All
- Discover Up
1. Select a cell and enter a valid starting segment value e.g. 1000 into the cell.
2. Choose the relevant segment from the segment list e.g. Account.
3. Now click the Discover Down button.

GL Wand finds the next valid account segment value after account 1000 and enters this
value in the cell below the one that you started in.
In the same way you can click the up arrow and the previous segment value will be entered
in the cell above the one that you started in.
- Discover Left
- Discover Right
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- Discover Right All

The left and right arrows work in a similar manner, retrieving the next and previous segment
values but they populate the cells to the left and right of the cell that you start in. When
discovering segment values you will notice that some of the values are entered with a bold
font. This is because these have been identified as parent values.
You do not need to discover segment values one at a time.
You can enter a starting segment value, choose the segment from the segment list
and then highlight a range of cells.
When you click one of the discover buttons now, GL Wand fills the selected range
with the next or previous segment values depending on which arrow you click on.
The Discover Down All and Discover Right All buttons can be used to retrieve all the
segment values in one operation.
Discover Period Names
You can discover period names in much the same way that you can discover segment
values.
1. Select a cell and enter a valid starting period name e.g. Jan-03 into the cell.
NB make sure that you enter this starting period name as text by first formatting the Excel
cell as text or entering the period name prefixed by an apostrophe e.g. Jan-03. If Excel
interprets the value entered as an actual date e.g. 01/01/2003 then discover period names
will not work.
2. Choose the special Period value from the segment list.
3. Now click the Discover Down button.
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GL Wand finds the next period name after Jan-07 in the Set of Books calendar and enters
this value in the cell below the one that you started in.
You can also use the Discover Down All, Discover Previous, Discover Right, Discover
Right All and Discover Left buttons to discover period names.
Discover Properties
- Discover segment properties
The Discover Properties button will extract a variety of information about the selected
segment value.
To use this function,
1. Select a cell(s) with a valid segment value in it.
2. Make sure the correct segment is selected in the segment selector.
3. Click the Discover Properties button.

The cells to the right of the selected cell are populated with segment information.
The first cell indicates the segment description, the second cell indicates if the value is a
parent or not (Y means the segment value is a parent), the third cell indicates if the segment
value is enabled or not (Y means that the segment value is enabled) and the fourth cell
indicates what account type the segment value is e.g. Asset or Liability etc. Obviously the
forth cell is only valid for the natural account segment.
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Discover Child Ranges

- Discover child ranges
The Discover Child Ranges button can be used to show the child values that are assigned
to a particular parent value.
1. Select a cell that has a parent segment value.
2. Identify its segment number to the GL Wand by selecting the relevant segment from the
segment list dropdown.
3. Now click on the Discover Child Ranges button.

An Excel note is added to the cell showing the ranges that have been assigned to the
selected parent. This is useful for understanding and exploring your Chart of Accounts.
Discover Hierarchy
To discover the hierarchy for a segment proceed as follows:
Enter the starting segment value into an Excel cell. This value must be a parent for
the segment you are using.
Identify the segment number to GL Wand by selecting the relevant segment from the
Select Discover Hierarchy from the Discover menu.
GL Wand will extract the full hierarchy for the selected parent and display it in the
Excel worksheet, indenting the various levels in the hierarchy.
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Toggle Discover Level

- Toggle discover level
The Discover level button is used to restrict the segment values that are returned by the
discover tools to parent values only, child values only or both parent and child values.
When you click on this button it toggles from discovering parents and children to discovering
parents only to discovering child values only.
For example,
1.
2.
3.
4.
Select a cell and enter a starting segment value.

Choose the segment from the segment list.
Click the discover level until the option is set to Discovering Parents.
Now highlight a range of cells and click the Discover Down button.
GL Wand fills the selected range with the next segment values but skips all child values and
returns only parent values. Similarly, child values can be discovered by toggling the
discover level to Discovering children.
If you want to discover both parent and children toggle the discover level back to
Discovering parents and children.
All segment values must be entered using the Excel text format. Either format the cell using
the text number format or enter the cell value using the apostrophe character which marks
the contents of the cell as text e.g. if you want to enter the segment value 001 enter it as
follows 001.
Expand
- Expand
You can perform an expand down to the lowest level children (explained below) or you can
expand using the hierarchy going down one level or expanding the full hierarchy.
The Expand feature allows you to extract a list of all the lowest level child values that roll up
to a particular segment selection. This might be a parent value, range, wild card or a
combination of these options.
1. Select a cell that has a segment selection e.g. a parent value.
2. Identify its segment number to the GL Wand by selecting the relevant segment from the
3. Click the expand button
4. The child values are retrieved from Oracle and are inserted below the selected cell.
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You can also highlight a number of columns and GL Wand will insert the child values and
copy the contents of the highlighted cells against each child value that is inserted.
1. Select a cell that has a segment selection and highlight the number of columns that you
would like to have copied into the new rows.
2. Identify its segment number to GL Wand by selecting the relevant segment from the
3. Click the expand button
4. The child values are retrieved from Oracle and are inserted below the selected cell.
5. The contents of the additional columns that were selected are copied against each new
row inserted. In the example below this contains a generic Get Balance formula which is
then resolved for each child value.
You also have the option of selecting multiple rows when performing an Expand. GL Wand
will perform an expand on each selected row.
The expand feature can also be used with account combinations. Please see the Special Get
Balance Criteria section for details on how this works.
Expand Hierarchy (1 Level)
This option works in exactly the same manner as the Expand feature except that it will
expand using the defined hierarchy. For this option to work your starting cell must contain a
single parent value. GL Wand will extract the values one level down the hierarchy and list
them below the starting cell.
Expand Hierarchy (Full)
This option works in exactly the same manner as the Expand feature except that it will
expand using the defined hierarchy. For this option to work your starting cell must contain a
single parent value. GL Wand will extract the full hierarchy and list all the values below the
starting cell, indenting the various levels in the hierarchy.
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Undo Expand
- Undo Expand
The expand operation inserts rows into the worksheet to allow the child data to be
populated. If you would like to quickly remove the expand data click the undo expand
button. GL Wand will remove the inserted data from the most recent expand operation.
Please note that the expand operation formats the inserted rows in a particular way e.g. the
segment values are indented. The undo expand operation relies on this formatting in order
to process correctly. If you modify the formatting of the expanded rows the undo expand
may not function correctly.
Refresh Expand
- Refresh Expand
The expand operation fetches the child data that meets the criteria that you enter and
inserts it into new rows in the workbook. This data may change over time e.g. you may
expand a parent value and over time the definition of that parent is modified. Use the
refresh expand button to retrieve the most recent data from Oracle as follows:
Highlight the entire range of expanded data.
This must include the criteria row that drives the expand operation e.g. the row
containing the parent value.
Click the refresh expand button.
GL Wand will remove the old expand data and will refresh the expand with the latest
information.
Please note that the expand operation formats the inserted rows in a particular way e.g. the
segment values are indented. The refresh expand operation relies on this formatting in order
to process correctly. If you modify the formatting of the expanded rows the refresh expand
may not function correctly.
Explode Report
- Explode report
You can perform an explode down to the lowest level children (explained below) or you can
explode using the hierarchy going down one level or expanding the full hierarchy.
Explode report works in a similar way to the expand feature. The difference is that where
expand inserts a new row in the worksheet for each child value found, explode creates a new
worksheet in the current workbook for each child value found. For example:
Start with a complete GL Wand report.
Select the cell in the report that drive the Get Balance formulas e.g. a department
parent value in the report header.
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Click the explode report button.

GL Wand will duplicate the worksheet for each child value found for the selected
parent.
Explode Hierarchy (1 Level)
This option works in exactly the same manner as the Explode feature except that it will
Explode using the defined hierarchy. For this option to work your starting cell must contain a
single parent value. GL Wand will extract the values one level down the hierarchy and create
a new worksheet for each value.
Explode Hierarchy (Full)
This option works in exactly the same manner as the Explode feature except that it will
Explode using the defined hierarchy. For this option to work your starting cell must contain a
single parent value. GL Wand will extract the full hierarchy and create a new worksheet for
each value.
Open List of Values

- Open list of values
The segment list of values form can be used to search through the segment values and
descriptions for a specific segment. First pick the segment from the segment list
dropdown and then click the segment list of values button. The list of values for the chosen
segment is displayed.
You can enter a value to search for in the find box. The list of values will be filtered to show
only items that match the text entered in the find box. The text entered in the find box is
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compared to the segment value and segment description. An item will be included in the
results if either field contains the text entered in the find box.
In the list section you can start entering a segment value (e.g. Account number) and the list
will scroll to the item matching the values that you have entered.
Click the Add button, double click an item in the list or press enter to add the current item
to the selection list on the right. You can also click and drag an item to add it to the selection
list.
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If you want to add a range like 1000-2000 do the following.

Start by adding the 1000 value using one of the options explained above.
Then find the 2000 value in the master list.
Ensure that the 2000 value is highlighted in the master list and the 1000 value is
highlighted in the selection list and click the Add Range button.
You can also drag a value from the master list onto an existing value in the selection
list to create a range.
To remove an item from the selection list, ensure that it is highlighted and then click the
Remove button or press the Delete key.
Every segment will have the additional value called All. Selecting this value will add a %
to the parameter list which means All values. If All is selected then all other selections
will be removed and replaced with a %.
If you want to include certain values and exclude others you can use the Add Exclude
option. This will add the highlighted value to the selection list prefixed by the reserved
exclude character ~.
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You can add any combination of the options mentioned above to produce your own
calculation
Once you have added all the required segment values to the selection list click OK to copy
the list to the clipboard. You can then paste these values into a Get Balance function or
anywhere else on the Excel sheet.
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Create List of Values

- Create list of values
This feature can be used to quickly format a cell to be a special list of values cell. There are
two types. The first type inserts a drop down list of values in the cell and is used for balance
types, translated flags and actual flags.
The second type creates a link to the standard list of values form. It is used for segment
values, periods and balance and encumbrance names.
The cell is identified by a note containing the word LOV. In order to open the list of values,
simply double click the cell or select the cell and click the List of Values button
on the
toolbar. This will open the list of values form for the specific data type that the list of values
cell was created for. In the example this was the department segment.
The checkbox allows you to link the list of values to a specific set of books. This option is
only applicable if you have the Multiple Sets of Books feature enabled.
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Functions
The GL Wand functions work in a similar way to any other Excel worksheet function. You
provide the required parameters and the results of the function are returned to the Excel
cell. The difference being that GL Wand functions retrieve information from your Oracle
Applications system
GL Wand currently has the following functions.
- Get Balance
- Segment Description
- Next Segment Value
- Previous Segment Value
- Parent Flag
- Enabled Flag
- Account Type
- Period Name
- Set of Books Name
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- Segment Descriptive Flexfield

- Period Offset
Split Text
Combine Text
Functional Currency
Get Daily Rate
You can enter a function into an Excel cell in a number of ways.
Click the applicable button on the GL Wand toolbar (or on the GL Wand menu)
Type the function name into the cell manually prefixed by an = sign
You can select the function from the list that Excel provides when you choose the
Insert Function menu item. The GL Wand functions are listed under the special GL
Wand category (Prior to Excel 2007 they are listed in the User Defined category).
If you click the applicable function button on the toolbar and the cell you are in contains that
function, the Excel formula wizard window will open. If you click a function button in a cell
that contains other data, GL Wand will warn you that it is going to replace the contents of
the cell with the chosen formula and will give you the option of cancelling the action.
All parameters must be entered as text values i.e. enclosed in double quotes e.g. enter
USD when entering the currency code or enter 001 when entering a segment value.
See Discovering versus Functions for a comparison extracting information using the
discover tools or the functions.
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Get Balance
The Get Balance function is probably the most important function in GL Wand. It returns a
General Ledger balance individually or summed based on the parameters that you enter.
Example =Get_Balance("Jan-02","YTD","USD","E","A","BIS CORPORATE","01","T","40004160","0000","000")
Clicking the Get Balance function on the GL Wand toolbar will open the Get Balance Wizard.
This form has lists of values for items like period name, balance type, actual flag etc. Select
the applicable values and enter a valid currency code and budget or encumbrance name if
required.
Double clicking a segment value or clicking the list of values button next to the segment will
open the segment list of values form for that segment. See the Segment List of Values
section for details on how to use this form. When you click the OK button on the Segment
List of Values form the selected segment parameters are entered against that segment in
the Get Balance Wizard form.
If your Oracle configuration includes dependant segments as part of the accounting
flexfield, this form will support selecting values based on the independent and dependant
segment values. Simply select a value from the available list of values for the independent
segment. Then open the list of values for the dependant segment. The list of available values
will be limited to only those values that are related to the selected independent segment
value.
When you have entered all the parameters click the OK button to insert the Get Balance
function into the selected cell with the entered parameters. Clicking the Edit button will
open the Get Balance function in the Excel formula wizard form which will allow you to link
parameters to cells in the Excel sheet.
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You can also open the Get Balance formula in the Excel formula wizard form using the fx
button on the formula bar or by selecting the Insert Function menu item on the Excel
menu bar.
Parameter
Period
Description
The period name as configured in Oracle. This parameter must be
entered in exactly the same format as the period names in Oracle.
For example if your period names are configured as follows Jan-07
in Oracle and you enter Jan-2007 or January-07 or jan-07 for
this parameter, GL Wand will not return any data.
When used in conjunction with the special Balance Type CTD
(Custom to Date) you can specify a custom period selection. For
example Feb-07-Aug-07 will add all the movement for the entered
period range. You may enter multiple lists or ranges of periods and
can use wild cards as well e.g. Jan-0% or %-07.
When used in conjunction with the special Balance Types JED,
JEDU or JEDP (Journal Effective Date) the period parameter
becomes a date parameter e.g. 01/01/200705/01/2007,10/01/2007.
Balance Type
The format that your date is in is important. The - character is

used in GL Wand to denote a range of values and therefore it cannot
be used as a date delimiter e.g. 01-01-2007 would not be valid. So
take care if your Windows regional setting use the - as a date
delimiter. For JED type calculations we recommend that you use the
/ as a date delimiter and that you always format the date as text
in Excel otherwise Excel will convert the date based on your regional
setting.
YTD, QTD, PTD, PJTD, CTD, JED, JEDP or JEDU all in upper case.
YTD Summarizes the full years balance
QTD Summarizes the balance for the quarter
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PTD Includes just the current periods movement

PJTD Project to date
CTD Summarizes the custom period criteria entered
JED Summarizes the journal movements for the entered
dates for both posted and unposted journals.
JEDP - Summarizes the journal movements for the entered
dates for posted journals only
JEDU - Summarizes the journal movements for the entered
dates for unposted journals only
Currency Code
Translated Flag
The currency code as configured in Oracle all in upper case e.g.

USD.
Enter E, T or C. Use E to retrieve the entered amount and T for the
translated amount. Use C to report on the converted amount i.e.
the functional currency equivalent of a foreign currency amount.
Only E is valid if requesting a balance for the functional currency of
the current Set of Books.
You must ensure that you have run the currency translation process
in Oracle for the selected currency and period before reporting on
translated balances. If you enter T to request the translated balance
and there is no current translated balance available in the system a
zero is returned.
Actual Flag
Bud / Encumb Name
Segment1 through
Segment20
Oracle Release 12 provides a new feature to allow reporting on the

values entered in the functional currency only i.e. excludes any
foreign currency transactions converted to the functional currency.
Therefore, in Release 12, if you use the E (entered) flag in
conjunction with the functional currency, any converted amounts will
be excluded. To report on the total balance (including values entered
in functional currency and values converted to the functional
currency) use the new Total option. This option is only available if
you log on to a release 12 Oracle instance.
A Actual, B Budget, E Encumbrance.
If you enter B or E above enter the exact budget name or
encumbrance type here. Otherwise simply enter for actual
balances.
Enter the segment value here. You must enter it as a text value
including any leading zeros e.g. enter segment value 10 as 0010
if this segment is configured as four characters with leading zeros in
Oracle.
You may enter your segment values in a variety of flexible ways
including parents, child values, ranges, wildcards, excludes etc. See
the explanation below on valid values for this parameter.
Book
To include all values simply enter %. Please note as from GL Wand

3.85.0 you can no longer leave the segment blank, a value is
required.
Optionally enter a set of books id to bind the formula to a specific
set of books. If this parameter is omitted, the set of books currently
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Options
selected in the Set of Books dropdown list will be used.

This parameter is used to modify the results returned by the Get
Balance function from the standard behavior. Currently two options
are supported.
Source Limit the results to a specific journal source.
Category Limit the results to a specific journal category.
The criteria needs to be entered as follows - Source=Manual or

Category=Adjustment. To specify both a source and category use
the | as a delimiter e.g. Source=Manual|Category=Adjustment.
You can specify multiple values by separating them with , e.g.
Source=Payables,Receivables.
When creating Get Balance formulas always use % to denote all values as this allows more
efficient SQL to be generated. Do not use a range like 000-ZZZ as they will require
unnecessary processing.
The segment value parameters can be entered as
a single value representing a child or parent account e.g. 1500 might represent a
parent account.
a range of values e.g. entering 1500-1600 in one of the segment parameters will
sum all the segment values between 1500 and 1600 for that segment.
a list of segment values e.g. entering 1500,1510,1590 in one of the segment
parameters will sum the specific segment values entered. If any of the segment
values are parents GL Wand will sum the hierarchy for that parent.
wild card entries e.g. 1%00 will sum 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400 etc. or entering the
value 1% will sum all values that start with 1.
values to be included and then specific exclusions e.g. 1000-2000,~1500 will sum
the values between 1000 and 2000 but will skip 1500.
a combination of any of the above e.g. "1000-2000,2371,2375,25602580,3000,~3200,4000,~4161-4169". In this way you can build up your own
calculation definition in the segment parameter.
Please note there are two additional methods for specifying segment criteria in the Get
Balance function. The one allows you to specify account combinations and the other
allows the use of segment descriptive flexfields. Please see the Special Get Balance
Criteria section in order to use these options.
Segment Description
Returns the segment description for the chosen segment value.
Parameter
Segment Value
Segment
Book
IndepValue
Description
The segment value
The segment number
For dependant segments, enter the independent value that the
segment value relates to.
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Example =Get_Segment_Description(1000,3)
Next Segment Value and Previous Segment Value
Returns the next or previous segment value.
Parameter
Last Value
Segment
Level
Book
Description
The starting segment value
The segment number
Enter a P to return the next or previous parent value, enter a C to
return the next or previous child value or leave the parameter blank
to return the next or previous segment value irrespective of whether
it is a parent or child.
Example = Next_Segment_Value(1000,3,P)
Parent Flag
Returns the parent flag for the chosen segment value. Y means that the segment value is a
parent.
Parameter
Segment Value
Segment
Book
Description
The segment value
The segment number
Example =Parent_Flag(1000,3)
Enabled Flag
Returns the enabled flag for the chosen segment value. Y means that the segment value is
enabled.
Parameter
Segment Value
Segment
Book
IndepValue
Description
The segment value
The segment number
Example = Enabled_Flag(1000,3)
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Account Type
Returns the account type for the chosen segment value. This function is only applicable for
the natural account segment and will return the value Asset, Liability etc.
Parameter
Account Value
Segment
Book
IndepValue
Description
The account segment value
The segment number
Example =Account_Type(1000,3)
Period Name
Returns the period name for the chosen year and period number. Optionally the returned
value can be a certain number of periods into the future or past.
Parameter
PeriodYear
PeriodNumber
Book
Offset
Description
The year that you want the period name for
The period number that you want the period name for
Optionally enter an offset to return the period name which is n
periods before or after the entered criteria e.g. enter 3 to return 3
periods into the future or -1 to return the previous period.
Example =Period_Name(2006,3)
Set of Books Name
Returns the set of books name for the chosen set of books.
Parameter
Book
Description
Example =Set_of_Books_Name()
Segment Descriptive Flexfield
Returns the segment values descriptive flexfield for the selected criteria
Parameter
Segment Value
Description
The segment value
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Segment
AttributeNo
Book
IndepValue
The segment number

Identify which attribute you want to report on. The segment values
descriptive flexfield has 50 possible attribute values. The applicable
attributes will depend on your configuration and whether this
Descriptive Flexfield is used by your organization.
Example =Segment_DFF(100,2,5) retrieves the 5th attribute on the segment values

descriptive flexfield for segment value 100 on segment 2.
Period Offset
Returns the period name for the chosen year and period number.
Parameter
Period
Offset
RetRange
Book
Description
The period name as configured in Oracle. This parameter must be
entered in exactly the same format as the period names in Oracle.
For example if your period names are configured as follows Jan-07
in Oracle and you enter Jan-2007 or January-07 or jan-07 for
this parameter, GL Wand will not return any data.
Enter an offset to return the period name which is n periods before
or after the entered criteria e.g. enter 3 to return 3 periods into the
future or -1 to return the previous period.
Enter TRUE (or 1) to return the result as a range e.g. entering
period Mar-07 with an offset of -2 and the RetRange set to true will
return Jan-07-Mar-07. This can be used in conjunction with the
CTD (Custom to Date) balance type in the Get Balance function to
create rolling period reporting.
Example =Period_Offset("Jan-07",-2,TRUE)
Split Text
Splits delimited text and returns a specific portion based on an offset. Especially useful to
split account combinations but can be used to split any text.
Parameter
Value
Offset
Delimiter
Description
Some text which has been concatenated using a delimiter e.g. an
account combination like 01.100.7000.
Identify which portion of the text to return.
Defaults to . if you leave this parameter blank but you can override
it to any delimiter.
Example =Split_Text("01.100.7000",2) will return the 100 portion of the text.
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Combine Text
Combines selected text separated by a delimiter. Especially useful to combine segment
values to create a delimited account combinations but can be used to combine any text.
Parameter
Segment1 through
Segment20
Delimiter
Description
Enter segment values that you wish to combine into an account
combination.
Defaults to . if you leave this parameter blank but you can override
it to any delimiter.
Example =Combine_Text("01","100","7000") will return 01.100.7000.

Functional Currency
Returns the functional currency for the set of books.
Parameter
Book
Description
Example =Functional_Currency()
Get Daily Rate
Returns the daily exchange rate for the entered criteria.
Parameter
FromCurrency
ToCurrency
ConversionType
ConversionDate
Description
The From currency code as configured in Oracle all in upper case
e.g. USD.
The To currency code as configured in Oracle all in upper case e.g.
USD.
The conversion type as configured in Oracle. Spelling and case must
be identical to the Oracle configuration.
The conversion date. This must be in Excel date format. Either refer
to a cell which contains a date or use one of the Excel date functions
to return a date in the parameter.
Example =Get_Daily_Rate("USD","GBP","Reporting",DATE(2009,1,1))
Function return values
The GL Wand functions will return a variety of results depending on a number of factors. If
all the information is entered correctly and there are no restrictions on access to the data or
the GL Wand itself, the result should be the General Ledger balance, segment value,
segment description etc. However the following are also possible return values.
glwDemo this means that you are using GL Wand without a valid trial key entered
into the GL Wand: License Key profile option. When trying GL Wand without a valid
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trial key you are only allowed to use the first 20 rows and 20 columns of the first
sheet in the workbook. Any formula entered outside this range will not calculate a
value but will only return the word glwDemo. This is called evaluation mode. A
trial key needs to be requested from within GL Wand and entered into the profile
option to allow full access to all functionality.
glwNoAccess When you log on you will be prompted for your applications user name
and password and will then need to select a responsibility to log on to. Any security
rules that have been linked to the selected responsibility will be enforced on the GL
Wand data. If you attempt to access a balance on a general ledger account that you
do not have access to, the function will return the word glwNoAccess. Please see
the Audit Get Balance section for information on how to identify the security rule
that is being contravened.
Please note that Oracle's Hierarchical Security is not supported.
glwError If you enter invalid information in a parameter for a GL Wand function the
GL Wand error value will be returned. This may happen when you, for example,
enter an invalid budget name or period name in the Get Balance function or when you
enter an invalid segment number in the next segment value function. This error value
will also be returned when you are not logged on. The details of the return value will
indicate where the problem exists e.g. glwError (Logon), glwError (Balance Type),
glwError (Translated Flag), glwError (Actual Flag), glwError (Missing segment),
glwError (Data error), glwError (Range), glwError (Period).
glwPending This value will be returned during the calculation process. Whenever a
cell requires calculation and the process has not been completed yet, the cell will
contain the value glwPending.
glwEditing Displays in the Excel function arguments window when editing a Get
Balance formula.
Discovering versus Functions

You may have noticed that you can achieve similar results by using the discover tools and
using the functions. For example you could use the Discover Down button to retrieve the
next segment value or you could use the Next Segment Value function to return the same
result. The difference between these two approaches is as follows:
Comparison between Discovering and
Functions
Discovering
Results returned as text string to Excel
cell
Value is static
Never changes
Lower performance overhead
Discover Down
Discover Up
Discover Left
Discover Right
Functions
Value is calculated based on
parameters
Value is dynamic
Recalculated when sheet refreshed
Higher performance overhead
Next Segment Value
Previous Segment Value
Next Segment Value
Previous Segment Value
Segment Description
Discover Properties
Parent flag
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Enabled Flag
Discover Child Ranges

Toggle Discover Level
Account Type
No equivalent
Parameters of next segment value,
determine whether parents, children or
both are returned.
Use the discover buttons with Period

selected in the segment drop down
Balance Extract is similar to Get
Balance, though the static values it
produces are refreshable.
Period Name
Get Balance
Special Get Balance Criteria

GL Wand supports two special types of criteria in the Get Balance function namely Account
Combinations and Segment Descriptive Flexfield criteria. These two forms of the Get
Balance criteria have very specific syntax which must be carefully adhered to in order to
achieve the correct results. You also have the ability to expand account combinations for a
selection that uses the Account Combination criteria.
Account Combinations
In the past the Get Balance function only supported individual segment values e.g. segment
2 = 100 or 200 and segment 3 = 1000 or 2000. This would result in GL Wand returning all
the possible combinations of those segment 2 and 3 values.
Now you have the ability to specify account combinations using the new Get Balance syntax.
This means that you can create new complex criteria for your Get Balance formula e.g.
(segment 2 = 100 and segment 3 = 1000) or (segment 2 = 200 and segment 3 = 2000).
With these criteria GL Wand will no longer return all the possible combinations but rather
only the combinations you specify.
In order to specify account combinations in a Get Balance function, you must tell GL Wand
which segments you are combining. You do this by entering a special value into the segment
e.g. if you want to combine criteria for segment 2 and segment 3 you would enter the
following in the parameter for segment 2 Use_Seg3. This tells GL Wand that that it must
find the criteria for segment 2 inside the segment 3 parameter. In the segment 3 parameter
you now enter the criteria for both segment 2 and segment 3, separated by the special
delimiter character e.g. 100.1000. This tells GL Wand that you are looking for accounts
where segment 2 is 100 and segment 3 is 1000. An example could look like this:
=Get_Balance("Jan-02","PTD","USD","E","A","",
"01","Use_Seg3","100.1000,200.2000","0000","000")
It is possible to combine multiple segments as follows:
"01","Use_Seg5","Use_Seg5","Use_Seg5","100.1000.0000.000")
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You simply point each applicable segment to the parameter where the account combination
using the special Use_SegX syntax. Then inside the target parameter you combine the fully
qualified account combination for the applicable segments delimited with a . character.
When you specify your account combination you have full flexibility to use ranges, lists, wild
cards, parents and exclude criteria. For example this criteria will fetch all the values where
segment 2 is between 100 and 200 and segment 3 is between 1000 and 2000. And in
addition to that it will include the values where segment 2 is 250 (a parent) and segment 3
starts with 33 but will exclude the specific value where segment 2 is 250 and segment 3 is
3320.
=Get_Balance("Jan-02","PTD","USD","E","A","","01","Use_Seg3","100.1000200.2000,250.33%,~250.3320","0000","000")
You also have the flexibility to group different parts of the account combination together. For
example this criteria combines the values for segment 1 and 3 together and combines
segment 2 and 4 together.
"Use_Seg3","Use_Seg4","01.1000,02.1150","100.0000,200.1050","000")
These new Get Balance syntax options provide you with tremendous flexibility when building
your GL Wand reports.
Expand Account Combinations
The expand feature allows you to extract all the detailed child segment values that roll up to
the criteria that the user specifies. The expand feature has been extended to support
account combinations.
In order to expand an account combination you would do the following:
Ensure that the correct set of books is selected in the drop down list on the GL Wand
toolbar
Select the cell containing the account combination criteria e.g. 100.7000
Click the expand button
GL Wand will now identify that the selected cell contains an account combination rather than
a single segment value. You will now be presented with a window to identify which segments
from your chart of accounts are represented in the account combination.
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Select the correct segments and click OK. GL Wand will now extract all the child
combinations that roll up to the criteria that you entered and insert them into the Excel
sheet.
The other options are as follows:
Fix if you tick this option for a segment, GL Wand will peg that segment using the
selected value (this option only makes sense for a parent segment value). You might
for example want to expand all the account combinations used in a particular parent
cost centre. Simply Fix the cost centre segment and GL Wand will return all the
account combinations used within that parent cost centre.
Exclude disabled account combination tick this option to only return account
combinations that are currently enabled and have not been end dated.
The expand account combinations feature can be used as a normal GL Wand Expand in
order to extract the detail behind a total, but it is also very useful to extract existing account
combinations from your Oracle system.
This feature can be used very effectively with the Split Text and Combine Text functions.
Segment Descriptive Flexfields
In order to extract balances using the descriptive flexfields stored on the segment values
you need to use special syntax in the Get Balance function. The syntax works as follows:
{1:ABC}
You wrap the descriptive flexfield using curly brackets

The first character after the open bracket identifies which descriptive flexfield
attribute is being referred to.
You then separate the descriptive flexfield attribute from the actual value using a :.
You then specify the criteria for this attribute.
An example Get Balance function would look as follows:

=Get_Balance("Jan-02","PTD","USD","E","A","","01","{1:ABC}","1000","0000","000")
This example will return all the values where attribute 1 of the segment descriptive flexfield
on segment 2 is equal to the value ABC.
It is possible to specify criteria for multiple descriptive flexfields as follows:
=Get_Balance("Jan-02","PTD","USD","E","A","","01","{1:ABC}{2:XX}","1000","0000","000")
Simply wrap each descriptive flexfield value in its own {} and identify the attribute number.
At this stage the descriptive flexfield criteria is restricted to a single value or a single range
of values. Lists of values and multiple ranges are not supported. A range can be specified
using the special range delimiter | (pipe character). This character is different to the range
character that is used for normal Get Balance segment parameters. The reason is that the
normal range delimiter - may easily be used in a segment descriptive flexfields and
therefore is not suitable. In future you will be able to configure your own range delimiter
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character which will provide the best flexibility. The range criteria can be specified as
follows:
=Get_Balance("Jan-02","PTD","USD","E","A","","01","{1:100|200}","1000","0000","000")
This example will return all the values where attribute 1 of the segment descriptive flexfield
on segment 2 is between 100 and 200. Date values are also supported in this criteria and GL
Wand will correctly derive the between criteria for a date.
Calculating
The three calculation buttons allow you to control exactly what cells are refreshed from
Oracle. They are used in conjunction with the GL Wand calculation option (on/off). You can
stop a calculation at any time by clicking cancel.
- Calculate Range (Alt+Ctl+R)
- Calculate Sheet (Alt+Ctl+S)
- Calculate All (Alt+Ctl+A)
- GL Wand calculation on
- GL Wand calculation off
Calculate Range, Sheet or All
The three calculation buttons allow you to control exactly what is recalculated.
To calculate a range of cells simply
1.
2.
3.
4.
Highlight the range

Click the Calculate Range button or use the Alt+Ctl+R shortcut key
Select multiple ranges using the ctrl button (as normal in Excel).
Select a range and then select multiple Excel worksheets to calculate the same range on
each sheet.
Please note, do not use the calculate range option to recalculate the entire sheet i.e. by
selecting all the cells on the sheet. This will take unnecessarily longer. Rather use the
calculate sheet option.
To calculate a sheet simply
1. Select the applicable sheet
2. Click the Calculate Sheet button or use the Alt+Ctl+S shortcut key.
3. Selecting multiple sheets will calculate each of the selected sheets.
To calculate all open workbooks simply
1. Click the Calculate All button or use the Alt+Ctl+A shortcut key.
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GL Wand calculation on or off

You can use the GL Wand calculation toggle button to control when requests for calculations
are sent to the Oracle server.
If you toggle GL Wand calculation Off, calculation requests are not sent to the Oracle
server which means you
you can manipulate a worksheet
change cell values
enter new formulae; and
perform any other task that would normally cause Excel to recalculate
and the applicable functions will only return the glwPending status and will not
actually calculate a result.
This is useful during report development.
To calculate the results simply click one of the three calculation buttons Calculate Range,
Sheet or All.
If you leave the GL Wand calculation option On, the applicable functions will be
recalculated whenever Excel initiates a calculation process e.g.
when changing the contents of the cell
changing one of the functions input values
deleting a column or row in the worksheet etc.
Please note that the GL Wand calculation option has nothing to do with Excels automatic
and manual calculation. The GL Wand calculation option controls only the calculation of the
applicable GL Wand functions. All other calculations are controlled as normal by the Excel
automatic and manual calculation option.
Calculation progress and stopping a calculation
When you perform a recalculation a window will appear to show the progress of the
calculation.
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If you would like to cancel the calculation process simply click the Cancel button.
Please note that GL Wand will need to wait for the next reply from Oracle before the
connection can be closed. Therefore it may take some time before the calculation stops and
the window closes.
Snapshot
- Snapshot
The snapshot tool can be used to take a snapshot of your GL Wand report. This tool will
remove all the GL Wand functions from the workbook and will replace them with the values
that the function returned.
The results are similar to using the Excel paste values functionality. However, this process
will only replace GL Wand formulas. All other Excel formulas will be left as they were.
Please note that you cannot take a snapshot of a protected worksheet, rather output the
sheet to PDF format for archive and distribution purposes.
When producing a snapshot, GL Wand will request a name for the new workbook. You can
select an existing workbook and GL Wand will give you the option to append the snapshot
results to the existing workbook or overwrite the existing workbook. You therefore have the
option of producing various snapshot reports and combining them into one new workbook in
a single operation rather than producing a separate workbook for each snapshot.
Hide zeros
- Hide zeros in selected range
Select a report range that contains rows where all the numbers are zero. Click the hide zeros
button and GL Wand will hide all the rows in the selected range where all the cells containing
numbers are zero. This is very useful for formatting a report which includes many rows
where, for example, a number of accounts are not used in a particular cost centre or have no
58
balances in a certain period. At the click of a button you can hide all the rows that contain
only zeros.
Select the entire report range when using the hide zeros function. GL Wand checks the
selected range for zeros when determining which rows to hide.
Excel automatically forces a recalculation of Get Balance formulas when you hide rows on a
report. This is normal Excel functionality.
This feature can be used on any Excel worksheet and is not limited to GL Wand reports.
Undo Hide Zeros (Tools Menu)

- Undo the last hide zeros operation
Click this button to automatically undo the last hide zeros operation.
Drill downs
- Drill to default Balance layout
- Drill to default Journal layout
- Drill to default Sub Ledger layout
The drill down options allow you to extract additional detail about a specific Get Balance
function.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Select a cell that contains a valid Get Balance function.

Click on the
drill to balance button.
A new GL Wand drill down workbook is created.
The criteria sheet will be populated with the criteria from the Get Balance function.
The drill down to balance detail will be executed showing all the detailed accounts that
make up the total in the Get Balance function.
59
See the Create Drill Criteria Sheet section for more details and options on the drill down
criteria sheet.
Budget variance analysis: If you select two cells on the GL Wand report e.g. one cell with
actual values and one with budget numbers, GL Wand will perform a drill down on the Get
Balance function and display the actual and budget values next to each other and a
calculated variance.
You now have a variety of options which can be performed from the drill down workbook.
1. Modify the parameters on the criteria sheet and perform a new drill to balance. Drop
down lists are provided for most of the parameters, see the Create Drill Criteria Sheet for
more details.
2. Create a summary drill down report.
3. If you have performed a balance drill down you can select the Balance sheet and then
click
drill down to journal details after selecting one or more rows with accounts.
4. Select the Journal sheet and then click the
button to drill down to the full journal
after selecting one or more rows with journal lines. The full journal with all the contra
entries for the selected journal lines will be displayed.
5. Select the Journal or Journal-Full sheet and then click
sub-ledger drill down after
selecting one or more rows with journal lines.
6. Drill down to Global Consolidation System transactions.
When drilling down you have the following options:
Double click any cell on the row that you wish to drill down on.
60
Select any cell in the row that you want to drill down on and click the applicable drill
down button on the GL Wand toolbar.
Highlight a range of rows and click the applicable drill down button on the GL Wand
toolbar to drill down on multiple lines at once.
Highlight non contiguous rows using the Ctrl button and click the applicable drill
down button on the GL Wand toolbar to drill down on multiple lines which are not
adjacent to each other.
It is possible to drill from a Get Balance formula directly to the journal or sub ledger
information. Similarly you can drill from a detailed balance (on the Balance worksheet)
directly to the sub ledger information. If you select these options, GL Wand will execute the
interim drill steps automatically. Be careful when performing a drill down directly to the
journal or sub ledger detail level as these drill down operations may return many records.
GL Wand will automatically group the drill down to journals and sub ledger information using
Excels group and outline functionality. This will allow you expand and collapse the data to
show just a portion of the report. Headings are also inserted on the journal and sub-ledger
drill down to make the report easier to read.
On the sub-ledger drill down the heading includes a number in brackets e.g. (23) Journal
Name 123. The number indicates which Excel row these sub-ledger lines originated from on
the Journals sheet.
You can use the
remove drill down report headings button to strip out the headings on
the journal and sub-ledger drill down sheets.
A couple of important things to note about drill downs:
GL Wand will first count the number of rows that will be retrieved by the drill down
operation
If the row count is more than 1000 you will receive a warning message asking you if
you want to continue
If the row count is more than the defined limit (see Query Limit) you will receive a
warning and the drill down will be cancelled
If the row count is more than the number of rows available in your version of Excel
you will receive an error and the drill down will be cancelled
When you drill down to journal details, the Balance Type parameter controls how
much detail is returned. If this parameter is PTD only the current periods journals
are returned. If this parameter is YTD then all the journals for the year are returned
and likewise QTD will show the journal for the quarter.
Ensure that the worksheet is calculated before performing any drill down functions. Also
ensure that the cell contains a Get Balance function with valid parameter information.
A new drill down workbook will be created each time you perform a drill down operation from
a Get Balance function. Once you are finished with a drill down workbook, simply close it
without saving.
You cannot drill down to journal detail on translated balances.
Oracle Global Consolidation System
Drill down to Oracle Global Consolidation System (GCS) transactions is also supported.
These items will appear on the journal drill down report with a source and category of
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Consolidation. If you execute a normal drill down to Sub Ledger on these transactions a
new GL Wand drill workbook will be created and the drill down to the subsidiary set of books
will be executed.
In order to drill down on a GCS transaction you must be logged on the parent as well as the
subsidiary set of books. This can be done using the Multiple Sets of Books logon option.
Summary Balance Drill Down
On the drill down Criteria sheet, toggle the summarization option to Y for any segment that
you which to summaries by. GL Wand creates a summary trial balance report and
summarizes by the selected segments. The report can still be expanded to show the detailed
lines and you can still drill down to journals from these lines.
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Drill Down Batching

With the drill down batching option enabled, GL Wand will execute the drill downs more
efficiently. This option will help with the performance of large drill down reports. You also
have the option to cancel the process.
Drill to My Layout
- Drill to My Balance layout
- Drill to My Journal layout
- Drill to My Sub Ledger layout
GL Wand allows you to customize the layout of the drill down reports. There are a number of
possible drill layout options:
When GL Wand is initially installed, each drill down report has a default layout.
The default drill layout is used each time a standard drill down is performed.
The default drill layout can be edited see the Edit Default Drill Layout option.
When a drill down is performed a new GL Wand Drill Workbook is created, these
workbooks can be saved for future use or sent to others so that they can use these
layouts to perform their own drill downs.
To create custom drill layouts follow this process:
1. Use the Edit Default Drill Layout option to create the layout that you require e.g.
create a layout to be used for Accounts Receivable drill downs.
2. Perform a standard drill down which will create a new drill workbook using the new
layout that you just created.
3. Save this workbook and call is something like My Accounts Receivable Layout.
4. Repeat this process to create other drill down layouts.
Now you can make use of these custom drill layouts. When performing a drill down from a
Get Balance function, instead of using the standard drill down buttons, use one of the Drill
to My Layout options. You will be presented with one of the following options:
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If there are no GL Wand drill workbooks open, you will be prompted to open one that
you would like to use for the drill down.
If there is only one GL Wand drill workbook open the drill down will be executed into
that drill workbook.
If you have multiple GL Wand drill workbooks open you will be presented with a list of
Drill workbooks to choose from. The drill down will be executed into the selected
workbook.
With these options you can create as many custom drill layouts as you like and save them as
Excel spreadsheets with appropriate names. You can then use these drill layouts whenever
you need them or share them with other users.
The GL Wand drill down workbooks have certain hidden columns and rows that must not be
modified. Other changes to the reports are permitted e.g. changing column widths, column
orders, column headings and column formatting.
Drill Downs Calculated Excel Columns

You can add your own calculated columns in the GL Wand drill down reports as follows:
Execute a normal drill down to journal detail for example.
Now insert a column using normal Excel functionality. Ensure that you give the new
column a heading.
64
Then unhide the special hidden row 2. Ensure that you only modify the contents of
row 2 in the new column that you have inserted. Modifying any of the other cells in
this hidden row may cause problems with the drill down template.
Enter your formula in this cell using normal Excel functionality. You can include any
formula or function from Excel or GL Wand.
Add any formatting you like to this cell.
Hide the special row 2 again.

Execute the drill down again.
65
GL Wand copies your new formula into each report row as it populates the drill down
results.
Save this drill down template and reuse it for future drill downs.
You can add calculated Excel columns to any of the GL Wand drill down reports.
This functionality can be used very effectively in conjunction with the new Reports Wand
module. You can insert a Run Report formula into a calculated Excel column which can be
linked to fields returned by the GL Wand drill down. When you double click on this Run
Report formula, Reports Wand will execute the custom SQL statement that you have created
and can provide additional detail which is not provided by the standard GL Wand drill down
report.
Sort Drill Report

- Sort the drill report
With a drill down report as the active sheet, click the sort button under the drill menu. GL
Wand will highlight the correct report range (ensuring that all rows and columns, including
the special hidden id columns are selected) and open the Excel sort window.
Configuration Sheet (Tools Menu)

- Configuration Sheet
When you click the Configuration Sheet button, GL Wand inserts a new worksheet into the
current workbook that contains a variety of information about the configuration of your Set
of Books.
The Configuration Sheet includes the
chart of accounts layout showing each segments details,
example period names,
valid balance types,
available currency codes,
66
valid actual flags,

budget names and encumbrance types,
definition of the segment values descriptive flexfield as configured in your system.
The information on the Configuration Sheet can be useful when constructing GL Wand
functions.
The period names will show you how the accounting period has been configured for your Set
of Books e.g. the period names may be in the format
Apr-03
or they might be April-03.
This is very important, because when you populate the Period name parameter of the Get
Balance function you must enter it in
the correct format
the correct case
otherwise GL Wand will not find the data you have requested.
The new Period Name function will return the period name in the correct format and can be
used as an input into the Get Balance function.
The budget and encumbrance names are also very useful, as these must also be entered in
the correct case and with the correct spelling in order to successfully extract a budget or
encumbrance balance.
Options (Tools Menu)

- Options
The options form allows you to
create database connections
initiate an upgrade
set other GL Wand options
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Connections
GL Wand connects to the Oracle Applications database using internet architecture. This
means that the only setting required on the client is the connection URL.
This required URL will depend on the GL Wand server component that you are using. There
are three possibilities. If you are not sure which method you are using to connect to your
Oracle system please check with the applications DBA.
Connection option 1 - If you are connecting to GL Wand on an Oracle release 11i system
using the Mod PL/SQL connection method then the required URL is the Applications Web
Agent URL. This URL is stored in an Oracle Applications profile option called Applications
Web Agent. You can query this profile option through the main Oracle Applications forms.
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Connection option 2 - If you are connecting to GL Wand on an Oracle release 11i system
using the java servlet method then the required URL will be as follows:
http://server1.domain.com:port/servlets
For example - http://visionjhb1.excel4apps.com:8000/servlets
The first part will be the same as the URL that you use to log on to Oracle and you
simply add /servlets to it.
Connection option 3 - If you are connecting to GL Wand on an Oracle release 12 system
then the required URL will be as follows:
http://server1.domain.com:port/OA_HTML
For example - http://visionjhb1.excel4apps.com:8000/OA_HTML
The first part will be the same as the URL that you use to log on to Oracle and you
simply add /OA_HTML to it.
To create a new connection click the option button next to the connection that you which to
add or edit. A maximum of 5 connections can be created.
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Select a new line in the connections section and enter a connection name like Prod or
Dev to identify the connection. Type the connection URL in the space provided. Note that
you can copy a URL (e.g. from an e-mail) and paste it into the space provided using ctrl-v or
clicking the right mouse button. If this connection should use your internet explorer settings
to find the correct path to the server (e.g. it must go through a proxy server or via the
Internet) then tick the check box on that line.
You can then test the connection using the test button. Click the Test button to open a web
browser which will navigate to the GL Wand test page.
You should see the page shown above. This means that the GL Wand server side install has
been successfully completed. If you get a Page cannot be found error it means that either
the GL Wand server side install has not been completed successfully or the Oracle
Application server is down. This page also shows the database indexes on the key tables
utilized by GL Wand.
Click OK on the main options screen to save your changes. This connection will now be
available in the log on screen.
From the options screen you can select an existing connection to delete. Click the Delete
button and the connection will be removed. Click OK to save your changes.
Upgrade
If you want to check if there is a new version of GL Wand available simply click the upgrade
button on the options screen.
GL Wand periodically checks for new versions of the product and provides the users with the
ability to perform an upgrade. It either checks a shared folder on your corporate LAN or else
it checks on the internet at Excel4apps.com. This is controlled by populating the profile
option GL Wand: Upgrade Location with the appropriate information. Refer to the profile
options section in this user guide for more information. If a new version is detected it will be
downloaded and the installation will be initiated.
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Disable Summary Account Checking

The Oracle General Ledger provides the functionality to hold summary balances for a parent
GL account. When calculating balances, GL Wand first checks if the account you are
requesting is a summary account. If it is it simply fetches the balance on this account. If not,
it calculates the balance based on the defined parent hierarchy.
This summary account check takes time. Therefore, if you know that your organization does
not use summary accounts, leave this option ticked (default).
HTTP Packet Size
This value can be changed in order to control the number of calculations that are sent to
Oracle in each calculation batch. The default is dynamic. With this setting selected, GL Wand
will dynamically recalculate the optimal packet size to use for each calculation batch based
on how quickly your Oracle instance resolves the Get Balance SQL queries. If your system is
resolving the queries quickly, the HTTP packet size will be increased to allow more
calculations to be performed in one batch. If the queries are running slower than average,
the HTTP packet size will be reduced. This dynamic mode will attempt to ensure that you do
not receive a timeout due to the Get Balance SQL queries taking too long to complete.
If you prefer, you can override the dynamic option and pick a specific HTTP packet size. We
recommend that you only do this in one of two situations. Firstly, if you know your system
processes the Get Balance SQL queries quickly e.g. upwards of 10 cells per second, you can
choose the maximum HTTP packet size of 32000. This will ensure that GL Wand sends the
most calculations in each batch that it possibly can. The second situation where you might
override this setting is if the dynamic calculations are not providing the optimal HTTP packet
size on your system for some reason. In this case select the appropriate HTTP packet size
from the list.
You should only modify the HTTP packet size if you are experiencing errors during the
calculation process typically when a batch of calculations runs for more than 5 minutes.
Otherwise leave it at the default.
Trace Mode
Trace mode is used for troubleshooting problems with Excel4apps support.
Logon Method
GL Wand supports a new logon method via the Oracle logon screen (default). You can use
this option to switch the logon method back to the Excel based logon screen. The Excel
method should not be used unless the Oracle method does not function correctly.
Show secured segment values
Select or de-select the Show secured segment values option to determine whether secured
segment values are shown in the list of values window and included in the discover process.
Note: Even though a user can control the visibility of items secured by segment value
security rules, Get Balance functions will not display secured values but rather the message
glwNoAccess" to indicate a security rule breach.
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Show disabled segment values

Select or de-select the Show disabled segment values option to determine whether
disabled segment values are shown in the list of values window and included in the discover
process.
Budget Upload
This option works in conjunction with the budget upload functionality. See the section on
deleting duplicates during a budget upload for more detail.
Parent Cache Option
With this option enabled the GL Wand logon screen will have a new check box which allows
you to select an alternative method for processing Get Balance formulas. This option must
be enabled on the options form before this new tick box will appear on the logon form. This
is to avoid confusing any users that have no need for this option.
Once this option is enabled you can tick this checkbox at each logon and vary it to suit which
ever method provides you with the best performance for particular GL Wand reports.
In certain situations this alternate Get Balance processing method can result in a significant
performance improvement. Typically it will only improve performance on those Oracle
systems which are currently giving poor performance. This would normally be less than 5
cells per second calculation rate. If you are already achieving calculation rates of more than
this then chances are this option will not improve performance on your environment.
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When selecting this option, the initial GL Wand logon may be slower. We recommend testing
your slower GL Wand reports using the old and the new method to determine which method
is better for your environment.
Enable Drill Down Batching and Batch Size
This option determines if GL Wand uses batching to process drill down requests. With this
option enabled the drill down process can handle large drill downs more efficiently and also
provides a Cancel option to stop the process.
The Batch Size tells GL Wand how many records to fetch with each batch. The default is
1000 which should be suitable for most situations.
Report Manager
These options are as follows:
Process Disabled Segment Values Uncheck this option if you would prefer report
manger to skip disabled segment values when producing reports.
Email Client If you wish to create emails from the report manager choose your
email client. Outlook Draft is the default. For Outlook and GroupWise the only
available option is to create a draft email with the reports attached which must then
me sent by clicking the send button manually. For Lotus Notes you can choose to
create a draft mail message or to actually send the mail.
Create Drill Criteria Sheet (Tools Menu)

A drill down can be performed by selecting a cell containing a Get Balance formula and
clicking the drill down button on the toolbar. However, you may wish to bypass the
requirement for a Get Balance formula and simply extract data based on parameters that
you set. The Drill Down Criteria Sheet functionality allows you to very quickly extract the
detailed general ledger balances and journals that meet certain criteria. This is useful when
large numbers of individual GL balances are required as the values are returned faster than
by using many individual Get Balance formulae.
- Create drill down criteria sheet
1. Click on the "Create drill down criteria sheet" button.
2. A new GL Wand drill down workbook is created
3. Enter the parameters for the data that you wish to extract on the criteria sheet of this
new workbook. The criteria are exactly the same as the parameters of the Get Balance
function and operate in the same manner.
4. Use the balance drill down button on the GL Wand toolbar to execute the drill down.
5. This workbook operates in exactly the same manner as a normal drill down. See the Drill
downs section for more details.
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Enter a period or double click the cell to select it from the drop down list
Choose the balance type. Please note that selecting YTD will extract all the journal
lines for the year when executing a journal drill down and similarly QTD will extract
the journals for the quarter.
Enter the required currency code
Pick E entered or T translated balances (Or Total if using Oracle R12)
Pick A actual, B budgets or E encumbrance for the primary balance type. If you
select B or E then you must populate the Bud/Enc Name parameter with the
budget version name or encumbrance type. Please note this must be spelt correctly.
Optionally populate the secondary balance parameters. They work in the same
manner as the primary balance parameters. If you do populate the secondary balance
parameters and perform a balance drill down the Balance sheet will contain a list of
the primary balance values with the secondary balance values alongside them and a
variance between the two.
Populate the segment values. You can enter values directly into the Excel cells or you
can pick them from a list of values. To use the list of values simply double click the
cell where you want the parameters entered or select the applicable cell and click the
list of values button on the GL Wand toolbar. The list of values form will open (see
the Segment List of Value sections for more details). When you click OK on the
segment list of values form the parameters that you have selected will be entered
into the current cell.
Toggle the summarization option Y for any segment that you wish to summaries by.
Enter a journal source or category to limit the results to only the journals meeting
those criteria.
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Note that GL Wand will remember your selections for secondary balance criteria as well as
which segments you have selected for summarization. Future drill down operations will apply
these parameters automatically.
Report Wizard (Tools Menu)

- Report wizard
The report wizard is useful for building your very first example report from which to learn GL
Wand principles.
The report wizard will create a template report using your set of books configuration. The
report has a standard layout and allows you to specify one segment as the Page item and
one segment as the Row item. A report is created with a list of values at the top of the
report for the chosen Page segment. The report lists the first ten child segment values
down the rows of the report for the chosen Row segment. The report wizard creates
generic Get Balance formulas to build the detailed values of the report.
Start by entering the parameters for the report.
The special items Rows and Page can be selected from the segment list of values and
may be entered against one segment only. The Page and Rows values must be included
against one segment. Clicking OK will generate the report.
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Once you have generated the report you can extend it to incorporate other values by
inserting more rows and copying and pasting the generic Get Balance formulas. You now
have the freedom and power of Excel to extend it and modify it as needed.
Audit Get Balance (Tools Menu)

This button can be used to obtain information about how GL Wand is processing the segment
values of a Get Balance function. It can be specifically helpful to indentify which security
rules are being contravened when the Get Balance returns glwNoAccess.
Select a single cell containing a Get Balance function.
Click this button
GL Wand calculates the cell and creates a new Excel workbook containing a log of
how the Get Balance function processed its segment parameters.
The log output is fairly self explanatory but if you require assistance interpreting the results
please contact Excel4apps support.
Convert FSG (Tools Menu)

The FSG conversion utility can be used to import an FSG report definition from Oracle. You
can then format the data and link it to Get Balance and other GL Wand formulas to complete
the report. A demonstration of how to use this feature can be found on the Excel4apps web
site.
Import Definition
Select the FSG report that you wish to import. GL Wand will create a new workbook which
contains the RowSet and ColumnSet information from the FSG report.
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Please note that the information extracted is the basic RowSet and ColumnSet data to cater
for an FSG report of average complexity. The more advanced reports may not be catered for
100%. For calculations, only simple addition and subtraction calculations are replicated into
an Excel formula.
Once the information has been populated into the Excel spreadsheet you can use the
following as a guideline to complete your GL Wand report.
Review Row definitions and consolidate segment low high ranges into input
parameters for the Get Balance function.
Review Column definitions and consolidate segment low high ranges into input
parameters for the Get Balance function.
Modify the sample Get Balance function to reference valid parameters. These may be
from the report header, the RowSet account assignments, the ColumnSet account
assignments, the ColumnSet override values or hardcoded values. Then copy & paste
the formula across report.
Insert additional GL Wand & Excel formula's as needed (e.g. Segment description and
Budget Variance and other calculations).
Remove or hide unused Rows/Columns, format report and Expand Rows where
required.
Merge Low High Segment Ranges
The account assignment information is presented as Low High ranges of segment values as
per the definition in the FSG report. In order to use this information in a segment parameter
of the Get Balance function one often needs to merge the values into a single cell of ranges
and lists of segment values. You can use the Merge Low High Segment Ranges button to
automate this process.
Select a range of Low High segment ranges that need to be merged
Click the Merge Low High Segment Ranges button
The selection is merged into a single cell of ranges and lists of segment values.
Report Manager (Tools Menu)

- Create Report Manager workbook
- Execute the selected range
- Execute the selected sheets
- Execute all the sheets in the current workbook
Report Manager allows you to batch produce (replicate) GL Wand reports from a source
report, snapshot them and then automatically convert them to various formats. In addition
you can optionally choose to print the reports and or email them to specified recipients. For
example, you might have a standard GL Wand report that you wish to replicate for a range
of cost centers in your organization. With report manager you can configure a report set
definition and then execute that definition and the production of the reports will be
automated for you.
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The first step is to create the source GL Wand report using Get Balance formulas as normal.
Ensure that you link the applicable parameters of the Get Balance function to appropriate
cells in the workbook. For example, if you want to replicate this report for a range of cost
centers, ensure that you have a cell somewhere in the workbook where the cost centre can
be captured. Then link the applicable parameter of all the Get Balance formulas in the report
to this cell. When you change the value in this cell, all the Get Balance formulas should
recalculate for the new cost centre.
Report Set Definition
Next you create a report manager workbook. Click the
create button on the toolbar. This
button is in the tools section, under Report Manager. You will be presented with a form to
capture the details of the report set definition.
1. In this form click the Select button and choose the GL Wand source report. If the
report is not currently open, GL Wand will open it.
2. Optionally select the output folder and file name to group reports in to.
3. Tick the options that you want e.g. Excel, PDF, HTML, Print and email.
4. Tick the applicable items that you want GL Wand to loop though when the report is
created.
5. For each ticked item, populate the Cell Link field. You can type in this field but it is
easier to simply click the applicable target cell on the worksheet and the field will be
correctly populated with the cell reference.
6. Optionally select the From and To values that you want GL Wand to loop through.
These fields can also be populated on the next screen.
7. Optionally select a range on the report where you would like to execute a Hide
Zeros. Report Manager will hide the zeros in this range for each report produced.
When you are finished populating the form click OK. A new workbook will be created and
the report set definition will be populated.
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This is a normal Excel workbook. However the structure must not be changed. The only
changes that you may make to this workbook are to insert more lines and to populate the
white fields. Any other changes will most likely corrupt the definition and Report Manager
will give an error when you try to execute the definition.
Modifying the Criteria
You can now modify and populate this report as follows:
Modify the report name in cell E4. This can be done by editing the cell, but we
recommend that you rather double click the cell and select the report from the
normal file open dialogue box. If you edit the cell directly you must ensure that you
capture the path and file name correctly.
Optionally modify the output folder and grouping file name. You can double click
output folder cell to select the folder from a dialogue box.
Optionally edit the hide zeros range.
You can edit the cell links in row 7. Please ensure that you enter valid cell references.
Edit the parameters by capturing from and to values and toggling the Y / N flags for
the various options.
Enter applicable email information like the email address that the email should be
sent to or who should be ccd etc.
Optionally set an output folder and grouping file name for the row.
Populate additional lines by either capturing the detail from scratch or simply use
normal Excel copy and paste to create a new line and then change only those fields
that you want different.
Insert additional rows if the default number is not enough.
Executing the Report Set
Once you have completed populating the report set definition it can be saved as a normal
Excel spreadsheet. When you are ready to execute the report set definition, close all other
Excel workbooks and then do one of the following:
To execute only a few rows of the report set definition, first highlight the applicable
rows (or a cell in each row) and then click the execute range button
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To execute one or more report set definition sheets, first select the applicable sheets
and then click the execute sheet button
To execute all the definition sheets in the current workbook click the execute all
button
Report manager will validate the definition and if all checks are passed the reports will be
generated.
Report Manager Validation
Report manager first validates all the definition rows that will be executed. If any errors are
found the process will be stopped and the errors will be marked in red. An Excel note will be
added to provide more information about the error.
If all rows to be executed pass validation you will receive a message indicating how many
reports will be created and which printer will be used for any rows where the print option is
marked with Y. At this stage you can cancel the process or you can click Yes to continue.
Report Generation
If you click Yes, Report manager will open the GL Wand report and loop through all the
selected report set definition rows and create a report for the criteria on that row. The
applicable output formats will be created and if requested the report will be printed.
The output report name and folder location will depend on the options that you have
specified on the report set definition. The output folder location will be determined as
follows:
If an output folder is specified on the row, the report will be saved in that folder
Else if you specify an output folder on the header level that folder will be used
Else the report will be saved in the folder where the source GL Wand report is located
The file name will be determined as follows:
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If a grouping file name is specified on the row then all output from that row will be
grouped into the specified file name
Else if you specify a grouping file name on the header level then all output will be
grouped into that specified file name.
Else the file name will be generated using the source GL Wand report name suffixed
with a concatenation of the segment or period values used in the generation of that
report e.g. Profit and Loss Jan-07 100 might be the profit and loss output report
for January 2007 and department 100.
It is obviously possible for many of the generated reports to use the same folder and file
name. In this case GL Wand will append all the report output into a single Excel workbook.
During the validation process GL Wand will check if any of the output files to be used already
exist. If they do exist you will receive a warning. If you choose to continue the report
manager output will be appended to the existing files.
If you requested the report to be emailed an email message will be created and populated
with the To, CC, Bcc, Subject and Text and the applicable file will be attached.
Please note that in order to create PDF output the required component PDF Creator must
be installed. It is available for download at http://www.excel4apps.com/pdf
Sending email requires Microsoft Outlook, GroupWise or Lotus Notes as your mail client.
Excel must have the focus while the Report Manage process executes. If you attempt to
perform other tasks on the PC while the process is running you will notice that Excel
continually takes the focus.
Once the process is completed each executed row will be marked in green if it was
successfully processed or in red if it was not. Any unsuccessful rows will include a note in
column B to provide any available information about what caused the problem.
It is possible to include multiple report set definitions in a single workbook. To do this simply
open an existing Report Manager workbook and click the Create button under the Report
Manager menu. A new sheet will now be added to the existing workbook instead of a new
workbook being created. You can also use normal Excel functionality to copy a sheet from
one Report Manager workbook to another.
Edit Default Drill Layout (Tools Menu)

- Balance
- Journal
- Sub Ledger
- Sub Ledger (R12) (Only visible on an Oracle release 12 system for sub ledger
accounting (SLA))
- OPM (Oracle Process Manufacturing
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When GL Wand is installed each of the drill down reports is configured with a default layout.
You can edit the default layout using these options. When you select one of the options a
form opens which allows you to modify the fields included in this layout.
You can modify the layout using the following options:

Select one or more (using shift) items in the list of available fields and click add to
include them in the layout
Select one or more (using shift) items in the current layout and click remove to
exclude them from the layout
Use the Up, Down, Top and Bottom buttons to re-order the fields in the layout
Click and drag items from the available fields to the selected fields to include them in
the layout
Click and drag items in the selected fields to change their order
Click Default to return the layout to the GL Wand standard
Tip: To immediately see the impact of your changes to a drill down layout, first delete the
currently open drill sheet e.g. Journal and then re-execute the drill down to see the edited
layout. Alternatively, close any open drill workbooks and then start a new drill down.
PDF Export (Tools Menu and Right click in a cell)

- Export selected range to PDF
- Export selected sheets to PDF
- Export all the sheets in the current workbook to PDF
Export to PDF allows you to export a highlighted range, the selected sheets or the entire
workbook to a PDF file. This feature can be used on any Excel spreadsheet. It does not
require a GL Wand report to function. Start by setting your page setup options to ensure
that the report will be produced in the correct way e.g. landscape versus portrait as well as
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print size. Then click the applicable PDF button under the Tools menu on the GL Wand
toolbar or simply right click in a cell. A temporary PDF file will be created with the selected
output from Excel and will be opened in the default PDF viewer. If you wish to keep this file
click the Save As button in the PDF Viewer and save the file in the correct folder with an
appropriate name.
Please note that in order to create PDF output the required component PDF Creator must
be installed. It is available for download at http://www.excel4apps.com/pdf
About GL Wand
- About GL Wand
This button brings up the about box for the GL Wand application.
You can use this window to
see which version of the product you are running
see your site information like GL Wand key, expiry date, licensed users etc.
see what version of the e-Business Suite and Oracle database you are running
request a license key for the current instance
log a support request
Help
- Help
Use the help button to access the latest online version of the help file.
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Set of Books and Segment Selector

3. Now click the Discover Down button.

- Discover Right All

2. Choose the special Period value from the segment list.

3. Now click the Discover Down button.

2. Make sure the correct segment is selected in the segment selector.

3. Click the Discover Properties button.

Discover Child Ranges

3. Now click on the Discover Child Ranges button.

Toggle Discover Level

Select a cell and enter a starting segment value.

Click the explode report button.

Open List of Values

If you want to add a range like 1000-2000 do the following.

Create List of Values

- Segment Descriptive Flexfield

The format that your date is in is important. The - character is

PTD Includes just the current periods movement

The currency code as configured in Oracle all in upper case e.g.

Oracle Release 12 provides a new feature to allow reporting on the

To include all values simply enter %. Please note as from GL Wand

selected in the Set of Books dropdown list will be used.

The criteria needs to be entered as follows - Source=Manual or

The segment number

Example =Segment_DFF(100,2,5) retrieves the 5th attribute on the segment values

Example =Split_Text("01.100.7000",2) will return the 100 portion of the text.

Example =Combine_Text("01","100","7000") will return 01.100.7000.

Discovering versus Functions

Discover Child Ranges

Use the discover buttons with Period

Special Get Balance Criteria

You wrap the descriptive flexfield using curly brackets

An example Get Balance function would look as follows:

Highlight the range

GL Wand calculation on or off

Undo Hide Zeros (Tools Menu)

Select a cell that contains a valid Get Balance function.

Drill Down Batching

Drill Downs Calculated Excel Columns

Hide the special row 2 again.

Sort Drill Report

Configuration Sheet (Tools Menu)

valid actual flags,

Options (Tools Menu)

Disable Summary Account Checking

Show disabled segment values

Create Drill Criteria Sheet (Tools Menu)

Report Wizard (Tools Menu)

Audit Get Balance (Tools Menu)

Convert FSG (Tools Menu)

Report Manager (Tools Menu)

Edit Default Drill Layout (Tools Menu)

You can modify the layout using the following options:

PDF Export (Tools Menu and Right click in a cell)

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