Writeback allows you to either permanently edit values in the cube, if the administrator has allowed it, or to do simple "what-if" analysis in Excel.
Anaplan XL Excel Edition supports writeback in many ways through Grids, Formula-based, and relational writeback. In both cases, the cube itself must be write-enabled.
Writeback in Anaplan XL grids
To enable writeback on a Anaplan XL Grid, select Anaplan XL > Properties... from the Grid right-click menu, then select the Enable Writeback option from the Writeback tab. You can also adjust a few other options on this tab.
Online entry mode
Using Online mode, each value is submitted to the cube when typed: the value will be written and the data optionally re-retrieved (so that any aggregated data is updated straight away on the report).
By default, entry is allowed only at the leaf level of the data, as this is the most common environment.
Offline entry mode
In Offline mode, you can enter multiple updates at once, then submit them in one batch. To view the updates that are ready to be sent to the server, select the Anaplan XL > Writeback > Manage Offline Writeback right-click menu option, and to upload the changes, select Anaplan XL > Writeback > Submit Outstanding Writes.
Non-leaf level writeback
When not entering data at leaf level, you must choose from the four Analysis Services spreading methods:
| Method | Description |
| Equal allocation | Each constituent cell is assigned an equal value. |
| Equal increment | Every constituent cell will be changed according to an incremental value. |
| Weighted allocation | Each constituent cell will be assigned an equal value that is weighted against a formula. |
| Weighted increment | Every constituent cell is changed incrementally according to a weighting formula. |
Data can then be entered for aggregate levels in the cube, and will be spread according to the rule specified.
Note that non-leaf Writeback in the Analysis Services environment should be used with caution since it can be time-consuming, depending on cube size and dimensionality.
Writeback formatting and locking
See Writeback formatting and locking for details on how to lock grid cells and use writeback validation rules.
Writeback and grid calculations
See Writeback and grid calculations for details on how to use Excel formulas to update the database.
Formula writeback
There are two Anaplan XL formulas that handle Analysis Services writeback: XL3DoWriteback formula and XL3LookupRW formula.
XL3DoWriteback lets a value in another cell be written back to the cube. With XL3LookupRW, the formula itself is overwritten directly.
Usually, XL3DoWriteback offers more flexibility and control.
There's also XL3RunSQL formula which is available for relational SQL updates.
Relational writeback
In Anaplan XL > Options > Workbook Options, you can specify whether to use Standard (Analysis Services) or Relational writeback. Relational writeback requires certain cube customizations, and is typically a consultancy-led process to provide additional flexibility or performance over the standard writeback processing.
