Reduce Memory Consumption for Very Large Reports

Cobra has an option to generate the CAP and Time-phased reports using a subset of the standard reporting features.

This option allows Cobra to allocate memory more efficiently when generating reports. If the report you want to generate is very large (for example, it contains lots of rows and columns), Cobra may encounter an Out of Memory error while it is generating it. Use this option to overcome this issue.

The main differences between the standard CAP and Time-phased reports and the low-memory reports are as follows:
  • Subtotal rows are displayed in the criteria footer instead of in the header.
  • Most of the style and formatting attributes in the report template are not applied to cells in the detail section of the report. However, Cobra will apply style and formatting attributes in the report and page header and footer sections.

You can use the low-memory version of a report by choosing the corresponding template file that has the suffix -low memory. For example, cap-low memory.xlsx or time-phased-low memory.xlsx.

Note: When you first open a report in Excel, formulas need to be calculated. You can choose to either configure Excel to calculate formulas automatically or calculate them manually using F9.

Features not Supported

The following features that are available for standard reports are not supported (or fully supported) by the low-memory reports:

  • The cell styles and row and column attributes in the detail section of the report will not be copied from the template. However the styles in the report and page header and footer sections will be copied in the same way as for a standard report.

    The Normal style will be applied to all cells the detail section of the report. You can configure the font attributes for the Normal style in the template.

  • Merged cells anywhere within the report template will not be copied to the report.
  • The ApplyCellFormat parameter can be used to format date and currency values. However, Cobra will ignore any {ApplyCellFormat(<tag>)} tags, where the <tag> parameter is a cell reference.
  • The following tags are not supported: {AutoFit}, {Group}, {Highlight}, {RowLabel}, and {VarColor}.
  • The <Header>{CriteriaN.CostSetN} section tag is not supported. Use the <Footer>{CriteriaN.CostSetN} section tag instead.
  • Formulas in the report template must not contain Excel cell references because Cobra will not adjust them to reflect their position in the report. Including a formula in the report template will likely result in incorrect or invalid formula being included in the report.
    Note: The Cell [ ] tag can be used instead of an Excel cell reference.
  • It is recommended that you do not include an Excel formula in any cell that will contain a subtotal when displayed for a summary criteria. If the cell contains a formula, Cobra will not be able to calculate the subtotal value, which it needs to do in either of the following circumstances:
    • The Create formula for Subtotals option on the Report tab of the Application Preferences dialog box is cleared.
    • The Create formula for Subtotals option is selected and the subtotal formula exceeds Excel’s limits because it is too long or contains too many cell references.
  • The New Page option for criteria on the Sub-Totals page of the Report Wizard will be ignored.
  • The report’s print area range will not be set.
  • The xlsx output type must be selected. The xls type is not supported.