Use
Historical Data Load to specify the number of past monthly periods for which you want to load data.
Purpose
Your entry in
Number of Periods Back under
Historical Data Load controls the number of historical wInsight Analytics periods for which data is loaded into the analytics data model when you run the data load process.
This entry and the entry in
Actuals Up Through under
Current Period control which periods are loaded. For example, if you select
11-30-2014 in
Actuals Up Through and select
24 in
Number of Periods Back, the data load process loads wInsight Analytics data for the period ending on 11-30-2014 and for the 23 previous monthly periods.
Note: If a contract uses periods other than monthly (weekly, for example), this setting still loads the specified number of months of data.
Historical Data Load Option on the By Project Tab
The By Project tab has an identical
Historical Data Load option. The two options have the same purpose but function independently. The option on the By Project tab only applies to the partial data loads for selected projects that you initiate from that tab, while the option on the wInsight Analytics Configuration tab only applies to full data loads that include all projects.
Preparation
In
Actuals Up Through under
Current Period, select the latest period for which you want to load wInsight Analytics data into the analytics data model. If you normally want to load data through the most recent period in the wInsight database, it is recommended that you select
Latest rather than a specific period end date.
Initial Configuration
When you set up wInsight Analytics, you load all of the historical wInsight Analytics data that you want to be available when you begin using the analytics. To do that, use the
Number of Periods Back field under
Historical Data Load to enter or select the number of historical periods for which you want to load data.
For example, select
24 if you want to load data for the period selected in
Actuals Up Through and for the 23 previous periods.
The maximum entry is
99 but if you need to go back further, you can select an earlier period in
Actuals Up Through, load that data, and then select a more recent period in
Actuals Up Through and load the later data.
Ongoing Administration
To minimize or eliminate ongoing maintenance of this option and the related
Actuals Up Through option, select
Latest in
Actuals Up Through and set
Number of Periods Back to
1. If you do that, the data load process automatically loads data for the latest period for which data is available in wInsight, so you do not normally need to change either of these selections from month to month.
Even if you prefer to specify a specific period end date in
Actuals Up Through when you are ready to load data for a new period, you should not normally need to change the value in
Number of Periods Back from month to month.
Entering
1 in
Number of Periods Back minimizes the time it takes to load the data because only one period's data is processed. However, in rare cases, you may find it necessary to load more than one period of new data. To do that, select the appropriate number of periods in
Number of Periods Back.
If your data load will include new or updated user-defined filters, make sure that you set the options in wInsight Analytics Configuration so that data is loaded for all months for which you want to use those filters.