What Are Feeders in TM1?
💡 Feeders mark relevant calculated cells
Learn how feeders mark calculated cells and ensure that values are included correctly in consolidations.
🎯 What you will learn in this short
This video explains what feeders do in TM1, how they work with rules and SKIPCHECK, and why they matter for consolidations.
A rule calculates a value, while a feeder marks the calculated cells that are relevant to it.
SKIPCHECK prevents TM1 from having to calculate every possible cell combination in a cube.
Feeders ensure that relevant calculated values are included in consolidations.
✍️ Practical example
Scenario:
Revenue is calculated using a rule as quantity times price. Without a feeder, TM1 does not recognize that this value is relevant for later totals.
Result:
The calculated revenue cells are marked as relevant and included in consolidations.
What was done: Calculated revenue using a rule + fed from quantity to revenue + marked calculated revenue cells as relevant
Original transcript (German)
Was sind eigentlich Feeder in IBM Planning Analytics beziehungsweise in TM1? Eine Rule berechnet Werte. Ein Feeder markiert, welche berechneten Werte später wichtig sind. Eine Rule kann zum Beispiel den Umsatz berechnen, wie hier: Menge mal Preis gleich Umsatz. Der Feeder berechnet nicht den Umsatz, sondern gibt TM1 den Weg vor. In diesem Beispiel wird von Menge auf Umsatz gefeedert.
Damit wird der Umsatz als relevante berechnete Zelle markiert. Warum ist das wichtig? Ein Cube kann Millionen oder Milliarden von Zellkombinationen haben. Der sogenannte SKIPCHECK-Befehl in Rules sorgt dafür, dass TM1 nicht jede Zelle einzeln berechnen muss. Ohne Feeder weiß TM1 aber nicht, dass dieser berechnete Wert später für eine Summe wichtig ist. Somit benötigt man Feeder, damit auch Konsolidierungen korrekt berechnet werden.
Zusammengefasst kann man sagen: Die Rule berechnet den Wert. Der Feeder markiert die relevanten Zellen, die für die Berechnung notwendig sind, damit diese in Konsolidierungen eingehen.
English transcript
What exactly are feeders in IBM Planning Analytics, or TM1? A rule calculates values. A feeder marks which calculated values will be important later. For example, a rule can calculate revenue, as shown here: quantity times price equals revenue. The feeder does not calculate the revenue; instead, it points TM1 in the right direction. In this example, quantity feeds revenue.
This marks revenue as a relevant calculated cell. Why does this matter? A cube can contain millions or billions of cell combinations. The SKIPCHECK statement in rules ensures that TM1 does not have to calculate every single cell. However, without a feeder, TM1 does not know that this calculated value is important for a later total. Feeders are therefore required so that consolidations are calculated correctly.
In summary: the rule calculates the value. The feeder marks the relevant cells needed for the calculation so that they are included in consolidations.
