Note: This article was first published in 2021 and updated in August 2025 for current product naming. The functions described below remain current in Oracle Smart View for Office.
Oracle Smart View for Office is an add-in that connects Microsoft Excel, Word, and PowerPoint to Oracle EPM Cloud and Oracle Analytics (Business Intelligence), letting you analyze, enter, and report on data without leaving Office. Excel is where most of the work happens, and ad hoc analysis is the tool that makes it possible to pull, slice, and update both data and metadata directly in a worksheet. This article is an overview of the core Smart View functions in Excel. For installation instructions, see our "Smart View Installation Guide".
The Smart View Ribbon
The Smart View ribbon holds the functions you use across every provider and workbook.
Panel opens the Smart View Panel on the right side of Excel, where you manage your Shared and Private Connections. You enter or select a connection URL there and sign in.
Refresh updates the worksheet with the current values from the data source.
Submit Data writes your changes back to the data source.
Options opens the configuration dialog, organized into tabs for Member Options, Data Options, Advanced, Formatting, Cell Styles, and Extensions.
The Ad Hoc Ribbon
Once you begin ad hoc analysis on a connection, the ad hoc ribbon gives you the operations for navigating a grid. It is worth knowing that these operations act on the grid, or view, in your worksheet, not on the source data, so they change what you are looking at without changing what is stored.
Zoom In expands a member to reveal the levels beneath it, and you can choose how far to go, to the next level, the bottom level, and other options such as the same level or generation.
Zoom Out collapses the selected member up to the next level above it.
Keep Only retains only the selected members in the grid and removes the rest from view.
Remove Only removes the selected members from the grid.
Member Selection opens the member selection dialog, where you choose or filter members and their properties.
Change Alias switches the alias table used to display member names in the grid.
Working with FCCS Metadata in Smart View
Smart View is not only for data. It is also a supported way to view and edit dimension metadata for Oracle EPM Cloud applications, including Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM Financial Consolidation and Close (FCCS). The screenshot below shows FCCS metadata in Excel, presenting the members and properties of the Account dimension.
To update FCCS member properties using Smart View:
- Enter your connection and sign in.
- In the Smart View Panel, expand the application's dimensions and open the dimension you want to edit.
- Navigate to the target member, either by using Zoom In or by typing the member name or alias.
- Edit a property by clicking its cell and choosing a value from the drop-down list, or typing one; changed cells are highlighted so you can see what you have modified.
- Click Submit Data.
- Click Refresh.
You can change multiple members and properties in a single submission. If any member fails to update, the application rolls back the entire operation rather than saving partial changes.
Entering and Analyzing FCCS Data in Smart View
To submit or analyze FCCS data using Smart View:
- Enter your connection and sign in.
- In the Smart View Panel on the right, open a cube or an existing ad hoc grid and start Ad Hoc Analysis.
- Set the Point of View for the dimensions to display the data you want.
- Click an editable data cell and type a value to submit; editable cells accept input, and the cells you change are highlighted until you submit them.
- Click Submit Data.
- Click Refresh.
Smart View turns Excel into a live window on your EPM applications, for reporting, data entry, and metadata maintenance alike. If you would like help rolling out Smart View or building ad hoc templates for your team, the CloudADDIE team is glad to help.