Using a personal workspace or sandbox

A sandbox is not a copy of the base data, but a separate overlay or layer of your own data values that you enter on top of the base data. This distinction provides a significant performance improvement and is important to understand as you change your data.

• Base data is the data that all users can access. Any edits that are made to base data are written directly back to the database.
• Sandbox data is your own personal work area where you can edit the data values as many times as you want and keep the changed data separate from the base data. Sandboxes and personal workspaces are private to each user and cannot be seen by other users. Your data values are viewable to others only when you commit them back to the base data. A personal workspace is a special, default sandbox that is unnamed and always where you work if that capability is turned on.

Sandboxes are not stored on the client. They consist of a separate and private area of the server. When you work in a sandbox, think of the base model data shining through to the sandbox. When you change data in the sandbox, it is as if the base model data value is temporarily blocked by the value you entered in the sandbox. To make the base model take on the values in the sandbox, you must Commit the sandbox. When the sandbox data values are committed, they are merged with the base so that the changed values then update and become the base values.

Features of sandboxes and personal workspaces include:

• Private data changes.

  Sandboxes and personal workspaces let you try out different changes to the data before you make those changes public to other users and before you commit those changes to the base data.

• Cell Coloring.

  Changes to cell values in a sandbox or personal workspace are identified by a change in cell content colors. The cells change color to remind you that the change has not yet been merged to the base data. When data is committed and processing is complete, the cell coloring turns to black again.

  Cell coloring is also applied to any dependent cells, such as consolidated or rule calculated cells, that your edits affect. For more information, see Understanding cell coloring for changed data values.

• Manual Commit.

  When you work in a sandbox or personal workspace, the Commit button becomes available so you can decide when to commit changes to the base. When you commit the data, your changes become available to other users.

• Reset Data.

  In a sandbox or personal workspace, the Reset Data button becomes available and lets you return to the status of your sandbox since the last time it was committed.

• Named sandboxes let you create what-if scenarios.

  Depending on your configuration settings, you can name multiple sandboxes, such as Best Case or Worst Case and then compare the impact of your edits by switching between them.

• Virtual sandbox dimension.

  Depending on your configuration settings, you can include sandboxes in a virtual sandbox dimension and compare them in a single view. For example, you can perform side-by-side comparisons of sandbox values and inter-sandbox calculated values.

To work in a sandbox, you must first open a view and then either create a new sandbox or select an existing sandbox. When you work in a sandbox, the selected sandbox applies to all the other views in your current user session.