Load data from a database

The following procedure is used to load data from a database:

  1. In the Load Data workspace, click on the arrow under the Add button The Add button on the ribbon and select the Database option. A new data source will be added to the screen (see Database loading screen).
  2. In the Start Year and Duration fields, specify the time frame for which the data will be loaded; if projects span a longer period, the data outside of this time frame will be discarded.

  3. To import data, you need a mapping template; create or select it in the Mapping Template section. Template management buttons are explained in the table below. For information about how to create a template, see Database mapping template.

Note: The currently-used template is part of the PLAN document; if you send this document to a colleague, for example, the template will be sent with it. You can also save templates as files on your computer (referred to as local templates).

  1. If the connection to the database set up in the mapping template has been established successfully, the Select Projects box will be filled with project names. If you are already connected (for example, if you load data and then return to load more), the Connect button will be replaced with the Refresh button which will retrieve the latest values from the database.
  2. In the Select Projects box, select projects by checking boxes next to their names. If you select a consolidation node, all projects within it will be selected.
  3. To check whether data sources have errors, click on the Validate button The Validate button on the ribbon. If errors or warnings are found, a message will be displayed and the data source icon will change to Errors icon or Warnings icon respectively.
  4. Click on the Load button The Load button on the ribbon. The progress will be shown in a pop-up dialog. You can cancel loading at any time by clicking on the Cancel button in the dialog.
  5. If loading finished successfully, the Analyze Portfolio workspace will be opened. If there were warnings or errors, click on the View Log button The View Log button on the ribbon to check the log file.

Important: On a 64-bit system, the drivers used to access the source database (for example, Oracle) must also be 64-bit. If not, you may get an error such as "The provider is not registered on the local machine". There are two possible resolutions to this issue:

  1. Obtain and install the 64-bit version of the data source drivers. Most database providers can provide 64-bit versions of the drivers.
  2. Use the 32-bit PLAN executable, 'PalantirPLAN32.exe' to perform the data loading. This can be found in the location where the PalantirPLAN client programs have been installed, which is typically C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\PalantirDeployment\ipsserver.mycompany.com_443\PalantirPLAN or C:\Program Files\Palantir\PlanningSpace 16.5\PalantirPLAN. Note that once the data are loaded and saved, you can revert to using the standard (64-bit) version of PLAN.

Note: For MS Office, the provider must be compatible with the version of MS Office installed. For example, if 32-bit MS Office is installed (on either a 32- or 64-bit machine) then only the 32-bit provider can be used. In this case, the only option is to run the 32-bit version of PLAN (as explained in point 2 above). Also note that to load data from MS Office applications (for example, MS Access), the Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB provider should be used.