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Discovering versus Functions |
You may have noticed that you can achieve similar results by using the discover tools and using the functions. For example you could use the “Discover Down” button to retrieve the next segment value or you could use the “Next Segment Value” function to return the same result. The difference between these two approaches is as follows:
| Comparison between Discovering and Functions | Discovering | Functions |
| Results returned as text string to Excel cell | Value is calculated based on parameters | |
| Value is static | Value is dynamic | |
| Never changes | Recalculated when sheet refreshed | |
| Lower performance overhead | Higher performance overhead | |
| Discover Down | Next Segment Value | |
| Discover Up | Previous Segment Value | |
| Discover Left | Next Segment Value | |
| Discover Right | Previous Segment Value | |
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Segment Description | |
| Discover Child Ranges | No equivalent | |
| Toggle Discover Level | Parameters of next segment value, determine whether parents, children or both are returned. | |
| Use the discover buttons with “Period” selected in the segment drop down | Period Name | |
| Balance Extract is similar to Get Balance, though the static values it produces are refreshable. | Get Balance |