Top Questions of the Month - September

Month after month, Pigmenauts share challenges, ideas, and solutions that help us all learn and grow together.

To celebrate this knowledge sharing, here are September’s top 5 questions. We’re highlighting the ones that sparked the most interest and views from fellow members 💡.

Whether you faced the same challenge or want to learn new tips, these threads are a great place to explore, contribute, and connect.

1. Can a Data Flow (or any single-click trigger) combine multiple external/connector imports (e.g. Sage)?

Question - ​@shubham:

“Can external-source imports, such as Sage, APIs, or connector-based imports, be included in a Data Flow? If not, is there another way to trigger multiple external imports from a single Board button?”

Best Answer - ​@Julien:

This isn't currently supported, and there isn't an alternative way to trigger multiple external imports from a single Board button today.

However, this exact functionality is entering beta testing, allowing external connector imports to be included in Data Flows.

Read the full discussion here:

2. MCP Server URL

Question - ​@selma:

“Where can I find my Pigment MCP Server URL?”

Best Answer - ​@Nathan:

You can find your MCP Server URL in the Integration settings of your Pigment Workspace.

Read the full discussion here:

3. Transaction List Property Formula Timing Out

Question - ​@GreenBear327:

“We have a Transaction List with over 6 million rows and 60 properties, many containing calculations. Some property formulas are now timing out. Is the Transaction List simply too large, or is there a more efficient approach?”

Best Answer - ​@oredsson:

There isn't much to optimize in the formula itself. Where possible, the best approach is to handle the transformation upstream, such as replacing blank Division values with “No Segment” before importing the data into Pigment.

Another option is to split the Transaction List. For example, you could separate historical Actuals from current data so that new imports only trigger recalculations on the smaller, current Transaction List.

Read the full discussion here:

4. Can you tab in a text box in a Board?

Question - ​@Trev_Clark:

“Can I add a tab or indentation within a text box on a Board? Pressing Tab moves to the next widget rather than indenting the text.”

Best Answer - ​@CDALMAY:

Since regular tabs and spaces don't work for this, you can use the Unicode blank character “⠀” as a workaround to create indentation and spacing within text boxes.

Read the full discussion here:

5. Show Value As % of a Metric in a table

Question - ​@Min Li:

“I have Cost by Department and total Revenue by Month in the same table. When I use ‘Show Value As → % of Metric’ to calculate Cost as a percentage of Revenue, I only get the total percentage instead of the percentage for each Department. How can I calculate it at the Department level?”

Best Answer - ​@Benoit:

This happens because the Cost and Revenue metrics don't have the same structure.

Create a new Revenue allocated by Department metric with the same dimensions as the Cost metric, and simply reference the source Revenue metric in its formula.

You can then add this new metric to the table, hide it from the displayed View, and use it as the metric for your % of Metric calculation. Hidden metrics can still be used for Show Value As calculations.

Read the full discussion here:

These questions reflect the curiosity and creativity of the Pigment Community, and your insights can make them even more valuable. If you’ve faced similar challenges, drop your ideas, solutions, or tips in the threads.

Have your own question? Start a new thread and let the community help!