There are certain best practices that we recommend you follow when using ExtendInsights for Analytics NetSuite.
✅ Tip 1 - Make each field label unique in your results
Field names must be unique to avoid duplicate field names. If there are special characters on the field name, set a custom label and assign a name without special characters.
Use Custom Label (Non-summary type)
Use Summary Label (Summary type)
If there is a need to remove, add, or rename fields, make sure to refresh the saved search in ExtendInsights for it to capture the changes. This applies to searches set on schedules as well (you must manually refresh a scheduled search one time if you have made changes to the columns).
✅ Tip 2 - Use Excel online when downloading to free up Excel desktop
When ExtendInsights is downloading, switching your focus to other worksheets can cause issues with writing the data. If you need to work with other Excel workbooks while your data is downloading, especially if you are refreshing multiple large searches at once, use Excel online so you can continue working with other workbooks uninterrupted.
✅ Tip 3 - Use a source file approach to keep your data safe
Stream your searches into a
Source Fileand perform your analysis against that file from other workbooks. This will ensure that other users don't corrupt your source file.Perform your analysis by saving the source file on OneDrive for Business or SharePoint and connecting to the
Source Fileusing Excel Power Query or Power BI.This ensures that your source file will not be open while ExtendInsights is writing scheduled saved searches to it
This ensures that all your formulas, pivot tables, etc., in your analysis file will remain intact
Queries defined in your analysis file can also be set so that the data is refreshed from the Source File each time the file is opened, or even put on their own schedule.
More about Power Query here.
✅ Tip 4 - Do not change your Worksheet name
Avoid changing your workbook name or sheet name after downloading the data to avoid duplicate sheets.
When we refresh or pull records from NetSuite to Excel, ExtendInsights references the saved search into the sheet name. If the saved search name does not match any of the sheet names in the workbook, it will then create a new sheet.
✅ Tip 5 - Schedule your saved searches in Excel
For ExtendInsights to automatically update your file on a schedule it must be accessible online. Therefore, please be sure to save the file on SharePoint or OneDrive for Business
While you might be tempted to run searches hourly, please be aware that searches can impact the performance of NetSuite. For example, if you’re running a sales order search you might want to schedule this to run at 2AM rather than every hour.
If Excel Power Query is not available, then:
Do not edit the workbook during the scheduled run
Avoid opening sheets on the desktop during the scheduled run
Disable sheet filters
Share the workbook only with VIEW permission to avoid users from editing the workbook.
✅ Tip 6 - Remove schedule before deleting scheduled Saved Searches
Remove the saved search from the schedule or delete the schedule before deleting the worksheet
🛑 IMPORTANT
Failure to do this will cause the report to still run on schedule and you will receive error notifications via email.
❔ FAQs
How does ExtendInsights scheduling work?
When a schedule is activated, the search will run at the specified times and update the Excel file. If the search results columns have been modified, you must refresh the search manually one time (we do this to ensure that you are aware of the changes and have an opportunity to review any formulas that may be impacted).
The hourly schedule does not consider minutes. If a schedule is added at 9:45 it will start to run at 10 then 11, 12…
What are the reasons for the Failed to Get Results error?
🛠️ Quick Fixes for Failed to Get Results Error
🔵 Field labels are not unique
Two or more columns have the same name. Visit this article to know more about this issue.
Resolution
Update NetSuite Saved Search and use the custom label or summary label and make field names unique.
🔵 Filter Criteria has null value
Saved search has criteria set with null values. Learn more about this error here.
Resolution
The workaround is to remove this line from your saved search criteria.
🔵 Mismatch number of Columns
User edited NetSuite Saved Search (remove, added, or renamed columns).
Resolution
Manually refresh the search in Excel to get the latest configuration of the saved search from NetSuite.
🔵 Workbook deleted prior to removing the schedule
When a workbook was deleted but it has a schedule set to pull saved searches from NetSuite.
Resolution
Need to recover the deleted workbook and schedule it before deleting it again
OR
Get the name of the Saved Search and send a message to support in the lower-right corner of the page. We can pause the workflow to stop the error notification.
👉 See the article here for common errors encountered when streaming data from NetSuite.