Comparison of Master Data Services Functionality in Web Interface versus Excel Add-In

There are some differences in functionality available in the MDS web interface (known as Master Data Manager) versus the MDS Excel Add-In.  Following is a quick reference which is applicable to SQL Server 2012.

Management of Data:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Add or update members individually	Yes	Yes
Delete members individually	Yes	Yes
Add or update members in bulk	No	Yes
Delete members in bulk	Yes	Yes
Create annotations of changes	Yes	Yes
Create and manage attribute groups	Yes	No
View attribute groups	Yes	Yes (Via filters)
View transactions	Yes	No
Filters	Yes	Yes (Fewer options)
Match data	No	Yes (If DQS integration is enabled)
Combine data	No	Yes
Create shortcut query file	No	Yes

Model Structure:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Create model	Yes	No
Create entity	Yes	Yes (Code and Name columns only)
Create attribute	Yes	No
Edit attribute data type or length	No	Yes

Business Rules:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Create and edit business rules	Yes	No
Apply business rules (validate)	Yes	Yes

Hierarchies:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Create explicit hierarchy	Yes	No
View explicit hierarchy	Yes	Yes (Via filters)
Manage explicit hierarchy	Yes	No
Create derived hierarchy	Yes	No
View derived hierarchy	Yes	No

Collections:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Create and view collections	Yes	No
Add or update collection members	Yes	No

Administration:

Feature	Web Interface	Excel Add-In
Administrator tasks such as managing permissions, versions, subscription views, and deployment	Yes	No

Comments

[Julie Smith]

What a great reference!

[Joe Kelly]

Think we can Create attribute in Excel also ??

[Melissa Coates]

Joe,

Interestingly, this release of the Excel add-in lets you create a new entity - but not add the individual attributes.

Thanks for reading!
Melissa