Working with Attributes

Attributes describe characteristics of data such as the size and color of products. Through attributes you can group and analyze members of dimensions based on their characteristics.

This chapter describes how to create and manage attributes in an OLAP Server outline. It contains the following sections:

You can find other information about attributes in relevant sections of this book.

Information Needed
More Information

Defining attributes through dimension build

Using attributes in partitions

Using attributes in report writer



About Attributes

You can use the Essbase attribute feature to retrieve and analyze data not only from the perspective of dimensions, but also in terms of characteristics, or attributes, of those dimensions. For example, you can analyze product profitability based on size or packaging, and you can make more effective conclusions by incorporating into your analysis market attributes such as the population size of each market region.

Such an analysis could tell you that decaffeinated drinks sold in cans in small (less than 6,000,000-population) markets are less profitable than you anticipated. For more details, you can filter your analysis by specific attribute criteria, including minimum or maximum sales and profits of different products in similar market segments.

Here are a few ways analysis by attribute provides depth and perspective, supporting better-informed decisions.

            Product Year Florida Profit Actual 
  Bottle          Can      Pkg Type
=========    =========    =========
  32              946           N/A             946
  20              791           N/A             791
  16              714           N/A             714
  12              241         2,383           2,624
Ounces          2,692         2,383           5,075 


About Attribute Dimensions

In the Sample Basic database, products have attributes that are characteristics of the products. For example, products have an attribute that describes their packaging. In the outline, you see this as two dimensions, the Products dimension, and the Pkg Type attribute dimension that is associated with it. An attribute dimension has the word Attribute next to its name in the outline.

Figure 90 shows part of the Sample Basic outline featuring the Product dimension and three attribute dimensions, Caffeinated, Ounces, and Pkg Type.

Figure 90: Outline Showing Base and Attribute Dimensions

In the outline, to the right of the Product dimension, the terms Caffeinated, Ounces, and Pkg Type, enclosed in braces, show that these attribute dimensions are associated with the Product dimension.

A standard dimension is any dimension that is not an attribute dimension. When an attribute dimension is associated with a standard dimension, the standard dimension is the base dimension for that attribute dimension. In the outline in Figure 90, the Product dimension is the base dimension for the Caffeinated, Ounces, and Pkg Type attribute dimensions.

Note: Attribute dimensions and members are Dynamic Calc. This means Essbase calculates attribute information at retrieval time. Attribute data is not stored in the database.

Members of Attribute Dimensions

Members of an attribute dimension are potential attributes of the members of the associated base dimension. After you associate a base dimension with an attribute dimension, you associate members of the base dimension with members of the associated attribute dimension. The Market dimension member Connecticut is associated with the 6000000 member of the Population attribute dimension. That makes 6000000 an attribute of Connecticut.

In the outline, the information enclosed in braces next to a base dimension member shows the attributes of that member. In Figure 90, the entry next to product 100-10, {Caffeinated:True, Ounces:12, Pkg Type:Can}, shows that product 100-10 has three attributes: product 100-10 has caffeine, it is sold in 12-ounce containers, and the containers are cans.

There are several important rules regarding members of attribute dimensions and their base dimensions.

You can use attribute values in calculations in the following comparisons:

>  (greater than) 
>= (greater than or equal to) 
<  (less than) 
<= (less than or equal to) 
== (evaluates to the same value as) 
<> (not equal to) 
!= (not equal to) 
IN  

Attribute Types

Attribute dimensions have a text, numeric, Boolean, or date type that enables different functions for grouping, selecting, or calculating data. Although assigned at the dimension level, the attribute type applies only to level 0 members of the attribute dimension.

Differences Between Attribute and Standard Dimensions

In general, attribute dimensions and their members are similar to standard dimensions and members. You can provide aliases and member comments for attributes. Attribute dimensions can include hierarchies and you can name generations and levels. You can perform the same spreadsheet operations on attribute dimensions and members as you can on standard dimensions and members; for example, to analyze data from different perspectives, you can retrieve, pivot, and drill down in the spreadsheet.

Table 14 describes major differences between attribute and standard dimensions and their members.

Table 14: Differences Between Attribute and Standard Dimensions  

.
Attribute Dimensions
Standard Dimensions

Storage

Must be sparse. Their base dimensions must also be sparse.

Can be dense or sparse

Storage property

Dynamic Calc only, therefore not stored in the database. The outline does not display this property.

Can be Store Data, Dynamic Calc And Store, Dynamic Calc, Never Share, or Label Only

Position in outline

Must be the last dimensions in the outline

Must be ahead of all attribute dimensions in the outline

Partitions

Cannot be defined along attribute dimensions, but you can use attributes to define a partition on a base dimension.

Can be defined along standard dimensions.

Formulas (on members)

Cannot be associated

Can be associated

Shared members

Not allowed

Allowed

Alias combinations

Cannot include attribute dimensions or members

Can include standard dimensions and members

Two-pass calculation member property

Not available

Available

Two-pass calculation with run-time formula

If member formula must be executed at run time and is tagged two-pass, calculation skips the member and issues warning message. Run-time dependent functions include: @CURRMBR, @PARENT, @PARENTVAL, @MDPARENTVAL, @ANCEST, @ANCESTVAL, and @MDANCESTVAL.

Calculation is performed on standard members with run-time formulas and tagged two-pass.

Two-pass, multiple dimensions: Calculation order

Order of calculation of members tagged two-pass depends on order in outline: last dimension calculated last.

Calculation result is not dependent on outline order for members tagged two-pass in more than one dimension.

Two-pass calculation with no member formula

Calculation skipped, warning message issued. Thus member intersection of two-pass tagged members and upper level members may return different results from calculation on standard dimensions.

Available

Dense dynamic calc members in non-
existing stored blocks

Calculation skips dense dimensions if they are on any non-existing stored block. To identify non-existing stored blocks, export the database or run query to find out whether block has any data.

Available

UDAs on members

Not allowed

Allowed

Consolidations

For all members, calculated through the Attribute Calculations dimension members: Sum, Count, Min, Max, and Avg.

Consolidation operation indicated by assigning the desired consolidation symbol to each member

Member selection facilitated by Level 0 member typing

Available types include: text, numeric, Boolean, and date.

All members treated as text.

Associations

Must be associated with a base dimension

N/A

Spreadsheet drill-downs

List the base dimension data associated with the selected attribute. For example, drilling down on the attribute Glass displays sales for each product packaged in glass, where Product is the base dimension for the Pkg Type attribute dimension.

List lower or sibling levels of detail in the standard dimensions. For example, drilling down on QTR1 displays a list of products and their sales for that quarter.



Differences Between Attributes and UDAs

Attributes and UDAs both enable analysis based on characteristics of the data. Attributes provide much more capability than UDAs. Table 15 compares them. Checkmarks indicate the feature supports the corresponding capability.

Table 15: Comparing Attributes and UDAs  

Capability
Attributes Feature
UDAs
Feature

Data Storage

You can associate with sparse dimensions.

You can associate with dense dimensions.

.

Data Retrieval

You can group and retrieve consolidated totals by attribute or UDA value. For example, associate the value High Focus Item to various members of the Product dimension and use that term to retrieve totals and details for just those members.

Simple

More difficult to implement, requiring additional calculation scripts or commands

You can categorize attributes in a hierarchy and retrieve consolidated totals by higher levels in the attribute hierarchy; for example, if each product has a specific size attribute such as 8, 12, 16, or 32, and the sizes are categorized as small, medium, and large. You can view the total sales of small products.

More difficult to implement

You can create crosstab views displaying aggregate totals of attributes associated with the same base dimension.

You can show a crosstab of all values of each attribute dimension.

You can only retrieve totals based on specific UDA values.

You can use Boolean operators AND, OR, and NOT with attribute and UDA values to further refine a query. For example, you can select decaffeinated drinks from the 100 product group.

Because attributes have a text, Boolean, date, or numeric type, you can use appropriate operators and functions to work with and display attribute data. For example, you can view sales totals of all products introduced after a specific date.

.

You can group numeric attributes into ranges of values and let the dimension building process automatically associate the base member with the appropriate range. For example, you can group sales in various regions based on ranges of their populations: less than 3 million, between 3 and 6 million, and so on.

.

Through the Attribute Calculations dimension, you can view aggregations of attribute values as sums, counts, minimums, maximums, and averages.

.

You can use an attribute in a calculation that defines a member. For example, you can use the weight of a product in ounces to define the profit per ounce member of the Measures dimension.

.

You can retrieve specific base members using attribute-related information.

Powerful conditional and value-based selections

Limited to text string matches only

Data Conversion

Based on the value of a UDA, you can change the sign of the data as it is loaded into the database. For example, you can reverse the sign of all members with the UDA Debit.

.

Calculation Scripts

You can perform calculations on a member if its attribute or UDA value matches a specific value. For example, you can increase the price by 10% of all products with the attribute or UDA of Bottle.

You can perform calculations on base members whose attribute value satisfies conditions that you specify. For example, you can calculate the Profit per Ounce of each base member.

.


Introducing the Attribute Calculations Dimension

When you create the first attribute dimension in the outline, Essbase also creates the Attribute Calculations dimension comprising five members with the default names Sum, Count, Min (minimum), Max (maximum), and Avg (average). You can use the members of the Attribute Calculations dimension to retrieve calculated information; for example, the average sales of cola within different market population ranges.

The Attribute Calculations dimension is not visible in the outline. You can see it wherever you select dimension members, such as in the Member Selection dialog box and in the Query Designer in the Spreadsheet Add-in.

For more information about the Attribute Calculations dimension, see Attribute Calculations Dimension and Changing Member Names of the Attribute Calculations Dimension.

Attribute Design Considerations

Essbase provides more than one way to design attribute information into a database. Most often, defining characteristics of the data through attribute dimensions and their members is the best approach.

Using Attribute Dimensions

For the most flexibility and functionality, use attribute dimensions to define attribute data. Using attribute dimensions provides the following features:

For more about attribute features, see About Attributes.

Using Alternative Design Approaches

In some situations, you should consider one of the following approaches:

Table 16 describes situations where you might consider one of these alternative approaches for managing attribute data in a database.

Table 16: Considering Alternatives to Attribute Dimensions  

Situation
Alternative to Consider

Analyze attributes of dense dimensions

UDAs or shared members.

Perform batch calculation of data

Shared members or members of separate, standard dimensions.

Define the name of a member of an attribute dimension as a value as that results from a formula

Shared members or members of separate, standard dimensions

Define attributes that vary over time

Members of separate, standard dimensions. For example, to track product maintenance costs over a period of time, the age of the product at the time of maintenance is important. However, using the attribute feature you could associate only one age with the product. You need multiple members in a separate dimension for each time period that you want to track.

Minimize retrieval time with large numbers of base-dimension members

Batch calculation with shared members or members of separate, standard dimensions.



Outline Performance Considerations

Outline layout and content can affect attribute calculation and query performance. For general outline design guidelines, see Designing an Outline to Optimize Performance. To optimize attribute query performance, consider the following design tips:

For information on optimizing calculation of outlines containing attributes, see Calculation and Retrieval Performance Considerations.

Working with Member Names in Attribute Dimensions

All member names in an outline must be unique. When you use the attribute feature, Essbase establishes some default member names in some places. These default names might duplicate names that already exist in the outline. Use the Settings > Attribute Member Names command to change these system-defined names for the database. You can also use this command to establish other settings for members of attribute dimensions in the database.

Define the member name settings before you define or build the attribute dimensions. Changing the settings after the attribute dimensions and members are defined could result in invalid member names.

The following sections describe how to work with the names of members of attribute dimensions:

Note: If you partition on outlines containing attribute dimensions, the name format settings of members described in this section must be identical in source and target outlines.

Tip: You can use the GETATTRIBUTESPECS command in ESSCMD to view the attribute member name format specifications for the database. See the Technical Reference in the docs directory for information about this command. See Automating the Production Environment for information about ESSCMD.

Defining a Prefix or Suffix Format for Member Names of Attribute Dimensions

The names of members of Boolean, date, and numeric attribute dimensions are values. It is possible to encounter duplicate attribute values in different attribute dimensions.

Because Essbase does not allow duplicate member names, Application Manager helps you to define unique names by attaching a prefix or suffix to member names in Boolean, date, and numeric attribute dimensions in the outline. For example, by setting member names of attribute dimensions to include the dimension name as the suffix, attached by an underscore, the member value 12 in the Ounces attribute dimension assumes the unique, full attribute member name, 12_Ounces.

By default, Essbase assumes that no prefix or suffix is attached to the names of members of attribute dimensions.

Note: The convention that you select applies to the level 0 member names of all numeric, Boolean, and date attribute dimensions in the outline.

For the examples in the following instructions, consider the Population attribute dimension:

Figure 92: The Population Attribute Dimension and Members

To define prefixes or suffixes for the names of members of Boolean, date, and numeric attribute dimensions:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the Settings > Attribute Member Names menu command.
  3. The Sample box shows the format of member names in numeric, Boolean, and date attribute dimensions.

  4. In the Value option group, select the source of the value that Essbase attaches to the attribute member name in the outline.
  5. In the Separator option group, select the separator character to insert between the attribute member name in the outline and the attached value.
  6. In the Prefix/Suffix option group, select whether to attach a prefix or a suffix to the attribute member name in the outline.
  7. Click OK.

Note: The outline does not show the full attribute names. You can see and use the full attribute names anywhere you select members, such as when you define partitions or select information to be retrieved.

Tip: You can use the GETATTRINFO command in ESSCMD to view the dimension, attribute value and attribute type of a specific attribute member. For example, to view attribute name information for the Caffeinated_True attribute:

GETATTRINFO "Caffeinated_True"

See the Technical Reference in the docs directory for information about this command. See Automating the Production Environment for information about ESSCMD.

Changing Member Names of the Attribute Calculations Dimension

To avoid duplicating names in an outline, you may need to change the name of the Attribute Calculations dimension or its members. For more information about the Attribute Calculations dimension, see Attribute Calculations Dimension.

Regardless of the name that you use for a member, its function remains the same. For example, the second (Count) member always counts, no matter what you name it.

To change the names of the Attribute Calculations dimension and its members:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the Settings > Attribute Member Names menu command.
  3. Select the Attribute Calculations tab.
  4. Figure 93: Attribute Calculations Page in the Attribute Member Names Dialog Box

  5. In the Attribute Calculations Member Names option group, type the new member name for each member name that you want to change. Follow the member naming rules described in Rules for Naming Dimensions and Members.
  6. The default names for Text Box Labels:

Text Box Label
Default Name
Dimension Name 
Attribute Calculations 
Sum Member Name 
Sum 
Count Member Name 
Count 
Min Member Name 
Min 
Max Member Name 
Max 
Avg Member Nam 
Avg 

Note: The Sum member totals members based on their consolidation property or formula. For example, the Sum member uses the following formula to consolidate the profit percentages of 12-ounce products:

This calculation is not the sum of all percentages for all base-dimension members with the Ounces attribute 12. For more information about each member, see Default Attribute Calculations Members.

  1. Click OK.

Changing the Member Names for Boolean Attribute Dimensions

All Boolean attribute dimensions in a single database have two, level 0 members with the same names, by default, True and False.

Essbase enables you to change the names of members of Boolean attribute dimensions; for example, to Yes and No.

Note: Changing the Boolean member-name setting does not retroactively change the names of members of existing Boolean attribute dimensions. You must manually change the names of existing Boolean members to the names specified in the Boolean member names setting.

When you set an attribute dimension type as Boolean, Essbase automatically creates two members with the names specified in the setting. If other members exist in the Boolean attribute dimension, you must remove them.

To change the member names setting of Boolean attribute dimensions in a database:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the Settings > Attribute Member Names menu command.
  3. Select the Boolean and Date tab.
  4. Figure 94: Boolean and Date Page in the Attribute Member Names Dialog Box

  5. In the Boolean Member Names option group, type the new member name for each member name that you want to change. Follow the member naming rules described in Rules for Naming Dimensions and Members.
  6. The default names:

Text Box Label
Default Name
True Member Name 
True 
False Member Name 
False 

  1. Click OK.

If you have more than one Boolean attribute dimension, you must specify a prefix or suffix member name format to ensure unique member names; for example, Caffeinated_True and Caffeinated_False. See Defining a Prefix or Suffix Format for Member Names of Attribute Dimensions.

Setting the Member Name Format of Date Attribute Dimensions

To change the format of members of date attribute dimensions at the database level:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the Settings > Attribute Member Names menu command.
  3. Click the Boolean and Date tab.
  4. In the Date Member Names group, select a format:
  5. Click OK.

If you change the date member name format, the names of existing members of date attribute dimensions may be invalid. For example, if the 10-18-1999 member exists and you change the format to dd-mm-yyyy, outline verification will find this member invalid. If you change the date format, you must rebuild the date attribute dimensions.

Assigning Member Names to Ranges of Values

Members of numeric attribute dimensions can represent single numeric values or ranges of values

When you build the base dimension, Essbase automatically associates members of the base dimension with the appropriate attribute range. For example, if numeric members represent the tops of ranges, Essbase automatically associates the Connecticut market, with a population of 3,269,858, with the 6000000 member of the Population attribute dimension.

In the dimension build rules file, specify the size of the range for each member of the numeric attribute dimension. In the above example, each attribute represents a range of 3,000,000. See Working With Numeric Ranges.

To define the rule for assigning numeric attribute member names to ranges of values:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the Settings > Attribute Member Names menu command.
  3. Select the Numeric Ranges tab.
  4. Figure 96: Numeric Ranges Page in the Attribute Member Names Dialog Box

  5. Select the option that sets whether numeric attribute values define the tops or bottoms of the ranges that they represent.
  6. Click OK.

Defining Attributes Manually

When manually working with attributes, use the Outline Editor in Application Manager to perform the following dimension and member-related tasks:

Associating Base Dimensions with Attribute Dimensions

When you associate an attribute dimension with a standard dimension, the standard dimension is known as the base dimension for that attribute dimension.

To associate attribute dimensions with a standard dimension:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the base dimension, for example Product.
  3. Click the Data Dictionary button, , press the Enter key, or select Edit > Properties to open the Dimension Properties dialog box.
  4. Figure 97: Attributes Page in the Dimension Properties Dialog Box

    The Attributes page displays the name of the selected base dimension and contains the following items:

  5. Use the Add and Delete buttons to move selected attribute dimension names in and out of the Associated Attribute Dimensions list box.
  6. When the Associated Attribute Dimensions list box contains the names of all attribute dimensions to be associated with the base dimension, click OK.

Associating Base Dimension Members with Attributes

Attribute associations must follow these rules:

You can associate members from different attribute dimensions with the same member of a base dimension. For example, a decaffeinated cola product (100-30) sold in 16 ounce bottles has three attributes: Caffeinated:False; Ounces:16; and Pkg Type:Bottle.

After attributes are associated with base dimension members, if you cut or copy and paste base dimension members to another location in the outline, the attribute associations are lost.

To associate a member of a base dimension with members of attribute dimensions:

  1. From Application Manager, open the outline.
  2. Select the base dimension member with which you want to associate the attributes, for example 100-10.
  3. Click the Data Dictionary button, , press the Enter key, or select Edit > Properties to open the Member Properties dialog box.
  4. Select the Member Attributes tab.
  5. Figure 98: Member Attributes Page in the Member Properties Dialog Box

    The Member Attributes page displays the name of the selected member of the base dimension and contains the following items:

  6. Click the plus symbol, , by the name of an attribute dimension or member to display its children.
  7. Repeat until member names display without plus or minus symbols, , next to them. Attribute values are the level 0 members in an attribute dimension.

  8. Double-click the attribute value that you want to associate with the selected base-dimension member.
  9. The Associated Attributes list box displays the name of the selected attribute dimension and the associated attribute value.

  10. Repeat for other attribute dimensions, until the Associated Attributes list box lists the correct attribute values to be associated with the base dimension member.
  11. Note: Essbase does not require that each member of a base dimension be associated with a member of an attribute dimension.

  12. Click OK.

Calculating Attribute Data

Essbase calculates attribute data dynamically at retrieval time, using members from a system-defined dimension created specifically by Essbase. Using this dimension, you can apply different calculation functions, such as a sum or an average, to the same attribute. You can also perform specific calculations on members of attribute dimensions; for example, to determine profitability by ounce for products sized by the ounce.

The following information assumes that you understand the concepts of attribute dimensions and Essbase calculations, including dynamic calculations. For more information, see Calculating Data.

This section includes the following:

Attribute Calculations Dimension

The Attribute Calculations dimension contains five members. You can use these members in spreadsheets or in reports to dynamically calculate and report on attribute data, such as the average yearly sales of 12-ounce bottles of cola in the West.

The attribute calculation dimension has the following properties:

There is no consolidation along attribute dimensions. You cannot tag members from attribute dimensions with consolidation symbols (for example, + or -) or with member formulas in order to calculate attribute data. As Dynamic Calc members, attribute calculations do not affect the batch calculation in terms of time or calculation order. To calculate attribute data at retrieval time, Essbase:

  1. Finds the base-dimension members that are associated with the specified attribute-dimension members present in the current query
  2. Dynamically calculates the sum, count, minimum, maximum, or average for the attribute-member combination for the current query
  3. Displays the results in the spreadsheet or report
  4. Discards the calculated values-that is, the values are not stored in the database

Note: Essbase excludes #MISSING values when calculating attribute data.

For example, as shown in Figure 99, a spreadsheet user specifies two members of attribute dimensions (Ounces_16 and Bottle) and an Attribute Calculations member (Avg) in a spreadsheet report. Upon retrieval, Essbase dynamically calculates the average sales values of all products associated with these attributes for the current member combination (Actual -> Sales -> East -> Qtr1):

Figure 99: Retrieving an Attribute Calculations Member

For more information on accessing calculated attribute data, see Accessing Attribute Calculations Members Using the Spreadsheet.

Default Attribute Calculations Members

The Attribute Calculations dimension contains five members used to calculate and report attribute data. These members are:

Note: Each of these calculations excludes #MISSING values.

You can change these default member names using Application Manager, subject to the same naming conventions as standard members. For more information on changing Attribute Calculations member names, see Changing Member Names of the Attribute Calculations Dimension.

The default calculation for attributes is Sum. If a spreadsheet user specifies a member of an attribute dimension in a spreadsheet but does not specify a member of the Attribute Calculations dimension, Essbase retrieves the sum for the specified attribute or combination of attributes. For example, in the spreadsheet view shown in Figure 100, the value in cell C4 represents the sum of sales values for the attributes Ounces_16 and Bottle for the current member combination (Actual -> Sales -> East -> Qtr1), even though the Sum member is not displayed in the sheet.

Figure 100: Retrieving the Default Attribute Calculations Member

An Attribute Calculation Example

As an example of how Essbase calculates attribute data, consider the following yearly sales data for the East:

Table 17: Sample Attribute Data

Base-Dimension Member
Associated Attributes
Sales Value for Attribute-Member Combination

Cola

Ounces_12, Can

23205

Diet Cola

Ounces_12, Can

3068

Diet Cream

Ounces_12, Can

1074

Grape

Ounces_32, Bottle

6398

Orange

Ounces_32, Bottle

3183

Strawberry

Ounces_32, Bottle

5664



A spreadsheet report showing calculated attribute data might look like this:

Figure 101: Sample Spreadsheet with Attribute Data

As shown in the figure above, you can retrieve multiple Attribute Calculations members for attributes. For example, you can calculate Sum, Count, Avg, Min, and Max for 32-ounce bottles and cans.

Accessing Attribute Calculations Members Using the Spreadsheet

You can access members from the Attribute Calculations dimension in Spreadsheet Add-in. From the spreadsheet, users can view Attribute Calculations dimension members by:

For more information on accessing calculated attribute data from the spreadsheet, see the Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in User's Guide.

Calculation and Retrieval Performance Considerations

Keep in mind the following calculation and retrieval performance considerations:

Using Attributes in Calculation Formulas

In addition to using the Attribute Calculations dimension to calculate attribute data, you can also use calculation formulas on members of standard or base dimensions to perform specific calculations on members of attribute dimensions; for example, to determine profitability by ounce for products sized by the ounce.

Note: You cannot associate formulas with members of attribute dimensions.

You can use these functions to perform specific calculations on attributes:

Type of Calculation
Function to Use

Generate a list of all base members with a specific attribute. For example, you can generate a list of members that have the Bottle attribute, and then increase the price for those members.

@ATTRIBUTE

Return the value of the level 0 attribute member from a numeric or date attribute dimension (@ATTRIBUTEVAL), from a boolean attribute dimension (@ATTRIBUTEBVAL), or from a text attribute dimension (@ATTRIBUTESVAL) that is associated with the base member being calculated.

For example, you can return the numeric value of a size attribute (for example, 12 for the member 12 under Ounces) for the base member being calculated (for example, Cola).

@ATTRIBUTEVAL

@ATTRIBUTEBVAL

@ATTRIBUTESVAL

Convert a date string to numbers for a calculation. For example, you can use @TODATE in combination with the @ATTRIBUTEVAL function to increase overhead costs for stores opened after a certain date.

@TODATE

Generate a list of all base dimension members associated with attributes that satisfy the conditions that you specify. For example, you can generate a list of products that are greater than or equal to 20 ounces, and then increase the price for those products.

@WITHATTR



For syntax information and examples for these functions, see the Technical Reference in the docs directory. For an additional example using @ATTRIBUTEVAL in a formula, see Calculating an Attribute Formula.




© 2002 Hyperion Solutions Corporation. All rights reserved.
http://www.hyperion.com