A database outline contains dimensions and members organized in a hierarchy.
This chapter explains how to create an Essbase database outline using the Outline Editor. You can also change outlines using data sources and rules files. For more information, see Introducing Dynamic Dimension Building. All examples in this chapter are based on the Sample Basic database shipped with Essbase.
This chapter contains the following sections:
For basic information about outlines, see Multidimensional Concepts.
For information on setting properties in an outline, see Setting Dimension and Member Properties.
For information about optimizing restructuring when outlines change, see Optimizing Database Restructuring.
For information on using the Outline Editor with Hybrid Analysis, see Accessing Relational Data with Hybrid Analysis
The database outline defines the structure of the database. The Outline Editor displays the dimension hierarchy of an outline visually. Each dimension and consolidated level in a database appears in a collapsible tree diagram. The branches immediately below the database name are the dimensions, and the branches below a dimension name are members. For more information about outlines, see Arranging Dimensions into Hierarchies.
Caution: If you open the same outline with two instances of the Application Manager using the same login ID, each Save will overwrite the changes of the other instance. Because it can be difficult to keep track of what changes are saved or overwritten, we do not recommend this practice.
When you open an outline in the Outline Editor, Essbase loads the outline into memory on your client machine and you can view and manipulate its dimensions and members graphically.
Figure 57: Application Desktop Window
If Lock file is selected, other users cannot edit the outline until you close the outline again.
Figure 58 shows the Sample Basic outline in the Outline Editor.
Each dimension and member is listed after a tree node. The node indicates the dimension or member's position in the hierarchy:
When you open the Outline Editor, the Application Manager's menu items change. The Outline Editor contains a toolbar that provides shortcuts to Outline Editor commands and an editing area that displays the current outline. For help with any of the toolbar buttons or menu commands, use the Help menu.
You can also use the Outline Viewer window in Administration Services to open an outline for viewing.
To copy a database outline, its data, and database-related files (such as calculation scripts):
Tip: You can also copy outlines without using Application Manager:
Tool |
Instructions |
For More Information |
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To copy only the outline without copying data or objects:
Figure 59: Save Server Object Dialog Box
When you save an outline to the server, Application Manager verifies the outline:
During outline verify, Application Manager also performs the following conversions to appropriate numeric attribute dimension member names and displays them in the outline:
For more information about numeric attribute dimensions, see Attribute Types.
These sections explain the procedures required to verify and save outlines, and related tasks:
If the outline has no errors, the Verify dialog box is displayed.
If the outline is not valid, a dialog box is displayed listing the errors that the outline contains.
You can save outlines to the client or the server. By default, Essbase saves outlines to the server directory.
If Essbase needs to restructure the database, the Restructure Database dialog box is displayed:
Figure 61: Restructure Database Dialog Box
For more information, see Optimizing Database Restructuring.
Note: Be careful when using older versions of Application Manager to open and save outlines that are created with newer versions of Essbase. If the outline contains features that are specific to the newer version, the new features are deleted from the outline when it is saved in an older version of Application Manager. For more information, see the Essbase Installation Guide.
If you add one or more new standard (non-attribute) dimensions, then any data that existed previously in the database must be associated with a member of each new dimension. For example, adding a dimension called Channel to the Sample Basic outline implies that all previous data in Sample Basic is associated with a particular channel or the sum of all channels. See Adding and Deleting Standard Dimensions and Stored Members for more information.
If you add one or more new standard dimensions, the Added Dimensions dialog box is displayed.
Figure 62: Added Dimensions Dialog Box
If you delete one or more standard (non-attribute) dimensions, the data associated with only one member of each deleted dimension can be retained. For example, removing a dimension called Market from the outline implies that the data that remains in the database after the restructure operation is associated with a specified member of the Market dimension. See Adding and Deleting Standard Dimensions and Stored Members for more information.
If you delete one or more dimensions, the Deleted Dimensions dialog box is displayed.
Figure 63: Deleted Dimensions Dialog Box
If you delete an attribute dimension, Essbase deletes the associations to its base dimension. See Working with Attributes.
You can easily create sub-databases using the feature described in Saving an Outline with One or More Deleted Standard Dimensions.
To create a sub-database by deleting a dimension from an existing outline, use this procedure:
The new database is a working database for the New York market, and analysts in New York can use it for their analysis.
When you create new dimensions and save the outline, Essbase automatically sets the new dimensions in the outline as sparse.
To change the storage configuration of a dimension:
Figure 64: Data Storage Dialog Box
You must set the standard dimensions with which you plan to associate attribute dimensions as sparse. Application Manager automatically sets attribute dimensions as sparse.
For information on choosing dense or sparse storage, see Selection of Sparse and Dense Dimensions.
You can change the names of existing dimensions or members.
To change a dimension or member name in the Outline Editor:
To rename a member using the Member Properties dialog box:
This section describes how to add dimensions and members to outlines. It contains the following sections:
Note: If you add, delete, or move non-attribute dimensions or members, Essbase restructures your database, and you must recalculate your data.
You must position attribute dimensions at the end of the outline.
When naming dimensions and members in the database outline, follow these rules.
@ (at sign) \ (backslash) { } (braces) , (comma) - (dash, hyphen, or minus sign) = (equal sign) < (less than sign) ( ) (parentheses) . (period) + (plus sign) ' (single quotation mark) _ (underscore) | (vertical bar)
Note: If you enable Dynamic Time Series members, do not use the associated generation names: History, Year, Season, Period, Quarter, Month, Week, or Day. See Applying Predefined Generation Names to Dynamic Time Series Members.
& (ampersand) * (asterisk) @ (at sign) \ (backslash) { } (braces) [ ] (brackets) : (colon) , (comma) - (dash, hyphen, or minus sign) = (equal sign) ! (exclamation point) > (greater than sign) < (less than sign) () (parentheses) % (percent sign) . (period) + (plus sign) ; (semicolon) / (slash) ~ (tilde)
AND IF BEGIN MACRO DOUBLE MBR DYNAMIC MEMBER ELSE NOT ELSEIF OR END RANGE ENDIF STRING FUNCTION THEN
Dimensions are the highest level of organization in an outline. Dimensions are made up of members. For more information on dimensions, see Multidimensional Concepts.
To add dimensions as children of the outline:
To add dimensions as siblings of other dimensions:
To finish adding dimensions, proceed with the following steps:
Figure 66: Confirm Add Dialog Box for Dimensions and Members
To rearrange dimensions in the outline, see Positioning Dimensions and Members.
Members are organized into dimensions. You can nest members inside of other members. For more information on members, see Multidimensional Concepts.
To add members as children of dimensions:
To add members as siblings of other members:
To finish adding members, proceed with the following steps:
Figure 68: Confirm Add Dialog Box for Dimensions and Members
To rearrange members in the outline, see Positioning Dimensions and Members.
You can rearrange dimensions within an outline or members within a dimension. You can select to position dimension and members by:
Note: If you add, delete, or move dimensions or members, Essbase restructures the database, and you must recalculate the data.
If you do not position attribute dimensions at the end of the outline, during outline verification, Application Manager prompts you to move them there.
The positions of dimensions in an outline can affect performance. See Outline Performance Considerations.
You can arrange dimensions within an outline or members within a dimension in alphabetical order (A to Z) or reverse alphabetical order (Z to A).
When you sort level 0 members of numeric attribute dimensions in outlines, the members are sorted by their values. For example, Figure 69 shows text and numeric versions of the Sizes attribute dimension after sorting the members in ascending order. The members of the numeric attribute dimension are sequenced by the numeric values of the members; the member 8 is before the other members. In the text attribute dimension, because the characters are sorted left to right, the member 8 is after the member 24.
Figure 69: Sorting Numeric Versus Text Attribute Dimension in Ascending Order
You cannot sort Boolean attribute dimensions. For more information about attribute dimension types, see Attribute Types.
Caution: Moving dimensions and members can affect the results of your batch calculations. See Designing an Outline to Optimize Performance. Also, sorting members could move a shared member before the actual member in the outline, something that we do not recommend.
To sort all dimensions in an outline:
To sort all members in the level below the selected dimension or member:
Caution: Moving dimensions and members can affect the results of your calculations and retrievals. See Designing an Outline to Optimize Performance. Also, sorting members could move a shared member before the actual member in the outline, something that we do not recommend.
To move one or more members to another part of the outline:
You can create your own names for generations and levels in an outline. The name is a word or phrase that describes the generation or level. For example, you might create a generation name called Cities for all cities in the outline.
Use generation and level names in calculation scripts or report scripts wherever you need to specify either a list of member names or generation or level numbers. For example, you could limit a calculation in a calculation script to all members in a specific generation. See Developing Calculation Scripts for information about developing calculation scripts.
See Member Relationships, Generations, and Levels for information about generations and levels.
Figure 70: Generation and Level Names Dialog Box
Note: You can define only one name for each generation or level. When you name the generations and levels, follow the same naming rules as for members. See Rules for Naming Dimensions and Members.
To view the list of generation or level names, select Outline > Gen/Level Names again or print the outline.
The Outline Editor displays information about the outline and the dimensions and members that it contains. You can customize what Essbase displays in the Outline Editor and which font it uses. This section includes the following topics:
You can specify whether members in the outline should be case-sensitive. For example, Budget and budget are both unique names if the member names are case-sensitive. By default, member names are not case-sensitive.
To set member names to be case-sensitive, select Case Sensitive Members in the Settings menu of the Outline Editor.
You can customize the view of the Outline Editor to view or hide the following details by clearing them in the View menu:
You can specify the font that Essbase uses to display text in the Outline Editor.
You can specify whether Essbase prompts you when you make changes to dimensions or members. By default, Essbase opens a dialog box asking you if you're sure you want to change the member or dimension. You must click Yes before Essbase makes the change.
To change the default way Essbase prompts users:
Figure 72: Confirmation Dialog Box
By default, all options are selected, which means that Essbase opens a dialog box to prompt you before it makes the changes. When an option is not selected, Essbase does not prompt you before making that kind of change.
If you use the relational storage manager in IBM's DB2 OLAP Server, any changes to metadata are reflected in both Essbase and the DB2 OLAP Server. Metadata is data contained in the database outline that describes the values within a database. Dimension and member names are metadata. Data that describes values is stored only on the DB2 OLAP Server.
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