Build your first data rules file Before we start building a data rules file, let us talk about the purpose of the Essbase data rules file.. Whether you are using data with a rules file t
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The steps on how to add an alias name to the outline member TOTAL NET REVENUE
properties are explained as follows:
1 From EAS, open the Esscar database outline.
2 Drill down to the member name GROSS REVENUE.
3 Right-click on the member name and click on Edit Properties, or click
the button Edit Properties for the selected member in the outline editor.
4 Under Aliases, default alias table, add the code TOTREV as shown in
the screenshot below
5 Click OK.
6 That's it! You have just added an alias to the GROSS REVENUE member.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
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Alias table
Another use of an outline alias table is as a cross-reference table when interfacing
with other systems Experience has shown that even within the same company,
but in different departmental activities, it is not uncommon for a different system
to use a different name or code for the same model, unit, or part Just like having a
conversion or cross-reference table in a relational database, you can add a new alias table to your database outline any time
A new alias table can contain the product names or codes as they are represented
in another system, yet they are aligned to the correct members in your system For
example, if your system is part of the marketing activity and you receive data from
the finance activity (who by the way calls everything by a different name than you
do), you can execute a data load that specifically calls for and uses the Finance alias table you have specially created to handle the differences in product names
Build your first data rules file
Before we start building a data rules file, let us talk about the purpose of the
Essbase data rules file
The Essbase data rules file is one of the smartest features available to you as an
Essbase database programmer! Whether you are using data with a rules file to
dynamically add members to your outline (dimension build setting), or loading
data into the database (data load setting), the Essbase data rules file can prove to
be an invaluable tool
Data rule files can be used to maintain your Essbase database outline or load data
into your Essbase database In this section, we will talk about using the data rules
file to update the Essbase dimensions In the next chapter, we will talk about how
to use the data rules file to load data into your database or cube
You can run your data load or dimension build data rules file with accompanying
data manually from the EAS tool or you can run it by executing an Essbase
Command or Essbase MaxL script
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com
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What are we talking about? Why use an Essbase data load rules file? Because we
want to make input data Essbase-friendly, of course Here are some the reasons
why we use data rule files:
• Automatically cleanse the input data to filter out any errant values
• Remove the header and trailer from the input files
• Reject invalid data records
• Concatenate two fields into one field
• Dynamically add new members to the database outline
• Add aliases or update other member properties
• Transform or manipulate data
• Concatenate two fields or any other cleansing operations
• And many more
Data load rules files are something very special as you can see You can practically
build a complete Essbase database outline from scratch using nothing more than
a properly configured data load rules file and your input data
Next, we take you through the steps required to create a Dimension Build data
rules file
Step 1: Start the Data Prep Editor
The Data Prep Editor is the tool with which you will create your custom Essbase
data load rules files The tool is built right in to the already amazing Essbase
Administration Services tool
1 In EAS, click on the File menu pick.
2 Select Editors and click on the Data Prep Editor or Click on New, on the
New dialog go to the Scripts tab and select Rules File and click on OK.
3 The Data Prep Editor will open as shown in the following figure.
4 The moment the Data Prep Editor is opened, the menu items in the EAS
will change
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8601 ave p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
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Step 2: Associate the Dimension Build
Rules file
In order for you to successfully validate the rules file, you need to associate the
rules to the database outline This association of the rules file to the outline is saved, however, Essbase will ask you to associate the rules file again when you open this
rules file the next time
To associate an outline, open the Data Prep Editor again using EAS.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com
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Click on Options and click on Associate outline or click on the Associate button in the Data Prep Editor.
Step 3: Open data load file or the SQL data
source file
To update the database outline using the rules file, we need to have a data source
file To build a rules file, we need to acquire an exact representative sample of the
actual data in order to map the data to our Essbase database outline
The data sources can be files like text (.txt) files, Microsoft Excel spreadsheets,
or from relational database sources using a SQL query defined in the load rule
To open a data source file or SQL data source in EAS, with the Data Prep Editor open After you've clicked on File, you should see the options Open data file or Open SQL
shown as follows:
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com