Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P26 pot

What this means is that Essbase does not need to store the data for an entire dimension!. Lastly, associate the members from the standard dimension to the zero level attribute dimension

Attribute dimensions are always dynamically calculated, which means they do not store the data This is always a benefit as they

do not affect the size or performance of the database

Attribute dimensions must always be associated with a standard dimension

Earlier, we briefly saw the differences between standard dimensions and attribute

dimensions Sometimes, your data has attributes that make it desirable to perform

further analysis on it In the case of the Esscar Motor Company, it may be desirable

to track a certain vehicle model by its color You may wish to compare how that model sells in markets based on population size Essbase database attribute dimensions can

help you with this type of analysis

One of the most notable features of an attribute dimension is the fact that the entire dimension is a dynamically calculated dimension Previously, we told you about

dynamically calculated members in a standard outline In an attribute dimension, all members are dynamically calculated What this means is that Essbase does not need

to store the data for an entire dimension! All of the data is calculated on the fly when requested and goes away when the user is finished This, as previously mentioned, is

a huge benefit when considering CPU performance and storage options

Here are a few facts about attribute dimensions:

• An attribute dimension is a dimension that must be associated with a

standard dimension

• An attribute dimension can only be associated with one standard dimension, but a standard dimension can be associated with many attribute dimensions

• An attribute dimension can only be associated with a Sparse standard

dimension This is an important point

To create an attribute dimension and associate it to a standard dimension, you need

to do the following:

1 Create a new dimension and tag it as an attribute dimension

2 Next, create an association between this new attribute dimension and

the standard dimension you wish to track attributes from

3 Add the zero level members to the attribute dimension that correspond

to the zero level members of the standard dimension

4 Lastly, associate the members from the standard dimension to the zero

level attribute dimension members

As this is an advanced Essbase function, we have provided a high-level look at

attribute dimensions and their set up and use For complete details, please refer

to the documentation which was provided when you purchased your version

of software

The following screenshot shows the TOTAL VEHICLES dimension with the

new COLORS attribute dimension added:

User Defined Attributes (UDA)

An Essbase UDA is a descriptive word or tag about an outline member Similar

to an alias, the main difference is that an alias may only be attached to one member

A UDA can be attached to many members

What the UDA offers is a way to simplify and make the ongoing operations of

your database more efficient

For example, because forecasting analytics is one of the most common uses for an

OLAP system, the users deal with time periods that fall into three distinct categories

In any Essbase database outline, you will have historical time periods, actual time

periods, and forecast time periods Typically, the data you have previously loaded

for historical time periods, and the data you just loaded for actual time periods, does not need to be fully calculated since it is real data and does not need to be derived or changed On the other hand, your forecast data still needs to be calculated whenever you make a change to a component piece of data If you tagged your calendar

periods in the outline with UDAs of Forecast for the future periods, LatestActual for the first month back, and History for all historical periods in the outline If you move the UDAs once a month to compensate for the new month in time, you could code

a calculation script that would never need to be updated since you would write the script to calculate forecast periods by looking at the Forecast UDA

Some UDA rules to keep in mind:

• You can assign many UDAs to a single member, but you cannot assign the

same UDA to a member more than once

• You can use the same UDA on many different members

• A UDA cannot be the same name or word as a member name or alias name

• UDAs cannot be used on Shared Members or members in an

attribute dimension

• UDAs run with the dimension they were created in and can only be assigned

to other members in that same dimension

• UDAs are member specific and only apply to the single member they are

attached to Parents, children, and so on, of a member assigned a UDA are

not covered unless they also have the UDA assigned to them as well

UDAs are added to the database outline members in much the same way as adding

an alias or updating any other outline member property When adding a UDA to an outline member, Essbase will display a list of UDAs available for the dimension in

which the member resides If the desired UDA does not exist, you may simply add

it the first time

Dynamic Time Series

Once again, Essbase gives us a feature so cool that it makes us wonder how we lived

without it! The Dynamic Time Series function is one of those features.

We can't think of anyone who wouldn't use this functionality Likewise, we can't

think of anyone who wouldn't need this functionality

What the Dynamic Time Series does for you is automatically calculate period-to-date

data based on your Time dimension Using our example database for the Esscar Motor Company, we see that it is probably a good idea to know our year-to-date vehicle

production, by both calendar year and model year The Dynamic Time Series function

does this for you You can easily calculate period-to-date data for any period as defined

in your Time dimension

In other words, Essbase can automatically calculate a cumulative number based on

how you have the Time dimension set up If you want to track how many vehicles

you have built from the beginning of the year through the current month, the

Dynamic Time Series can do this for you If you were to build 1,000 units in January

and 1,000 units in February, and 1,000 units in March, you would expect to see 1,000 units as your net number for each month's data pulled But, if you want to know

the total units through each month, you would expect to see 1,000 for January, 2,000 for February, and 3,000 through March This is what a period-to-date calculation will give you

The Dynamic Time Series member is actually created for you when you associate a predefined Dynamic Time Series member with the appropriate outline Generation

For example, to use the year-to-date Dynamic Time Series functionality, you would

associate a year member with the Generation 4 (month's level) Calendar Periods

dimension When you request the data at the Dynamic Time Series member,

Essbase will automatically sum the Generation 4 level members within the given

year and return the results to you

Essbase has provided the following predefined Dynamic Time Series functions

As always, if you have a special need, there are plenty of calculation functions

available to allow you to code even the most complex custom calculation:

• H-T-D (History-to-date)

• Y-T-D (Year-to-date)

• S-T-D (Season-to-date)

• P-T-D (Period-to-date)

• Q-T-D (Quarter-to-date)

• M-T-D (Month-to-date)

• W-T-D (Week-to-date)

• D-T-D (Day-to-date)

Here is an important item to consider when coding Dynamic Time Series

functionality Your Dynamic Time Series member can be associated with any

Generation in your time dimension, except the zero level Generation (you cannot

have months adding upto a month-to-date value)

The steps to add a Dynamic Time Series member to the Time dimension of

our Esscar database outline are:

1 In EAS, open the Esscar outline in the outline editor