Configure Information Sources - Dimensions

This page describes configuration of the Dimension part of an Information Source.

Contents

Dimensions

The Information Source feature opens a navigator listing not only available Information Sources but also all existing dimensions.

Figure 1: Dimensions

Available operations related to Dimensions are presented below. First click on the Dimensions node.

Add New

Click on Add New in the right pane top open a detailed page where master information related to a Dimension can be defined.

Delete Selected Dimensions

Select dimensions to be removed in the right pane and then click Delete Selected Dimensions.

Add to a Data Mart Refresh Category

Use the operation Add to a Data Mart Refresh Category to add all Data Mart sources associated with a Dimension to a specific refresh category. It is possible to add the Data Mart sources to a new refresh category or to an existing category. Selecting Data Mart sources is supported by the following options:

Figure 2: Add Dimension related DM sources to a Data Mart Refresh Category

Archive copies of Selected

Use this option to archive the current state of the metadata definitions for the selected Dimensions

 

Dimension Details

Selecting one Dimension leads to that the feature displays Dimension Details.

Figure 3: Dimension Details

The following information is available:

Attribute Description
Dimension Id Identity of the dimension. Recommended to prefix with DIM_. Unique.
Description Description of the dimension, what it represents, where data is fetched from etc.
Type Type of dimension. The following values are supported:
  • Standard

    Most part of all dimensions are are of type Standard.
     

  • Supportive

    A supportive dimension can only be used for specific purposes, like e.g. supporting List of Values functionality in Info Services. It is not possible to connect a supportive dimension to an Information Source. The typical usage is to enable List of Values functionality in Info Services.

    Assume that  there is a dimension called DIM_X with the items ID, CODE, DESCRIPTION, GROUP, GROUP_DESCRIPTION, SUB_GROUP. Since the dimension is represented by a single view it is only possible to support one set of List of values items according to core development principles. The obvious choice is to support the CODE item. But now it is requested to also support List of Values for the item GROUP in Info Services then there must be a separate view that shows e.g. GROUP, GROUP_DESCRIPTION and SUB_GROUP. This view must have its own column comments to make it possible for the framework to support List of Values functionality in Info Services. Now we can create a new Supportive dimension that is used as reference for the item GROUP in DIM_X. List of Values can now be supported in Info Services also for the GROUP item.

  • Inherited

    An Inherited dimension can be used to create a copy of an existing dimension. The Inherited dimension is given a unique Dimension Id and will when deployed automatically inherit all details information of the source dimension.

    One example are time dimensions like DIM_PLANNED_SHIP_DATE and DIM_PAYMENT_DATE, that inherit from dimension DIM_BI_TIME.

Display Name The Prog name of the Dimension. This text will during translation handling be transferred to the translation framework.
Translated Display Name Shows Display Name in current language
Module Name of the module that owns the dimension.
LoV Max Limit Max number of rows to be retrieved when collecting List of values. Normally not defined for dimensions. Set to NULL if not to be used.
LoV Distinct Search Selected if List of values functionality should perform a distinct select of values. It is recommended to select this attribute for dimensions and to clear if for Information Sources.
Inherited From
 
Identity of the Dimension that the current dimension inherits from. Valid only for Dimensions of type Inherited.
Has Security Filter If this property is selected it indicates that the Dimension supports security filters. For such a Dimension it is possible to grant full access to an end user.
Data Access Details - On Line  
View Name Standard view name for On Line execution.
Default Data Access Type Selected if On Line should be the default data access type for this Dimension.
Data Access Details - Data Mart  
View Name Standard view name for Data Mart execution.
Default Data Access Type Selected of Data Mart should be the default data access type for this Dimension.
   
Key Column Column name in the dimension view (View Name) that contains the unique key for a dimension instance/record. This attribute represents a shortcut, instead of defining it on the dimension item level.

By default this column is connected to the column represented by the attribute Associated Fact Item Id, defined in the connection information for the Information Source and its dimensions.

Changed By User the created or updated the dimension
Last Updated Last updated date

 

Dimension Items

Expanding the navigator for a specific Dimension and then expanding the Items node will display all dimension items. By selecting one of these items in the navigator, the dimensions item details will be displayed.

Figure 4: Dimension Item Details

The following information is available:

Attribute Description
Dimension Id Identity of the dimension that owns the item
Dimension Item Id Identity of the dimension item. Normally defined as <DimensionId>.<ViewColumnName> e.g. DIM_ACCOUNT.CODE
Unique
Description Identity of the dimension that owns the item.
Column Name Column name in the dimension view that represents the dimension item.
Oracle Data Type Data type for the item as stored in the Oracle database. Can be one of DATE, NUMBER, TEXT
Data Type Data type for the item as defined in model. Can be one of TEXT, INTEGER, NUMBER, CURRENCY, DATE, DATETIME, TIME
Display Name The Prog name of the Dimension Item. This text will during translation handling be transferred to the translation framework.
Translated Display Name Shows Display Name in current language
Module Name of the module that owns the dimension item.
Display Order The order that the item will appear in the source navigator among dimension items for the dimension.
Display Folder Defines a sub folder in the source navigator where the dimension item will appear.
Specified as e.g. \Structures
Default value is NULL. Normally used to handle add on items, added by a child dimension.
Translated Display Folder Shows Display Folder in current language
Add On Dimension Id Dimension identity of a dimension, child or parent!!, that is the true owner of this item, even if the item is added to another dimension. Default value is NULL.

Example 1:
The dimension DIM_COMPANY_BASE is defined by the module ENTERP. The module ACCRUL creates a child company dimension named DIM_COMPANY. We want to add some if the items in DIM_COMPANY_BASE to the dimension DIM_COMPANY. So when defining these items in DIM_COMPANY we have to specify that the Add On Dimension Id as DIM_COMPANY_BASE.
The added items are part of DIM_COMPANY but the data will be fetched from DIM_COMPANY_BASE.
This is an example of getting items from another static dependent dimension.

Example 2:
When defining items for dimension DIM_ACCOUNT we want to display some items that actually belong to the child dimension DIM_ACC_STRUCT_ACCOUNT. The pre-requisite is of course that the child dimension exists (it is actually defined by another component than DIM_ACCOUNT).
The Add On Dimension Id will in this case be DIM_ACC_STRUCT_ACCOUNT.
This is an example of putting items from a child dimension to its parent dimension.

Add On Def Owned By Id This attribute defines the true owner of the dimension item definition.
If we look at the two cases defined for attribute Add On Dimension Id we get the following.

Example 1:
Add On Def Owned By Id is defined as DIM_COMPANY since DIM_COMPANY defines get if the item.

Example 2:
Add On Def Owned By Id is defined as DIM_ACC_STRUCT_ACCOUNT since ACC_STRUCT_ACCOUNT  puts the item to DIM_ACCOUNT.

Published LoV Dimension Identity of the dimension that has a view that will serve as List of values view reference for List of Values support in Info Services for this dimension item. Normally only the Code Key item in each dimension supports List of values in Info Services. If some other item (than the code key item) should support List of Values then a supportive dimension must be defined and then registered as PublishedLovDimension
Published LoV Item Reference Dimension item reference to an item in the PublishedLovDimension for which the column name will be used in Info Services.

Note: Only to be defined if the current dimension item can act as a parent item to another dimension.

E.g. the dimension item DIM_COMPANY.CODE can act as a parent item to many dimensions of financial nature but to make things work properly in Info Services the column name should be COMPANY and not CODE. So for DIM_COMPANY.CODE we specify DIM_COMPANY.COMPANY as Published Lov Item Ref.
It is also important to make sure that the Own Item Id in Dimension Parent points to a column that has the same name as the one pointed out by Published Lov Item Reference, for dimensions that have the current item (e.g. DIM_COMPANY.CODE) as parent item.

Structure Item Type Defines the type of a structure item. The following values are supported:
  • StructureId

    Defines the item representing the structure identity.

    Mandatory target dimension as well as in all structure specific dimensions.

  • StructureIdDescription

    Defines the item representing the structure description. Mandatory in target dimension as well as in the structure specific dimension.

  • LevelId

    Defines the item representing the structure level identity.

    Might not be available for all types of structures.

    If available it's mandatory in the target dimension and in the structure level dimension.

  • LevelIdDescription

    Defines the item representing the structure level description.

    Might not be available for all types of structures. If available it is mandatory in

    the target dimension and in the structure level dimension.

  • ParentLevelId

    Defines the item representing the structure level parent identity.

    Might not be available for all types of structures.

    If available is is mandatory in the structure level dimension.

  • NodeId

    Defines the item representing the structure node identity.

    Mandatory in target dimension as well as in the structure specific node and

    leaf dimensions.

  • NodeIdDescription

    Defines the item representing the structure node description.

    Mandatory in target dimension as well as in the structure specific node

    dimension.

  • ParentNodeId

    Defines the item representing the structure node parent identity.

    Mandatory in the structure specific node dimension.

  • LeafId

    Defines the item representing the structure leaf identity.

    Mandatory in the target dimensions as well as in the structure specific leaf dimension.

  • OrdinaryItem

    Defines a non structure item.

    It is only normally only used behind the scenes by the framework and does

    actually never have to be defined.

Connected Structure Item Id Defines the connected structure item identity associated with the current item. This identity should always point to an item in one of the structure specific dimensions.
It should be defined for items that are added to the target dimension
Display In Client Selected if the item should be displayed in the client
Nullable Selected if the item can be null in the data source
Code Key Marks the dimension item that represents the code in the dimension view. The code is normally also the key value in the dimension that together with parent key columns defines a unique identity.
Data Access Hints  
    On Line  
     Hint Type Defines the hint type for the current item in the On Line case.
The following values are supported:
  • IndexColumn

    The item represents a column that is indexed.

  • DerivedColumn

    The item represents a column that is derived, e.g. defined via a sub select or a function call

    Data Mart  
     Hint Type Defines the hint type for the current item in the Data Mart case.
The following values are supported:
  • IndexColumn

    The item represents a column that is indexed.

  • DerivedColumn

    The item represents a column that is derived, e.g. defined via a sub select or a function call

 

Dimension Item operations available after clicking on the Items node of the selected Dimension are listed below.

Figure 5: Dimension Items

Add New

Click on Add New in the right pane to add a new dimensions item.

Delete Selected Dimension Items

Select items to be removed in the right pane and then click on Delete Selected Dimension Items.

Dimension Functions

For each dimension item it is possible to associate one or more Business Reporter specific parameter function. The purpose is to support definition of parameters based on advanced functions in Business Reporter.

Figure 6: Dimension Item Function Details

Attribute Description
Dimension Item Id Identity of the dimension item.
Function ID Identity of the associated function. Functions are defined in the BR Parameter Functions form in IEE.

Dimension Functions operations available after clicking on the Functions node of the selected Dimension item in the tree structure are listed below.

Figure 7: Dimension Item Functions

Add New

Click on Add New in the right pane to open up the detailed form where a new connection between a dimension item and a function can be made.

Delete Selected Functions

For the current dimension item, in the right pane select functions to be removed and click Delete selected Functions.

Dimensions Item - LOV Items

For each dimension items is is possible to define other items that should be displayed when generating a List of Values.

List of Values is always ordered with respect to a specific item and if this item is a dimension item then it is possible to specify other dimension items in the same dimension that should be displayed along with the master item, i.e. additional list-items.

Example: When the user orders List of Values for the account code this means that the master dimension item is DIM_ACCOUNT.CODE. If we do not provide any extra information we will only get a list of accounts. So if we want to display something more we can add Dimension Item LOV Items,  e.g. adding DIM_ACCOUNT.DESCRIPTION and DIM_ACCOUNT.ACCOUNT_GROUP as List of Values items associated with DIM_ACCOUNT.CODE. It is possible to define extra display items for any number of items but normally only a few of the items in a dimension will normally require this extra information.

For a given dimension, expand the dimension node, next expand the Items node, expand a dimension item node, then expand the LoV Items node to see all associated LoV items. Selecting one of these items will display the detail information for that specific associated item.

Figure 8: Dimension LoV Item Details

The following information is available:

Attribute Description
Dimension Item Id Identity of the dimension item. Parent key.
Item No Item number of additional List of values items. Key.
LoV Dimension Item Id Identity of other dimension items than Dimension Item Id, but belonging to the same dimension, that should be part of the List of values.
Display Order Defines the order that the items will appear in the List of values.

 

Available operations related to Dimension LoV Items are listed below. First click Lov Items node of a selected Dimension item.

Figure 9: Dimension LoV Items

Add New

Click on Add New in the right pane to add a new LoV item.

Delete Selected Dimension LoV Items

Select LoV items to be removed and then click Delete Selected Dimension LoV Items.

Dimension Item - LOV Sort Items

For each dimension item is is possible to define the sort order when generating a List of Values.

It is important to make sure that supplied sort dimension items really are available.

Example: We have defined that DIM_COMPANY.DESCRIPTION should be added when generating List of values for DIM_ACCOUNT.CODE. Now we can define that the default sort order should be based on:

However if we specify DIM_ACCOUNT.ACCOUNT_GROUP then this is an invalid item if the dimension DIM_ACCOUNT should perform distinct select when generating the List of values for item DIM_ACCOUNT.CODE, since the item DIM_ACCOUNT.ACCOUNT_GROUP is not part of the items to be selected.

For a given dimension, expand the dimension node, next expand the Items node, expand a dimension item node, then expand the LoV Sort Items node to see all sort items related to LoV of the selected dimension item. Selecting on of these items will display the detail information for that specific sort item.

Figure 10: Dimension LoV Item Details


The following information is available:

Attribute Description
Dimension Item Id Identity of the dimension item. Parent key.
Item No Item number of sort items. Key
Sort Dimension Item Id Identity of a dimension item that should be added to the ORDER BY statement when generating List of values with respect to the Dimension Item Id
Ascending Sort Order Selected if the List of values should be sorted in ascending order with respect to the Sort Dimension Item Id.

 

Available operations related to Dimension LoV Sort Items are listed below. First click Lov Sort Items node of a selected Dimension item.

Figure 11: Dimension LoV Sort Items

Add New

Click on Add New in the right pane to create a new List of Values sort item.

Delete Selected Dimension Lov Sort Items

Select the List of Values sort items to be removed and then click on Delete Selected Dimension LoV Sort Items.

 

Dimension Parents

For each dimension it is possible to define parent dimension items. This information is used mainly by the List of Values functionality. Parent information for dimensions always means specifying one or more dimension items that have to be available to enable an accurate List of Values of dimension items. The main difference compared to List of Values for Information Sources is that we also have to define a dimension identity in the dimension itself that corresponds to the parent value supplied in the client.

Example: The dimension DIM_ACCOUNT, that represents the account dimension, has the company code as natural parent. If we want to show List of Values for an item in this dimension, the company code must be known to make the data meaningful. The only dimension that should have a visible company code attribute is the dimension DIM_COMPANY so for that reason we define the dimension item DIM_COMPANY.CODE as Parent Item Id. This item must now be linked to an item in the current dimension that contains the same value, so we choose DIM_ACCOUNT.COMPANY as Own Item Id. After having supplied this information in the Meta Data, the client will always try to make sure that the company code has been specified before creating the List of Values. The company value will be transferred to the Own Item Id to make it possible to create the result set by selecting from the DIM_ACCOUNT only.

Expanding the navigator for a specific Dimension and then expanding the Parents node will display all parent specific dimension items. By selecting one of these items in the navigator, the parent dimensions item details will be displayed.

Figure 12: Dimension Parent Details

The following information is available:

Attribute Description
Dimension Id Identity of the dimension. Parent Key.
Item No Parent item number (row number). Key
Own Item Id The identity of an item in the dimension itself that contains a value corresponding to the value associated with the item Parent Item Id
Parent Item Id The identity of a dimension item that must be available in the client to enable parent identification in the dimension.
Hierarchical Order Hierarchical order of the defined dimension parent keys. Lowest number has the highest rank.

 

Available operations related to Dimension Parents are listed below. First click Parents node of a selected Dimension.

Figure 13: Dimension Parents

Add New

Click on Add New in the right side pane to create a new dimension parent.

Delete Selected Dimension Parents

Select dimension parents to be removed and then click on Delete Selected Dimension Parents.

 

Export Dimension

It is possible to export Dimension specific metadata (INS) file.

Select a Dimension and then use the RMB option Export to export the metadata file to disk.

Figure 14: Export Dimension