You can add dimensions and members to a cube using any of the following methods: • Add dimensions and members manually using the Outline page.
See Adding Dimensions to Outlines Manually and Adding Members to Outlines Manually.
• Create a new application and cube, and add dimensions and members, by importing an Excel file.
See Creating a Cube from an Application Workbook. • Build dimensions using a flat file and a rules file.
See Building Dimensions Using a Rules File.
Adding Dimensions to Outlines Manually
Outlines are composed of members. The top level members of an outline are called dimensions. There are two types of dimensions: standard dimensions and attribute dimensions.
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Dimension names must always be unique in the outline, even if the outline allows duplicate member names.
In block storage or partial hybrid aggregation cubes (which have one or more stored dimensions), if you add, delete, or change dimensions and then save the outline, then the cube is restructured. After restructuring is complete, recalculate the data.
Aggregate storage and fully hybrid aggregation cubes are not restructured because they are dynamic (upper level data is not stored).
1. On the Applications home page, expand the application to show the cube row for the outline you want to modify, then click Outline .
2. On the Outline page, click Lock and Edit. 3. Select a dimension.
4. Click manage , and then select Sibling.
5. Enter a name for the dimension, and press Enter.
When you press Enter, a new row is created and you have the option to create an additional dimension. If you do not want to create another dimension, then press the Escape key.
Use no more than 1024 characters when naming dimensions, members, or aliases.
6. Select the new dimension row and select from the options on the Outline page to define the dimension.
Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the page to see all available options.
Some options cannot be edited in the Outline page. Select properties to edit those options in the Edit Member Properties dialog box.
See Setting Dimension and Member Properties.
Adding Members to Outlines Manually
Members are the individual components of the outline. Unless the cube is enabled for duplicate member names, each member has a unique name.
1. On the Applications home page, expand the application to show the cube row for the outline you want to modify, then click Outline (Outline).
2. On the Outline page, click Lock and Edit.
3. To view and select lower-level members in a dimension, drill down in the dimension by clicking the dimension name.
4. When you reach the member to which you want to add a child or sibling member, select the member row, click manage , and then select Child or Sibling. 5. Enter a name for the member.
Use no more than 1024 characters when naming dimensions, members, or aliases.
After adding a sibling member, you can easily add subsequent sibling members by pressing the Enter key.
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6. Select from the options on the Outline page to define the member. Use the scroll bar at the bottom of the page to see all available options.
Some options cannot be edited in the Outline page. Select properties to edit those options in the Edit Member Properties dialog box.
See Setting Dimension and Member Properties.
Building Dimensions Using a Rules File
When you build a cube, data files and data load rules files are created in the cloud service. You can also use data files and data load rules files from a supported on- premises release of Essbase. See Uploading Files to a Cube.
1. On the Applications home page, expand the application to show the cube row for the outline that you want to modify, then click Jobs .
2. Select New Job.
3. On the Execute Job dialog box, from the Select Job Type menu, select Dimension Build.
4. From the Database menu, select the cube that you are building. 5. From the Scripts menu, select the dimension build rules file. 6. For Load Type, choose SQL or File:
• If you are loading SQL data, enter your user name and password. • If you are loading a flat data file, choose the file from the Data Files list. 7. From the Restructure Options menu, select an option:
• Preserve All Data: All data values are preserved.
• Preserve Input Data: Only the blocks that contain the data that is being loaded are preserved. However, all blocks (upper- and lower-level) that contain loaded data are preserved. This option does not apply to aggregate storage databases.
• Preserve Leaf Level Data: Only level-0 (leaf level) values are preserved. If all data required for calculation resides in level-0 members, then you should select this option. All upper-level blocks are deleted before the database is restructured. When the database is recalculated, the upper-level blocks are re- created. This option does not apply to aggregate storage databases.
• Preserve No Data: All data values are cleared. 8. Click Execute.
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9. On the Jobs page, click Refresh to view the status of the dimension build.
Note:
You can use a dimension build to add or modify dimensions, but you cannot use a dimension build to delete an existing dimension.