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Date Dimensions have the additional characteristic of relative dates. This functionality allows you to group information for certain time periods in date dimensions.

They are especially useful for time analysis, where the standard date dimension may not be enough.

You can use relative dates to analyze a single time period such as the last 12 months, or to compare this year's elapsed time 

...

Date Dimensions have the additional characteristic of relative dates. This functionality allows you to group information for certain time periods in date dimensions.

They are especially useful for time analysis, where the standard date dimension may not be enough.

You can use relative dates to analyze a single time period such as the last 12 months, or to compare this year's elapsed time (year-to-date)

...

to

...

the

...

same

...

period

...

for

...

previous

...

years,

...

or

...

to

...

compare

...

the

...

current

...

month

...

to

...

the

...

same

...

month

...

in

...

all

...

previous

...

years.

...

An

...

important

...

feature

...

of

...

relative

...

dates

...

is

...

that

...

they

...

can

...

define

...

periods

...

that

...

are

...

not

...

fixed

...

in

...

time

...

and

...

that

...

vary

...

according

...

to

...

the

...

cube's

...

current

...

data.

...

With

...

this

...

feature,

...

you

...

can

...

have

...

aggregations

...

such

...

as

...

"the

...

year-to-date"

...

or

...

"the

...

last

...

12

...

months"

...

whose

...

contents

...

change

...

according

...

to

...

the

...

new

...

data

...

reaching

...

the

...

cube.

...

You

...

can

...

also

...

make

...

aggregations

...

in

...

higher

...

and

...

lower

...

levels

...

of

...

detail

...

for

...

the

...

relative

...

dates.

...

For

...

example,

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if

...

the

...

periods

...

are

...

quarters,

...

you

...

can

...

have

...

a

...

hierarchy

...

that

...

aggregates

...

them

...

for

...

years

...

or

...

takes

...

them

...

to

...

a

...

lower

...

level

...

of

...

detail,

...

months.

...

Relative

...

dates

...

are

...

defined

...

as

...

part

...

of

...

the

...

Date

...

Dimension

...

in

...

the

...

definition

...

of

...

a

...

model

...

in

...

O3

...

Designer

...

.

...

This

...

means

...

you

...

must

...

first

...

define

...

a

...

Date

...

Dimension,

...

and

...

then

...

add

...

a

...

relative

...

date.

...

(warning)  Note
Relative dates have three levels of granularity: years, quarters, and months.
You can define more than one relative date for a date dimension.

The following relative dates examples may clarify the concept of relative date usage.
All examples are based on simulation data with a September 1998 reference.

Example I

Name

Last 12 Months

Objective

View the evolution of measures included in the cube during the last 12 months. Because this time period is not confined to a specific year, you cannot use a standard date dimension hierarchy.

Reference

Most Recent Date

Compare

Comparison level = MonthRemove Intermediate Levels = OnEnable Refinement = Off


Section
Column
width50%
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe element list

Dec / 98

 

Nov / 98

 

Oct / 98

 

Set / 98

 

Aug / 98

(tick)

Jul / 98

(tick)

Jun / 98

(tick)

May / 98

(tick)

Apr / 98

(tick)

Mar / 98

(tick)

Feb / 98

(tick)

Jan / 98

(tick)

Dec / 97

(tick)

Sep / 97

(tick)

Column

Example II

Name

Year-to-date

Objective

View the aggregation of the measures for this year-to-date period compared to the same period for the previous years. Thus, information for the last three years is included. To select this year-to-date period, there is a Month refinement level using From Beginning. This is used to select all the months from the beginning of the year up to the current month, inclusive.

Reference

Most Recent Date

Compare

Comparison Level = YearRemove Intermediate Levels = OnEnable Refinement = On

Refinement

Refinement Level = MonthFrom Beginning = On


Section
Column
width50%
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe element list

1998

(tick)

1997

(tick)

1996

(tick)

1995

(tick)

1994

 

1993

 

Column
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe Refinement element list

Dec / 98

 

Nov / 98

 

Oct / 98

 

Sep / 98

 

Aug / 98

(tick)

Jul / 98

(tick)

Jun / 98

(tick)

May / 98

(tick)

Apr / 98

(tick)

Mar / 98

(tick)

Feb / 98

(tick)

Jan / 98

(tick)

Example III

Name

Previous Month

Objective

View the aggregation of measures for the month previous to the current one. This month can vary according to the cube's new data.

Reference

Most Recent Date

Compare

Comparison Level = MonthRemove Intermediate Levels = OnEnable Refinement = Off


Section
Column
width50%
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe element list

Oct / 98

 

Sep / 98

 

Aug / 98

(tick)

Jul / 98

 

Jun / 98

 

May / 98

 

Apr / 98

 

Column

Example IV

Name

Current Month

Objective

View the aggregation of the measures in the current month compared to the same months in the three previous years.

Reference

Most Recent Date

Compare

Comparison Level = MonthRemove Intermediate Levels = OnEnable Refinement = Off


Section
Column
width50%
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe element list

Dec / 98

 

Nov / 98

 

Oct / 98

 

Sep / 98

(tick)

Aug / 98

 

Jul / 98

 

. . .

 

Oct / 97

 

Sep / 97

(tick)

Aug / 97

 

. . .

 

Oct / 96

 

Sep / 96

(tick)

Aug / 96

 

. . .

 

Oct / 95

 

Sep / 95

(tick)

Aug / 95

 

Column

Example V

Name

Rotating 12-month Years

Objective

Compare the last 12 months to similar periods in the past. One-year periods are compared, but they don't necessarily coincide with the calendar year because they are determined by the current date.

Reference

Most Recent Date

Compare

Comparison Level = YearRemove Intermediate Levels = OnEnable Refinement = On

Refinement

Refinement Level = MonthLast N = On


Section
Column
width50%
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe element list

1998

(tick)

1997

(tick)

1996

(tick)

1995

(tick)

1994

 

1993

 

Column
Panel
bgColor#FFFFFF
titleThe Refinement element list

Dec / 98

 

Nov / 98

 

Oct / 98

 

Sep / 98

 

Aug / 98

(tick)

Jul / 98

(tick)

Jun / 98

(tick)

May / 98

(tick)

Apr / 98

(tick)

Mar / 98

(tick)

Feb / 98

(tick)

Jan / 98

(tick)

Dec / 97

(tick)

Nov / 97

(tick)

Oct / 97

(tick)

Sep / 97

(tick)

Aug / 97

 


...

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