Advanced selection offers different drilling possibilities.
This drilling option is available when the dimension is located on one of the query axes.
When "Advanced Drilling" is chosen from the list of available operations, two new lists that let you specify the advanced selection are added to the control panel. They are named Type, after the type of exploration and Level, to make reference to the correspondence to a hierarchical level of the dimension.
The different forms of advanced exploration, are shown in the list of options labeled "Type" and correspond to:
- Level
- Descendants
- Brothers
- Leaves
- Ancestors
- Parent
The different types of advanced drilling are explained below.
Note
The types of query performed through the "Advanced Drilling" and "Drill Level" options only make sense in those dimensions located on the axes, hence they are not always available in the control panel.
When a dimension is drilled through any of these operations and it is then removed from the axis, O3 Browser turns the type of query into the "Single Element" mode.
Exploring an element's brothers.
This type of query lets you analyze elements at the same level as the chosen one, excluding it.
To use this form of selection you have to:
- Choose the "Brothers" option from the "Type" list .
- Choose the reference element to calculate brothers. You may choose the element by double-clicking on it or selecting it and then clicking "OK"
Examples
The following picture shows the selection to show brothers to the year 2001. The chosen reference element is the year 2001, and the selection returns all years but 2001, that is 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Picture 7: Examples of Brothers to the year 2001
The following picture is an example of the selection of elements or nodes brothers to January 2001. You may see that the reference month, that is, the one for which brothers are checked, is selected. The result of this type of query corresponds to the months of February and March of the same year of the selected month.
Picture 8: Example to select brothers to a given month.
Exploring an element's Descendants.
This type of queries lets you see the elements of lower levels to the reference element.
To see an element's descendants you must:
- Select the "Descendants" option from the "Type" list
- Choose the reference element of which descendants are to be selected.
- Select the maximum level you wish to see descendents, which must always be below the level of the reference element. If none is chosen, the deepest level is taken by default.
Examples
In the wines cube the result of querying descendants of the year 2001 as far as the "month" level includes quarters and months of 2001. These elements are grouped according to the dimension hierarchy. The following picture shows the necessary selection to carry out the mentioned example operation.
Picture 9: Example of descendants of the year 2001
Drilling down to a level
This option lets you choose all elements of a level depending on a given ancestor. If the element chosen as ancestor is the root, using this option has the same result as the Drill Level option.
To Drill down to a level do the following:
- Choose the "To Level" option from the "Type" list
- Choose the reference ancestor from the list of elements of the dimension.
- Choose the level you wish to view from the "Level" list. This level must always be below the level of the element chosen as reference.
- Click "OK" to accept the operation.
If the year 2001 is chosen as ancestor in the wines cube, and the level "month" is chosen, all months of 2001 are selected. The following picture shows the necessary selection for this example:
Picture 11: Drilling down to the "Month" level
Drilling Leaves
Drilling the leaves lets you see the elements in a lower level that depend on a chosen ancestor. If you choose the root, all the lower level is shown.
To see the leaves of an element do this:
- Choose the "Leaves" option from the "Type" list
- Choose the reference element from the list of elements of the dimension by double clicking on it or by clicking once and confirming with the "OK" button.
The example lets you see the leaves of the year 2001, that is, all the months of 2001. The following picture illustrates the necessary choices to be made to achieve the results in the example.
Picture 13: Selection of the leaves of year 2001
Drilling Ancestors
It shows the line of all ancestors of a chosen element to a specified level.
To see the ancestors of an element you should:
- Choose the "Ancestors" entry from the "Type" list
- Choose the element of which ancestors must be selected.
- Choose the maximum level to which you wish to see ancestors from the "Level" list. This level must always be above the level of the element chosen as reference.
The following example selects ancestors of the 1st Quarter 2002. The result is the year 2002. The following picture shows the choices corresponding to that example.
Picture 16: Ancestors of the First Quarter 2002
Drilling Parent
This refers to the parent of any given element.
To see the parent of an element you have to:
- Select the "Parent" entry from the "Type" list
- Choose the element whose parent you wish to select, by double-clicking on it or by selecting it with a click of the mouse and confirming with the "OK" button.
Examples
The following picture shows the choices you have to make to see the parent of element 2001. This element is the root of the dimension labeled as "Date"
Picture 17: An element's parent