Standard Construction Mode
The Standard Mode is the most common construction mode. Use of this mode requires that you specifically define each level of the dimension's hierarchy, starting from the highest aggregation level and continuing down to the lowest level containing the simplest elements.
For example, in a dimension representing the Products a given company sells or produces, you could represent Product Families as the first level, Lines of Subfamilies as the second level, and so on, until reaching the Articles level, where each element represents only one Product.
Documentation reffers to Standard Construction Mode or Normal Construction Mode indistinctively.
Adding a Dimension in Standard Construction Mode
Use the Add Dimension command or the Insert Dimension command to add a dimension in standard construction mode.
To add a dimension in standard construction mode:
- Select the Dimension branch in the Design tree.
- Add a new Dimension
- To add a dimension to the end of the list, choose the Add Dimension command.
The dimension is added and the Properties Pane is displayed. - To insert a dimension right after an existing dimension, select it and choose the Insert Dimension command.
The dimension is added and the Properties Pane is displayed.
- To add a dimension to the end of the list, choose the Add Dimension command.
- Make sure that the Standard Dimension radio button is selected in the General Tab.
- Complete the fields on the Description and General tab of the Property Pane.
- Continue the definitino of the dimension by adding the required levels to it. (See Adding Leveles to a Standard Dimension).
Standard dimensions require at least 1 level for them to build properly.
Dimension Property Pane - Standard Construction Mode
In standard construction mode, the property pane for the dimensions include two tabs:
- Description
- General
- Order
Description Tab
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Name |
Enter the name of the dimension. |
Description |
Enter a description of the dimension. |
Not visible for users |
When this option is selected, the dimension will not be available in the Browser. |
The General Tab
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Mode |
Turn on the Standard radio button. Once you add hierarchy levels to this dimension, you should not modify this value. |
Default Value for Null Fields |
Enter the label of the special node created to accumulate the registers in cases where data from the Measures Data Source has null values in the identification of this dimension key, or out of range values for the hierarchy category. |
Error Mode |
When building a datamart, it is possible to find data inconsistency. This option determines what to do in such cases.
|
Unique Level |
This represents the detail level of the File or Data Query corresponding to the Facts. |
Store Dimension As |
For every dimension you can select any of this options to store the elements of the dimension. To select one you must know how many total elements the dimension will have.
|
Related Dimension |
Links a dimension with another with the same structure and similar information. (See Related Dimensions) |
The Order Tab
This section refers to a mechanism that activates rankings from O3 Designer during the design phase of the model.
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Activate Order |
Activates the automatic ranking of elements in the dimension. |
All Elements |
Indicates that all elements will be displayed after sorting |
First |
Indicates that only the first N elements will be displayed after sorting. |
Show Others |
In cases when only a few elements are shown, it is possible to include an extra element, called Others, that summarizes those left out of the view. |
This feature does not imply the sorting of elements in the hierarchy. This is just a presentation feature. To sort elements in the dimension see the sorting options in the properties pane for dimension levels in standard dimensions
Adding Levels to a Standard Dimension
Use the Add Level command or the Insert Level command to add a level to a standard dimension.
Once you complete the Properties pane for a standard dimension, you can specify the subsequent hierarchy level.
To add a level to the hierarchy, you must be in the Design Tree at the standard dimension branch or at a previously defined level within the dimension.
To add a level to a standard dimension:
- Select the Dimension branch in the Design tree.
- Select the standard dimension branch.
- Add a new Level
- To add a level at the end of the list, choose the Add Level command.
The level is added and the Properties Pane is displayed. - To insert a level right after an existing level, select it and choose the Insert Level command.
The level is added and the Properties Pane is displayed.
- To add a level at the end of the list, choose the Add Level command.
- Complete the fields in the Property Pane.
The Properties Pane for Levels in a Standard Dimension
The level property pane for a standard dimension includes two tabs:
- Description
- General
The Description Tab
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Name |
Enter the name of the level |
Description |
Enter a description of the level |
The General Tab
Property |
Description |
---|---|
Key |
Choose a field name from the drop-down list that contains the categories for this hierarchy level. |
Short Label |
Choose a short description on the key, for use with the O3 Browser. This label is used by default on the O3 Browser. |
Long Label |
Choose a long description on the key, for use with the O3 Browser. This label will be used when the Long Label option is set on the O3 Browser. |
Description |
Choose a description on the key, for use with the O3 Browser. This description will be accessed with the Description option on the O3 Browser. |
Sort Order |
If you wish, you can determine the order in which elements of each hierarchy's level displays in the O3 Browser. |
Order By |
If you choose a sort order, indicate the field determining the order. String fields sort in alphabetical order and numeric fields sort in numeric order. |
Preferred Width |
Specifies the preferred width for the labels of the elements in the level |
Color |
Defines the color for the elements in the level. |
Note
Some type of association must exist between the field assigned to the Key and the field assigned to the Short Label. This association can be a consequence of both fields coming from the same source, or through implicit joins made by O3 based on name similarity. See the Field Naming section.
Following is a list of the colors that can be specified by their name in english.
Color |
---|
black |
blue |
cyan |
darkGray |
gray |
green |
lightGray |
magenta |
orange |
pink |
red |
white |
yellow |
Hexadecimales codes provide a larger set of colors and they are used just like for HTML pages.