Adding a Date Dimension

Owned by Nicolás Palombo (Unlicensed)
Last updated: 19 Sept, 2008Version comment
3 min read
Unknown macro: {scrollbar}

Use the Add Date command or the Insert Date command to add a date dimension.

To add a date dimension:

  1. Select the Dimension branch in the Design tree.
    • To add a dimension to the end of the list, choose the Add Date 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 Date command.
      The dimension is added and the Properties Pane is displayed.
  2. Complete the fields on the Description and General tab of the Property Pane.

The Date Dimension Property Pane

The Date dimension property pane includes two tabs:

  • Description
  • General

The Description Tab

Property

Description

Name

Enter a name for the date dimension.

Description

Enter a description of the date dimension.

Not visible for users

When this option is selected, the dimension will not be available in the Browser.
This option is valuable in early stages of the project when tests need to be conducted, allowing developers to add dimensions and hide them so that users can't see them.
Datamarts need to be published in the server for this feature to work. Datamarts opened locally will display all the dimensions regardless of this setting.

The General Tab

Property

Description

Value

Enter the Data Sources field name for the field containing the dates to be used in creating the hierarchy. The field you use must already be defined as a Date Type at the Data Sources level.

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 (for all levels) the dimension will have.

  • Byte (8 bits)max 256 elements
  • Short (16 bits)max aprox. 65.000 elements
  • Integer (32 bits)max aprox 4 billion elements

Related Dimension

Links a dimension with another with the same structure and similar information. (See Related Dimensions)

Error Mode

When building a datamart, it is possible to find data inconsistency. This option determines what to do in such cases.

  • Default: applies the error mode specified in the General Panel of the Model
  • Ignore: skips the record that caused the error ignoring all the data in it
  • Abort: stops the build of the datamart
  • Append: adds the data in the record to the datamart using the information available.The error mode specified here overwrites the one defined in the General panel of the Model properties.
    See Model Properties

Label of node without date

Label to use when null elements occur for the date.
All null dates will be aggregated in the same element and displayed with this label.

Add node at the beginning

Indicates whether null dates should be added to the dimension as the first element or as the last one.

Fiscal Year / Initial Month

If the fiscal year does not coincide with the beginning of the year (calendar year), choose the month the fiscal year begins in.

Fiscal Year / Label Year according to

This option is only available when the Fiscal Year is set to a month other than January.
There are two options available:

  • First month in Period: The year is labeled with the year of the first month in the fiscal year
  • Last month in Period: The year is labeled with the year of the last month in the fiscal year


Unknown macro: {scrollbar}