With this construction mode, you express the dimension hierarchy in the Data Sources through the relationship(s) between the nodes (or categories) that the edges describe.
In this mode, to define a dimension, you must declare which fields represent the source and target (or parent and child) of the edges in each one of the relationships.
Given the double role that any of the nodes can play in the parent-child relationship, it is clear that both fields must belong to the same element class. However, in those cases in which a certain relationship represents only one level of the hierarchy, this is not necessary as the children values will never be parents.
Example
In the following example, the entire hierarchy is defined through one relationship.
Parent |
Child |
|---|---|
Root |
GR1 |
Root |
GR2 |
GR1 |
GR11 |
GR1 |
GR12 |
GR1 |
GR13 |
GR2 |
GR21 |
GR2 |
GR22 |
GR12 |
GR121 |
... |
... |
Another example of this is the organization chart of a company, formed by Positions (Area Managers, Team Leaders, etc.) which are in determined relationships of "dependency" to one another. For example, the VP of Sales post is related to the Sales Manager post, which is related to the Salesperson position.
On the other hand, there is a relationship linking each position on the chart to a particular person, with other properties.
You can represent this by adding a field to the relationships table, where the Position code is the Source, and the field identifying the person is the Target.
Manager |
Subordinate |
|---|---|
General Manager |
Marketing Manager |
General Manager |
Operations Manager |
General Manager |
Sales Manager |
Marketing Manager |
Marketing Assistant |
Marketing Manager |
Product Managers |
Operations Manager |
Assistant |
Operations Manager |
Accountant |
Sales Manager |
Vendors |
... |
... |
Employee |
Position |
|---|---|
Jeremy Parker |
General Manager |
Andrew Stewart |
Marketing Manager |
Wally Brian |
Operations Manager |
Ken Denny |
Sales Manager |
June Miyamoto |
Marketing Assistant |
William Gottes |
Product Managers |
Kristie Reeves |
Assistant |
Chris Fabri |
Accountant |
... |
... |
In the previous example, the edges are defined by two Data Sources relationships. The first relationship, because the nodes can play both roles, is between a Source and Target from the same element class (Positions).
In the second relationship, only one hierarchy level links people to their post. It is important to note that the relationship between the Target of a relationship and the source of the following one is implicitly made by O3.
The image on the left shows the structure of the dimension once built in the datamart.
Adding an Edge Dimension
Use the Add Dimension command or the Insert Dimension command to add a dimension in edges construction mode.
To add a dimension in edges 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.
- Turn on the Edges radio button
- Complete the fields in the Property Pane.
- To add a field to the Relationships table, choose the New Field button.
A new row is added. - Double-click on each field in the row to select the value from a list.
- To remove a field from the Relationships table, click on the row, Choose the Delete Field button.
The field is deleted.
The Dimension Property Pane - Edges Construction Mode
In Edges construccion mode, the dimension property pane includes these tabs:
- Description
- General
- Order
The Description Tab
Property |
Description |
|---|---|
Name |
Enter the name of the dimension. |
Description |
Enter a description of the dimension. |
The General Tab
Property |
Description |
|---|---|
Mode |
Choose the Edges construction mode. Once you define relationships between the nodes, you cannot 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. |
Store Dimensions 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.
|
Related Dimension |
Links a dimension with another with the same structure and similar information. (See Related Dimensions) |
Estimated Levels |
Enter the number of levels the edge dimension will have when the cube is built. The number of levels for each dimension is required to define the scope for the measures, but may not be known at design time. |
Relationships Table |
Specify the different relationships defining the hierarchies in this table. |
The Order Tab
This section refers to a mechanism that activates rankings from O3 Designer during the design phase of the model.
See 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