Cube Dimensions

Dimensions are assigned to a cube in the Cube Dimensions tab. The dimension metadata provides structure to the cube and dictates how the cube will organize the data within the application. When assigning dimensions to a cube, it is best practice to assign the cube dimensions by Scenario Type, with the exception of Entity and Scenario dimensions, which can only be assigned in the (Default) Scenario Type.

The Entity and Scenario dimension types cannot be assigned at the Scenario Type level because they do not adhere to the same concept of Extensible Dimensionality as the Account related dimension types. When creating a new cube, the (Default) option is set to RootXXXDim for all dimension types by default, where XXX represents the name of any dimension type. At the Scenario Type level, the Entity and Scenario types are grayed out by default and not configurable. All other dimension types are set to (Use Default).

As a cube is being configured and dimensions are assigned, not all dimension types may be used for a specific Scenario Type. In cases where a Scenario Type does not use a certain dimension type, the RootXXXDim should be assigned to that dimension type instead of left at (Use Default).

NOTE: While this adds flexibility for the future, configuring the cube dimensions this way does not enable you to change active dimensions with data.

The following examples display the recommended cube dimension configuration for(Default) and the Actual Scenario Type. At (Default), the Entity and Scenario Dimension Types are assigned. All other Dimension Types are left at RootXXXDim. At the Actual Scenario type, the Entity and Scenario Dimension Types are grayed out and cannot be configured. UD4, UD5, and UD6 Dimension Types are not used in this example. Therefore, they are set to RootXXXDim.

Each dimension type contains a RootXXXDim, and inside RootXXXDim is a member called None. When a new dimension for a dimension type is created and RootXXXDim is selected as the inherited dimension, the dimension becomes a child of RootXXXDim and the new dimension inherits RootXXXDim and the None member.

Assigning RootXXXDim for dimension types inactive at setup instead of leaving (Use Default) is a recommended configuration concept, as it allows flexibility if the dimension type needs to be used in the future. If RootXXXDim is assigned to the dimension type and data is loaded to the cube, all data for that dimension will be in the dimension's None member, which is inherited from RootXXXDim. If a new dimension is created for the Scenario Type in the future, the dimension can be changed from RootXXXDim to the new dimension name for the dimension type. However, if the unused dimension type is set to (Use Default) for the Scenario Type and data has been loaded to the cube for the Scenario Type, the dimension is locked in and cannot be changed to a new dimension in the future. The (Default) Scenario Type can be changed from RootXXXDim, but this change would apply to the entire cube, not to a specific Scenario Type. See About the Financial Model for more information.

IMPORTANT: You can only update from the Root dimension to a specific dimension once. Changing from a Root dimension is a one-time change that cannot be reverted if there is data in the cube and Scenario Type combination. Plan and ensure that these settings are properly updated before saving the changes.

Once dimensions are assigned to the cube for a dimension type and data loads to dimension members in a cube, dimensions are locked in and can no longer be unassigned or changed. To change a used dimension type with a different dimension, the data must be cleared and all processes related to the cube and workflow for that scenario must reset. This can be done through a Reset Scenario Data Management step. See Data Management for more information.