This article provides an overview of creating outline using Outline Editor. For information about Outline Editor, see the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
All examples in this chapter are based on the Sample.Basic database shipped with Essbase.
You can also perform a dimension build to automate the creation of the outline
To design an outline:
When a Essbase - Database (cube) is created, Essbase creates a blank outline for that database automatically : Essbase - Creating / Copying a database
The outline has the same name as the database (dbname.otl). For example, when the Basic database is created within the Sample application, an outline is created in the following directory: ARBORPATH/app/sample/basic/basic.otl
To create or copy an outline or open an existing outline, use one of this tool:
Tool | Topic | Documentation Location |
---|---|---|
Essbase - Administration Service (EAS) | Opening and Editing Outlines Copying Outlines | Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help |
Essbase - MaxL | create database create database as | Oracle Essbase Technical Reference |
Essbase - EssCmd | CREATEDB COPYDB | Oracle Essbase Technical Reference |
When a Essbase database is created, Essbase creates an Essbase - Outline (Database Outline) for that database automatically.
You can create content in the new outline in the following ways:
See “Opening and Editing Outlines” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
If you open the same outline with two instances of the Essbase - Administration Services Console using the same login ID, each save overwrites the changes of the other instance. Oracle does not recommend this practice, as it can be difficult to keep track of the changes that are saved or overwritten.
You can add dimensions and member hierarchies to an outline in several ways:
See “Adding Dimensions to Outlines” and “Adding Members to Dimensions” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
see “Updating an Outline Dynamically Using a Rules File” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
See “Creating a Dimension Build Rules File” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
When you create dimensions and save an outline, Essbase automatically sets the new dimensions in the outline as sparse.
You can change the dimension storage type according to the optimal configuration for the database : Essbase - Dense and Sparse Selection Effect on the data storage (performance)
Set as sparse any Essbase - Standard dimensions with which you plan to associate Essbase - Attribute dimensions.
To set data storage properties using Essbase - Outline Editor, see “Setting Dimensions as Dense or Sparse” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
Essbase - Dimension are the highest level of organization in an outline.
Dimensions contain Essbase - Members, which you can nest inside of other members in a Essbase - Hierarchies.
The following sections describe how to position dimensions and members in the outline.
The relative locations of dimensions in an outline can affect Essbase - Calculations and retrieval performance times. See Essbase - Designing an Outline to Optimize Query or Calculations Performance.
After you create dimensions and members, you can rearrange them within the outline. Before moving members and dimensions in an outline, consider the following information:
To position dimensions and members using Outline Editor, see “Manipulating Dimensions and Members in an Outline” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
You can have Essbase arrange dimensions within an outline or members within a dimension in alphabetical order (A–Z) or reverse alphabetical order (Z–A).
You cannot sort Boolean attribute dimensions. See Understanding Attribute Types.
To sort members using Outline Editor, see “Sorting Members” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
If necessary, create attribute dimensions and associate them with the appropriate base dimensions. See Working with Attributes.
You can verify an outline automatically when you save it, or you can verify the outline manually anytime. When verifying an outline, Essbase checks the following items:
During outline verify, Essbase also performs the following conversions to appropriate numeric attribute dimension member names and displays them in the outline:
See Understanding Attribute Types.
> To verify an outline, see “Verifying Outlines” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
You can save outlines to the Essbase Server or to a client computer or network. By default, Essbase saves outlines to the database directory on Essbase Server. If you are saving changes to an outline, Essbase may restructure the outline. For example, if you change a member name from Market to Region, Essbase moves data stored in reference to Market to Region. Each time that you save an outline, Essbase verifies the outline to ensure that it is correct.
To save an outline, see “Saving Outlines” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
If you add one or more new standard (nonattribute) dimensions, any data that existed previously in the database must be mapped to a member of each new dimension before the outline can be saved. For example, adding a dimension called Channel to the Sample.Basic outline implies that all previous data in Sample.Basic is associated with a particular channel or the sum of all channels.
If you delete one or more standard (nonattribute) dimensions, the data associated with only one member of each deleted dimension must be retained and associated with a member of one of the other dimensions. For example, removing a dimension called Market from the outline implies that all of the data that remains in the database after the restructure operation is associated with a single, specified member of the Market dimension.
If you delete an attribute dimension, Essbase deletes the associations to its base dimension. See Working with Attributes.