Essbase - Data Source

About

A data source is external data that is loaded into an database with the help of one this two process :

Data sources contain the information that you want to load into the Essbase database. A data source can contain:

Data values
Information about members, such as member names, member alias, formulas, and consolidations properties
Generation and level names
Currency name and category
Data storage property
Attributes
UDAs

Essbase supports the following types of data sources:

Text files (flat files) from text backups or external sources (named data_files)
External databases, such as SQL data sources (using a SQL query defined in the load rule)
Essbase export files (export files do not need a rules file to load)
Microsoft Excel spreadsheet files
Spreadsheet audit log files (Error files generated by Essbase during a data load or dimension build)
Oracle BI Enterprise Edition (Oracle Business Intelligence (OBIEE/Siebel Analytics))

A data source comprises records, fields, field delimiters, formatting Characters

A record is a structured row of related fields.
A field is an individual value.
A delimiter indicates that a field is complete and that the next character in the record starts another field.
formatting_characters

Essbase reads data sources starting with the first record at the top and proceeding from left to right.

Essbase views some characters in the data source as formatting characters only. Essbase ignores the characters listed in the table below :

Character	Description
==	Multiple equal signs, such as for double underlining
–	Multiple minus signs, such as for single underlining
_ _	Multiple underscores
==	Multiple IBM PC graphic double underlines (ASCII character 205)
_ _	Multiple IBM PC graphic single underlines (ASCII character 196)

Ignored fields do not affect the data load or dimension build.

For example, Essbase ignores the equal signs in the following data source and loads the other fields normally.

East  Actual  "100-10"
      Sales   Marketing
      =====   =========
Jan   10      8
Feb   21      16