About
Essbase uses terms to describe the roles and relationships of the members in a database outline.
| Hierarchical terms description | |
|---|---|
| Essbase - Generation | Generation refers to a consolidation level within a dimension. |
| Essbase - Level | Level also refers to a branch within a dimension; levels reverse the numerical ordering used for generations. |
| roots | The root is the top member in a branch. |
| leaves | Leaf members have no children. |
| Family history terms description | |
| Essbase Parent | A parent is a member that has a branch below it. |
| Essbase - Child | A child is a member that has a parent above it. |
| sibling | Siblings are child members of the same immediate parent, at the same generation. |
| descendants | Descendants are members in branches below a parent. |
| ancestors | Ancestors are members in branches above a member. |
To ease report maintenance, you can assign a name to a generation or level and then use the name as a shorthand for all members in that generation or level. Because changes to an outline are automatically reflected in a report, when you use generation and level names, you do not need to change the report if a member name is changed or deleted from the database outline.