Create New Dimension Members Without Leaving Your Table

No need to leave your story to add new dimension members: add them to your table and let the system update the master data.

Context

Working in a table and suddenly realize that the member that you need doesn't exist? You don't need to leave your story and go to the model. Simply add the new dimension member to your table (sometimes referred to as adding a “member on the fly”) and keep on working.

When you define the new member, you supply a description and an ID for it, and you can set the read and write access for others.

Note

Your model must be a planning model.

You can't create members for the account, version, or date dimensions, or new measures for a model with measures.

You can't create members for level-based hierarchies.

You can't add members to a table that has advanced or tuple filters.

You can't delete members from a table; you'll need to open the model to delete any members.

Note

You can also add a new member to your table for an existing but unbooked member.

To add such a member for the account, version, or date dimensions, or for level-based hierarchies, the Unbooked Data setting must be turned off.

Note

You can add an existing member or a new member not yet available in the model (a "member on the fly") to your table in mass data entry mode.

When you add a member in mass data entry mode and make data entry on this member, if you also delete existing cell values or copy and paste existing values in the same mass data entry session, the yellow background color won't be applied to the data cell of the added member (or any data cell that is changed by simply entering values) after the processing of data changes is done.

For more details on the mass data entry mode, see Entering Multiple Values in a Table.

Note

You can add an existing member to a table built on an SAP BPC Embedded model in mass data entry mode. The following are what you need to know:

  • After you add an existing member to the table and make data entry on the added member, we suggest that you don't change the values of its parent members or the values of Totals that it contributes to.

  • If you've changed the value of a parent member, we suggest that you don't add an existing member to the table as its child member and then make data entry on the added member.

Note

For a table built on an SAP BPC Embedded model, we suggest that you don't do the following at the same time:

  • Have a data cell of a parent member locked

  • Add its child member using the Add Member option and make date entry on it

The value of the locked parent cell may still be changed after data processing is done.

Note

If you add a member, you can’t make data entry on the cells of the added member that are sourced from formulas. As a workaround, you can make data entry on the base accounts or measures. Then data entry on these cells sourced from formulas will work, too. Alternatively, you can first enable Unbooked Data for the corresponding dimension and make data entry on the member that is now being displayed.

Some settings, such as currency and responsibility, may not be available if the existing dimension does not have those settings.

Example
There are cases where multiple new rows are added after you add a new member.

  • The table contains two dimensions, Region and Color. Both dimensions have their Unbooked Data turned on.

    The first or outer dimension is Region, and the second or inner dimension is Color.
      Time Nov 2018
    (Outer dimension) Region (Inner dimension) Color  
    Germany Red 4
      Green 5
      Blue 6
    Canada Red -
      Green 7
      Blue -

  • Adding a member to the outer dimension: when you add a member to the outer dimension, it is not clear which member of the inner dimension you intend to add data to. For that reason, several new rows are added to the table, all with unbooked values.

    Adding a new Region France.
      Time Nov 2018
    (Outer dimension) Region (Inner dimension) Color  
    Germany Red 4
      Green 5
      Blue 6
    France Red -
      Green -
      Blue -
    Canada Red -
      Green 7
      Blue -

Procedure

  1. Right-click a member in your table and then select Add Member.

    An empty new line appears.

  2. To add an existing but unbooked member, type in its ID or description in the member cell of the new line and select from a list of potential matches. Alternatively, select the value help icon in the right of the cell to open the member selector, where you can select the desired member.
    Note

    Adding an existing but unbooked member is also supported if your table is built on an SAP BPC Embedded model. However, you can’t add existing members for dimensions defined in the columns in such a table.

    To add existing members for tables built on SAP BPC Embedded models, you need to apply the following SAP Note: 3238379 Information published on SAP site.

  3. To add a new member not available in the model, type in an ID you desire in the member cell of the new line. When you see the message indicating no existing member matches that ID, press Enter.
    Note

    Adding a new member not available in the model is not supported if your table is built on an SAP BPC Embedded model.

  4. In the dialog that appears, provide a Description and an ID for the new member.
  5. Include names of people that are allowed to have read or write access to the new dimension member.

    As the creator, you always have write access to the members you create.

  6. Click Apply to create the new member.

Results

A member is added to the table.

Until you exit the story, you can still edit the details of the new member.