Add, Delete, and Edit Dimensions and Measures

Adding Dimensions to a Model

You can create dimensions, and add existing dimensions to new or existing models.

Context

When you create a model by importing data, dimensions are created from the imported data. But when you create a new blank model, you add dimensions manually.

You can add Account, Organization (only one), Date, or Generic dimensions, to both new and existing models.

Procedure

Create or open a model, and go to the Model Structure workspace.
Choose Add new Dimension.
If you’re creating a dimension, give it a name, select choose a dimension type, like Account or Organization for example, and specify whether the new dimensions should be public or private. If you’re adding an existing dimension, select the type directly.
Click Add to add it to a model.
Select either the new dimension you’ve created or the existing dimension you want to add in the dimension list to see its contents and settings.

Note
An initial # member is added to each dimension (but not the account dimension). You can't delete this member manually. For more information, see the glossary entry for “Unassigned member”. In the Dimension Settings panel, you can set some of the basic properties of the dimension. For detailed information, see Dimension Settings.
Select to go back to the dimensions list.
During the design stage, you can delete dimensions from the model. To delete a dimension, select its row in the dimension list, and select . Once you've saved the model and exited the design stage, you won't be able to delete dimensions.
Note
You can also delete public dimensions that aren't being used in any models. To do this, select Modeler, and then on the Public Dimensions tab, select one or more dimensions and choose Delete.

Adding Measures in the New Model Type

In the new model type, you can add multiple base measures to hold different types of data.

Context

You might have a single base measure in a simple model, such as monetary amount. A more complex model will often have more measures like price, unit quantity, number of hours, headcount, amounts in local and global currencies, and so on.

Base measures let you set a number of options to make sure that different measures display their fact data correctly, including data type, aggregation, currencies and units, and formatting.

Note

Other than data type, these settings are similar to those available for account members. If your model has an account dimension, each model value will belong to both an account and a measure, and sometimes the settings will contradict each other.

You can decide whether to apply the settings from accounts or measures in these cases by changing the structure priority. See Set Structure Priority and Create Custom Solve Order for more information.

After your base measures are set up, you can create calculated measures on top of them, including conversion measures if you’ve set up currency conversion in your model.

Procedure

Create or open a model, and in the Model Structure workspace, click Add () in the Measures list. Or if you want to base your measure on an existing measure, select it and choose Copy.

In the Measure Details panel, fill in the following settings:

Parameter	Description
Name	Type a unique ID for the measure using letters and numbers only.
Description	Type a description for the measure to help your users identify it.
Data Type	Choose the data type for your measure. The data type restricts the values that the measure can hold: Decimal: Up to seven decimal places and up to 15 digits total. Integer: Between -2^31 to 2^31, without decimal places.
Decimal Places	If you selected Decimal, choose the number of decimal places supported, from one to seven. Keep in mind that a decimal value can only have a maximum of 15 digits including decimal places.
Aggregation Type	Select Sum. The aggregation type determines how the measure values are aggregated in hierarchical dimensions. For measures, only Sum is supported as the default, but you can specify other aggregation types for specific dimensions.
Required Dimensions	Select  and choose the dimensions that you want to be required for the measure. If not all required dimensions are in the displayed with the measure, for example in a chart, table, or in the Explorer, users are notified that the measure values could be incorrect.
Exception Aggregation Type	Use exception aggregation when you want to aggregate non-cumulative quantities. For example, if you have the quantity Inventory Count, you might want to aggregate the inventory count across all products, but not across time periods, because it doesn't make sense to add up inventory counts from multiple time periods. In this case, you would choose the aggregation type SUM for Inventory Count, because you want to add up the inventory counts for all products. But if you don't specify an exception aggregation type, the inventory counts will also be summed across time. To prevent summing inventory counts across time periods, specify an exception aggregation type for the time periods. For example, you might want to choose just the most recent set of Inventory Count values. In this case, you would choose the exception aggregation type LAST, and the exception aggregation dimension Date. Exception aggregations relate to one or more dimensions. For example, for the AVG and LAST exception aggregations, a Date dimension is appropriate. If you select an exception aggregation type, you must also select an exception aggregation dimension.
Exception Aggregation Dimension	Select  and choose the dimensions that will use the selected exception aggregation type.
Units & Currencies	Use these options to set the currencies for a monetary measure, or the unit displayed for a non-monetary measure: Unit: Use this option for a non-monetary value where you want to display a fixed unit. Type the unit in Fixed Unit. None: Select this option if you don’t need to include any units. Currency: Use this option for all monetary values, then specify the currencies settings for the measure. For example, for a measure that shows only US dollars, set the Currency to Fixed and type USD. These settings don’t just change the units displayed; they also can change how the values are aggregated and which conversion rates apply to the measure.
Scale	To improve the presentation of numbers, and hide numbers that are not significant, you can set this attribute to show just integers plus the specified number of decimal places. The unit value is then shown by the appropriate word or by an abbreviation. You can select one of the following options: Thousand (3 numerical places – abbreviation k) Million (6 numerical places – abbreviation M) Billion (9 numerical places – abbreviation G. Note that G is the international standard abbreviation for billion) Percent (% 2) This feature is related to the setting of the Unit attribute that determines if the Scale word or just the abbreviated Scale letter is used (see also the example following this table): If Unit is set to Currency, the word selected as the Scale value is used in the output. If Unit is undefined (blank), the abbreviated Scale letter is used.
Decimal Places	This setting defines the number of digits displayed after the decimal point; select a value from 0–7. Values that have fewer decimal places will match this setting by adding zeros to the end of the value, for example 1.100.

This example illustrates the effect of the Scale and Unit settings.

For a measure where the Scale has been defined as Million, Unit is blank, and Decimal Places is set to 2, the number 92624530 will be displayed in the data grid with an abbreviation as 92.62M.

If, on the other hand, Unit is set to Currency, the value will be the full word: 92.62Million.

If no Scale value is selected, the full number is shown formatted by appropriate separators; for example: 92,624,530.00

Results

Your measure is added to the model. You can now add values for it by importing data in the Modeler, or by entering planning data.

Deleting Dimensions from a Model

When deleting dimensions from a model, make sure that you check on potential dependencies to ensure that your model is still valid.

Select a dimension, either in the group view or the list view, and select Delete:

You can delete a dimension from a model after the model has been saved. If the dimension still has related objects such as stories or data actions, you can still delete it, and the application lets you know about these releated objects so you can review them and take apporpriate action.

Modeler Impacts	Account Formulas	When deleting a dimension from a model, the calculations that reference that particular dimension are invalid.
	Variables	When deleting a dimension from a model, if there are variables with value domain on the deleted dimension, make sure to fix the value domain.
	Currency Conversion	When deleting a dimension from a model, if that that dimension is a currency conversion dimension, check the model settings to reset the currency conversion.
	Data Locking	When deleting a dimension from a model, if that dimension is part of data locking, the dimension is removed from the driving dimensions. Also, data locking settings of the model are reverted to the default locking state. Make sure to check data locking settings in the model after you’ve deleted the dimension.
	Validation Rule	When deleting a dimension from a planning model, if that dimension is the reference dimension that serves as a basis of a validation rule, the rule is deleted. If the dimension is the only matched dimension, then the validation rule is deleted. If the dimension is one of multiple matched dimension, the validation rule is updated with the remaining dimensions.
Advanced Modeler Impacts	Value Driver Tree	If the dimension you have deleted is used in a value driver tree, the value driver tree gets invalid. Warning messages are given in the builder panel to solve the issues.
	Data Action	If the dimension you have deleted is used in a data action, you can still save the model. However, make sure to consider the following impacts: The copy rules in case of a copy step The mapping between dimensions in case of a cross model copy step The validity of formulas in case of an advanced formula step
	Private Versions	If the dimension you have deleted is used in the planning area of an existing private version, the planning area of this private version is disabled, and the owner of the private version is notified. For more information about the planning area, see Optimize Planning Models Using the Planning Area. After you’ve disabled the planning area, data outside of the planning area is no longer visible. However, you can still query, publish, or delete the version.
Data Auditing		After you’ve deleted a dimension from a model this dimension will also be removed from data audit table.
Commenting		After you’ve deleted a dimension from a model, each comment entered on members of that dimensions are deleted.
Data Acquisition		Any import job with a mapping based on the dimension you’ve deleted is no longer valid. Make sure to redesign the import job manually.
Story Widgets	Charts, Input Controls and Story Filters	After you’ve deleted a dimension, the application displays validation errors for charts, dynamic texts, input controls and story filter that relied on that dimension. Warnings are given in the Builder panel to resolve the issues.
	Hyperlinks	Hyperlinks with dimension context are still displayed, but they’re inactive. Make sure to fix them manually.
	Tables	After you’ve deleted a dimension, tables are updated automatically and show data on an aggregated level. Table filters based on the dimension are no longer valid. Styling rules will adapt to the aggregated view but may need to be adapt.
	Cross Calculations	Cross calculations are removed automatically from tables.

Editing Dimensions

You can change a dimension's description, and also add properties (columns), members (rows), and hierarchies to a dimension.

To make changes to a dimension, open a model that contains it, and then select the dimension. You can also open a public dimension directly from the

Modeler start page, under the Public Dimensions tab.

Task	Steps
Add a member (row)	Choose (Add) in the Edit section of the toolbar.
Delete one or more members	Select the members, and then choose (Delete) in the Edit section of the toolbar.
Delete all members of the dimension	Select the dimension, and then select Delete all members. Note Dimension members can't be deleted if there is transactional data, or data in a private version, belonging to the underlying model.
Copy a member	Choose (Copy) in the Edit section of the toolbar.
Add multiple member descriptions	Select a dimension, and in the Dimension Details panel, scroll down to the Languages and Translation section, and switch on the Enable Multiple Languages toggle. For more information, see Adding Member Descriptions in Multiple Languages.

The Account dimension includes several properties specific to account dimensions. List boxes help you enter data in each cell of these properties. For example, in the Account Type column, when you select a cell in the grid, you can choose between the account types INC, EXP, AST, LEQ, and NFIN.

In the Dimension Settings panel:

You can modify the Description of the dimension.
You can create, delete, and edit hierarchies. For details, see Learn About Hierarchies.
You can insert a new property (column): select in the Properties section of the Dimension Settings panel.
You can delete a column: find the corresponding property in the Properties section of the Dimension Settings panel, and select .
You can change these rights and access settings:
- Data Access Control
- Hide Parents
- Responsible
- Data Locking Ownership
You can enable a public dimension for translation.

Adding Member Descriptions in Multiple Languages

By default, each member within a dimension has a description property that provides additional information about the member. You can edit this description manually and add multiple descriptions in different languages.

Context

Depending on your business needs, you might have to add translated descriptions to make them more accessible. If you’re a global customer, this allows you to cater for all end users in their local language. Models that leverage dimensions with multiple language descriptions can then be consumed as usual in stories.

This functionality is available for all public and private dimensions (except date and version dimensions) with up to 49 languages. Each language can be maintained either manually, or via the master data upload that leverages wrangling features. In the Modeler, you can add, edit, update, and delete descriptions, which provides more flexibility for public and private dimensions in a model. The default language is derived from the user preferences, according to the Data Access Language setting.

For the descriptions to be effective, you need to update the dimension in the Modeler first and specify all the languages you would like to use. Once that’s done, you can manually add the description per language. Each language you add has a corresponding column in the dimension.

Note

This section is about adding new member descriptions manually, and isn't related to the translation service that you can request to have model metadata translated automatically. If you're looking for more information on how to translate model metadata, see Enable Translation in a Model.

Procedure

In the Modeler, create a public or private dimension from scratch, or open an existing one.
In the Dimension Details panel, scroll down to the Languages and Translation section, and switch on the Enable Multiple Languages toggle.
Once you enable the option, the application lets you know how many languages are active in the dimension. Also, note that the Description column now indicates the language code between parentheses.
In the toolbar, click the translation icon to open the dropdown menu, and display both active, and available languages.

Active languages are languages that are already maintained in the dimension and whose descriptions have been added. Available languages are languages that haven’t been added to the languages yet.

If you flick through the active languages, the application automatically updates the language code in parentheses as well as the member descriptions.
In the Available Languages section of the dropdown menu, select a language you’d like to add to the dimension.
Add the translated description manually for each member of the dimension.
Repeat this step for all the languages you’d like to add.
Optional: If you need to update an active language, select it in the dropdown menu to add, update, or delete member descriptions.

Hiding Accounts or Measures

Hide accounts or measures if you don't want them to be available in stories.

Context

You can set members of the account dimension (measures or accounts) to be visible or invisible to other users. For example, if you're creating intermediate calculations based on measures, you may not want those intermediate calculations to be available for other users to add to stories, so you would hide those calculated account members.

Procedure

Create or open a model.
Create or switch to the account dimension.
Select a member that you want to hide.
In the Member Details panel, switch Hide on.

Note
In the Modeler, you'll always see all accounts and measures, including any that are hidden.