A record search is called hierarchical if it takes into consideration the ancestor dimension values of a specified dimension value.

You can specify that a record search is to be hierarchical in Developer Studio.

Record searches are non-hierarchical by default – that is, they return only those records that are assigned a dimension value whose text matches the search term.

The following example illustrates the difference between non-hierarchical and hierarchical record searches:

In the WineType dimension, the dimension value Red (with an ID of 12) is an ancestor of the dimension value Merlot (ID of 13). Non-hierarchical and hierarchical record searches work as follows in the WineType dimension: