Attributes describe characteristics of data, such as the size and color of products. You can use attributes to group and analyze members of dimensions based on their characteristics. For example, you can analyze product profitability based on size or packaging, and you can make more effective conclusions by incorporating market attributes, such as the population size of each market region, into your analysis.
An attribute dimension such as Pkg Type contains members that describe the packaging characteristics of individual members of a non-attribute dimension. Non-attribute dimensions are called standard dimensions. When you associate an attribute dimension to a standard dimension, the standard dimension becomes the base dimension for the attribute dimension. For example, associating Pkg Type with the standard dimension Product makes Product the base dimension for the Pkg Type attribute dimension. An attribute dimension can have only one base dimension.
You must also associate the individual members of the attribute dimension to members of its base dimension. For example, the Pkg Type dimension has two members, Bottle and Can. To enable analysis of products by their packaging, you associate Bottle or Can to each member of the base dimension.
If an outline includes attribute dimensions, Essbase provides a special purpose dimension with the default name Attribute Calculations dimension. The Attribute Calculations dimension provides a set of calculations such as the average and the count of items analyzed. You can change the name of the Attribute Calculations dimension and the names of the members of the Attribute Calculations dimension. Outline Viewer displays the Attribute Calculations dimension and member names in the outline tree. Outline Editor displays the names on its Properties tab.
Note: | For information about attribute dimensions and attributes with aggregate storage databases, see the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide. |
It is possible to need to specify an attribute name in two or more attribute dimensions. For example, the name 20 might be a member of an attribute dimension called Size and another attribute dimension called Age. Essbase provides a method to apply a prefix or suffix to ensure distinct member names.
“Working with Attributes” in the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide