Organizations with offices in multiple countries generally do business in the currency of the host country (known as the local currency). Such organizations must convert data entered in local currencies to a common currency for consolidation and analysis.
A currency conversion application consists of two databases:
A main database containing data in local and converted values
A currency rates database containing exchange rates
You apply exchange rates from the currency rates database to local values from the main database to derive converted values. The Essbase Server product installation includes a sample currency conversion application (installation options) that consists of two sample databases: a main database called Interntl and a currency rates database called Xchgrate.
The Sample Interntl database consists of five dimensions: Year, Measures, Product, Market, and Scenario. All but the Market and Scenario dimensions are identical to the Sample Basic database.
The Market dimension includes Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK. The Scenario dimension handles different currency types (such as Actual and Budget) in local and converted currencies. In this database, all local currencies are converted to the common currency of U.S. dollars.
The Sample Xchgrate database, which is a subset of the main database, contains four dimensions:
The CurTime dimension accommodates different exchange rates by month.
The CurName dimension contains names of currencies from their respective markets.
The CurCategory dimension contains the names of the various currency categories that may be applied to the categories of Measures. For example, one rate is applied to Profit and Loss items and another rate is applied to Balance Sheet items.
The CurType dimension enables a currency database to contain rates for various scenarios, such as Actual and Budget.
The Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide describes how to design and implement a Currency Conversion application.