Defining or Editing General Properties for Dimension Elements

Before you define or edit the general properties for dimension elements, create a dimension element using a methods described in Creating or Editing Metadata Elements.

Derived text measures must be created and edited using the method described in Creating or Editing Derived Text Measures.

Note:

Caption bindings, key bindings, filters, and sort elements must all come from the same data source.

  To define the general properties for dimension elements:

  1. Perform an action:

    • To create a dimension element, complete a procedure described in Creating Dimension Elements.

    • To edit a dimension element, locate it in the Metadata Navigator, right-click, and select Edit.

      Note:

      You can also open the dimension element for editing by double-clicking it.

  2. Create an expression on which to base the dimension element.

    Follow the instructions in Creating an Expression on Which to Base a Dimension Element.

  3. Choose a key binding option.

    Follow the instructions in Choosing a Key Binding Option for a Dimension Element.

  4. Optional: To create a filter for this dimension element, drag the appropriate elements from the Source, Functions and Operators tabs in the Formula box and drop them in the Filter box, and then type the filter criteria as needed.

    Note:

    The steps for creating a filter are the same as those steps used to create an expression on which to base the dimension. See Creating an Expression on Which to Base a Dimension Element.

    For example, if you know that all diet products have SKU in the format, XXX-20, then a filter can be set using the substr() function as follows:

    'substr'( connection : \'tbc_source'::'tbc.product'.'SKU', 5, 2 ) == “20”

    Note:

    For filter expressions, text file data sources only support the substring (substr) function and these operators: >, >=, <, <=, |=, ==.

  5. Optional: To define the sort order of a column in the dimension, drag the column from the Source tab in the Formula list and drop it under Sort Column; then, in the Sort Order column, click the down arrow to choose the Ascending or Descending option.

    Note:

    If you do not see a down arrow in the Sort Order column, click in the row of the column under Sort Order to activate the Ascending/Descending options.

  6. Optional: Associate any applicable alias sets with the dimension element, as described in Creating or Editing Alias Set Bindings for a Given Alias Set.