Creating or Editing Text Lists

Text lists are metadata elements that map a column containing text strings to a column containing IDs for those strings. The columns you use in the text list are columns from your data source, usually from a specific data source table that contain the text strings and IDs. You set up this structure before you create text lists in Essbase Studio.

Text lists are used in conjunction with text measures. Text measures extend the analytical capabilities of Essbase beyond numerical data to text-based content. Storage and analysis of textual content can be useful when a cell needs to have one of a finite list of textual values.

For example, a product may be sold in five different colors. The color is a text measure whose value must be one of the five colors. The colors are a set of text strings mapped to corresponding numeric IDs. These mappings are contained in the text list element that you create.

Before you create or edit a text list:

Ensure that a database table exists with columns containing the IDs and values you plan to use in your text list.
Ensure that the database columns you plan to use in your text list exist as dimension elements in the Metadata Navigator.

To create or edit a text list:

Perform an action:
- To create a new text list, in the Metadata Navigator, right-click on the folder where you want to store the text list and select New, then Text List.
- To edit a text list, locate it in the Metadata Navigator, right-click it, and select Edit.
In the Properties dialog box, enter a Name and optional Description for this text list.
Under Bindings, select the column from the data source that contains the data values, and click the right arrow button to move it to Value Bindings.
Optional: Under Bindings, select the column from the data source that contains the numeric values, and click the right arrow button to move it to ID Binding.
Click OK to save the text list.
Note:
If this is a new text list, verify that it appears in the Metadata Navigator.