You can use the Copy Data action to copy data from one part of the database to another in the same database. Then you can calculate the data using addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division of a numeric value or a member. For additional information on this action, see the Essbase Technical Reference.
For example, to allocate your budget, you may want to initialize your data by last year’s actuals. To build your budget, you initialize it by copying last year’s actuals and increasing the budget by 30 percent, the growth rate of the company.
To add a Copy Data action to your business rule:
If it is not open, open the graphical business rule to which you want to add an Aggregate Data action.
If the BR Language tab is not selected, select it in the bottom of the left frame of the Analytic Administration Services window.
Expand the Actions folder and double-click the Copy Data action, or drag it to the desired location in the business rule on the Graphical tab.
The Copy Data action is added to the business rule and the Overview tab is displayed.
On the Overview tab, for the Destination, enter a name in the Name text box. (The default name is “Destination.”)
To create blocks of data during copy, select the Create Blocks During Copy check box.
If you do not select the Create Blocks During Copy check box, a message informs you that no new destination blocks will be created during the data copy. If members are included in the source definition that do not exist in blocks, no values will be copied from those members. When the Create Blocks During Copy check box is not selected, you can also specify conditions under which the copy should take place using the Data Condition tab. See Specifying a Data Condition in a Formula.
Either enter values in the Selected Values text box for each available dimension or use the Member Selection button to select members and variables as the target destinations for the copied data. For more information on selecting members, see Selecting Members.
Select the Select Source icon. For each dimension in the list that you want to include, enter the source value to copy in the Selected Values text box, or click the Member Selection button to select members and variables as the source values to be copied.
To apply a calculation to the copied portion of the database, select the Apply Calculation check box.
To choose an operator other than the plus sign (the default), select the plus sign in the formula, then select one of the following operators from the Select Operator drop-down list: addition (+), subtraction (-), multiplication (x), or division (/). (You can also select the plus sign and use a right mouse click to select another operator.)
Enter the calculation to apply by doing one of the following:
Select the 123 icon in the formula and enter a number in the Specify Number text box. Or click the Member Selection button next to the Specify Number text box to select a numeric variable. (For example, you may want to enter a numeric runtime prompt to allow the user to dynamically select the calculation to apply at runtime.)
Right-click the 123 icon in the formula and select Change to Typical Source. Enter a name for the source in the Name text box. Then enter values in the Selected Values text box for each available dimension, or use the Member Selection button to select members and variables as the target destinations for the copied data.
Click Save to save your changes.