Glossary

An online analytical query that an end user creates dynamically.

A branch member that has members below it. For example, the members Qtr2 and 2006 are ancestors of the member April.

1) A software program designed to run a specific task or group of tasks such as a spreadsheet program or database management system; 2) A related set of dimensions and dimension members that are used to meet a specific set of analytical requirements, reporting requirements, or both.

A characteristic of a dimension member. For example, Employee dimension members may have attributes of Name, Age, or Address. Product dimension members can have several attributes, such as a size and flavor.

A type of dimension that enables analysis based on the attributes or qualities of dimension members.

A reporting process based on the attributes of the base dimension members. See also base dimension.

A standard dimension that is associated with one or more attribute dimensions. For example, assuming products have flavors, the Product dimension is the base dimension for the Flavors attribute dimension.

Logical expressions or formulas that are created within an application to produce a desired set of resulting values.

1) The data value at the intersection of dimensions in a multidimensional database; the intersection of a row and a column in a worksheet; 2) A logical group of nodes belonging to one administrative domain.

A text annotation for a cell in an Essbase database. Cell notes are a type of LRO.

A block of data that contains three or more dimensions. An Essbase database is a cube.

A grid display that enables users to enter data into the database from an interface such as a Web browser, and to view and analyze data or related text. Certain dimension member values are fixed, giving users a specific view into the data.

Any member below a parent in the database outline. In a dimension that includes years, quarters, and months, the members Qtr2 and April are descendants of the member Year.

A data category used to organize business data for the retrieval and preservation of values. Dimensions usually contain hierarchies of related members grouped within them. For example, a Year dimension often includes members for each time period, such as quarters and months.

The navigation from a value in one data source to corresponding data in another source.

Multiple occurrences of a member name in a database, with each occurrence representing a different member. For example, a database has two members named New York. One member represents New York state and the other member represents New York city.

A process that performs period-to-date reporting in block storage databases.

An object for presenting, entering, and integrating data from different sources for dynamic calculations.

Creating reports by entering dimension members or report script commands in worksheets.

A layer in a hierarchical tree structure that defines member relationships in a database. Generations are ordered incrementally from the top member of the dimension (generation 1) down to the child members. Use the unique generation name to identify a layer in the hierarchical tree structure.

A spreadsheet keyword used to extract data values from the member defined as the latest time period.

A layer in a hierarchical tree structure that defines database member relationships. Levels are ordered from the bottom dimension member (level 0) up to the parent members.

A member that has no children.

A shared partition that enables you to use a data cell to link two databases. When a user clicks a linked cell in a worksheet, Essbase opens a new sheet displaying the dimensions in the linked database. The user can then drill down those dimensions.

A language used for querying and calculation in multidimensional-compliant databases.

A discrete component within a dimension. A member identifies and differentiates the organization of similar units. For example, a time dimension might include members Jan, Feb, and Qtr1.

A set of data that defines and describes the properties and attributes of the data stored in a database or used by an application. Examples of metadata are dimension names, member names, properties, time periods, and security.

A marker indicating that data in the labeled location does not exist, contains no value, or was never entered or loaded. For example, missing data exists when an account contains data for a previous or future period but not for the current period.

A report column heading format that displays data from multiple dimensions. For example, a column heading that contains Year and Scenario members is a nested column. The nested column heading shows Q1 (from the Year dimension) in the top line of the heading, qualified by Actual and Budget (from the Scenario dimension) in the bottom line of the heading.

A display of information in a grid or table often represented by the Z-axis. A page can contain data from one field, derived data from a calculation, or text.

A report heading type that lists members represented on the current page of the report. All data values on the page have the members in the page heading as a common attribute.

A member that determines the page axis.

Alter the perspective of retrieved data. When Essbase first retrieves a dimension, it expands data into rows. You can then pivot or rearrange the data to obtain a different viewpoint.

A feature for setting data focus by selecting members that are not already assigned to row, column, or page axes. For example, selectable POVs in FDM could include location, period, category, and target category. In another example, using POV as a filter in Smart View, you could assign the Currency dimension to the POV and select the Euro member. Selecting this POV in data forms displays data in Euro values.

User-created formulas kept within a worksheet while retrieving data.

A member name in a qualified format that differentiates duplicate member names in a duplicate member outline. For example, [Market].[East].[State].[New York] or [Market].[East].[City].[New York].

In report designs, a basic element with properties defining behavior or appearance, such as text boxes, grids, images, and charts.

The highest member in a dimension branch.

A variable that users enter or select before a business rule is run.

A dimension for classifying data; for example, Actuals, Budget, Forecast1, or Forecast2.

A child member at the same generation as another child member and having the same immediate parent. For example, the members Florida and New York are children of East and each other's siblings.

In Smart View, a reusable perspective of a data source that contains a restricted set of dimensions or dimension members.

Keywords in Microsoft Office applications that are associated with predefined actions available from the Smart Tag menu. In Oracle EPM System products, smart tags can also be used to import Reporting and Analysis content and to access Financial Management and Essbase functions.

Calculations and assumptions from which the values of cells are derived.

A setting that excludes rows containing missing values and underscores characters from spreadsheet reports.

A detailed status list of tasks for a particular user.

A process for reporting data based on a calendar date (for example, year, quarter, month, or week).

A variable that dynamically renders data forms based on a user's member selection, displaying only the specified entity. For example, a user variable named Department displays specific departments and employees.