Defining Expression

You can define an expression in the Specify Expression window to join two selected tables. Click New Picture (38) button. The Specify Expression window is displayed.

The Specify Expression window consists of the following sections:

·       Entities - consists of the Entities folder with the list of tables that you selected from the Entity Groups folder. Double-click the Entities folder to view the selected dimension tables (Product and Segment tables).

·       Functions – This is divided as Database Functions and User Defined Functions. Database Functions consists of functions that are specific to databases like Oracle and MS SQL Server. You can use these functions along with Operators to specify the join condition. The Functions categories are displayed based on the database types as tabulated.

 

Database

Functions

Transact SQL

Specific to MS SQL server which consists of Date & Time, Math, and System functions.

SQL OLAP

Specific to Microsoft OLAP which consists of Array, Dimension, Hierarchy, Logical, Member, Number, Set, and String functions.

SQL

Specific to Oracle which consists of String, Aggregate, Date and Time, and Mathematical functions.

 

 

NOTE

It is not mandatory to specify a Function for a join condition.

 

·       Operators - consists of the function operators categorized into folders as tabulated.

 

Operator

Types

Arithmetic

+, -, %, * and /

Comparison

'=', '!=', '< >', '>', '<', >=, <=,'IN', 'NOT IN', 'ANY', 'BETWEEN', 'LIKE', 'IS NULL', and 'IS NOT NULL'.

Logical

'NOT', 'AND' and 'OR'

Set

UNION, UNION ALL, INTERSECT and MINUS

Others

The Other operators are 'PRIOR', '(+)', '(' and ')'.

Concatenation

||

 

To specify the join condition:

1.      Select the Entity of the fact table to which you want join the dimension entities.

2.     Select a Function depending on the database type.

3.     Select the Operator which you want to use for the join condition.

4.    Select the second Entity from the Entities pane that you want to join with the first entity. You can also select more than one dimension table and link to the fact table.

The defined expression is displayed in the Expression section. You can click New Picture (12) button to reset the values or click erase-button.button to erase the specific value.

5.     Click OK. The defined expression is validated as per the selected table and entity definition and on successful validation, is displayed in the main window.