Understanding Attributes

Attributes are properties on nodes in dimensions that describe the data in that dimension by using either an allowed value list or a node data type property that references another dimension.

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Learn about working with attribute dimensions.	Attribute Dimensions in Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Note:

Attribute dimensions are supported for all sparse dimensions in Planning, Planning Modules, Financial Consolidation and Close, and Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management applications. This includes the Account dimension (if it is sparse) in Financial Consolidation and Close applications.

Two types of attributes are supported in Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud:

• Simple Attribute: a string data type property with an allowed value list that contains all of the selectable values for that attribute. This is best used for attributes with fewer values that don't change much over time. For example, a Product dimension can have a simple attribute called Color, which can contain values for Green, Blue, Yellow, and Red.
• Attribute Dimension: a combination of a full dimension that contains the attribute values and a node data type property that references that attribute dimension from the base dimension. The attribute dimension values can be one of these types:
  • Text
  • Numeric
  • Date

  Attribute dimensions are best used for attributes with a large number of values that you want to maintain in Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud. For example, an Entity dimension can have an attribute dimension called Region, which can contain a geographical hierarchy with parent and child members.

Both simple attributes and attribute dimensions are created during application registration. See Registering Cubes, Application Settings, and Dimensions.

Working with Simple Attributes

You create simple attributes by entering an attribute name during application registration and then entering all of the values in the allowed values list for that attribute property. To modify the list of allowed values, edit the property that was created for the simple attribute during registration. See Editing Property Parameters.

Working with Attribute Dimensions

When you register an attribute dimension during application registration, a full dimension for that attribute dimension is created with its own data chain, binding, and viewpoint. The viewpoint for the attribute dimension is added to the default view for the application and can be used to manage the nodes in the attribute dimension. A node data type property is also created that you can use to reference the attribute dimension from a base dimension.

Considerations

• Only bottom level nodes in attribute dimensions can be referenced from nodes in the base dimension.
• Attribute dimensions of type Numeric and Date have format validations applied on bottom nodes. That is, all bottom nodes must be either numeric or in a valid date format, depending on the attribute dimension type.

  Note:

  When you add a parent node to a Numeric or Date type attribute dimension, a validation message may be displayed even if you selected a parent node type. The validation error will be resolved after you add a child node under the parent and then re-validate the request.
• Attribute dimensions can be imported and exported from Planning, Planning Modules, Financial Consolidation and Close, and Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management applications.

  Note:

  When you export attribute dimensions, only the Default alias table is included in the export file.

Attribute Dimension Example

In this example, we modified the registration for a Financial Consolidation and Close application to add an attribute dimension named Region to the Entity base dimension:

The viewpoint for the Region attribute dimension is added to the default view for the application:

Next, we add members to the attribute dimension. In this example, we will add a top node called Global and two parent nodes: NA, with Boston and Atlanta as child nodes, and EMEA, with Lisbon and Madrid as child nodes.

Now, when we edit a member in the Entity base dimension, in the property pane we can click in Attribute Dim - Region to view the attribute dimension members that can be assigned to the base dimension member. In this example, we added the Atlanta region to the C_131 member.

The node is updated with the attribute dimension property that we selected.