Specifying Generational Options

The Generational tab of the extract inspector enables you to specify the generational options for the extract, such as the maximum depth and column order of ancestors and the balance fill options. This tab is displayed only if the extract type is Generational.

To specify generational options:

1. On the Generational tab of the extract inspector, click Edit.
2. In Maximum Depth, enter an integer (either 0 or 2 through 99) to define the number of columns to generate for the ancestor information in the extract.
   • A value of 2 through 99 will result in a balanced extract, as every record has the same number of repeated ancestor columns (the number of columns created for the ancestors is the specified maximum depth minus one).
   • A value of 0 will result in the columns and headers in the extract not being balanced, as each record might have a different number of columns.
   • You cannot enter a value of 1, because that would not include any ancestor information in the extract.

   Note:

   If the actual depth of an ancestor node is greater than the maximum depth that you specify, that ancestor node is skipped in the extract. To prevent this, you can expand your maximum depth, or you can use the Ancestor Filter on the Extract Options tab to filter down your list of ancestors. See Specifying Extract Options.
3. In Balance Fill Option, select a value to place in the ancestor columns for records that have fewer ancestors than the specified maximum depth level.
   • None: The ancestor columns for levels that are not present are filled with the Null Keyword value in Extract Options. See Specifying Extract Options.
   • Repeat Parent: The ancestor columns for levels that are not present are filled with the values from the parent node for the current node being extracted.
   • Repeat Node: The ancestor columns for levels that are not present are filled with the values from the node being extracted.
   • Repeat Top Node: The ancestor columns for top levels are populated with values from the top node, and the rest of the levels are pushed down so that the last ancestor level is at the lowest level.

   For example, suppose you had a hierarchy with A as the top node, B as a child of A, C as a child of B, and then 111 as the bottom level node, and your maximum depth is 5. The following table illustrates how each of the Balance Fill Option settings would be displayed:

   Balance Fill Option	First Column	Second Column	Third Column	Fourth Column	Fifth Column
   None	A	B	C		111
   Repeat Parent	A	B	C	C	111
   Repeat Node	A	B	C	111	111
   Repeat Top Node	A	A	B	C	111

4. In Ancestor Column Order, specify the order of the ancestor columns (Increasing or Decreasing) in the extract. So for example if your hierarchy goes from level 1 to level 10, Increasing would start at level 1 (the top of the hierarchy) and move down, while Decreasing starts at level 10 (bottom level) and moves up.