About Dynamic Members

Dynamic members are members that users can create when working with business rules. They're sometimes referred to as "on the fly members." A Service Administrator enables end users to create dynamic members under a parent member and must refresh the database to create the required placeholders in Essbase. In business rules with runtime prompts, users can then create members by entering desired member names in the runtime prompts. Subsequent database refreshes will rename used dynamic children to the names specified by the end users and recreate the required placeholders in Essbase. For information about working with business rules and dynamic members, see Designing with Calculation Manager for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud.

If a parent member is enabled for adding dynamic children, users can create new members by entering their name in the runtime prompt.

Enabling Parent Members for Adding Dynamic Children

To enable a parent member for adding dynamic children:

1. From the Home page, click Navigator , and then under Create and Manage, click Dimensions.

2. Edit the parent member and select the option Enable for Dynamic Children (see Adding or Editing Members).

   • Optional: Set the member property Number of Possible Dynamic Children (the default is 10). This setting determines the number of placeholders that are created for dynamically adding or loading members under the parent. If all placeholders are used, subsequently added children are added as normal members and can't be used until the database is refreshed.

   • Optional: Set the member property Access Granted to Member Creator (the default is Inherit).

3. Refresh the database to create the placeholders for dynamic members in the databases for the cubes in which the members are used.

4. In Calculation Manager:

   1. Create a business rule with a runtime prompt (of the Variable type Member). Under the Dynamic Member Parent column, use the Member Selector to select the parent member that you enabled for dynamic children in the application.

   2. Select the option Create dynamic members.

   3. Deploy the business rule.

      For information about working with business rules, see Designing with Calculation Manager for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud.

   Note:

   • In Calculation Manager, selecting both the Create dynamic members and the Delete dynamic members options enables temporary dynamic members to be created for calculations, and those temporary dynamic members will be deleted after the business rule completes.

   • Selecting the Delete dynamic members option alone presents you with the Member Selector in the runtime prompt so you can delete any member that you created dynamically under the parent (if you have write access to that member). This enables you to have full control over cleaning up and managing the members under the parent. The key is proper design to fit your requirements, setting the appropriate access rights to dynamic children with the Access Granted to Member Creator member property.

Results

If all the above conditions are met, when users run the business rule with the runtime prompt, they enter the name of the dynamic member, and then click Launch. If the business rule runs successfully, the member is created in the dimension hierarchy under the dynamic member's parent.

Child members that you import under parent members enabled for dynamic children are added as dynamic child members if there are dynamic member placeholders in Essbase. After the placeholders are full, any remaining children are added as normal members, and can't be used until the database is refreshed.

Note:

If you load a parent member that is enabled for dynamic children and its child members during the same import, the child members are loaded as normal members. This is because the database must be refreshed to create the placeholders in Essbase.

Considerations

When you create a dynamic member and data is captured against that member in multiple cubes (either through direct data entry, through calculations, data load, or data maps/Smart Push), then you must ensure that you clear the data from each of these areas before you remove the member using the Delete dynamic members operation. Performing the Delete dynamic members operation does not remove the data; the member is removed but the cube(s) will retain the data without the member showing up in the interface, and any rollup on the cube will reflect incorrect totals.