Estimating Calculation Effects on Database Size

Given the current number of blocks in an Essbase database, you can estimate the number of blocks that a CALC ALL calculation will produce.

To estimate the database size resulting from a calculation using interactive mode:

1. Load data and issue a CALC ALL command and note the average block size.
2. Start the MaxL shell, log on to Essbase, and start an application and database. For example:

   essmsh 
   login username password;
   alter system load application appname;
   alter application appname load database dbname;

3. Providing the application and database name, enter the following MaxL statement and note the value that is returned for the number of blocks:

   query database appname.dbname get estimated size;

4. Multiply the number of blocks by the average size of the blocks in the database.

   Results are accurate to ±10%.

Be aware of the following conditions when you query Essbase for an estimate of the full size of a database:

• You must perform this query after a CALC ALL. Any other calculation will not produce accurate results.

• You can obtain accurate results with formulas only if they are on sparse dimensions.

• You cannot obtain accurate results with top-down calculations on any member in combination with a lock on data (committed access).

• If you need to estimate partitions, you must query Essbase for a database size estimate on every partition and add the results. If you query for the size of only the source database, the estimate includes only the data on the source database server.