1 Introduction
After the RPAS Cloud Edition (RPASCE) Server and Client have been installed and set up, you must complete several online administration activities before users can begin using RPASCE and RPASCE applications. The following are the primary activities for online administration.
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User Maintenance
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System Administration
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Translation Administration
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Online Administration Tools
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Informational Utilities
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Data Management
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Operational Utilities
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Before you start any of these activities, you should understand the basics of RPASCE: segments, workspaces, views, dimensions, and measures.
Basic RPASCE Concepts
RPASCE is a configurable platform with proven scalability for developing multidimensional forecasting-based and planning-based solutions. This platform provides capabilities such as a multidimensional database structure, batch and online processing, a configurable slice-and-dice user interface, a sophisticated configurable calculation engine, user security, and utility functions such as importing and exporting, all on a highly scalable technical environment.
This section introduces you to the following RPASCE concepts:
Multidimensionality
In RPASCE, information is stored and represented based on the multidimensional framework. In a multidimensional database system, data is presented as a multidimensional array, where each data value is contained within a cell accessible by multiple indexes.
Multidimensional database systems are a complementary technology to entity relational systems and achieve performance levels above the relational database systems. Applications that run on RPASCE identify data through dimensional relationships. Dimensions are qualities of an item (such as a product, location, or time) or components of a dimension that define the structure and roll up within the dimension.
Dimensions
Dimensions describe the top-to-bottom relationship between different levels in RPASCE. They reflect the dimensions that are set up for your business and used by the merchandising solutions. Dimensions contain levels and levels contain positions. For example, product is a dimension and SKU is a level in the dimension product.
RPASCE supports many alternative dimensions that provide different roll ups and help analyze the data from a different perspective.
Note that, in some parts of this document, dimensions may be referred to as hierarchies and levels as dimensions (which is the old terminology).
Measures
Measures represent the events or measurements that are recorded, while the positions in the dimensions provide a context for the measurement. Measures are defined based on the business rules set in the application. The dimensionality of a measure is configured through the definition of its base intersection, which is the collection of levels (one per appropriate dimension) defining the lowest level at which the information is stored for the measure.
Measure names are completely configurable and typically named using a convention that identifies each component and the meaning of the measure.
Segments and Workspaces
RPASCE stores information in a persistent multidimensional data cache that is optimized for large volumes and dimensional or time series data access requirements, typically required by multidimensional solutions. This central repository is called a PDS (Planning Data Schema). The PDS also includes central definitions of metadata for the solution and provides a single update point.
When you use an RPASCE solution, you interact with the solution through a personal data repository called a workbook or workspace. A workspace contains the subset of the data from the PDS, and its scope is constrained by the access rights available to a user. Workspaces can be built from the RPASCE client or scheduled to be built in a batch process automatically. Workspaces are made up of one or more views. These views display the dimension and measure data of the PDS.
Each workspace is built from a segment, which is a collection of position selections from multiple dimensions. A segment defines the dimensionality and range of a workspace and is created by the planner through a step-by-step wizard process. Each segment can have only one main workspace. The workspace can be rebuilt from a segment in order to synch with the hierarchical changes in the PDS. The format of the workspace is saved with its corresponding segment so that it can be preserved when the workspace associated with the segment is deleted or rebuilt.
Although the data and metadata in the workspace are copied from the PDS, the data remains independent of the data in the PDS.