Manipulate Members with Groups and Calculated Items
You can manipulate members using groups and calculated items.
Topics:
About Groups and Calculated Items
You can create a group or calculated item as a way to display data in a table, pivot table, trellis, heat matrix, or graph.
Groups and calculated items enable you to add new "members" to a column, when those members don’t exist in the data source. These members are also known as "custom members."
Use a group to define members of a column, as a list of members or a set of selection steps that generate a list of members. A group is represented as a member.
A calculated item is a computation between members, which is represented as a single member that can’t be drilled. When you create a calculated item, you add a new member in which you have selected how to aggregate the item. You can aggregate using Sum or Average or custom formula.
Create Groups and Calculated Items
Use a group or calculated item to add new "members" to a column.
For example, you can review how much revenue was generated for mobile devices and compare that number to other product types. You can create a group called Mobile Devices for the Product column that includes Flip Phones and Smart Phones.
Edit Groups and Calculated Items
You can edit groups and calculated items through the Selection Steps pane or from the catalog pane. You can also edit groups and calculated items in a table, pivot table, heat matrix, or trellis.
For example, you can edit a group to include the Game Station and Plasma Television members.
Use one the following methods to edit a group or calculated item:
- In the Selection Steps pane, click the link to the group or calculated item, and then click Edit.
- In the Catalog pane (if you saved it in the Catalog), select the object, and click Edit.
- In a table, pivot table, heat matrix, or trellis (on an outside edge), right-click the group or calculated item and select Edit Group or Edit Calculated Item.
View Group Contents
You can view the contents of a group to verify that it contains the members that you want.
For example, suppose you created a group of categories in a Product Category column. You can view the group contents to verify that it contains the appropriate categories.
Save Groups and Calculated Items
You can save a group or calculated item as either an inline object (with an analysis) or as a named object (a standalone object).
For example, you can save the Mobile Devices group as a named object in the catalog, for reuse in the Brand Revenue analysis.
Save a group or calculated item as an inline object
Save a group or calculated item as a named object
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On the Results tab, display the Selection Steps pane.
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Click the link for the group or calculated item.
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Select Save Group As or Save Calc Item As.
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Enter a folder in the Save In field.
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Click OK.
Reuse a Group or Calculated Item in an Analysis
You can add a group or calculated item to the same column on which it was created in another analysis. The group or calculated item can be either a list of members or a set of selection steps.
For example, you can display the Brand Revenue analysis and add the group members from the Mobile Devices group. The members of the Mobile Devices group are included as an "Add" step in the Selection Steps pane.
Reuse a group or calculated item from the Edit Member Step dialog:
- On the Results tab, display an analysis containing the same column to which you want to apply the selections from a group or calculated item.
- Display the Selection Steps pane.
- In the entry for the column you want, click the pencil icon.
- From the Action menu, select Start with Group or Calculated Item.
- Move the saved group or calculated item from the Available area to the Selected area.
- Click OK.
Reuse a group or calculated item from the Selection Steps pane:
- On the Results tab, display an analysis containing the same column to which you want to apply the selections from a group or calculated item.
- On the Selection Steps pane select Then, New Step for the appropriate column.
- Select Add Groups or Calculated Items.
- Select Select Existing Groups and Calculated Items.
- On the resulting dialog, select the group or calculated item from the Available area and move it to the Selected area.
- Click OK.
Delete Groups and Calculated Items
You can delete inline and named groups and calculated items.
For example, suppose you no longer need the combination of Flip Phones and Smart Phones in the analysis. You can delete the Mobile Devices group.
Delete an inline group or calculated item:
- On the Results tab, right-click on the cell that contains the group or calculated item that you want to delete.
- Click Remove.
Delete a named group or calculated item:
- On the global toolbar, click Catalog.
- Locate the group or calculated item in the Catalog page.
- Click More on the group or calculated item.
- Select Delete.