ORACLE ESSBASE SPREADSHEET ADD-IN
ORACLE ESSBASE SPREADSHEET ADD-INRELEASE 11.1.1USER’S GUIDE
Spreadsheet Add-in User’s Guide, 11.1.1Copyright 1991, 2008, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.Authors: EPM Information Development TeamThis software and related documentation are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use anddisclosure and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement orallowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit,perform, publish or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilationof this software, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited.The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you findany errors, please report them to us in writing.If this software or related documentation is delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing it on behalf of the U.S.Government, the following notice is applicable: U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS: Programs, software, databases, and relateddocumentation and technical data delivered to U.S. Government customers are "commercial computer software" or"commercial technical data" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific supplementalregulations. As such, the use, duplication, disclosure, modification, and adaptation shall be subject to the restrictions andlicense terms set forth in the applicable Government contract, and, to the extent applicable by the terms of the Governmentcontract, the additional rights set forth in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software License (December 2007).Oracle USA, Inc., 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.This software is developed for general use in a variety of information management applications. It is not developed orintended for use in any inherently dangerous applications, including applications which may create a risk of personalinjury. If you use this software in dangerous applications, then you shall be responsible to take all appropriate fail-safe,backup, redundancy and other measures to ensure the safe use of this software. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaimany liability for any damages caused by use of this software in dangerous applications.This software and documentation may provide access to or information on content, products and services from thirdparties. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates are not responsible for and expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind withrespect to third party content, products and services. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates will not be responsible for anyloss, costs, or damages incurred due to your access to or use of third party content, products or services.
ContentsChapter 1. Introduction to Essbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7About Essbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Typical Users of Essbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Components of the Client-Server Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Essbase Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Spreadsheet Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Essbase Application Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Spreadsheet Toolkit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Essbase Partitioning Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Essbase Structured Query Language Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Essbase Application Programming Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Essbase Currency Conversion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Integration Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Developer Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Data Mining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10The Multidimensional Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Database Outlines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Formulas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Consolidations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Chapter 2. Basic Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17About the Basic Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Getting Acquainted with Spreadsheet Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Registering Spreadsheet Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Loading Spreadsheet Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Starting Spreadsheet Add-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Installing the Essbase Toolbar for Excel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Contentsiii
Using the Essbase Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Accessing Online Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Enabling Mouse Actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22Tutorial Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Enabling Compatibility with Smart View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Setting Essbase Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Following Guidelines During the Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Reviewing the Sample Basic Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Retrieving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Connecting to a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Changing a Password (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Retrieving Data from a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32Canceling a Data Retrieval Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Restoring the Previous Database View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Drilling Down to More Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Drilling Up to Less Detail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Customizing Drill-Down and Drill-Up Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Pivoting, Retaining, and Suppressing Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Pivoting Rows and Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42Retaining a Data Subset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Removing a Data Subset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Navigating Through the Worksheet Without Retrieving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49Suppressing Missing Values, Zero Values, and Underscore Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Formatting the Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Formatting Text and Cells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Displaying Aliases for Member Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63Displaying Both Member Names and Aliases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Repeating Member Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65Working with Duplicate Member Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67Creating Queries Using Query Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69About Creating and Changing Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70Creating Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Saving Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Applying Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Deleting Queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Viewing Messages and Confirmations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79Accessing Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Connecting to Multiple Databases from Query Designer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Applying Worksheet Options to Query Designer Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81ivContents
Selecting Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Saving and Disconnecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89Saving a Worksheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Disconnecting from Essbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Logging Off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91On to Advanced Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91Chapter 3. Advanced Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93About the Advanced Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Connecting to a Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93Setting Essbase Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95Performing Advanced Retrieval Tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100Sorting Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Retrieving Data into Asymmetric Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Drilling Down to a Sample of Members (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Working with Formatted Worksheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111Preserving Formulas When Retrieving Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Retrieving a Range of Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119Retrieving Data by Using a Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122Retrieving Dynamic Calculation Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125Specifying the Latest Time Period for Dynamic Time Series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Using Free-Form Reporting to Retrieve Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Retrieving Data Using Visual Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Using Linked Reporting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144Linking a File to a Data Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145Linking a Cell Note to a Data Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148Linking a URL to a Data Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Accessing and Editing Linked Reporting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Connecting to Multiple Databases (Optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Ways to View Active Database Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157Access Methods for Linked Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Updating Data on Essbase Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159Database Calculation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162Creating Multiple Worksheets from Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Working with Currency Conversions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Retrieving Currency Conversion Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167Connecting to the Sample Currency Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168Performing Ad Hoc Currency Reporting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Contentsv
Chapter 4. Drill-Through Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173About the Drill-Through Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173Understanding Drill-Through . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173About the Drill-Through Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175Before You Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176Setting Essbase Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177About the Samples Used in This Tutorial . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182Accessing Drill-Through Reports from the Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183Selecting Drill-Through Reports to View or Customize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189Selecting and Ordering Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Ordering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196Filtering Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198Disconnecting from Essbase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229viContents
Introduction to Essbase1In This ChapterAbout Essbase . 7Typical Users of Essbase . 8Components of the Client-Server Environment. 8Essbase Application Products . 9The Multidimensional Database .11Database Outlines .12About EssbaseOracle Essbase is multidimensional database software that is optimized for planning, analysis,and management-reporting applications. Essbase uniquely blends an innovative technical designwith an open, client-server architecture. The product enables you to extend decision supportsystems beyond ad hoc queries and reports on historical performance to dynamic, operationalsystems that combine historical analysis and future planning.By consolidating and staging historical and projected data for detailed analysis, you gainperspectives about your business that enable you to take appropriate actions.Essbase provides both power and flexibility. Thus, it can be used for a broad range of onlineanalytical processing (OLAP) applications, including those in this list: Budgeting Forecasting and seasonal planning Financial consolidations and reporting Customer and product profitability analysis Price, volume, and mix analysis Executive information systemsEssbase enables you and others in the organization to share, access, update, and analyzeenterprise data from any perspective and at any level of detail without learning new tools, querylanguages, or programming skills.About Essbase7
Typical Users of EssbaseEssbase can be used in many different applications. Financial analysts have found the productto be invaluable in budget analysis, currency conversion, and consolidation. Cost accountantsapply its powerful capabilities to evaluate allocation and elimination scenarios. Productmanagers and analysts use it to plan and analyze multiple product lines and distributionchannels. You can also use the product as a repository database for spreadsheet data. Anyonewho uses a spreadsheet is a potential user of Essbase.Because Essbase is applicable to such a broad variety of environments, individuals using it at anorganization may fill one or more roles in implementing and running applications. This guiderefers to specific roles by three titles. A role may be performed, however, by one person or byseveral people working collaboratively. System administrator— Typically has experience in networking, installing softwarepackages, and administering system functions. In addition to installing the Essbase software,the Essbase system administrator may also set up Essbase user accounts, set up the securitysystem, and maintain the Essbase Server. Application designer—Sets up the Essbase database, creates the database outline, anddevelops calculation and report scripts. The responsibilities of the Essbase systemadministrator and the application designer may overlap in some areas. The applicationdesigner has probably developed spreadsheet or database applications and understands theoperational problems and the tools being employed to solve them. User—Interacts with Essbase databases through spreadsheets, using Microsoft Office Excel(Excel). Users are typically analysts and managers who use spreadsheet programs as theirprimary tool for viewing and analyzing data.Components of the Client-Server EnvironmentClient-server computing refers to the architecture in which individual computers are connectedto a powerful server by means of a local area network (LAN). The computer acts as a client byrequesting data from the server. The server processes the request and returns the desired resultto the client.Essbase is built as a client-server system. System performance and multiuser capabilities aregreatly enhanced in the Essbase client-server environment.Essbase ServerEssbase Server is a multidimensional database that supports analysis of an unlimited number ofdata dimensions and an unlimited number of members within these dimensions, developedusing a true client-server architecture, All data, the database outline, the calculations, and thedata security controls reside on the Essbase Server.8Introduction to Essbase
Spreadsheet Add-inOracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in is a software program that merges seamlessly with Excel.After Essbase is installed, a special menu is added to the spreadsheet application. The menuprovides enhanced commands such as Connect, Pivot, Drill-down, and Calculate. Users canaccess and analyze data on Essbase Server by using simple mouse clicks and drag-and-dropoperations. Spreadsheet Add-in enables multiple users to access and to update data on EssbaseServer simultaneously.The NetworkEssbase runs on computer-based local area networks (LANs) that support the TCP/IP protocol.Note:Supported network environments and technical requirements are discussed in detail in theOracle Hyperion Enterprise Performance Management System Installation Start Here.Essbase Application ProductsSeveral optional products, designed to extend and enhance the scope of OLAP applications, canbe implemented using Essbase.Spreadsheet ToolkitOracle's Hyperion Essbase Spreadsheet Toolkit includes over 20 macro and Visual Basic forApplications (VBA) functions that enable you to build customized Excel applications. Theapplications incorporate Essbase commands, such as EssCascade, EssConnect, andEssDisconnect, that provide all the functionality of their corresponding Essbase menucommands. See Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in Online Help.Essbase Partitioning OptionEssbase Partitioning option enables you to define areas of data that are shared or linked betweendata models. Partitioning can affect the performance and scalability of Essbase applications.Partitioning provides more effective response to organizational demands, reduced calculationtime, increased reliability and availability, and incorporation of detail and dimensionality. Formore information on partitions, see “Access Methods for Linked Partitions” on page 158.Essbase Structured Query Language InterfaceSQL Interface enables access to structured query language (SQL) relational databases by makingEssbase Server operate as an open database connectivity client. Using SQL Interface, data canEssbase Application Products9
be moved easily from these diverse corporate data sources into Essbase Server for user accessand analysis. For more information, see the Oracle Essbase SQL Interface Guide.Essbase Application Programming InterfaceEssbase Application Programming Interface (API) enables application developers to createcustom applications quickly by using standard tools while taking advantage of the robust datastorage, retrieval, and manipulation capabilities of Essbase. API supports Visual Basic and C.For more information on application programming, see the Oracle Essbase API Reference.Essbase Currency ConversionEssbase Currency Conversion translates, analyzes, and reports on foreign financial data. Anyexchange rate scenario can be modeled, and you can even perform ad hoc currency conversionsof data, directly from the spreadsheet. The Currency Conversion product is compliant withFinancial Accounting Standards Board 52 (FASB52). For more information on conversions, see“Working with Currency Conversions” on page 167.Integration ServicesOracle Essbase Integration Services works with Essbase and Excel. This product is a suite of toolsand data integration services that serve as a bridge between relational, flat file, and SAP BW datasources and Essbase Server. Integration Server drill-through is one of the tools of IntegrationServices. Using Integration Server drill-through, you can view and customize spreadsheet reportsthat display data retrieved from relational databases. For more information on the drill-throughtool, see Chapter 4, “Drill-Through Tutorial.”Developer ProductsEssbase developer products enable the rapid creation, management and deployment of tailoredenterprise analytic applications—with or without programming knowledge.The products (for example, Application Builder, and Oracle's Hyperion Application Builderfor .NET) provide a comprehensive set of application programming interfaces, drag and dropcomponents and services.Data MiningData Mining reveals hidden relationships and patterns in your data, enabling you to make betterbusiness decisions. Using Data Mining you can plug in various data mining algorithms, buildmodels, and then apply them to existing Essbase applications and databases.10Introduction to Essbase
The Multidimensional DatabaseThe Essbase multidimensional database stores and organizes data. It is optimized to handleapplications that contain large amounts of numeric data and that are consolidation-intensiveor computation-intensive. In addition, the database organizes data in a way that reflects howthe user wants to view the data.Definition of MultidimensionalA dimension is a perspective or view of a specific dataset. A different view of the same data isan alternate dimension. A system that supports simultaneous, alternate views of datasets ismultidimensional. Dimensions are typically categories such as time, accounts, product lines,markets, budgets, and so on. Each dimension contains additional categories that have variousrelationships one to another.An Essbase application contains an unlimited number of dimensions, so you can analyze largeamounts of data from multiple viewpoints. Figure 1 shows four views of multidimensional data.You can retrieve and analyze multidimensional data with the Spreadsheet Add-in software.Figure 1Multiple Views from a Five-Dimensional DatabaseIn contrast to the multidimensional view, worksheets store data in two dimensions, usually timeand accounts (see Figure 2):The Multidimensional Database11
Figure 2Two-Dimensional Representations of Data in a WorksheetDatabase OutlinesUnderstanding the database outline is the key to understanding Essbase. To define amultidimensional database, you design its database outline. The database outline contains thedatabase organization (structure), the database members, and the database rules, as shown inFigure 3:12Introduction to Essbase
Figure 3Essbase Database OutlineThe application designer or Essbase system administrator usually creates the database outline.For more information on creating the database outline, see the Oracle Essbase DatabaseAdministrator's Guide.The components of the database outline are as follows: Dimensions Members Attributes Formulas Aliases ConsolidationsRefer to these topics for descriptions of the outline components.Database Outlines13
DimensionsDimensions are the most basic categorical definitions of data within the database outline. Youneed at least two dimensions to make any meaningful reference to data; for example, a timedimension and an accounts dimension. Other dimensions may categorize products, markets,and scenarios. Using dimensional organization, you can define any consolidation structure orany slice of data that is relevant to the application. Essbase supports an unlimited number ofdimensions.MembersMembers are the names of the elements within a dimension. A dimension can contain anunlimited number of members. The calculation, reporting, and dimension-building features inEssbase use these terms to describe members. Parents— Members with consolidation branch below them. Figure 4 shows an example ofQtr1 as a parent member because below Qtr1 is a branch containing months as members.Figure 414Relationships Among Database Members Children— Members with parents above them. For example, Jan, Feb, and Mar are childrenof the parent Qtr1. Siblings—Child members of the same parent and on the same branch (same level). Forexample, Jan, Feb, and Mar are siblings. Apr is not a sibling of Jan, Feb, or Mar, however,because it has a different parent, Qtr2. Descendants— Members at any level below a parent. For example, each member that fallsin the Year branch is a descendant of Year. These members are all descendants of Year: Qtr1,Jan, Feb, Mar; Qtr2, Apr, May, Jun; Qtr3, Jul, Aug, Sep; Qtr4, Oct, Nov, Dec. Ancestors—Members of a branch above a member. For example, Qtr2 and Year areancestors of Apr.Introduction to Essbase
Generations. Branch numbers of members. Generations count from the root of the tree(generation 1, which is the
Spreadsheet Add-in Oracle Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in is a software program that merges seamlessly with Excel. After Essbase is installed, a special menu is added to the spreadsheet a
Oracle Essbase Administration Services, MaxL, or ESSCMD. See theOracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide and the Oracle Essbase Technical Reference. With SQL Interface, you can load data from a Unicode-mode relational database to a Unicode-mode Oracle Essbase application. For information on the Essbase implementation of Unicode,
When upgrading to Essbase Release 9.3.3, you do not need to remove Essbase Release 9.3.1.x from your computer. Simply run the installation programs provided in this release. For information on running Essbase installation programs, see the Hyperion Essbase - System 9 Release 9.3.1 Installation Guide for the platform you are using. Caution!
Spreadsheet Add-in back into Excel, run the register program again. It is not required that you register Spreadsheet Add-in. If you experience problems with Essbase Spreadsheet Add-in, it is recommended that you register. See “Registering Spreadsheet Add-in” on page 22 . New Features in Release 7.x
Essbase Cloud vs Essbase On-premise Feature Essbase Cloud On-Premise Essbase BSO, ASO, Hybrid Y Y Load rules (Dimension & Data) Y Y Calculations: formulas, calculations scripts, MDX scripts Y Y Unicode supported Y (Default) Y Locks (application, database, objects) Y (Blocks, objects) Y (database, objects) Security filters Y Y Migration of on-premises cubes (*) Y (Export Utility, LCM utility .
What is Essbase? Oracle Essbase is the market leading online analytical processing (OLAP) server for enterprise performance management (EPM) applications Designed specifically for business users, Oracle Essbase supports forecasting, variance analysis, root cause identi
About Essbase Oracle's Hyperion Essbase - System 9 provides companies with the ability to deliver critical business information to the right people at the right time. With Essbase, companies can leverage and integrate data from multiple existing data sources and distribute filtered information to end-user communities.
What is Essbase? Oracle Essbase is the market leading online analytical processing (OLAP) server for enterprise performance management (EPM) applications Designed specifically for business users, Oracle Essbase supports forecasting, variance analysis, root cause identification, scenario planning and what-if modeling for both
Artificial Intelligence Chapter 1 Chapter 1 1. Outline} What is AI?} A brief history} The state of the art Chapter 1 2. What is AI? Systems that think like humans Systems that think rationally Systems that act like humans Systems that act rationally Chapter 1 3. Acting humanly: The Turing test Turing (1950) \Computing machinery and intelligence":} \Can machines think?" ! \Can machines behave .
