Dimension Setup
How to create and edit Dimensions
Last updated
How to create and edit Dimensions
Last updated
Just like Units, Dimensions are based on Tags. In fact, a Dimension is a Tag: an Abstract Tag with Concrete Children.
For example,
Sales Regioncould be an example of anAbstractTag, which has 4ConcreteTag Children (North,East,South,West).
For a more detailed explanation of Abstract and Concrete Tags, see here.
In the Variable wizard Setup Step, you can select/create/edit any Dimensions to apply to your Variable.
In the example screenshot below, the user is shown a list of Dimensions:
By default, the list is filtered to just show Dimensions (Abstract Tags) with children (1). Remove this filter if you want to search through all Tags.
Dimensions that are already used in your Model are indicated with an asterisk, and shown at the top of the list (2), for easy access.
You can select the same Dimension multiple times. When you do so, you will be asked to select a Tag Property for each instance of the Dimension, as shown in the screenshot below. Each instance must have a different Tag Property selected - this enables Models to differentiate between the two instances.
To select a Tag Property, click on the dropdown and select from an existing Tag Property, or create a new one, as shown in the screenshot below.
These Tag Properties will be visible in the Variable preview, and will indicate how the heading of each Variable item should be interpreted.
In the below example, the Variable calculates the movement of customers between three suppliers - from each of the three suppliers, to each of the three suppliers. The titles of each row in Values table (2) can be interpreted as the "From" supplier followed by the "To" supplier, as indicated by the Dimensions description at (1).
To create a Dimension, just add a new item to the list. Choose a name for the Dimension, and the Namespace the Dimension should belong to. By default, the new Dimension will be added to the same Namespace as your Model.
When you create a new Dimension, you are actually creating a new Abstract Tag. You can use the Tags Application to manage Tags (and their associated Dimensions) all in one place.
As shown below, you can enter new Child names for your Dimension directly into the text box (1), and a new Concrete Tag will be created for each one. You can edit existing Children by hovering over the Child, and clicking on the Edit Tag button that appears (2). This is where you can edit the Short Name property of the Tag, which is the name that will be displayed when the Child appears in your Model.
