Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P36 pdf

Calculating your Essbase Cube
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Calculation Scripts
Mentioned already, but only briey, was the venerable Essbase database calculation
script. The database calculation script is an ASCII text le containing a series of
precise commands and functions which are used by Essbase to perform calculations
on the data stored in an Essbase database.
Essbase database calculation scripts are highly versatile and can be written, stored,
and executed in a variety of ways.
To write an Essbase database calculation script, known as a calc script or calc, the
easiest method is to use the Calculation Script Editor provided in EAS. This custom
editor provides many features for coding database outline member selections, syntax
checking, and function or command choices and their use.
The storing of an Essbase database calculation script is something that is entirely
upto you—as the programmer/administrator. When you use the EAS Calculation
script editor, it will default to saving the calculation script le object in the default
Essbase database le structure, which is basically the database folder on the server.
This is an acceptable place to leave the scripts, but it is not the best idea to allow
access to a secure folder on a database server to too many people.
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Chapter 5
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Again, executing an Essbase database calculation script can easily be performed
from just about anywhere. You can execute a calculation script manually through the
EAS tool, or through the Essbase Add-in for Microsoft Excel (provided your ID has
calculation access), or programmatically using a shelled MaxL script or an API call.
The benets of using a painstakingly written Essbase database calculation script
are that you can specify the exact subset of data you wish to calculate.
Believe it or not, as amazing as an Essbase database calculation script is, there are a

couple of drawbacks too. One drawback is that sometimes, because of all the power,
an Essbase calculation script can be difcult to control. What we mean is that we can
sometimes write a calc that will calculate too much data or take too long to execute.
Also, when you create data using an Essbase database calculation script, the newly
created data is created as stored data which can be a problem if you are creating
too much of it. These are minor concerns which will be handled as you acquire
more experience.
Stored data member formula
The outline member formula on a stored member is one way to create the data
values you need in an Essbase database. It is very simple and easy to write, what
can be thought of as a snippet of a full blown calculation script in the member
formula editor located on the Member Properties screen.
Outline member formulas on stored members are also easy to execute as they
may execute anytime when the dimension in which they reside is calculated.
Dynamic Calc and Dynamic Calc and Store
Dynamic Calc and Dynamic Calc and Store are database outline member property
settings. Like we told you in the previous section, data created by an Essbase
database calculation script is stored in the database. When you set the storage
properties on a database member in the Accounts dimension to Dynamic Calc
or Dynamic Calc and Store, the member formula will only execute when there is
a request for the data.
In the case of a dynamically calculated member, the resultant data is not stored in
the database, but is recreated every time there is another request for the data. With
a dynamic calc and store member, the data is created the rst time there is a request,
then stored. On subsequent requests, the data will only be recreated if one of the
component values has changed or has been updated.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
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Calculating your Essbase Cube

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These two data calculation options give you the benet of always producing the
freshest data based on the component values. They also help keep the database size
small by not storing data or only small amounts of data. What we mean here is that
with the use of dynamic calc and dynamic calc and store members you can help keep
the size of your database smaller because you are not storing all of the possible data
values for these members. A dynamic calc member stores no data in the database
and a dynamic calc and store member only stores the data as it has been calculated.
Stored members will store all data every time as it has been loaded or calculated,
regardless of if anyone ever actually requests it from the database or not.
There are several ways to request data from an Essbase database which will trigger a
dynamic calc member to create data. One is by performing a Retrieve of data using the
Essbase Add-in for Microsoft Excel, another way is executing an Essbase report script.
Yes indeed, dynamically calculated data is a nice thing to have, but you must also be
careful with its use. While dynamically calculated data offers greater accuracy, it can
also be a performance hog depending on the amount of data being requested and the
status of the component data involved in the calculation.
A good rule of thumb for dynamically calculated data is to make
sure you never calculate data whose component values are also
dynamically calculated. This situation can cause drastic performance
issues by hogging large amounts of memory to perform all of the
necessary calculations.
Essbase calculation terminology
Yes, we're at it again! In the previous chapter, you learned a new term that was
related to data intended for loading into an Essbase database. That term was
Essbase-friendly.
In this chapter, there are more terms you need to learn so you can sound like an
Essbase professional and also impress your co-workers. The new terms you will
learn in this chapter are Essbase calculation-related terms.
In the following sections, we explain the Essbase calculation script commands so

it will be helpful for you to become familiar with the calculation jargon rst.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
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Chapter 5
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• Calc: You will use this word quite often. This is a very versatile word
since you will use it as a noun as well as verb. Calc is Essbase lingo for
any database calculation, but it can also describe a calculation action.
For example, you could say, "I have written a new calc for gross stock."
However, you could also say, "I need to calc the database." Both usages
are correct.
• Push down: This term is used to describe what happens when you use
a calculation function to populate the values of children members with
the values of their parents. The time for doing this would be when your
data is only loaded at the parent level but the same values should be
applied to the children members.
• Rollup: This term is used to describe what happens when you add or
sum the children members upto their parent level or it can mean the
parent level of a group of children. As with calc, this term can be used
as a noun or a verb. For example, "I'm writing a calc to rollup the regions
to the Total Region level." You could also say, "Total Region is the rollup
of the individual regions."
• Stomp-on: This is a good one and is mainly used to describe any data that
you have unintentionally whacked or overwritten with a calc script. There
are times when a parent member's value is not necessarily the rollup of its
children. If you execute a calc that inadvertently rolls up the children to the
parent, you have just stomped on the parent's data.
Because Essbase is an art and not a science and because this is a family book, there
are several other terms you can frequently hear around an Essbase installation. We

prefer that you learn these terms on your own.
Default database calculation script
While an Essbase database calculation script can be an extremely powerful tool, it
can also be used for more routine database calculating. Whether you need complex
calculations or outline rollups, a nice feature in your Essbase database toolbox is
the ability to assign a default calculation script to each database.
A Default Calc is a database calculation script you would typically nd yourself
running repeatedly. To simplify your life, you set the script as the database's Default
Calc. As you can imagine, you can set the Default Calc to any database calculation
script you have created. By default, Essbase assigns the Calc All database function
as the Default Calc. The Calc All function, in simple terms, calculates your database
according to the outline member formulas and the consolidations you have specied
in your parent-child relationships.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
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Calculating your Essbase Cube
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To set a calculation script to be your database's Default Calc, start by right-clicking
on your database name in EAS and selecting the Set | Default calculation….
You should now see the screen depicted below. As you can see, this screen
provides you with several choices regarding how to setting your database's default
calculation script.
The rst choice you have is a radio button which, when selected, allows you to
choose any of the database calculation scripts you have written and stored with the
database within the Essbase le structure on your server. Calculation scripts stored
elsewhere cannot be chosen as the default calc.
If you select the second choice, Use calculation string, you can actually enter your
own small set of calculation commands in the text box provided. This is where you
will see the Calc All function set by Essbase as the database's Default Calc until you

decide to change it.
This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009
8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423
Download at Boykma.Com