Working with dimensions

Cubes essentially consist of dimensions and measures.

Within a cube:

• Dimensions are the categories on the axes, rows, and columns

• Measures are the values displayed in the cells

To access the rows and columns settings in an empty cube, you can choose from the following:

• Add Dimension

• Properties

• Column Settings

Working with dimensions

When you choose Add Dimension, you can select a variable. This variable is the characteristic in the data you wish to explore. Different types of variable allow different settings.

A variable that represents a single or multi-choice answer allows you to set a Category Display, narrowing down the number of categories shown. You can then choose to return a top or bottom set of categories by population, or amend the dimension title to be more descriptive.

A variable that represents a date needs to be banded. For example, you can group by the Year of Booking.

You need to provide your own bands to display a dimension that is a number, such as Cost of Booking.

Editing dimensions

Once your dimensions have been specified, they are shown via the top left cube display. From here you can switch, edit, or delete the dimensions.

Viewing codes and descriptions

You can use the View menu to display the codes of a variable, its descriptions, or both.

See also Working with measures.