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how are dimension filters in design studio applied at runtime?

Former Member
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BObj 4.1, SP 5

Design Studio 1.5, SP 2

Source :          Relational Information Design Tool universe

Database :     Oracle

Greetings et al.

Question: How is a dimension filter actually applied by Design Studio at runtime? For a dimension filter to be applied to a anayltic component, does the dimension from the dimension filter need to be in the data source for the analytic component as a retrieved column?

I have looked for an answer to this in the SCN archives and the internet generally with no luck. Please jump in.

I am creating a Design Studio dashboard with trend charts for average cycle times by half, quarter, month and week. The averages are accurately calculated on the fly in the IDT universe by summing the cycle times for the selected slice of data and dividing by the number of rows returned.

I also need to be able to filter the graphs based on a few dimensions, so I added dimension filters. I created a separate data source for each dimension and then set all of the data sources for the graphs as target data sources for the filters. The correct filter values are showing up in the selection popup.

Does anyone know the behavior under the covers when a dimension filter is applied?

Assuming a base select statement (as created in the background by DS and IDT) of:

          select month, average_ct from my_table

          where month >= start_month and month <= end_month;

 

I would assume that applying a filter would do this:

          select month, average_ct from my_table

          where month >= start_month and month <= end_month

          and dimension = selected_value;

which would still return accurate averages.

The results I am currently getting - apprarently summing the averages - leads me to believe that the backend may be doing something like this:

          select month, average_ct, dimension from my_table

          where month >= start_month and month <= end_month

          and dimension = selected_value;

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Jeff

Accepted Solutions (1)

Accepted Solutions (1)

carlos_weffer
Participant
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Hi Jeff

When working with BW Queries as Data Sources, fields meant to be used in Dimension Filter components either have to be part of the result set or have to be defined as free characteristic (fields available for navigational purpose). So I assume the same applies when working with Oracle data sources.

Regards

Carlos

Former Member
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Carlos,

Thanks for the quick response.

I have added the dimension as part of the result set and now I see the filtering change when I select a specific dimension value.

The problem now (yes, there always seems to be another head on the hydra) is that when I have no dimension filter value selected, any months with multiple dimensions show no data.


For example, Feb-15 has three dimension values, Jun-15 has two dimension values, Mar-15, Apr-15, and May-15 have only one dimension value.

In the default graph (no dimension filter set) I see no data for Feb-15 or Jun-15.


This appears to be because in the universe calculated averages have a projection function of None.


Any clue how to get around this? Possibly using the dimension as a free characteristic would work.


I am unfamiliar with free characteristics. How are they implemented? Are they the same thing as background filters in the initial view of a data source?

Thanks again,

Jeff

Answers (1)

Answers (1)

Former Member
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Hi Jeff,

If you "dimension filters" and the result dataset in same dataset, this might work.

/adlin

Former Member
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Adlin,

Thanks for the quick response!

Jeff