Adding New Dimension Members from Data Tables

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to Add new dimension members from data tables.

Create New Dimension Members

While planning in a story, if you need to add a new member, you can enter new dimension members directly into the data table. However, you can't create members for Account, Version, or Date dimensions from a data table.

While you can create members in a story, you can't delete them. Members can be deleted only from the model or public dimension (assuming they don't have any posted values).

Add a New Dimension Member from a Story

When you right-click on a call and choose Add Member, a blank row is inserted below.

Add members by right-clicking a cell.

You can enter in the new member into the new blank row. In the following example, Sweatshirts was entered.

An input help will allow you to access a dialog to select the Parent Node and input the Description and ID. You can choose to define the new member as a child or sibling of existing members.

Input Help and Parent Node Dialog

Note

If the dimension has properties, you can input existing or new property values as well.

Insert Unposted Member

When a dimension is set to display posted values, the Add Member option can be used to add a new row for example, and then by double-clicking in the cell, insert an unposted member. This allows planners to add members (that don't have data in the fact table) to the input form and input values.

Unbooked Data

When you create a new member, it won't have any data. A member with no data is referred to as Unbooked and is displayed as a - in the table cell.

Unbooked data won't be visible unless the Unbooked Data setting for the table is turned on. To add new members more quickly, the Unbooked Data setting is turned off by default. However, if you create a new member on an inner dimension, then Unbooked Data will be turned on automatically for that member.

Unbooked Data displayed in the data table.

Save a New Member

After you save the new member, you'll no longer be able to change the member details.

Note

Master Data: At an enterprise level, you must decide where master data is to be maintained. In general, a corporate repository (master data governance) approach is taken. However, in some cases, adding new dimension members while planning in a story is feasible, for example, it is feasible when planning for a consumer products company to add new products as and when needed.

Add Dimension Members

Business Scenario

You are preparing your income statement by product. There is a new product that is planned for the forecast but it hasn't been created yet so you must use the Add Member feature in the story to input plan values for the new product.

What skills will you develop in this practice exercise?

In this practice exercise, you will:

  • Add new members to a table
  • Use the Unbooked feature
  • Publish data

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