Using a hierarchy as the target of a metric level

Before you begin

This topic assumes a basic understanding of level metrics, including level targets. See Level metrics: A practical overview and The context of a calculation: Level metric target for background information.

You can use a hierarchy as the target of a metric level to allow the level metric to dynamically adapt to the report. When placed on a report with attributes from that hierarchy, the metric calculates at the level of the lowest attribute of that hierarchy.

For example, a level metric with a target of Region calculates the regional revenue, regardless of what the report contains. If a level metric with the Geography hierarchy as the target is placed on a report with Region, the metric calculates the regional revenue. Placed on a report with Call Center, the metric calculates the revenue for Call Center. This example is explained in more detail in Hierarchy level metric examples below. The complete rules for replacing the target hierarchy are discussed in Resolving a hierarchy in a level metric below.

Attributes can be used as the target of a level metric to define the exact level of calculation for the metric. For information on using an attribute as the target of a level metric, see About level metrics.

Resolving a hierarchy in a level metric

When a hierarchy is used as the target in a level metric, the hierarchy is automatically replaced with an attribute when the report is executed. The rules for replacing the hierarchy are listed below:

The examples described below use the Products hierarchy, which contains the following attributes, in order from highest to lowest: Category, Subcategory, and Item.

If the report grid contains attributes from the target hierarchy, the lowest attribute of that hierarchy found on the report is used as the target.

A level metric with a target of Products, placed on a report with Category and Subcategory, calculates at the subcategory level. If the level metric uses standard grouping, the metric calculates a value for each subcategory. If the level metric is not grouped, the same number, the total for all the subcategories displayed on the report, is calculated for each row (Subcategory) of the report.

If the report grid does not contain attributes from the target hierarchy, the report filter is checked. If the report filter contains attributes from the target hierarchy, the lowest attribute of that hierarchy found in the filter is used as the target.

A level metric with a target of Products, placed on a report with Region that is filtered for specific subcategories, calculates at the subcategory level. If the level metric uses standard filtering, the metric calculates only for the attributes in the filter. The same number, the total for all the subcategories on the report, is displayed for each row (Region) of the report. If the level metric uses absolute filtering, the target hierarchy is not included in the metric calculation, so the grand total across the project is displayed for each row.

If neither the report grid nor the report filter contains attributes from the target hierarchy, then the hierarchy is ignored.

A level metric with a target of Products, placed on a report with Region that is filtered for Customer, calculates a grand total across the project, ignoring the target hierarchy.

If the level metric ignores filtering, the target hierarchy is ignored in all instances. The level metric calculates a grand total across the project for all rows of the report.

Hierarchy level metric examples

For example, the Geography Revenue metric is defined as:

Formula: Sum(Revenue)
Target: Geography hierarchy
Filtering: Standard
Grouping: Standard
No report level

The Geography Revenue metric is placed on a report with attributes from the Geography hierarchy: Region and Call Center. Other metrics on the report include the Revenue metric and the Regional Revenue metric, which is a level metric with a target of Region. The report is filtered for Central and Mid-Atlantic. The report is shown below: