MicroStrategy ONE
Excluding filter attributes: Level metric advanced options
Before you begin
This topic assumes a basic understanding of level metrics and conditional metrics. See Level metrics: A practical overview and About conditional metrics for background information.
By default, the metric filter is applied to the metric calculation. You can instead exclude filter attributes, so that filter attributes that are not on the report or in the level of the metric are not included in the metric calculation. This option is called Filter setting: uncheck to exclude attributes absent in report or level (dimensionality).
For brevity, this option is referred to as the Filter setting in this topic.
Excluding filter attributes can help you reuse the same metric in multiple reports. When a metric excludes filter attributes, the parts of the metric filter that are applied depend on what is included on the report. The example described in Re-use metrics with the Filter setting below illustrates how this setting allows you to repurpose metrics. For more information on metrics containing metric filters, seeAbout conditional metrics. For an additional example of the Filter setting, including how the report SQL is affected by the Filter setting, see the Advanced Metrics chapter of the Advanced Reporting Help.
This is one of the advanced options available for level metrics. The other is Allow other users to add extra units to this definition, which is used to emulate MicroStrategy 6.x behavior. It affects only those projects that have been upgraded from 6.x. The option indicates whether the metric accepts dimensionality units. It is applied to metrics used at the template level and metrics used in the filter for a metric qualification. This dimensionality is merged with the original units to complete the metric level. Clear it only if your project was upgraded from MicroStrategy 6.x.
Re-use metrics with the Filter setting
The Filter setting can help you re-use the same metric in multiple reports. Clear the Filter setting so that the attributes on the report affect which parts of the metric filter conditions are applied. This eliminates the need to create and maintain multiple metrics, particularly if the metric and filter qualifications are complex.
For example, a revenue metric has a condition that filters for the Northeast region and the Electronics category. With the Filter setting cleared, attributes from the metric condition that are not on the report or in the level of the metric are not included in the metric calculation. Since the default of report level has not been changed, only the attributes on the report will affect the metric calculation, as shown in the table below.
|
Metric Conditions |
Attributes on the Report |
Metric Results |
|---|---|---|
|
Region = Northeast Category = Electronics |
Category |
Revenue for the Electronics category in all regions |
|
Region = Northeast Category = Electronics |
Call Center Category |
Revenue for all Electronics in all Call Centers in the Northeast Region |
Place the metric on a report that contains Category. Revenue is calculated for the Electronics category across all regions. The metric condition for Region is not included in the metric calculation because the Filter setting ignores any attributes in the metric condition that are not on the report.
Place the same metric on a report that contains Call Center and Category. Revenue is calculated for the Electronics category for all Call Centers in the Northeast Region. The metric condition for Region is now included in the metric calculation because the Filter setting only ignores any attributes in the metric condition that are not on the report or related to attributes on the report. Call Center and Region are in the same hierarchy and therefore related.
The same metric returns different results on different reports, because the report attributes determine which qualifications are used in the metric calculation. You could achieve the same results with two different metrics, each with its own filter. Re-using the metric and filter decreases the time spent creating and maintaining them, especially if the metric and filter are more complex than this simplified example.
For a more detailed description of metrics containing metric filters, including examples, see About conditional metrics.
Prerequisite
This setting can only be applied to a level metric. If the metric does not contain levels, see Specifying metric levels.
To exclude filter attributes in a level metric
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Open the metric in the Metric Editor. (How?)
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Click Level (Dimensionality) on the Metric component pane (located under the heading "Metric (metric name) is defined as"). The Level (Dimensionality) definition pane displays below the Metric component area.
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Click Advanced. The Level advanced options dialog box opens.
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Clear the Filter setting: uncheck to exclude attributes absent in report or level (dimensionality) check box.
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Click OK to return to the Metric Editor.
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Click Save and Close to save the metric and close the Metric Editor.