Strategy ONE
Importing Levels and Suffixes for Characteristics
When characteristics in MDX cubes are imported into Strategy, they can be imported both as a stand-alone characteristic and as part of a hierarchy defined in the MDX cube source. See To import MDX cubes for information about selecting these options as part of the MDX cube import process.
Stand-alone characteristics are imported into Strategy with two levels: the first level is an aggregate of all the characteristic data, and the second level is the detail data. You may choose not to import the aggregate level of a characteristic into Strategy.
You can determine how the two levels of a stand-alone characteristic are imported into Strategy for the first time:
- Do not import Level 00 for flat hierarchies: Choose this check box to exclude the first level aggregate data for a stand-alone characteristic during the import into Strategy. Only the detail data level for the characteristic is imported and mapped to an attribute in Strategy.
- Suppress Level 01 suffix for flat hierarchies: Choose this check box to exclude the suffix Level 01 from the attribute name mapped to the detail data level of the characteristic. An attribute named Region (rather than Region Level 01) is mapped to the detail data of the imported Region characteristic.
Attributes can be shared by multiple MDX cubes imported into a Strategy project, affecting the import behavior.
If you select both import options for a Region characteristic, the characteristic is imported into Strategy so that only the detail level is imported and mapped to an attribute, and the attribute name does not include the suffix Level 01.
These options do not affect characteristics when they are imported as part of a hierarchy. All levels and suffixes for the hierarchy are imported and mapped into Strategy regardless of whether you selected any of the import options.
If you plan to map your MDX cube data to project attributes that are part of a relational schema, you should map the stand-alone characteristics to the project attributes rather than the levels of a hierarchy. For more information on mapping MDX cube data to project attributes, see Mapping MDX Cube Data to Project Attributes and Mapping MDX Cube Data to Project Attributes.
Shared attribute effects on import behavior
MDX cube characteristics mapped to attributes in Strategy can be shared by multiple MDX cubes, which can affect how and when attributes are imported for MDX cubes.
The import options to exclude the Level 00 attributes and Level 01 suffixes are described in Importing Levels and Suffixes for Characteristics. The descriptions assume that the characteristics for the MDX cube are being imported into Strategy for the first time. By default, Level 00 attributes are not created and Level 01 suffixes are excluded from the attribute names mapped to Level 01 data.
After importing this MDX cube and Region characteristic, you can import another MDX cube that shares the region data. If you use the same import options, the MDX cube re-uses the attribute already created for the characteristic. However, modifying the import options has the following impacts on import behavior:
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Level 00 data is imported and a Level 00 attribute is created if you choose to import Level 00 data. A Level 00 attribute is created and shared for all MDX cubes that share imported attributes for the characteristic. This includes MDX cubes that were imported previously and were set to exclude Level 00 data.
Once a Level 00 attribute has been imported into Strategy, all MDX cubes that share this data must include this attribute, regardless of whether you choose to include Level 00 data or not.
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The Level 01 suffixes are not included even if you choose to include Level 01 suffixes. This is to maintain a consistent schema across all MDX cubes that share data.
This is also the case if on your first import you choose to include Level 01 suffixes. The suffixes are included for any imported attributes. If you then choose to exclude the Level 01 suffixes, the suffixes are still included for any attributes that have already been imported and are shared by multiple MDX cubes.
You can rename an attribute from within the MDX Cube Catalog or MDX Cube Editor at any time. These modifications are reflected in all MDX cubes that share the modified attribute.