About derived elements

Before you begin

You must have the MicroStrategy OLAP Services product to create derived and shortcut metrics. To evaluate OLAP Services, contact your MicroStrategy Account Executive or e-mail MicroStrategy at info@microstrategy.com.

A derived element is a grouping of attribute elements on a report. Derived element groups are defined by a list, filter, or calculation. These groups provide a new view of report data for analysis and formatting purposes.

For example, the report below contains Region, Category, and Profit. The report displays derived elements defined using groups of Region attribute elements:

• East Coast: This derived element combines the data for the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and Southeast regions.

• West Coast: This derived element combines the data for the Northwest and Southwest regions.

• Central and South: This derived element combines the data for the Central and South regions.

• Web: This derived element displays the data for the Web attribute element, which is not included in any of the derived elements listed above.

• East Coast's % Contribution: This derived element calculates and displays the East Coast region's percent contribution to profit.

This demonstrates only a fraction of the analysis and formatting capabilities of derived elements. With derived elements you can also create custom sort orders for attribute elements, use aggregation functions such as Average to combine attribute elements, and perform other analysis and formatting tasks.

Derived elements are evaluated based on the report results, without regenerating or re-executing SQL.

Related Topics

• Creating Derived Elements

• Types of derived elements

• Quickly creating groups, calculations, and sorts

• Using the Derived Elements Editor

• Creating and using stand-alone derived elements

• Derived Elements Editor