Using Dimensions (Hierarchies)

PlaidCloud natively manages dimension (i.e. hierarchical) data through our proprietary hierarchy storage system. We decided to construct our own from purpose-built solution because other commercial and open-source solutions seem to present limitations that were not easily overcome.

The hierarchy storage supports not only hierarchical relationships but also properties, aliases, attributes, and values. It is also designed to operate on large structures and perform operations quickly including complex branch and leaf navigation.

Dimensions are managed in the Dimensions tab within each PlaidCloud project configuration area.

Main Hierarchy

Each dimension (i.e. hierarchical dataset) always consists of a main hierarchy. Every member of the hierarchy is represented here.

Having a main hierarchy helps establish the complete set of leaf nodes in the dimension.

Alternate or Attribute Hierarchies

Alternate hierarchies are different representations of the main hierarchy leaf nodes. Alternate hierarchies can consist of a subset of both leaf nodes and roll-up (i.e. folders) in the main hierarchy as well as its own set of unique roll-ups.

This provides for the maximum amount of flexibility by automatically updating alternate hierarchies when children of a roll-up change or to strictly control the alternate hierarchy members by specifying only the leaf nodes required.

Managing Dimensions

Creating a Dimension

From the New button in the toolbar, select New Dimension. Enter in the desired name, directory, and a descriptive memo.

Once you press the Create button the dimension will be created and ready for immediate use.

You can also create a dimension from a workflow using the Dimension Create workflow step.

Deleting a Dimension

To delete an existing dimension, select the dimension record and open the Actions menu in the upper right. Select Delete Dimension.

This will delete the dimension and all underlying data.

You can also delete a dimension from a workflow using the Dimension Delete workflow step.

It is also possible to clear the dimension of all structure, values, aliases, properties, and alternate hierarchies without deleting the dimension by using the Dimension Clear workflow step.

Copying a Dimension

To copy an existing dimension, select the dimension record and open the Actions menu in the upper right. Select Copy Dimension.

This will open a dialog where you can specify the name of the copy. Click the Create Copy button to make a copy of the dimension including values, aliases, properties, and alternate hierarchies.

Sorting a Dimension

The dimension management area makes it easy to move hierarchy members up and down as well as changing parents. It also makes it easy to create and delete members.

However, it can get tedious when manually moving hierarchy items around so you can sort a dimension from a workflow using the Dimension Sort workflow step. This can be a big time saver especially after data loads or major changes.

Loading Dimensions

Since dimensions represent hierarchical data structures, the load process must convey the relationships in the data. PlaidCloud supports two different data structures for loading dimensions:

• Parent-Child - The data is organized vertically with a Parent column and Child column defining each parent of a child throughout the structure
• Levels - The data is organized horizontally with each column representing a level in the hierarchy from left to right

In addition to structure, other dimension information can be included in the load process such as values, aliases, and properties.

See the Workflow Step for Dimension Load for more information.

Dimension Property Inheritance

A dimension may inherit a property from an ancestor. To enable inheritance, click the dropdown next to Properties and select Inherited Properties. All child nodes in the dimension will now inherit the propties of its parents.

Usage Notes:

• Inheritance will happen for all properties in a dimension. You cannot set inheritance on one property but not another.
• If you change and then delete the value of a child property, it will default back to the parent value. You cannot have a null value when the parent has a value.
• If you set the value of a child property, its children will inherit the child property instead of the parent.
• Inheritance will go all the way down to the leaf node.