Cell Calculation Order: Example 1

In this example, which is the simplest case, these conditions are true:

Table 66 shows a subset of the cells in a data block:

Table 66. Calculation Order Example 1: Input Cells and Calculated Cells

Year-MarketNew YorkMassachusettsEast
Jan112345687543
Feb135788756434
Mar112234934565
Qtr1126

Data values have been loaded into the following input cells:

Essbase calculates the following cells. In Table 66, the calculation order for these cells is represented by the numbers 1 through 6 that appear in the cells:

  1. Qtr1 -> New York

  2. Qtr1 -> Massachusetts

  3. Jan -> East

  4. Feb -> East

  5. Mar -> East

  6. Qtr1 -> East

Qtr1 -> East has multiple consolidation paths; it can be consolidated on Market or on Year. When consolidated on Market, it is a consolidation of Qtr1 -> New York and Qtr1 -> Massachusetts. When consolidated on Year, it is a consolidation of Jan -> East, Feb -> East, and Mar -> East.

Essbase knows that Qtr1 -> East has multiple consolidation paths. Therefore, it calculates Qtr1 -> East only once by consolidating the values for Qtr1 and uses the consolidation path of the dimension calculated last (in this example, the Market dimension), as shown in Table 67.

Table 67. Calculation Order Example 1: Results

Year-MarketNew YorkMassachusettsEast
Jan11234568754181099
Feb13578875643211431
Mar11223493456205690
Qtr1360367237853598220

Based on the calculation order, if you place a member formula on Qtr1 in the database outline, Essbase ignores it when calculating Qtr1 -> East. If you place a member formula on East in the database outline, the formula is calculated when Essbase consolidates Qtr1 -> East on the Market consolidation path.

If required, you can use a calculation script to calculate the dimensions in the order you choose. See Developing Calculation Scripts for Block Storage Databases.