If you are performing a dimension build, skip this section.
If a data source contains all of the information required to load the data values in it into the database, you can load the data source directly in a free-form data load.
To load a data value successfully, Essbase must encounter one member from each dimension before encountering the data value. For example, in Figure 63, Kinds of Fields, Essbase loads the data value 42 into the database with the members Texas, 100-10, Jan, Sales, and Actual. If Essbase encounters a data value before a member of each dimension is specified, it stops loading the data source.
To map perfectly, a data source must contain all of the following and nothing else:
One or more valid members from each dimension. A member name must be enclosed in quotation marks if it contains any of the following:
If you are performing a data load without a rules file, when Essbase encounters an invalid member field, it stops the data load. Essbase loads all fields read before the invalid field into the database, resulting in a partial load of the data values. See Loading Dimension Build and Data Load Error Logs.
One or more valid data values. See Valid Data Fields.
If the data source contains blank fields for data values, replace the blank fields with #MI or #MISSING. Otherwise, the data values may not load correctly.
Valid delimiters. See Valid Delimiters.
The fields in the data source must be formatted in an order that Essbase understands. The simplest way to format a record is to include a member from each dimension and a data field, as illustrated below:
Sales "100-10" Ohio Jan Actual 25 Sales "100-20" Ohio Jan Actual 25 Sales "100-30" Ohio Jan Actual 25
An incorrectly formatted data source will not load. You can edit the data source using a text editor and fix the problem. If you must perform many edits (such as moving several fields and records), consider using a rules file to load the data source. See Rules Files.
The following sections describe more complicated ways to format free-form data sources.