Creating Duplicate Member Names in Outlines

You can use duplicate names in an outline only if the outline has the allow duplicate members option enabled.

When you enable duplicate member names in an outline, Essbase displays multiple members in the outline using the same name. Create the names in the usual way. See Naming Restrictions for Dimensions, Members, and Aliases.

When you save the outline, Essbase validates and saves the outline with the duplicate member names. A qualified name format differentiates the duplicate member names.

Figure 38, Duplicate Member Name “New York” shows an example of a duplicate member outline in which the New York state member and the New York city member appear in the outline as New York.

Figure 38. Duplicate Member Name “New York”

This image illustrates a duplicate member outline, in which two members use the same name, as described in the text preceding the image.

The qualified member names for the example in Figure 38, Duplicate Member Name “New York” are [State].[New York] and [City].[New York]. See Syntax for Specifying Duplicate Member Names and Aliases.

  To create an outline that enables duplicate member names, or to convert a unique member name outline to a duplicate member name outline, use a tool:

Tool

Topic

Location

Administration Services

Creating Duplicate Member Name Outlines

Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help

MaxL

create database

Oracle Essbase Technical Reference

Note:

Save outline changes before converting the outline to a duplicate member name outline. You cannot convert an outline that has unsaved changes. After converting an outline to a duplicate member outline, save it before proceeding with other outline changes. A duplicate member outline cannot be converted back to a unique member outline.

Within a duplicate member outline, you can tag particular dimensions, generations, and levels as unique or duplicate to restrict the use of duplicate member names within a database. Doing so enables you to specify member name uniqueness at a more granular level in a duplicate member outline.

When you create a duplicate member outline, by default, all dimensions in the outline are tagged as duplicate.

When duplicate members are enabled in a dimension, you can tag particular generations or levels within the dimension as unique. If a member is assigned conflicting properties, the unique property takes precedence.

  To enable or disable duplicate member names in a dimension, see “Tagging a Dimension as Unique” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

  To disable duplicate member names in a particular generation or level of a dimension, see “Naming Generations and Levels” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.

Note:

Duplicate member outline attribute dimensions do not have prefixes or suffixes attached that apply to attribute dimensions in unique outlines. For example, in a duplicate member Boolean attribute dimension, members do not include dimension, parent, grandparent, or ancestors affixed to the TRUE and FALSE members. See Setting Prefix and Suffix Formats for Member Names of Attribute Dimensions.