Attribute dimensions have a text, numeric, Boolean, or date type that enables different functions for grouping, selecting, or calculating data. Although assigned at the dimension level, the attribute type applies only to level 0 members of the attribute dimension.
The default attribute type is text. Text attributes enable the basic attribute member selection and attribute comparisons in calculations. When you perform such comparisons, Essbase compares characters. For example, the package type Bottle is less than the package type Can, because B precedes C in the alphabet. In Sample.Basic, Pkg Type is an example of a text attribute dimension.
The names of level 0 members of numeric attribute dimensions are numeric values. You can include the names (values) of numeric attribute dimension members in calculations. For example, you can use the number of ounces specified in the Ounces attribute to calculate profit per ounce for each product.
You can also associate numeric attributes with ranges of base dimension values; for example, to analyze product sales by market population groupings—states with 3,000,000 population or less in one group, states with a population between 3,000,001 and 6,000,000 in another group, and so on. See Setting Up Member Names Representing Ranges of Values.
All Boolean attribute dimensions in a database contain only two members. The member names must match the settings for the database; for example, True and False. If multiple Boolean attribute dimensions exist, specify a prefix or suffix member name format to ensure unique member names; for example, Caffeinated_True and Caffeinated_False. See Setting Boolean Attribute Member Names.
You can use date attributes to specify the date format—month-day-year or day-month-year—and to sequence information accordingly. See Changing the Member Names in Date Attribute Dimensions. You can use date attributes in calculations. For example, you can compare dates in a calculation that selects product sales from markets established since 10-12-1999.
Essbase supports date attributes from January 1, 1970, through January 1, 2038.