Dense-Sparse Configuration for Sample.Basic

Consider the Sample.Basic database, which represents data for The Beverage Company (TBC).

Because TBC does not sell every product in every market, the data set is reasonably sparse. Data values do not exist for many combinations of members in the Product and Market dimensions. For example, if Caffeine Free Cola is not sold in Florida, data values do not exist for the combination Caffeine Free Cola (100-30) -> Florida, so Product and Market are sparse dimensions. Therefore, if no data values exist for a specific combination of members in these dimensions, Essbase does not create a data block for the combination.

However, consider combinations of members in the Year, Measures, and Scenario dimensions. Data values almost always exist for some member combinations on these dimensions. For example, data values exist for the member combination Sales -> January -> Actual, because at least some products are sold in January. Thus, Year and, similarly, Measures and Scenario, are dense dimensions.

The sparse-dense configuration of the standard dimensions in the Sample.Basic database may be summarized:

Essbase creates a data block for each unique combination of members in the Product and Market dimensions (see Data Storage). Each data block represents data from the dense dimensions. The data blocks likely will have few empty cells.

For example, consider the sparse member combination Caffeine Free Cola (100-30), New York, in Figure 7, Dense Data Block for Sample.Basic Database: