Using Complex Formulas

If you use a complex formula, you can improve performance by applying the following guidelines:

A complex formula is one that meets any of the following requirements:

When applied to sparse dimension members, complex formulas create more calculation overhead and therefore slow performance. This problem occurs because the presence of complex formulas requires Essbase to perform calculations on all possible as well as all existing data blocks related to the member with the complex formula. The presence of a relationship or financial function on a sparse dimension member causes Essbase to perform calculations on all blocks, possible as well as existing, increasing the overhead even more.

Thus, a complex formula that includes a relationship or financial function creates a greater overhead increase than does a complex formula that does not include a relationship or financial function.

For a discussion about how complex formulas affect calculation performance, see Bottom-Up and Top-Down Calculation.

Two examples illustrate complex formula overhead:

In all cases, the lower the ratio of existing data blocks to possible data blocks, the higher the calculation performance overhead and the slower the performance.