Use the parent-child references build method when every record of the data source specifies the name of a new member and the name of the parent to which you want to add the new member.
Members in a database exist in a parent-child relationship. Figure 72, Parents and Children shows part of the Product dimension with its parent and children relationships identified. Product is the parent of 100. 100 is the child of Product and the parent of 100-10, 100-10-12, and 100-10-16. 100-10, 100-10-12, and 100-10-16 are the children of 100.
A parent-child data source must contain at least two columns: a parent column and a child column, in that order. The data source can include columns with other information (for example, the alias, the attributes, or the properties of the new member). A record within a parent-child data source cannot specify multiple parents or multiple children, and cannot reverse the order of the parent and child columns.
In a parent-child build, the rules file specifies which column is the parent and which column is the child. For example, the top half of Figure 73, Rules Files for Parent-Child Build shows a data source (PARCHIL.TXT), in which each record specifies the name of a parent and the name of its child, in that order. The bottom half of the figure shows the rules file (PARCHIL.RUL) that specifies which column is the parent and which column is the child. Additionally, this example associates aliases with the child field.
Figure 74, Parents and Children shows the tree that Essbase builds from this data source and rules file.
For duplicate member situations, the parent field must contain the qualified member name. See Building Qualified Member Names Through the Rules File. |