If you are performing a dimension build, skip this section. Data fields are ignored during a dimension build.
Either the data source or the rules file must contain enough information for Essbase to determine where to put each data value. A data field contains the data value for its intersection in the database. In Figure 63, Kinds of Fields, for example, 42 is a data field. It is the dollar sales of 100-10 (Cola) in Texas in January.
In a data field, Essbase accepts numbers and their modifiers, with no spaces or separators between them, and the text strings #MI and #MISSING, as listed in Table 38.
Table 38. Valid Data Field Modifiers
$ 12 is not a valid value because there is a space between the dollar sign and the 12. | |
Minus sign before numbers. Minus signs after numbers are not valid. | |
If the data source contains a member field for every dimension and one field that contains data values, you must define the field that contains data values as a data field in the rules file. To read the following data source into the Sample.Basic database, for example, define the last field as a data field.
Jan Cola East Sales Actual 100 Feb Cola East Sales Actual 200
To define a data field, see “Defining Columns as Data Fields” in the Oracle Essbase Administration Services Online Help.
If the data source contains blank fields for data values, replace them with #MI or #MISSING. If there is no value in the data field (or the value is #MISSING), Essbase does not change the existing data value in the database. Essbase does not replace current values with empty values.