Considerations When Creating and Using Qualified Object Names

Although the use of qualified object names for objects is typical, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind:

There are some situations where you cannot use a qualified object name or do not need to use a qualified object name. See "When Not to Use Qualified Object Names" for more information
Before you use ampersand substitution when creating a qualified object name you need to understand how and when the substitution occurs. See "Using Ampersand Substitution for Workspace and Object Names" for more information.
Special considerations apply when passing a qualified object name as an argument to a program. See "Passing Qualified Object Names to Programs" for more information.

When Not to Use Qualified Object Names

Generally it is good practice to use a qualified object name in an expression. However, there are some situations where you cannot use a qualified object name or when a qualified object name is not necessary:

The following objects cannot have qualified object names:
- An object that is local to a particular program because it was created by an ARGUMENT or VARIABLE statement.
- The NAME dimension of any given workspace. When you reference the NAME dimension, Oracle OLAP always uses the NAME dimension of the current workspace.
You do not need to use a qualified object name in the following circumstances:
- In the qualifiers of a qualified data reference (QDR). Only the object being qualified needs to be named with a qualified object name. Any unqualified names are assumed to apply to objects in the same workspace as the object being qualified.
- In an unnamed composite, when you specify one base dimension as a qualified object name, then all the others are assumed to come from the same workspace.
- In a named composite, when the name is a qualified object name then its base dimensions are assumed to come from the same workspace.
- In a model, when you specify the solution variable as a qualified object name, then all the dimensions named in DIMENSION (in models) statements are assumed to come from the same workspace.

Using Ampersand Substitution for Workspace and Object Names

The workspace name, or the object name, or both can be supplied using ampersand substitution. However, take care when using a qualified object name with ampersand substitution because Oracle OLAP parses the qualified object name (with its exclamation point) before it resolves the ampersand reference. For example, in the expression &awname!objname, the ampersand (&) applies to the entire qualified object name, not just to the workspace name.

Passing Qualified Object Names to Programs

When you pass a qualified object name as an argument to a program and you use an ARGUMENT statement and the ARCTAN2, ARGFR, and ARGS functions, the entire qualified object name is considered to be a single argument. Its component parts are not passed separately.