mergedDimensions

Specifies whether multiple hierarchies of a dimension should be merged in the Other axis in the Data Layout panel and in Member Filter.

Data Sources

Microsoft® Analysis Services, SAP BW

Syntax

mergedDimensions="dimensionString"

where:

Argument Default Description
dimensionString null A comma-delimited String representing the prefix of the dimensions to merge in the Other axis of the Data Layout panel

Usage

Microsoft Analysis Services and SAP BW support multiple hierarchies, allowing alternate views of cube data. Multiple hierarchies are two or more dimensions with names that share the same prefix followed by a period but have different suffixes. For example, Time.Calendar and Time.Fiscal are two different dimensions, but if you merge them into a “logical” dimension (which does not actually exist), you can enhance the usability of your application as your users are less likely to be confused.

Once multiple hierarchies are merged, they appear as one dimension in the user interface in the Other axis in the Data Layout panel. For example, if you specify to merge all dimensions with the prefix “Time,” Time.Calendar and Time.Fiscal will appear as a “Time” dimension in the Data Layout panel. When a user drags the Time dimension to the Row, Column, or Page axis, a dialog automatically pops up, asking the user to select one of the two hierarchies she wants to use. In Member Filter, all corresponding hierarchies are displayed under the Time dimension, but users can only select from one hierarchy.
Note: When you access the dimensions through methods such as the MDBMetaData object’s resolveDimension() method, you should specify the actual dimension names ([Time].[Calendar] and [Time].[Fiscal], for example) that are actually stored in the data source. Since the merged dimension does not actually exist in the data source, using the merged dimension name will result in an error. To find out the dimensions that make up the merged dimension, use the getCube().getMultipleHierarchies() method.

Examples

The following example shows how to merge all hierarchies with the prefix “Time” into a non-existing dimension called Time, and all hierarchies with the prefix “Products” into a non-existing dimension called Products: 

mergedDimensions="Time,Products"

See Also

getCube().getMultipleHierarchies() in the Javadoc documentation.

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