Regularly reviewing and updating your dimensions is key to maintaining accurate and user-friendly data in Cube. Consider these best practices:
- Ensure each dimension member name clearly represents the data it holds.
- Verify that your dimension hierarchy aligns with your processes.
- Remove dimension members that are no longer in use.
- Map new dimension members to ensure correct data ingestion into Cube.
Dimension changes often necessitate formula updates. We advise reviewing your formulas after modifying dimension members to maintain accuracy.
Learn more about dimensions or Cube's data model.
Update dimension member names and descriptions
Dimension members should be named clearly for easy fetching and publishing via the Spreadsheet App. Regular reviews can help identify dimensions needing updates. Edit dimensions in the Workspace by clicking their name or the Edit icon.
Dimension member names can include letters and numbers, but cannot be only numbers.
Here, you can:
- Change the name.
- Move children to a new parent.
- Update the Time Rollup Type.
- Scenario dimension members only - edit the write protection settings.
- Add an account number or description.
- Manage tags or formulas.
- Check the dimension member's data source.
Modify dimension hierarchy
You can make changes to your dimension hierarchy in a few ways:
- To add a new dimension (such as Account, Time, Scenario, Department, etc.), contact your CSM.
- Change the order of child dimension members beneath a parent.
- Move children to a different parent.
See a step-by-step guide to moving child and parent dimension members.
Change the order of child dimension members
Quickly make updates to the dimension hierarchy by enabling drag-and-drop reordering.
From the Dimensions page of your Workspace, click on the More icon and select Enable Reordering.
Drag and drop the desired dimension member to the new location. This method moves the entire group, including any children, which can be particularly helpful for rearranging entire sections of your hierarchy.
Because child dimension member values roll up to parents, children cannot be moved to another parent using drag-and-drop. This prevents changes from triggering major recalculations across your Cube.
Move a dimension member to a different parent
To assign a child dimension member to a new parent, also known as reparenting, open the dimension member settings by clicking the Edit icon to the right of the name.
Choose a new parent dimension member from the dropdown menu in the dimension settings.
Moving a dimension member that has children will reparent the entire section.
Note: This reparenting action is crucial when restructuring your dimensional hierarchy and can significantly impact how data rolls up in your Cube.
Disable unused dimension members
You can disable dimension members you no longer need and clear their values using the Disable icon to the right of its name.
Cube may require actions before you can disable the dimension member, which means you may see an alert for the following:
- Dimension member is mapped to a source system: this dimension can't be disabled until the source system is mapped to a different dimension. This prevents data from flowing from your source system to an inactive dimension.
- Dimension member is a parent: parents can't be disabled until the children are assigned to a different parent. This prevents active values from not having a place to roll up to. Disabling a child doesn't allow the parent to be disabled. Children must be moved, even if they are not active.
- Dimension member is used in a formula: when a dimension member is used in a formula, it will trigger a warning that lists all formulas that reference it. This is because these formulas will also be disabled with this action. Selecting Disable will disable this dimension and the formulas listed.
Disabled dimension members will become inactive and hidden, but can be reactivated again if necessary by displaying disabled dimension members and clicking the Enable icon. If you enable them, you'll need to remap, import, or update formulas so Cube can recalculate the values.
Map new dimension members
Properly mapping new dimension members is crucial for accurate data processing. Set mapping rules to ensure new source dimensions are mapped to Cube dimensions during an import or update mapping manually.
When mapping rules aren’t set in Cube, unmapped source dimensions will be flagged when importing. After syncing with your source system or uploading a flat file, use the steps below to quickly map the dimensions found.
Click the map button and filter to see the unmapped dimensions.
You can map these to an existing dimension member by typing and selecting from the dropdown. To quickly add a new dimension member, use + Add Dimension in the dropdown.
Be sure to save your mapping, and then you're all ready to import your data!
Learn more about dimension mapping.
Review formulas
After you have updated your dimension members, hierarchy, or mapping, conducting a thorough review of your formulas is crucial. This step ensures that your formulas reference the appropriate dimension members and remain functional. It's particularly important to verify that none of your formulas have been inadvertently disabled or disrupted due to your recent changes. Regular checks will help maintain the integrity and accuracy of your data processing within Cube.
Learn more about adding formulas to Cube.