About Dimensions

In SAP Analytics Cloud, dimensions are data objects that represent categorical data in a dataset; for example, Products or Sales.

The following types of dimension are available:

• The Dimension type is a generic, free-format dimension. For example, a dimension could be based on products, channels, or sales representatives.

  Values related to dimension members appear in different columns in the dimension grid.

  A model can have any number of dimensions.

  Note that the Description and Member ID attributes of dimensions must be of data type Text.

• Measure is a dimension that represents transactional data (note that this data is not visible in the Modeler).
• Date is a built-in dimension that defines the start and end dates of the model's timeline.

  The date dimension also specifies the granularity – the smallest time units that will be used in the model (years, quarters, months, or days). There is no specific setting for weekly periods, but if the lowest granularity is set to day-level, then data output in stories is automatically shown grouped in calendar weeks.

  You can specify a default time hierarchy to display in stories, and optionally configure the date dimension to organize data by fiscal year instead of calendar year.

  You can also have more than one date dimension in a model or story.

• The Organization dimension type is optional in a model, but provides an organizational analysis of the account data. For example, an organization dimension could be based on operating units, geographic entities, or cost centers. A Region column in a dataset often maps to an organization dimension.

  A model can have only one organization dimension.

• A model is based on a single Account dimension (often containing multiple accounts) that may contain financial or any other business data. You can analyze the account data on the basis of the dimensions defined in the model.

  Example: you import some key-figure-based data into the Modeler as measures. Each column that you mapped as a measure will appear as members in the Account dimension.

  Models can have only one account dimension.

  Note

  In live data models, the Account dimension is named Measures.
• Version is a built-in dimension that defines the data versions available in stories: Actual, Budget, Planning, Forecast, and Rolling Forecast.

  Versioning is a financial planning concept that represents a way of providing calculations such as actual vs. budget.

  In a model that uses a currency conversion table with Rate Versions, you can use the Rate Version column for the Version dimension to set specific conversion rates for each version.

• The Timestamp dimension type is similar to the Date dimension type, except that it includes hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds, and is not hierarchical.

  The Timestamp dimension type is useful for data that is recorded very frequently; for example, sensor data.