Introduction to the Modeler

There are two screens in the Modeler: Model, and Data Management. When you open an existing model, its contents are shown on the Model screen:

1. Dimension list
2. Structure view
3. Data Foundation view
4. Model Details pane

The Model screen shows you the dimensions in your model, the number of members and hierarchies in each dimension, and any attributes that have been defined for the dimensions. On the right, the Model Details pane shows you the model settings, data sources, and other information about the model.

The Structure view shows you a star schema diagram that represents the contents of your model. This view helps you to visualize how your fact data, attributes, and properties all relate to each other.

The Data Foundation view shows you the fact table containing the raw, unaggregated transactional data loaded into your model.

For more information about the Structure and Data Foundation views, see https://blogs.sap.com/2020/04/24/were-improving-modeling-in-sap-analytics-cloud/.

When you select a dimension, the view changes to show you detailed information about the dimension, and the Dimension Settings pane at the right:

You can choose between the list view, where dimension members and their properties are shown in a non-editable list, or the grid view, where you can make changes to the dimension's values and properties:

The Dimension Settings pane shows you information about the selected dimension, and lets you define hierarchies, create calculations, and change properties and settings.

In the list view, if you select a dimension member, the pane at right switches to the Member Details pane, which displays information about the selected member. You can switch back and forth between Dimension Settings and Member Details:

When you create a new model, the Data Management screen appears, to help you upload data to your model:

1. Draft Sources
2. Import Jobs
3. Export Jobs
4. Data Timeline

On the Data Management screen, you can refresh, delete, and schedule data refreshes for specific data sources and dimensions. You can also import data into a model, export model data, or start a refresh job. If you select multiple items, you can apply actions to all of them at the same time.

You can name scheduled jobs to describe the entire job, instead of having to rely on individual query names. To edit the name of a data refresh job, select (edit) next to the job's name and type a new name.

For more information about refreshing data in models, see Updating and Scheduling Models.

To get to the Modeler, you need to create a model, or open an existing model from the Files list. These are the model types that you'll see in the Files list:

	Model
	Model based on a live data connection

When you switch to the grid view, the dimension's contents are shown in an editable grid:

The data objects shown in the grid are:

• Dimension name.
• Dimension attributes and properties: Member ID, Description, and so on.
• Dimension members: Discount, Gross_Margin, and so on.

These are some of the helpful features available in the Modeler:

• Filter a dimension: When you select a dimension to view the dimension details, you can filter out members that you're not interested in.
  1. First, select the Filter button in the toolbar:

     

  2. Next, select (Add Filter).
  3. Choose a dimension property or hierarchy to filter.
  4. Type your filter text, and select Add Filter.
  5. Repeat steps 2-4 to add more filters.

  Note: filtering doesn't apply to data that hasn't yet loaded from the server due to pagination.

• Search for members: Type a search string to find dimension members:

  

• Custom properties: You can add custom properties (columns) to dimensions. Click the Create New Property button in the Dimension Settings panel.

  

• Column menu: This menu appears when you select a column header.

  
  • : Sort the column.

    Note: sorting doesn't apply to data that hasn't yet loaded from the server due to pagination.

  • : Hide the column. You can also select Show Columns to show or hide any columns:

    
  • : Pin the column. Pinned columns stay displayed at the left side of the grid when you scroll to the right. To unpin a column, select the icon again, or drag the column out of the pinned area.

• Data validation and error highlighting: As you work, the model is continually scanned for data irregularities. Any errors are reported by the Validation icon in the toolbar:

  

  When grid cells contain errors, you can also select the cell for more information:

  

• Add a formula: In the Formula column, select the icon to open the Advanced Formula Editor.

  Press Ctrl + Space to see the available formulas, and then highlight a formula in the list to see a detailed description of the formula:

  

• Moving columns: You can rearrange columns in the grid by dragging their headers.

  

• Context-sensitive copy: If you have cells containing the values Cell1 and Cell2, when you select both cells and copy to the cells below, the cells will be populated with the values Cell3, Cell4, and so on.

  

• Account labels: For account dimensions, you can type custom labels for the Units & Currencies column:

  

• Keyboard navigation: You can use these keys while working in the grid:

  Keys	Action
  Space	Opens a cell for editing (same as double-clicking a cell)
  Enter	Move down 1 cell
  Shift + Enter	Move up 1 cell
  Tab	Move right 1 cell
  Shift + Tab	Move left 1 cell
  Page Down	Move down 1 page
  Page Up	Move up 1 page
  Alt + Page Down	Move right 1 page
  Alt + Page Up	Move left 1 page
  Ctrl + Shift + Space	Select all
  Space, t, and f	In columns with check boxes, for example the Hide column, the Space key toggles the check box, while t (true) selects it, and f (false) deselects it.