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  • 1.  PAW Column Headers

    Posted Fri January 21, 2022 07:45 AM
    Hi there,

    Is there any future plan to include static named headers for the columns in PAW exploration views ? For example, when using two stacked dimensions on columns, e.g. Year and Month, sometimes we can use MDX subsets to build the column area, e.g.:

    Year - bring prior year and current year using MDX subset
    =====
    2021
    2022

    Month - bring Q1 months by using MDX subset
    =====================================
    OCT
    NOV
    DEC

    Now, when trying to use Create Calculation function we all know this is using static member references, so next year the calculation is lost because new column headers are to be displayed according to the MDX subset. 

    Ideally, PAW should keep static reference to these elements (potentially put a label instead of the real element name) and use those when creating PAW calculations.

    For now, the workaround we found is to edit the MDX query and use WITH MEMBER expression in MDX to create the static reference. This works, but requires a lot of coordination between what we create in PAW vs what we edit using MDX editor.

    Thanks,
    Cristian

    ------------------------------
    Cristian Serb
    ------------------------------

    #PlanningAnalyticswithWatson


  • 2.  RE: PAW Column Headers

    Posted Mon January 24, 2022 02:50 AM
    Hi

    We are all looking for this to have dynamic reports and views across the time !!!

    Could you share an example of your with member subset ?

    Regards

    Fred



    Envoyé de mon iPhone




  • 3.  RE: PAW Column Headers

    Posted Tue January 25, 2022 02:49 AM
    Hi Fred,

    The way we handle dynamic reports at this moment is:

    1. Create a static exploration view in our PAW book, with elements like Year=2022, Month=DEC, etc. So nothing MDX based at this point
    2. Use targeted column/row selections where needed
    3. Convert the static view in a dynamic one by using Edit MDX button on the view. This opens up the query editor
    4. Add WITH MEMBER syntax at the top of the query and use a Control cube where we retrieve all these dynamic members from:
    WITH
    MEMBER [Year].[This Year] AS StrToMember("[Year].["+[Control].([Control].[Current Year],[Control Measures].[String])+"]")
    MEMBER [Year].[Prior Year] AS StrToMember("[Year].["+[Control].([Control].[Current Year],[Control Measures].[String])+"].PrevMember")
    MEMBER [Month].[Current Month] AS StrToMember("[Month].["+[Control].([Control].[Current Month],[Control Measures].[String])+"]")
    SELECT ... ON 0,
    ... ON 1
    FROM ...
    WHERE ...
    5. Use Find and Replace to actually replace [Year].[2022] with [Year].[This Year] in our MDX query. Same thing for Month.
    Note: The rest of the MDX query remains the same as it was generated by the MDX Editor in PAW.
    6. Create other PAW Calculations using the new dynamic references. You can build them in PAW directly, without a need to edit the MDX query, so just use Create Calculation option after selecting the columns you need to build the calculations for. For example, [This Year[-[Prior Year] can be done on the UI itself, no need to get to the MDX editor again.

    Hope this helps !

    ------------------------------
    Cristian Serb
    ------------------------------



  • 4.  RE: PAW Column Headers

    Posted Mon January 24, 2022 08:10 AM
    Hi Cristian,

    This is something we are considering for the new cube viewer.  Before we do this we are planning on improving the cube viewer calculation interface so that users can view and edit (the MDX snippet) for existing calculations.

    ------------------------------
    Stuart King
    IBM Planning Analytics Offering Manager
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: PAW Column Headers

    Posted Tue January 25, 2022 02:55 AM
    Hi Stuart,

    That is excellent news. We need to have an Edit option on the Calculation for sure :)
    It would be nice to have some indentations on the MDX View editor too for better reading on main MDX SELECT FROM WHERE clauses.

    Thanks!

    ------------------------------
    Cristian Serb
    ------------------------------