Databases Reference
In-Depth Information
Another method is the reporting of your data using the MDX query language that
has been included with Oracle Essbase since version 7.x. MDX queries can be written
in a similar way to an SQL query and executed in batch or through the EAS MDX
query editor screens.
Export data
What always happens when you have a good system with good data, which is
in demand by other departments in your company? Why, it seems as though
everybody has to get some of it loaded into their own system, that's what happens.
If there is anything that could be remotely described as a drawback to an Essbase
system, it would be the data exporting functionality. Where traditional RDBMS
systems allow the selection of data for export to meet almost limitless criteria,
the Essbase method is a bit less robust.
First of all, instead of an interfacing system establishing a connection with your
database and fetching data into something like a recordset or a cursor, with Essbase,
you are limited to using an Essbase report script and extracting the required data
into a flat file. The flat file can then be sent to the downstream system so they can
load it into their tables as needed. Unfortunately, the selection arguments available
when building an Essbase report script are somewhat limited. We'll get more into
report scripts in a moment!
Forecast analysts
The forecast analyst is one person who takes full advantage of Essbase's unique data
calculating abilities. For starters, a forecast analyst wants to see what the data looks
like out into the future. When we say "future" we mean future periods based on what
is most commonly tagged as the
Time
dimension in the database outline.
The forecast analyst has data which, on a period to period basis, is dependent on
the previous period's numbers. Consider that a Gross Stock number for the current
month is the result of the prior month's Gross Stock number, plus the current month's
production (units produced), less the current month's sales (units sold). If we would
like to know the resulting Gross Stock numbers for the next six months, all we need
to do is update the forecasted sales numbers and the forecasted production numbers
in the database, run a small database calculation script, and we now have forecasted
Gross Stock numbers.
