DSV, KTH / SU I S5/ 2I 1224

PETI A WOHED HYPERI ON ESSBASE

020417
HYPERI ON ESSBASE I NI TI AL EXERCI SE
In this exercise, you will learn the basic navigation in MS Excel as an interface tool to
DB2 OLAP server. The tool you will use is called Hyperion Essbase and it is simply an
extension of the MS Excel, which is done by the addition of a new menu, Essbase, to Excels
toolbar. (Naturally some mouse shortcuts for the commands from the Essbase menu are
defined too.) However, the rest of the Excel operation remains unchanged.
In this exercise you will train on the standard OLAP functionality. For doing this you will
display information from the predefined database Sample Basic. The Sample Basic database
is based on a hypothetical company in the beverage industry. The major products of the
company are various kinds of sodas. These products are sold in US markets, which are
categorised by state and region. Financial data for the company is collected monthly and is
summarised by quarter and by year. The company uses Hyperion Essbase to calculate
financial and accounting data, such as sales, cost of goods sold, and payroll. The company
tracks both actual and budget data, as well as the variance and percent variance between
the two. The definition of the outline we are going to use is given below. Take few minutes for
studying it and do not forget to come back to it when you need it later on.
Fig 1. Sample Database Outline
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First, you will need to install the OLAP Add-in to Excel, in order to get the extended OLAP
functionality. For doing this go to Start > Programs > DatabaseManagementSystems > IBM-
Database-Systems > IBM DB2 OLAP Server 7.1 > Spreadsheet Add-in, Configure Add-in
(You need to this only once, the first time you start doing this exercise.)
Now, start Excel!
Observe the existence of the new Essbase menu in the toolbar.
Before you continue with this exercise, you will need to make sure that the following
configuration is set up. (This usually needs to be done the first time you enter the
programme.)
1. Select Essbase > Options
2. Go through the tabs Display, Zoom, Mode, and Global and make sure that your
settings are the same as those shown in Fig 2 - Fig 5 below.
If the option settings are different, the illustrations presented in this paper may not match the
worksheet views you will receive during the exercise.
Fig 2. The settings for Display tab Fig 3. The settings for Zoom tab
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Fig 4. The settings for Mode tab Fig 5. The settings for Global tab
Now, you are ready to connect to the Sample database.
1. Select Essbase > Connect
Hyperion Essbase diplays the Essbase System Login dialog box.
2. Select Olap from the server list
3. Print your username (Jdb049 is mine) and password and click the OK button (Fig 6).
4. Select Sample Basic from the Application/Database list and click OK once again (Fig
7)
Fig 6. Login window 1 Fig 7. Login window 2
When ending your work, to disconnect from the database select Essbase > Disconnect. (You
do not need to disconnect now.)
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Retrieve data from the database by
1.Select Essbase > Retrieve
Hyperion Essbase retrieves data into the Excel worksheet (Fig 8).
Fig 8. Initial Data Retrieval from Sample Basic
When retrieving data into an empty worksheet, Hyperion Essbase returns data from the top
levels of each dimension. The top level is used as a starting point for navigation and drill
down into levels of more detailed data.
An alternative for retrieving data is double-clicking (with left hand side button of the mouse) in
a data cell.
During the rest of this exercise it may happens that you want to take a step back (i.e., undo a
step). This is done by selecting Essbase > FlashBack. NB! You cannot go back more than
one step.
If you at any moment want to start over from the beginning select the entire worksheet and
select Edit > Clear > All to empty the worksheet and start again. At any point during the
Hyperion Essbase session, you can of course save the active worksheet with the Excel
command File > Save or with the command File > Save As.
In the next following steps we are going through the standard OLAP functionality. A summary
of the Hyperion Essbase commands we are going to use is given in the table below
FUNCTI ON COMMAND SHORT COMMAND
Drill down
(the results are organised
in rows, which is the
default situation)
Select the member and
select Essbase > Zoom In
double click on a member with the
left-hand side button on the mouse
Drill down
(the results are organised
in columns)
press Alt key and
double click on a member with the
left-hand side button on the mouse
Drill up Select the member and
select Essbase > Zoom Out
double click on a member with the
right-hand side button on the mouse
Move
a member to a new
position (i.e. exchange
the places of row(s)
and/or column(s))
mark the member, press the right-
hand side button on the mouse and
move to desired position.
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Pivot Select the member and
select Essbase > Pivot
like move
Retain
a data subset
Select the desired
members and select
Essbase > Keep Only
Remove
a data subset
Select the desired
members and select
Essbase > Remove Only
(this command is a
counterpart to the Keep
Only command)
Retrieve data Select
Essbase > Retrieve
double click on any sell
Undo
(one step back only)
Select
Essbase > FlashBack
Now, how du you get to the worksheet on Fig 9? Try to do it by the help of commands
summary above. If you do not succeed, follow the instructions below. (If you after having
performed the steps below still do not reach the worksheet on the figure below, it may be
easier to start over from the beginning, Fig 8, and repeat all the steps once again.). However,
the steps suggested below are not the only way to reach to the required worksheet.
Fig 9.
1. Drill down on Year
double click on Year with the left-hand side button on the mouse
2. Drill down on Market
double click on Market with the left-hand side button on the mouse
3. Drill down on Scenario, so that the Scenarios attributes are typed in columns
press Alt key and
double click on Scenario with the left-hand side button on the mouse
4. Remove only the data for the South region
select South and
select Essbase > Remove Only
5. Keep only data for East and West
select East and West (by holding the Ctrl button when selecting West)
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select Essbase > Keep Only
Now, try to get back to the starting worksheet on Fig 8 by using Drill Up and Move
commands. If you do not succeed to do it by yourself follow the steps below.
1. Drill Up Market
double click on East with the right-hand side button on the mouse.
2. Drill Up Year
double click on Year (or Qtr1, or Qtr2, or Qtr3, Qtr4) with the right-hand side
button on the mouse.
3. Drill Up Scenario
double click on Scenario (or on some of its attributes, i.e., Actual, Budget,
Variance, or Variance%) with the right-hand side button on the mouse.
(the intermediate result after performing those three steps is shown in Fig 10)
4. Move Market from A3 to D1
mark Market, press the right-hand side button on the mouse and move to D1
(you can se the result from performing this step in Fig 11)
5. Move Scenario from B2 to E1
mark Scenario, press the right-hand side button on the mouse and move to E1
Fig 10. A spreadsheet Fig 11. A spreadsheet
So far, you have only worked with the dimensions. Of course, you are also able to use the so
called Attribute dimensions which are defined outside a basic dimension, but are associated
to a such. Pkg Type (Package Type) is such an attribute (see Fig 1) associated to the
Product dimension. The values of Pkg Type are Bottle and Can. Including such attribute
dimensions to a worksheet is done by manually typing them (or their values) in some cell on
row 1 in the worksheet. For instance
Type Pkg Type to E1, or
Type Can in C1 (Doing this removes the Product dimension, presently in C1, but its ok)
Now you can work with an attribute dimension in the same way you do with any other basic
dimension.
Now, after you have learned how to navigate in Hyperion Essbase, you can connect to the
cub you created at the end of the previous exercise (i.e., the Trad cub you created during the
IS INITIAL EXERCISE) and answer the questions below. Support every answer with a table
with data from the cube. (For you who are familiar with Excel, you are welcome to give
alternative graphical representations which suitably visualise data from the cube.) Your
answers shall be documented and handed in (on paper, i.e. not electronically) latest during
the last lecture of the course.
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QUESTI ONS
1. In which region(s), the budgeted amount is lower than the actual amount?
2. Compare the profit of Colas drinks for 2000 in Central and West regions with the profit of
Cream Soda drinks for the same year in the same regions!
3. Which were the two best selling products (i.e. the products giving the highest profit) and
the two worst selling products (i.e. the products with lowest profit) for the first quarter of
2000? Which were the two best selling products and the two worst selling products for the
whole year 2000?
4. In which city did the best selling products for year 2000 the lowest profit, and in which city
did they the highest profit?
5. Define an own question, similar to the questions above, and answer it!