"Going
Multidimensional" in Cube Reporting
We will take the a few
steps to demonstrate how we can unleash the multidimensional power of our
cubes, by making multiple dimensions share the same axis in our PivotTable
report. The PivotTable report provides a full realization of the information
presentation potential of the multidimensional cube by intersecting
dimensions on a single axis, and therefore delivers the full impact of
multidimensional data in the "two-dimensional world" of the typical
reporting environment.
We will begin by making
the Store Type a part of the row axis to make analysis of Store
members more powerful, yet more compact.
1.
Drag the Store Type item
from the page axis (upper left hand corner of the PivotTable report) to
the left of the Store State column, dropping it to the left of Store
State. The result set should resemble that shown in Illustration 27.
Illustration
27: Combining the Store Type and Store Dimensions in the Row Axis
We can easily tell that
only the Store Type label represents the top level of a
dimension, as a drop-down arrow only appears at top levels. We can see in this
simple scenario that multiple dimensions (in our case the Store Type
and Store dimensions), as well as multiple levels of a given dimension
(here, the Store State and Store City levels of the Store
dimension), can co-exist on a single axis. The possibilities that emerge
are far reaching, indeed.
Now let's add another measure
to the report - Unit Sales - to give us more information about store
performance.
2.
Drag the Unit Sales item
from the PivotTable Field List to the Data section of the PivotTable
report (the column under the Year heading in our present report). Once
we drop the measure, the PivotTable report should resemble the illustration
below.
Illustration
28: Dual Measures now appear in the PivotTable Report (Partial Illustration)
A new Data
column appears, and in accordance with its default behavior, represents what
appears to be a fourth row dimension.