Adding further data slicers

There are seven dimensions in the sample ANALYSIS cube. As you can see in the Edit OLAP Formula dialog, they all contribute to the view of the data that the report displays. However, we have made only three available to users.

We will add combo boxes for the Channel, POS, Region and Valtype dimensions.

  1. Create combo boxes in cells E6, G6, I6 and K6.
  2. Click Database Structure and expand the ANALYSIS cube.
  3. Drag:
    • The Channel dimension onto cell E6
    • The POS dimension onto cell G6
    • The Region dimension onto cell I6
    • The Valtype dimention onto cell K6
  4. Open the Object Properties dialog of each combo box and change their names to Channel, POS, Region, and Valtype respectively.
  5. Click cell C11 and click Edit OLAP formula. Double-click the Element of a dimension, other than Product or Period. The drop-down list contains the name of its combo box. For example, 'ReportObjects.POS.text'.
  6. In the Element column, replace the Element entries for the dimensions Channel, POS, Region and Valtype with references to the combo boxes. The Dimensions section of the Edit OLAP Formula dialog should now contain these entries:
    Dimension Element
    Channel ReportObjects.Channel.Text
    Measure ReportObjects.Measure.Text
    POS ReportObjects.POS.Text
    Product B11
    Region ReportObjects.Region.Text
    Period C10
    Valtype ReportObjects.Valtype.Text
  7. Click View Mode. Make different selections from the combo boxes and check that the data changes accordingly.
    Note: If you change the name of a list object (for example, a combo box) the references in the OLAP formula automatically update to the new name.

    As you make different selections from the different combo boxes, you may notice that, often, the report shows only zero values. It is a common feature of multidimensional databases that, for many combinations of elements, there is no data.

  8. Save the report and then create a copy called Tutorial3.