Minimum structure content

Because parent and child relationships define the nature of hierarchies and, consequently, hierarchical dimensions, the associated structure data must contain some indication of those relationships. Therefore, the minimum structure data for simple hierarchies is the name and parent name of each group and member.

If the dimension contains more than one hierarchy, the hierarchy or group should also be provided for the top members, at minimum. Otherwise, an audit error occurs, and the import fails.

These figures show the minimum structure data needed to create the group and member hierarchies of the World example.

Group hierarchy Minimal group structure
Generated row for table with only header rows. DITA requires a body which requires a row. ../images/image4.png 
Name, Parent
World, *
Continent, World 
Country, Continent
City, Country
Group hierarchy Minimal member structure
Generated row for table with only header rows. DITA requires a body which requires a row. ../images/image5.png 
Name, Parent
World, *
Continent, World 
Africa, World
Europe, World 
S. Africa, Africa
Egypt, Africa 
France, Europe 
Cape Town, S. Africa
Cairo, Egypt 
Paris, France

Important information about the examples above and the creation of structure data include:

  • Use of an asterisk (*)
  • The World group has an asterisk (*) in the parent field. This indicates that the group is the top level in the hierarchy.
  • Order of group listing
  • Group information is listed in hierarchical order for clarity. It is not a requirement.
  • Header row
  • The Name, Parent line is a header row and is not required in text files. A header row is included in this example for clarity.
  • Unbroken line of parentage
  • Every group in the hierarchy should have a corresponding entry in the structure data if it does not already exist in the database. If one of the groups is not accounted for, the import fails.