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Add Calculation Groups and Calculated Members

You can add calculation groups and their calculated members to a dimension via the Dimension properties panel.

Add a calculation group​

To add a calculation group to a dimension:

  1. In Design Center, open the dimension you want to add a calculation group to for editing. The Dimension properties panel opens.

  2. In the Calculation Groups section of the panel, click the plus (+) icon. The Calculation Group properties panel opens.

  3. Complete the following fields:

    • Display name: The name of the calculation group, as it will appear in BI tools.
    • Unique name: The unique name of the calculation group. This must be unique within the dimension.
    • Description: Optional. A description of the calculation group.
    • Folder: Optional. The folder in which the calculation group appears in BI tools.

  4. Click Apply.

The new calculation group appears in the Calculation Groups section of the Dimension properties panel. AtScale automatically adds a default calculated member to the group. You can add and edit members as needed.

Add a calculated member​

When defining calculated members, be aware of the following:

  • The first member in the group is considered the group's default member. You can rearrange the members' order at any time via the Dimension properties panel.
  • If your calculated member references a calculation via the Aggregate MDX function, ensure that the referenced calculation has an aggregation function set. Otherwise, you may encounter errors at query time. For more information, see Add Calculations.
  • If the member's expression requires a time unit, you can only include references to dimensional attributes with time units.
  • When using Tableau or Power BI, be aware of the limitations described in Known Issues and Limitations.

To add a calculated member to a calculation group:

  1. In Design Center, open the dimension you want to add a calculated member to. The Dimension properties panel opens.

  2. In the Calculation Groups section, click the context menu for the calculation group you want to add a member to and select Create Calculation Member. The Calculation Member properties panel opens.

  3. Enter a Unique name for the member. This must be unique within the dimension.

  4. (Optional) Enter a Description for the member.

  5. In the Template field, select a calculation template to use. The template expression appears in the Expression field.

    If you want to define your own expression, select Custom.

  6. If you need to edit the expression:

    1. Click the pencil icon in the Expression field. The Formula window appears.
    2. Edit the expression as needed. You can press Ctrl+Space while editing to toggle AtScale's MDX code completion feature.
    3. Click Test MDX Syntax at the bottom of the window to validate your formula.
    4. Click anywhere outside the window to close it.

  7. In the Formatting field, specify the format to return query results in. Do one of the following:

    • Select the Use input metric's format checkbox to configure the results to always use the formatting defined for the input metric. This is useful for calculated members that can't have a standard output format. Note that you cannot choose a formatting option if this checkbox is selected.
    • Select one of AtScale's built-in named formats.
    • Select the Custom option and specify your own format. For more information on supported formats, see Formats for Data Values.

  8. Click Apply.

The calculated member appears in the Calculation Groups section of the Dimension properties panel.