Getting Familiar with a Subject Area

The Model Contents area lists the contents of the subject area that you are currently viewing. For example, this area might look like this initially:

If you have not worked with the current subject area before, it is useful to examine its contents. First, use the drop-down list to select the kind of item to display in this area. Select one of the following:

Dimensions — Select this to display the basic model defined in this subject area. In this case, the Model Viewer can display the following sections:
Pivots — Select this to display any pivot tables defined in this subject area.
Quality Measures — Select this to display any quality measures available in this subject area.
Detail Listings — Select this to display any detail listings defined in this subject area.

The purpose of the Model Content area is to enable you to create pivot tables. To do this, drag and drop items into the Pivot Builder area on the right, as described in the next section.

Tip:

For most items, if you hover the cursor over the name of an item in the Model Content area, the system displays a tooltip that shows the description of the item, if any.

Measures

To display a list of measures, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Measures folder. This folder lists all measures in the subject area. For example:

You can have two types of measures, indicated by icons as follows:

	Standard measures
	Calculated measures, which are defined in terms of other measures

Dimensions

To display a list of dimensions, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Dimensions folder. This folder lists the dimensions and the levels, members, and properties that they contain; it might also list related subject areas, with their dimensions, levels, and so on.

Click the triangle next to any dimension name to expand it. A dimension contains at least one level and may also include a special member known as the All member. In the following example, the AgeD dimension includes an All member named All Patients, as well as the levels Age Group, Age Bucket, and Age.

Dimensions folder expanded to show AgeD dimension with All patients member, age group, age bucket, and age levels

Hierarchies

Each dimension also includes at least one hierarchy, which is the actual container for levels. The following shows an example (a modified version of the Patients subject area), with a hierarchy named H1.

DocD dimension expanded to show all H1 hierarchy with doctor group and doctor levels

By default, hierarchy names are not shown unless a dimension contains multiple hierarchies. Alternatively, a dimension can be defined so that its hierarchy names are always or never shown.

In the Patients subject area, each dimension contains only one hierarchy, so the hierarchy names are not shown. Hierarchies are purely informational; you cannot drag and drop them as you can with the other items in the Model Contents pane.

Level Members and Properties

If you expand a level, the list displays the members of that level. For example:

AgeD dimension expanded to show All patients member and Age Group level expanded to show its members

If a level also includes properties, this area shows the property names with a different icon. For example, the City level includes the Population and Principal Export properties:

HomeD folder with City level expanded to show Population and Principal Export properties

Variations for Data Levels with Many Members

If a data level contains more than 500 members but fewer than 10,000 members, this area displays any property names, followed by subfolders that contain the members in groups of 100. For example:

Doctor level expanded to show groups 1-100, 101-200, and so on

In this case, the system does not access the member names until you expand one of these subfolders. Thus it is possible to see and use the properties without waiting for the system to access all the member names.

If a level contains 10,000 members or more, this area displays only the property names, if any, of the level.

The preceding discussion applies only to data levels. In contrast, time levels are always displayed in the same way.

Related Subject Areas

The Dimensions folder might also list related subject areas, which it shows in bold italics. If you expand a related subject area, you can access the dimensions, levels, and possibly the hierarchies of the other subject area, as follows:

Dimensions folder expanded to show related cubes. Cities subject area expanded to show location levels.

Pivot Variables

To display a list of pivot variables, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Pivot Variables folder. This folder (if included) lists any pivot variables in the subject area. For example:

Unlike most other elements in the Dimensions section, pivot variables are defined in the Analyzer; see Defining and Using Pivot Variables.

Plug-ins

To display a list of plug-ins, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Plug-ins folder. This folder (if included) lists any plugins in the subject area. For example:

A plug-in contains one or more properties, each of which computes a value. This particular plug-in contains two properties. Plug-in properties can be used in the same way as measures.

Named Sets

To display a list of named sets, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Named Sets folder. This folder (if included) lists any named sets in the subject area. For example:

A set contains one or more items; typically each item is a member of a level defined elsewhere.

Named Filters

To display a list of named filters, select Dimensions from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Named Filters folder. This folder (if included) lists any named filters in the subject area. For example:

Unlike most other elements in the Dimensions section, named filters are defined in the Analyzer; see Defining Named Filters.

Calculated Members

At the bottom of the Dimensions section, the Model Contents pane shows any special dimensions that contain calculated members. These special dimensions include only members, not hierarchies or levels. For example:

Calculated members are typically combinations of other members. For example, the Primary Colors member is a combination of the Red, Yellow, and Blue members of the Favorite Color level.

Other dimensions in your model might also include calculated members. If so, the member is displayed in that dimension with a different icon than other members. For example, if we redefined the two calculated members to move them to the ColorD dimension, we would see the following for that dimension:

ColorD dimension expanded to show calculated members Primary Colors and Secondary Colors

Unlike most other elements in the Dimensions section, calculated members can be defined in the Analyzer; see Defining Calculated Elements.

Pivot Tables

To display a list of pivot tables, select Pivots from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Pivots folder. This folder (if included) lists any pivot tables defined in the subject area. For example:

Pivots folder expanded to show list of pivots

To use this area, expand folders and needed and click a pivot table name. The Pivot Preview area then displays that pivot table.

Quality Measures

To display a list of quality measures, select Quality Measures from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. Then expand the Quality Measures folder. This folder (if included) lists any quality measures in the subject area. For example:

Quality measures can be used in the same way as measures.

Detail Listings

To display a list of detail listings, select Detail Listings from the drop-down list in the Model Contents area. This area then lists any detail listings defined in the subject area. For example:

For information on using this area, see Displaying a Detail Listing.

Creating a Pivot Table

Selecting a Subject Area