Validate All Financial KPI Definitions

Explanation

This activity is used to validate all active Financial KPI Definitions by transferring the KPI definitions to the SQL Server database and then for each KPI build the Multi Dimensional eXpression (MDX expression) that represents the cube measure and test the expression on the target OLAP cube. The result of the validation will be reported to the end user.

This activity should always be made prior to publishing all active Financials KPI Definitions as measures in the target OLAP cube.

The result of the KPI validation, where all KPIs will be listed, is reported in a dialog box with the following labels:

• VALID: The KPI is regarded as a valid OLAP cube measure.
• NO ERROR: No errors were found while validating the KPI but the MDX expression did not return any data. A typical case is when the referenced OLAP cube measures are based on time intelligence, e.g. YTD measures, then the MDX expression will not return any data.
• ERROR: An error was found in the KPI definition, i.e. it cannot be validated as a measure in the OLAP cube. The Details field in the dialog box shows the built MDX expression and can be useful. Check measure names, dimension, hierarchy names and calculation definitions.

Prerequisites

This activity has the following prerequisites:

• Configuration Settings must be have been defined, i.e. SQL Server database and servers
• Financial KPI Definitions must be available in the current cube definition.

System Effects

As a result of this activity:

• A successfully validated Financial KPI Definition can, together with all other valid KPI definitions in the current cube, be published to the target OLAP cube in the Analysis Services database.

Window

OLAP Cube Set Up

Related Window Descriptions

OLAP Cube Set Up
Connection Settings

Procedure

To perform this activity,

1. Open the OLAP Cube Set Up window.
2. Populate the window with the required Cube ID.
3. Right click and select Validate All KPIs
4. If the definitions are valid, the next would be to publish all valid cube KPIs
5. If one or more definitions are not valid, analyze why and modify the calculation details. Then always validate each corrected KPI separately first.
   
   Note: A warning does not necessary mean that anything is wrong. A typical case is when the referenced OLAP cube measures are based on time intelligence, e.g. YTD measures. In that case the MDX expression will in most cases return no data, since the measure will only be useful when combined with a time dimension hierarchy.