02.01 Axes

Most cubes in FastClose (and the templates that use them) can be used to produce many different reports, even though they come from and are built from the same data. As we discussed at the end of the last session, the organisation of the source data in the ERP’s tables has no bearing on how it ends up laid out in the reports that use and display that data.

Here is a video, or read below.

Axes

Let’s look at a simple FastClose balances report:

The textual columns to the left form what is called the “Down Axis” and the column headings above the values form what is called the “Across Axis”. Ie:

In this example, the down axis is made up of the Company, Division, Department and Account dimensions.

and in the across axis: Year, Period and Measures.

By default, every combination of selected members in each of the across dimensions has its own column.

Hence, in the across axis, if we select

• the members “2020” and “2019” from the “Fiscal Year” dimension, and

• the members “Period 1”, “Period 2” and “Period 3” from the “Fiscal Period” dimension, and

• the members “Actual” and “Budget” from the “Measures” dimension

we will get the following (2 x 3 x 2 = 12) columns:

• 2020, Period 1, Actual

• 2020, Period 1, Budget

• 2020, Period 2, Actual

• 2020, Period 2, Budget

• 2020, Period 3, Actual

• 2020, Period 3, Budget

• 2019, Period 1, Actual

• 2019, Period 1, Budget

• 2019, Period 2, Actual

• 2019, Period 2, Budget

• 2019, Period 3, Actual

• 2019, Period 3, Budget

This multiplying effect also has the potential to occur in the down axis, so here where we have 4 dimensions in the down axis, each with a great many members selected, it is possible for a great many rows to be generated.

To control this affect FastClose automatically removes those rows, where the combination does not bring back any data. This greatly limits the number of rows returned and makes the reports more useful and readable.