Rules are inserted or added to the current selected set and each will have a name, a range and the actual calculation to be performed.
The Rules Editor screen is split into two panes. The left side being a list of all the rules in the current selected set and the right side being a larger edit window for the current selected rule.
Name
Each rule within a set must have a unique name. Whilst the name of the rule could be anything, it is good practice to give it the same name or a similar name to the item that you are calculating. So a rule that calculates the total revenue might be called ‘TotRevenue’
Range
The range specifies the address or range of cells where the calculation will apply. Cubix rules work on the basis of ‘Range by Exception’. This means that when defining a range, if a particular dimension is not mentioned in the range, then all members of that dimension are affected by the calculation.
The range of a calculation must include at least one element, and that can be a member or set from any of the following dimensions: Variable, Product, Time, View or Mode. Using a member Set in the range allows one rule to be applied to a selection of items. Click here for more information on sets.
Examples of Rule Range
| Range | Dimensions in Range | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| [Product_Revenue] | Variable | The Product_Revenue variable will be calculated for all entities, for all products, for all time periods, for all data views, for both periodic and cumulative modes. |
| [TotalYr] | Time | The Total Year time period will be calculated for all variables, for all entities, for all products, for all data views, for both periodic and cumulative modes. |
| [CF0002][Value] | Variable & Mode | The variable CF0002 will be calculated for all entities, for all products, for all time periods, for all data views, but only for the periodic mode |
| [PL_67][Jan][Input] | Variable, Time & View | The variable PL_67 will be calculated for all entities, for all products, for January only, for the input data view only, for both periodic and cumulative modes |
The Rule
This is the actual calculation that will be performed on the specified range. A rule can include all the normal operators (+ – * /) plus some functions and references which are specific to Cubix.
Ratio
Tick the ratio box if the formula needs to be resolved after all aggregation and consolidation calculations. This will ensure items such as percentages are correctly calculated for consolidated entities and are not just aggregations of underlying percentage values.
Rule Precedence
It may be the case that more than one rule could reference a particular cell. In this instance rule overlaps can occur. For example a rule that calculates the total year, applied to all variables will overlap with a rule that calculates the total revenue variable, applied to all time periods. Cubix resolves this conflict by the use of a Precedence Principle. The rule that applies is the one that appears furthest up the list of rules. It is important to consider the notion of rule precedence, particularly when writing rules across multiple dimensions.
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