Recreate Specific Hierarchies in a dimension

[prameson]

Hi All

We have a non-TM1 web based process for managing all hierarchies.

We want to be able to take data from this database and use it to re-create hierarchies in TM1 dimensions. The data will be hierarchy rather than dimension specific, so it will be possible that only one of the (possibly many) hierarchies in a dimension will be updated at any one time.

My issue is that obviously there could be consolidations that are shared by different hierarchies. So I can't just unwind all the consolidations of the hierarchy I am re-creating as it may be used elsewhere.

The approach I have come up with (through TI) is this:
1. Output all consolidations detail (attributes, children etc) other than the one I am about to update to a text file
2. Get rid of all the consolidations in the dimension (not sure yet whether this is a delete or just a de-couple).
3. Load consolidations in from the web tool (new hierarchy) and then the text file (all other hierarchies).

I'm sure I can get this to work, I'm just not sure that it's the most efficient / safest method of doing this.
Any advice gratefully recived.

[tomok]

My issue is that obviously there could be consolidations that are shared by different hierarchies. So I can't just unwind all the consolidations of the hierarchy I am re-creating as it may be used elsewhere.

Why not? If this new tool is supposed to hold ALL your hierarchical metadata then why can't you rebuild all the hierarchies each time the process is run. Why muck everything up if there is an easier answer.

[prameson]

Why not? If this new tool is supposed to hold ALL your hierarchical metadata then why can't you rebuild all the hierarchies each time the process is run. Why muck everything up if there is an easier answer.

That would be one way of doing it, but I have been asked to give it the flexibility of being able to just update one hierarchy on the fly. I guess there could be times when one hierarchy needs to be updated in TM1 when another is still being worked on in the hierarchy tool.

[Martin Ryan]

Does the source hierarchy tool have the concept of named hierarchies? Failing that you might be able to make your own hierarchy name using the top element in the hierarchy. You could store that name as an attribute in the dimension for each of the elements in that hierarchy. Then you can decouple only the elements that have that name as their attribute.

Martin

[prameson]

Thanks Martin.

The tool will give me the hierarchy name so yes, I can just select all parents in that hierarchy and de-couple them from their children. Then pull in the data from the hierarchy tool, re-build the hierarchy and probably best to create a check consol to contain any parents that no longer have children.

Many thanks - I did have a feeling I was overcomplicating things with my approach!

[tomok]

I guess there could be times when one hierarchy needs to be updated in TM1 when another is still being worked on in the hierarchy tool.

Proper versioning control in the hierarchy tool should take this into consideration. Only finalized hierarchies should be promoted to "production" and TM1 should only pull the "production" hierarchies. In process hierarchies should stay "in process".