Chapter 5 [ 195 ] Steps to Execute MaxL from the EAS Editor: 1. Within EAS, click on File | Editor | MaxL Script Editor. 2. The MaxL editor will be opened. 3. Variables can be dened at the Server, Database, and Application level. Create variables at the server level Server level variables can be created by the use of ALTER statement. Syntax: ALTER SYSTEM ADD/SET/DROP VARIABLE • VARIABLE-NAME: Name of the variable • STRING: Value for the variable Example: • Create Variable: alter system add variable 'varSystem' '200801'; • Edit Variable: alter system set variable 'varSystem' '200802'; • Delete Variable: alter system drop variable 'varSystem'; Create variables at the application level Using the ALTER command at the application level, we can create, edit, or delete a substitution variable. Syntax: ALTER APPLICATION [APPLICATION-NAME] ADD/SET/DROP VARIABLE • VARIABLE-NAME: Name of the variable • STRING: Value for the variable Example: • Create Variable: alter application ESSCAR add variable 'varAppl' 'ESSCAR1'; • Edit Variable: alter application ESSCAR set variable 'varAppl' 'ESSCAR'; • Delete Variable: alter application ESSCAR drop variable 'varAppl'; This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Calculating your Essbase Cube [ 196 ] Create variables at the database level Using the ALTER command at the database level, we can create, edit, or delete a variable. Syntax: ALTER DATABASE APPLICATION-NAME.DATABASE-NAME ADD/SET/DROP VARIABLE • VARIABLE-NAME: Name of the variable • STRING: Value for the variable Example: • Create Variable: alter database ESSCAR.ESSCAR add variable 'varAppDB''ESSCAR1'; • Edit Variable: alter application ESSCAR set variable 'varAppDB''ESSCAR'; • Delete Variable: alter application ESSCAR drop variable 'varAppDB'; Using Maxl, if you want to create a variable which has a double quote in it, dene it as shown below: alter database 'ESSCAR'.'ESSCAR' add variable 'varDQ' '"TestDQ"'; Displaying the Substitution Variable and its value To display a substitution variable, the display MaxL statement will be used. Syntax: display variable all variable name on application APPLICATION-NAME on database DATABASE-NAME on system all : Displays all existing substitution variables on the server. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Chapter 5 [ 197 ] Example: display variable all; • variable name: Displays the variable with the Variable Name statement. For Server level Variables, you should just give the Variable-Name statement, for Application level variables, you should code Application-Name. Variable-Name and for variables declared at the database level only, you should code Application-Name.Database-Name.Variable-Name. Example: display variable 'VARSYSTEM'; display variable 'ESSCAR'.'ESSCAR'.'VARAppDB'; display variable 'ESSCAR'.'varAppl'; • on application: Displays all of the variables which are dened for that application. Example: display variable on application 'ESSCAR'; This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Calculating your Essbase Cube [ 198 ] • on database: Displays all of the variables which are dened on the Database. Example: display variable on database 'ESSCAR'.'ESSCAR'; Displaying the Substitution Variable in the SQL editor As we have discussed earlier, substitution variables can be used in most of the Essbase editors or API programming statements. We would quickly like to demonstrate how we can use the substitution variable in the Essbase SQL interface. As you know, sometimes you are required to build a cube only for a particular month and the month may vary depending on the user's request. Instead of changing the SQL code for every request we can actually create a varMonth variable and pass this variable in the SQL. To call this variable in the SQL interface, you need to say &Substitution-variable (@VarMonth) as shown: This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Chapter 5 [ 199 ] Check it out, you can use the substitution variable from the Calculation Script Editor, or any other script or object that executes in Essbase. Building your rst Calculation Script The name of this section gives you the impression that we will be discussing Essbase database calculation scripts, exclusively. What you learn here is also about 95% applicable to coding database outline member formulas as well. As mentioned earlier in this chapter, aside from a few member set functions and the FIX and EXCLUDE commands, almost everything that you can code in a database calculation script can be coded in a database outline member formula. To begin with, open the Calculation Script Editor in EAS by drilling down to your Essbase database like Essbase Server | Application | Database, then right-clicking on Calculation Scripts and then selecting the Create calculation script option. You will now see the Calculation Script Editor as shown earlier in this chapter. Take a close look at the editor itself. Notice the various options that help simplify the calculation script writing process on the left side. First up is a checkbox allowing you to view the database outline using the database outline member aliases instead of the database outline member names. There is also a list box that allows you to select the outline alias table, should you have more than one created for your database outline. The next feature is a great help when writing a calculation script. What you see under the alias table selection area is a simplied representation of the database outline. When you click on an outline member, its name is placed in the script wherever you placed the cursor. Underneath the outline feature are two check boxes. If you check Insert arguments, when you click on an argument, listed near the bottom it will place the calculation argument into the calculation script wherever you place the cursor. If you check the Enable Auto-completion , the editor will offer you the choice of automatically completing the statements you are typing, much like a Microsoft Visual Basic editor. Finally, at the bottom is a visual tree representation of all of the available database calculation functions and commands. If you have the Insert arguments checkbox checked, the editor will place the argument you click into your calculation script wherever you have placed your cursor. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com . for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 20 09 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 794 23 Download at Boykma.Com Calculating your Essbase Cube [ 196 ] Create variables at the database level Using. for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 20 09 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 794 23 Download at Boykma.Com Calculating your Essbase Cube [ 198 ] • on database: Displays all of the variables. licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 20 09 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 794 23 Download at Boykma.Com Chapter 5 [ 199 ] Check it out, you can use the substitution variable from