Linked Cube Views: Part 1
Let us discuss an exciting capability that OneStream gives us in Reporting. The Linked Cube View; this allows users to get additional details about the data they are looking at with just two clicks. This can be a great way to give users a view into a lower level of Extensibility, give your users additional detail to drill into, or related accounts or KPIs. Linked Cube Views are simple to use, and the possibilities are endless.
The steps below will explain how to set up a Linked Cube View as well as some prime use cases for one. As I write this, I realize there will need to be a part two to this. In this post we will cover setting up the linked Cube Views and in part two we will cover how to take these and turn them into a simple (but powerful) dashboard. Also, a great dashboard for anyone new to dashboarding to take on without reducing you to tears.
The First Cube View:
To start out you will need two Cube Views. I repurposed a Balance Sheet Cube View I had already created which had Accounts in the Rows and my consolidating entities across the top. You can do this with any Cube View you have created already. Reuse one you already have, and step one is already completed!
The Second Cube View:
Next, I created a second Cube View which I so creatively named “Drill Into.” My rows here are also quite simple. You can see I assigned the account dimension, which is what I want my user to be able to drill into. My member filter says: A#|!DrillA!|.Base
I am going to be passing an account into this Cube View through a Bound Parameter (which we are going to create in a minute). I am then using the member expansion Base to provide the base level detail under this account. The Total Row in my Cube View holds A#|!DrillA!|to provide us with a total.
For my columns I added a rolling 3 months, Prior Year, and a variance column.
The other thing we will need to add to this Cube View is in the POV slider. Here you will need to reference every dimension you want to pass from your first Cube View. This will really depend on your use case. You can see what I am passing through below. Pass these through using pipes and exclamation marks like you would any Parameter. This is the POV in the Target or Drill Down Cube View:
Bound Parameters:
Now you might be wondering if you need to go and build out a bunch of Parameters. The answer is sort of. You will need to navigate back to your initial Cube View and go to General Settings and Navigation Links. You will then need to update the Linked Cube View to reference your drill Cube View as well as input all the Bound Parameter Names you are passing into that second Cube View. This step is essentially creating the Parameter, so you do not have to create a Parameter Component within a Dashboard Maintenance Unit.
Note: if you are not on at least 6.8 your view below will be a little different, you will not be able to pass in certain dimensions or link to a Dashboard. You will however still be able to follow these steps.
Below are the Navigation Links within the Source Cube View:
The Two Clicks I Promised (ok, maybe it’s three):
Once this is done all you have left to do is open your Cube View in the data explorer. From here you can right click on any cell and select Navigate to ‘Drill Into’ (I hope you picked a better name than me, in hindsight ‘Account Detail’ would be better).
You will get a second window displayed that shows the base level accounts that roll into your selection. The top bar also provides information about what was passed on and from which Cube View.
I can see my Base level Michigan accounts (above) as well as my base level England accounts (below) which are in two different Cubes.
Use Cases:
Your head might be spinning with possibilities where you can apply this in your application. If not, I will give you a few examples.
My use case here stems from a classic Extensibility example. My source GL systems have two separate Chart of Accounts which are loaded into OneStream in Detail Cubes and then Consolidated into a Reporting Cube. This allows my users to seamlessly go from accounts in one Cube to another.
You could also use this to allow users to see a breakout of Sales by Customer or expenses by Cost Center. You could allow users to navigate from a Cube View to a dashboard that provides key metrics about the data they are looking at, or to compare to prior periods, forecast, or Budget, which can be used in variance analysis commentary.
Getting More Advanced:
If you want to get really creative, you also have the ability to assign different Cube Views or Dashboards to individual Rows by using the Navigation Links on the Data Tab. (Note as mentioned above linked Dashboards were part of the 6.8 update)
Happy Linking, and if you are interested in turning this into an interactive user dashboard more to follow!