Month Sorting at Universe Level

Question

Hi All,
We have created a Universe on BEx query to develope an BO Explorer.
We are having Sorting problem with Fiscal Period values, which is in Character type.
So need some clarification on below queries..
Q: Can we change the Fiscal Period datatype from Character to Number?
I think it will give an error if we change the datatype
Q: Can we add preceding zeros for 1 to 9 months?
I used below MDX expression for testing purpose,
<EXPRESSION>IIF([0FISCPER3].[LEVEL01]="1",1,2)</EXPRESSION>
But it is always giving me the else part only.
If I replace the dimension with Measure then the above expression is working fine.
Q: Can we use Concatination Operator for adding preceeding zeros for periods 1 to 9?
Q: Can we apply any transformations on Dimenstion fields?
Environment details:
BO 4.1 SP3
UDT 4.1 SP3
Please advise me.
--Praveen G

Answer 1

Hi Ann, it is always helpful to have a dim_time table in your data mart where you have these 2 fields (among others):
month_number     month_full_name
     1          January
     2         February
and so on...
Then you can put something like the following SQL in your derived table called "MONTH"....
select distinct month_number, month_full_name
from dim_time
order by 1
Create a dimension object, says, "month_lov". Go the Properties tab, click "Edit", then "SQL". In the query panel, put in something like this...
select month.month_full_name
from
(select distinct month_number, month_full_name
from dim_time
order by 1) month
Make sure you check "Do not generate SQL before running", then click "OK" and "Save and Close". Then create a condition object to point to this LOV. You should be able to get the months listed in the real order.
Hope this helps.
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