Parameterized measure type - 2 different approaches

Question

Hi colleagues,
I need again your priceless time to discuss the following situation:
I would like to parametetized the type of measure, or better, the type o calculation applied to a specific measure, i.e., I have only two base measure, Net Sales, and Gross Sales, and then I have different calculations like YTD, Currency Adjusted, Currency
Adjusted Last Year, EUR Value, EUR Value LY, etc...
Instead of create a big set of calculated members, I would like to create a measure type dimension instead, and then the user can select want he wants to see. I figured out two different ways:
1) In the view which feeds the cube, create a data set for every measure type and flag it with the correspondent type and then apply an Union All to join the sets. The big disadvantage for me is, I will multiply the size of this measure group by the number
of different measure types that I have.
2) Inside the calculated member formula, use a switch of if-else statement to determine which formula should be apply. My concerns here are related to the performance of this approach.
Any Idea or comment would be highly appreciated.
Kind Regards,

Answer 1

Hi Paul,
    I have implemented the same type of Dimension for my project.  I have used the scoped  assignments for my purpose. With this approach I can differentiate the calculations within the scope of a particular measure.
Let's say that your Fact table is Sales. I have created a new column in Sales and named it as MeasuresDimKey with default value as 1. I have also created a MeasuresDim dimension like: 
Create View MeasureszDim as
Select 1 as ID, 'Actual' as MeasureType
In dimension usage I have established a relationship between Fact and Dimension table. Then I head back to calculations and created the measures I want as NULL...
Create member CurrentCube.[MeasuresDim].[MeasuresDim].Measure1 as NULL;
Scope([MeasuresDim].[MeasuresDim].Measure1);
Scope(<Other Dimension Members>)
This=DefaultMember <Actual Member in MeasuresDim Dimension>
* <Calculation>
End Scope;
 Please set the IsAggregatable Property to False and Actual member as DefaultMember for the dimension attribute. Scopes worked really well for me and may or may not work for you. Please find the below code for your reference.
--- Currency Utility Dimension-----------
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[Euro Fixed] AS NULL;
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[Euro Variable] AS NULL;
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[USD Fixed] AS NULL;
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[USD Variable] AS NULL;
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[STG Fixed] AS NULL;
Create member CurrentCube.[Currency Conversion].[Currency].[STG Variable] AS NULL;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[Euro Fixed]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
*sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Latest Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[Euro Variable]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
*sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[USD Fixed]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
* sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[3],[Measures].[Latest Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[USD Variable]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
*sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[3],[Measures].[Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[STG Fixed]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
* sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[2],[Measures].[Latest Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Scope([Currency Conversion].[Currency].[STG Variable]);
Scope([Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer]);
This=sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],[Measures].[Sales Value Manufacturer])
*sum([Currency Conversion].[Currency].&[1],([Currency].[Currency].&[2],[Measures].[Exchange Rate]));
Format_String(This)="#,##0.00;-#,##0.00";
End Scope;
Best Regards,
Venkata Koppula