{"id":3476,"date":"2023-04-12T15:33:22","date_gmt":"2023-04-12T15:33:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quebit.com\/askquebit\/using-default-views-in-ibm-planning-analytics\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T16:31:42","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T16:31:42","slug":"using-default-views-in-ibm-planning-analytics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quebit.com\/askquebit\/using-default-views-in-ibm-planning-analytics\/","title":{"rendered":"How Do I Use Default Views in IBM Planning Analytics?"},"content":{"rendered":"

IBM defines a cube<\/u> as \u201c\u2026the basic container for data\u2026<\/em>\u201d and a cube view<\/u> as \u201c\u2026the definition of how a cube’s dimensions are arranged\u2026<\/em>\u201d. Planning Analytics cubes can each have multiple views defined and typically, each cube will have specific views designed to assist with common reporting needs.<\/p>\n

Common Views<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to defining various common views, it is always a good idea to also define a default view<\/em> for each cube in a model. A default view is the view that will be loaded if you just double-click the cube or open the cube without first selecting one of the specific saved views.<\/p>\n

You can save any view<\/em> of cube data for quick access in the future and any view as the cubes default view. Remember though that each cube view must have a unique name<\/u> and a cube can have only one (actually one public and one private) default view. Default views automatically display in the Cube Viewer or when you double-click the cube name in the Server Explorer window.<\/p>\n

When you create a common view, the intention is to arrange the dimensionality and data of the cube in a way that you need to view the data so that you don\u2019t have to take the time to re-arrange the dimensions and data each time you need to view the data in a certain way. For example, you might define a balance sheet view, or an income statement view for a Finance cube. \u00a0You can read about how to create a new cube view here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Default Views<\/strong><\/p>\n

When you create a default<\/em> view, the objective is a bit different, that is you want to arrange the dimensionality and data in such a way that the view loads as quickly as possible<\/em>. This is typically done by selecting only aggregated elements for each dimension, such as\u00a0 \u201cTotal Company\u201d or \u201cAll Regions\u201d (rather than listing all of the company or region elements). When a cube view loads, the more elements that are visible, the longer<\/em> it will take to load. \u00a0Typically, setting each dimension to the \u201ctop level\u201d element (aggregation) will improve the view load time, however, there is a nuance in that sometimes this \u201cTop of the House\u201d (e.g., Total Regions etc.) selection will be slow if it is at the top of a very large dimension and has to consolidate or \u201crollup\u201d up MANY rule-calculated values. In this case, it is better to select a default as one of the \u201csmaller\u201d elements in the dimension.<\/p>\n

Leveraging MDX Expressions<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once you have a view defined you may want to take things a bit further and make the view dynamic<\/em> by using a dynamic subset within the view. A dynamic subset can use an MDX expression<\/a> to automatically filter elements from a dimension (rather than showing a static list of pre-selected elements). For example, you could define a static subset on a Year dimension to show the current \u201cReporting Year\u201d and then manually update the subset as part of a reporting year-end process or, you could use an MDX expression to drive<\/em> or change the subset automatically so that it always shows whatever the current reporting year is without anyone having to update it \u2013 a much more efficient approach.<\/p>\n

Use Case<\/strong><\/p>\n

For illustration, here is a simple (but practical) use case using the \u201cPlanning Sample\u201d Planning Analytics (PA) server that is included with the PA installation. In this server there is a cube named \u201cplan_Report\u201d. Let\u2019s suppose that this cube is used for monthly reporting. Here is the cube and its dimensionality (shown in the TM1 Architect user interface):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There are already a number of views defined for this cube, but let\u2019s create a default view that will load a fast as possible when a user opens the cube. To do that you can:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Double-click the cube name<\/li>\n
  2. Modify the view to meet our requirements. For this default view we want to select the highest-level aggregated element for each dimension:\n