Both shared members and alternate hierarchies provide different rollups of a dimension. There are key differences between using shared members and creating an alternate hierarchy to organize your data. Not all features support alternate hierarchies. Alternate hierarchies appear on a single screen when you create a new data structure for specific reporting purposes. Use shared members where possible. Not all features support alternate hierarchies, such as Hierarchy Extracts.
Shared members
Shared members enable a single member, such as an entity member, to appear in multiple places within the same data hierarchy. This is useful when you need to use the same data for different calculations or reports. For example, you might have one entity that belongs to two different regions. Instead of creating a duplicate, you can create a shared member.
The shared member is a pointer to the original member. All data is entered and stored in the original member. Shared members display data from the original only. Entering or importing data directly into a shared member isn't supported.
Shared members are distinguished by their icon.
Example of shared members
The default hierarchy includes Canada as a parent with the cities of Toronto and Ottawa. In a national-level report, you can see the performance of all Canadian cities rolled up.
However, a manager for the Ontario region needs a report that includes only cities within that province. Instead of creating and managing duplicate records for Toronto and Ottawa, you can create an Ontario parent and add Toronto and Ottawa as shared members.
This setup allows for two different views of the data:
- National View: Toronto and Ottawa roll up into the Canada total.
- Regional View: The same data for Toronto and Ottawa also rolls up into a separate Ontario total for regional analysis.
This way, data is entered once for each city, ensuring consistency across all reports.
Alternate hierarchies
Alternate hierarchies also provide a way to organize and view your members, typically for reporting purposes. You must first define all your members in the default hierarchy. Then you can create alternative hierarchies to generate different rollups for reporting purposes.
In an alternate hierarchy, you can:
- Use different parent members than in the default hierarchy.
- Include only a subset of the members.
Data in an alternate hierarchy is used only for rollup and reporting. Shared members aren't allowed in alternate hierarchies.
Key points to remember
When working with shared members and alternate hierarchies, keep these rules in mind to ensure data accuracy and proper calculations:
- Data Entry: For shared members, data is always entered into the original member.
- Calculations: Calculation processes only run on the main default hierarchy.
