Implicit Fact Column

The implicit fact column is used for queries that only select dimension attributes (no facts) from two or more dimensions. This setting will guide Oralce BI server in case of multiple paths.

A User may request a report where it may have only Dimensions and no Fact columns such as No of Customers in an Year or Product Category and Product Description. When these are requested the server may sometimes gets confused as from which fact table should it join to fetch the Data. So it joins to nearest fact table and pulls the data through it. So the result obtained may be different from what user is expecting.

So, to avoid this sort of confusion  We can create in a Dummy Fact table in a Physical Layer and Join all Dimensions to this Fact table in BMM Layer. Then in the Presentation Catalog we assign dummy fact table column as implicit fact column . So, Whenever a report on Dimensions are requested it joins through dummy fact table and fetch data.

To set an implicit fact column:

•   In presentation layer, double click the presentation catalog/ go to properties of presentation catalog.
•   In the general tab, find the Implicit Fact Column section.
•   Click on Set… button, this will open the browse window to select a fact column from the fact tables available in the presentation catalog.
•   Select the column.
•   Click OK.
•   Ensure that the selected Implicit Fact Column is displayed in the Implicit Fact Column section in the general properties of Presentation Catalog.
•   Click OK.
•   Save your changes in the repository.

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-Asifkhan P.