Measures
The Measures tab of the RMD screen holds the catalog of the project's business measures. Each row of the table is one measure; the columns describe where its values come from, how it is calculated, and who is responsible for it. The tab is edited as a spreadsheet — see the Working with RMD tables page.
Types of measures
| Measure type | Description | Columns that matter |
|---|---|---|
| Base | The formula of the measure refers directly to facts and dimensions only | Formula |
| Calculated | The formula of the measure contains references to other measures | Formula |
A formula can be written directly in the Formula cell or assembled in the formula builder. The syntax is described on the Formula syntax page.
Columns in the RMD table with measures
| Column name | Column description | Column type | Required column |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group | A text field to specify the high-level category the measure belongs to (e.g., "Finance", "Marketing", "Sales", etc.) | Text | No |
| Block | A text field for grouping measures by functional blocks within a group (e.g., "Expenses", "Revenue", "KPI", etc.) | Text | No |
| Measure name | A text field for the business name of the measure | Text | Yes |
| Measure description | A text field for a short description of the measure's purpose and meaning | Text | Yes |
| Original source type | A text field for the type of source system (e.g., "Database", "CRM", "ERP", "API", "File") | Text | No |
| Original source | A text field to specify the particular instance of the data source (e.g., "PostgreSQL Prod", "Microsoft Dynamics 365") | Text | No |
| Original object | A text field to specify the name of the object in the source system (e.g., table name and field name or API method and parameter name) | Text | No |
| Display data type | A dropdown list to select the measure's data type as it will be displayed in reports (e.g., "Number", "Percentage", "Text", etc.) | Select | Yes |
| Measure type | A dropdown list to select the measure's type, which indicates how the measure is calculated ("Base" – for measures whose formulas refer directly only to facts and dimensions; "Calculated" – for measures whose formulas contain references to other measures) | Select | Yes |
| Measure restrictions | A text field to describe special constraints or conditions for measure's calculation | Text | No |
| Formula | A text field to enter the calculation formula (relevant for measures of all types) | Formula | Yes |
| Report for verification | A link or name of the report used to validate the quality and accuracy of the data | Text | No |
| Comment | A text field for additional comments and notes about measure's usage | Text | No |
| Status | A dropdown list to select the measure's status (e.g., "In progress", "Active", "Archived", etc.) | Select | Yes |
| Relevance | A checkbox to indicate if the measure is currently relevant | Checkbox | No |
| Required | A checkbox to mark whether the measure is mandatory | Checkbox | No |
| Visibility | A checkbox to indicate whether the measure's values will be displayed in reports | Checkbox | No |
| Responsible for the data | A text field to specify the role, employee, or department responsible for the provision, quality, and accuracy of the data used for measure calculation | Text | No |
| Variation | A dropdown list with predefined calculation variants for the measure (e.g., "Base Value", "Year-to-Date", "Year-over-Year", "Forecast", etc.) | Select | No |
Notes:
- The measure name identifies the row and must be unique within the project version. Renaming a measure automatically updates every formula, fact table, and data mart that refers to it
- Required columns cannot be hidden, and an empty required cell is outlined in red
- Only the Archived status marks a measure as an error. The In progress status and custom statuses have no special restrictions and are treated like an empty status
- The list of options of a dropdown column, and the type of a column itself, are set up in the column settings — see the Columns and table view page
- The same set of columns is shown for a single measure in the Details from RMD dialog, where it can also be edited
Measure health
Every measure has a health card with the results of five automatic checks: Name verification, Formula verification, SQL generation, Potential duplicates, and Incomplete description. The overall health status is shown as an icon after the name in the Measure name cell; hovering over the icon shows the health summary, and View health card on the table control panel opens the full card of the selected measure.
The Incomplete description check also assesses the quality of the description: Measure description must be at least 10 characters long and differ from the measure name. A measure with the overall Error status cannot be added to fact tables and data marts.
The checks, statuses, and the health card are described on the Measure health cards page.