Dimension order within aggregation square brackets in a formula

JohnP
JohnP
in Modeling

Hello there,

Out of curiosity, does the order of dimensions within square brackets (aggregation functions) have a significant impact on performance? Is it better if they follow the order in the "Applies To" section (and if so, where does Time fit into this) or does it not matter?

e.g. Sales Volume = Quanitity Sold[SUM: Date Sold, SUM: Product, SUM: Location]
(Applies To: Locations, Products | Time Scale: Month)

Best wishes,

John

Answers

  • rob_marshall
    rob_marshall

    @JohnP

    Within the bracket, no, it should not matter but the order in the Applies To definitely matters…Link

  • Alessio_Pagliano
    Alessio_Pagliano

    Hi @JohnP ,

    As far as I'm aware there is no performance impact for that type of scenario.

    Is it just curiosity ? Depending on the specific use case if you have concerns perhaps you could run some tests in a copy model, for your own piece of mind (perhaps adding a big amount of list items and records).

    I have never heard this type of ordering being meaningful on any community post, training material, live environments (including big global deployments with models maxing workspaces), model open analysis/review.

    However, ordering is a thing for ordering lists and when you start referencing multiple modules. You might want to refer to the following post.

    https://community.anaplan.com/discussion/32934/oeg-best-practice-dimension-order

    A funny fact : I experimented ChatGPT asking the question there and the reply surprised me as I was told the order was important. In my reply I said I disagreed and to provide evidence and the chatbot came back apologising for the confusion and that I was right 🤣

    I hope you find this helpful.

    Thanks,

    Alessio

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