When to use Line item VS List ?

karank_*4578

Hi Guys 

 

Is there an approach you guys use when deciding on line item vs list ? 

 

for eg. 

 

I am loading three different kinds of volume data 

Volume type 1

Volume type 2

Volume type 3

 

Data is loaded by month 

 

Option 1 

Create a module with 3 line item and time dimension

Time 

Line item Volume type 1

Line item Volume type 2

Line itme Volume type 3

 

Option 2

Create a module with 1 line item called Volume and 1 list ( volume type 1 , Volume type 2 , Volume type 3)  and time 

(Volume type List ) X Time 

Volume line item 

 

Which option would you choose and not choose and Why ?

Is there a best practise for these kind of scenarios or it doesn't really matter ? 

If you have another way of doing it what is it and why ? 

 

Thanks 

DavidSmith

As above, expansion is key - The 'S' of PLANS is for sustainable; build for the future

PLANS - This is how we model

Also, the point above about re-used. for calculations we say "calculate once, reference many times".  The same applies for structures.  If you need to repeat the line items many times, a list will be better

 

But the other aspect to bear in mind is what is the logic for Volume1, Volume2, Volume3?. 

If the logic is the same or similar then a list would be simpler; One tip here.  Don't write a formula like this:

IF ITEM(VolumeTypes)=VolumeTypes.Volume1 THEN xx*yyy ELSE IF ITEM(VolumeTypes)=Volume2 THEN xx/yyy ELSE.........

 

If is better to have a module dimensioned by Volume and have a boolean flag signifying the logic type; it is much more flexible and efficient (especially if some volume types hare the same logic)

 

If each type has a very different type of logic then it might be better to have line items; remember you can always bring numeric line items together using a line item subset

 

I hope that helps

David