Derived Dimensions Workspace

Use this workspace to set up date-dependent dimension derivation information for each location, job, employee, and so on, that should derive different sets of dimension values, depending on the date of the entry for which Maconomy performs dimension derivation.

The functionality of this workspace applies to locations, entities, projects, purposes, specification 1-3 values, local specification 1-3 values, jobs, and employees. The functionality is identical for all of these information types. However, to simplify the following description, the term "employee" is used throughout this section as a common designation for all of these information types.

In this workspace, you can set up an employee to derive one set of dimensions on one entry date and another set of dimensions on another entry date. This means that when Maconomy tries to derive dimension values from a given employee for a given entry, Maconomy checks the entry date of the entry against the lines in this workspace to determine the set of dimensions to derive. This functionality is useful if, for example, an employee is moving from one unit to another, and you want the dimension values to be derived from the employee to reflect this change.

For example: Employee Hugo Rune changes from location A to location B on May 1, 2003 because he is moving into a new district. To ensure correct dimension derivation from this employee, you can create two sets of derived dimensions in the Dimension Lines sub-tab: One that is valid until April 30 and derives location A, and one that is valid from May 1 and forward and derives location B. Each time that you create or change an entry where information should be derived from Hugo Rune, Maconomy will use the entry date of the entry to determine which of the two sets of dimension values should apply. Of course, instead of creating period-specific sets of derived dimensions, you can just change the information in the Derived Dimensions island in Hugo Rune's information card, but if you do that, any subsequent entries that are back-dated to before May 1 will use the new, updated information on the information card, causing location B to be derived when, in fact, location A is the correct value.

The Derived Dimensions tab displays information about the selected employee. On each line in the Dimension Lines sub-tab, you can identify a set of derived dimensions to apply to the selected employee in a given period. However, you cannot set up date-dependent derivation of company numbers. Therefore, the Company No. field in the Dimension Lines sub-tab is for information only. Each time that you create a line, Maconomy suggests the dimension values from the previous line, so that you only need to enter information in the dimensions that are affected by the change.

When you create an employee, Maconomy automatically creates a line in this workspace, on which the starting and ending dates are both blank, indicating that this line applies on all entries regardless of entry date. The dimension values on this line are the ones that you specified in the Derived Dimensions island on the information card of the employee in question. As long as you have not created any other lines for the employee in this workspace, changing the dimension values on the information card causes the corresponding information on the line in this workspace to be updated accordingly, and vice-versa. In effect, entering information in this workspace is only necessary if you add lines in this workspace to make the dimension values that are derived from the employee change on a given date.

To add a period-specific set of derived dimensions, add a line in the Dimension Lines sub-tab. Setting up a period-specific set of derived dimensions is similar to setting up derived dimensions in regular employee information cards. However, for each line you also define the period during which the dimension values on the line should be valid. You identify the period by entering the appropriate starting date of the period. Maconomy then automatically assigns an ending date in accordance with the closest starting dates on the other lines in the Dimension Lines sub-tab. Similarly, if you delete a line, Maconomy adjusts the starting and ending dates of the lines that represent the adjacent periods before and after the period of the deleted line. For more information about the functionality of period specification, see the From Date field.

When the Dimension Lines sub-tab contains more than one line, the line that has the latest starting date always has an open ending date, and the original line that Maconomy automatically created when the employee was created always keeps the starting date blank. This ensures that there is always a valid set of dimension values to derive. The contents of the line that has the open ending date are shown in the Derived Dimensions island in the information card of the employee in question, and changes that you make in the information card cause the line to be updated accordingly.

Note that the dimension derivation procedure is the same whether you use date-dependent dimension derivation or not. Only Maconomy's method for finding the values to be derived from the employees that have period specific derived dimensions is affected.