How to Use OLAP Snippet in Jet Data Manager?

Once you’ve created an OLAP Snippet in Jet Data Manager, the next step is putting it into action.

If you haven’t created OLAP Snippet beforehand follow our guide: How to create OLAP Snippets?

OLAP Snippets are incredibly powerful because they allow you to reuse logic dynamically across your reporting solution—saving time and ensuring consistency. In this example, we’ll walk you through how to use a snippet to calculate the Sales Amount for the prior period, making it easy to compare current and past performance side by side.

Step-by-Step: Using the OLAP Snippet

1. Open the Cube
   Go to the Cubes tab, expand the cube you want to modify, right-click Measures, and hover over Add OLAP Snippet.

2. Select Your Snippet
   Browse through the folder structure and go to the Time folder (or wherever you saved your snippet). Click on the Prior Period snippet.

3. Name the New Measure
   In the dialog that opens, name your measure—something like Sales Amount Prior Period so it’s clear what it represents.

   Optional: You can also define a format string to control how the value appears and select an Associated Measure Group to decide where the measure should live within the cube’s UI.

   

4. Assign Parameters
   Under the Parameters section:

   • Set [Date Hierarchy] to Date YQMD ([Posting Date])

   • Set [Measure] to Sales Amount

5. Deploy & Execute
   After configuration, deploy and execute the cube to make the new measure available for reporting.

What You’ll See

Once the cube is deployed, your new Sales Amount Prior Period measure will appear alongside the existing Sales Amount.

For example:

• Sales Amount (May 2010) shows sales for the current period.

• Sales Amount Prior Period pulls the value from the previous period (April 2010).

This setup makes it effortless to do time-based comparisons without duplicating logic or manually adjusting each measure.

Why This Matters

Using OLAP Snippets in Jet Data Manager streamlines your reporting process. You create once and reuse across cubes with just a few clicks. It’s not only efficient but also reduces errors and keeps your logic consistent across all your analytics. Whether you’re tracking trends, doing period-over-period analysis, or just trying to build more maintainable cubes—OLAP Snippets are a smart tool to have in your BI toolkit.