A typical data source for your Essbase database can contain many bits of information. Unlike traditional relational databases, Essbase data sources can be actual data values or they can be metadata. Because you can update your database outline dynamically with the same data that you ultimately load, data sources in Essbase take on a completely different meaning than in other types of systems. When talking about data sources in Essbase, any of the following can be considered.
The data loaded into Essbase can be of two types, one is to load the data into the cube and the other is to update the outline of the cube:
Data loads: These are the actual data values. This would be the numeric value of one of the existing measures in the database. This type of Essbase data source is usually the only usable type of data source in a traditional relational database.
Dimension build loads: Information in the data that can actually be used to update the outline's member...
