Think of the Essbase database outline as the air traffic controller of the database or a planning and logistics manager or even a traffic cop. For those of you who are relational database fans, you can think of an Essbase database outline as a logical database model. It can be thought of as a tool that gives you a visual reference to how the data is stored in the database and how the different elements relate to each other. Think of the Essbase database outline as all of these things and more.
As the very foundation, the Essbase database outline is the framework or base platform, upon which the entire database is built. If you remember, when you created your first Essbase database in the previous chapter, a shell or empty Essbase database outline was automatically created.
This newly created shell outline has no dimensions or members, does not contain any data, and is just a place holder or starting point. Let us now learn about the various components and...