KB4467: What is a column alias in MicroStrategy Architect 9.4.x - 10.x and what are its functions?

• Strategy

This technical note explains what is a column alias and its purpose.

A warehouse column is the physical column that exists in the warehouse. This warehouse column can be added to the project by updating the table structure in the warehouse catalog editor. A column alias; however, is a logical column that can be defined against a warehouse column and does not exist in the warehouse.
A column alias is used when users require the SQL to perform as desired. The column alias is used when generating temporary tables and can be useful in two specific cases:

When the datatype of the warehouse column has a limit that will overflow on a certain calculation.
When users require the SQL to contain a specific column name.

EXAMPLE:
A user defines the following fact:


Tot_Dollar_Sales * 1000

against the warehouse column named 'Tot_Dollar_Sales' (datatype: 'Integer'). When the temp table is generated in a report execution, the limited size of the datatype 'Integer' may cause an overflow.

To avoid such situation, create a column alias.

Column editor can be launched from both the Attribute form Editor or the Fact Editor, Column Alias tab.

If users migrate projects between database platforms, the aliases must be changed to the new datatypes and properties. Strategy Architect does not verify if the warehouse supports the datatype chosen.

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Knowledge Article

Published:

April 24, 2017

Last Updated:

April 24, 2017