Dimensions

The dimensions property contains a set of dimensions. You can think about a dimension as an attribute related to a measure, e.g. the measure user_count can have dimensions like country, age, occupation, etc.

Any dimension should have the following properties: name, sql and type.

Parameters

name

The name parameter serves as the identifier of a dimension. It must be unique among all dimensions, measures, and segments within a cube and follow the naming conventions.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
 
    dimensions:
      - name: price
        sql: price
        type: number
 
      - name: brand_name
        sql: brand_name
        type: string

case

The case statement is used to define if/then/else conditions to display data. It contains two parameters: when and then. The first when statement declares a condition and result if the rule returns a true value. The second else statement declares results for options when rules return a false value.

The following static label example will create a size dimension with values xl and xxl:

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: size
        type: string
        case:
          when:
            - sql: "{CUBE}.meta_value = 'xl-en'"
              label: xl
            - sql: "{CUBE}.meta_value = 'xl'"
              label: xl
            - sql: "{CUBE}.meta_value = 'xxl-en'"
              label: xxl
            - sql: "{CUBE}.meta_value = 'xxl'"
              label: xxl
          else:
            label: Unknown

The label property can be defined dynamically as an object with a sql property in JavaScript models:

cube(`products`, {
  // ...
 
  dimensions: {
    size: {
      type: `string`,
      case: {
        when: [
          {
            sql: `${CUBE}.meta_value = 'xl-en'`,
            label: { sql: `${CUBE}.english_size` },
          },
          {
            sql: `${CUBE}.meta_value = 'xl'`,
            label: { sql: `${CUBE}.euro_size` },
          },
          {
            sql: `${CUBE}.meta_value = 'xxl-en'`,
            label: { sql: `${CUBE}.english_size` },
          },
          {
            sql: `${CUBE}.meta_value = 'xxl'`,
            label: { sql: `${CUBE}.euro_size` },
          },
        ],
        else: { label: `Unknown` },
      },
    },
  },
});

description

You can add details to a dimension's definition via the description property:

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: comment
        description: Comments for orders
        sql: comments
        type: string

format

format is an optional parameter. It is used to format the output of dimensions in different ways, for example, a link for external_url. Please refer to the Dimension Formats for the full list of supported formats.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: orders
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: total
        sql: amount
        type: number
        format: currency

primary_key

Specify which dimension is a primary key for a cube. The default value is false.

A primary key is used to make joins work properly.

Setting primary_key to true will change the default value of public parameter to false. If you still want public to be true, set it manually.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: id
        sql: id
        type: number
        primary_key: true

propagate_filters_to_sub_query

When this statement is set to true, the filters applied to the query will be passed to the subquery.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: users_count
        sql: "{users.count}"
        type: number
        sub_query: true
        propagate_filters_to_sub_query: true

public

Prior to v0.33, this property was called shown.

The public property is used to manage the visibility of a dimension. Valid values for public are true and false. When set to false, this dimension cannot be queried through the API. Defaults to true.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: comment
        sql: comments
        public: false
        shown: false

sql

sql is a required parameter. It can take any valid SQL expression depending on the type of the dimension. Please refer to the Dimension Types to understand what the sql parameter should be for a given dimension type.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: orders
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: created_at
        sql: created_at
        type: time

sub_query

The sub_query statement allows you to reference a measure in a dimension. It's an advanced concept and you can learn more about it here.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: users_count
        sql: "{users.count}"
        type: number
        sub_query: true

title

You can use the title parameter to change a dimension's displayed name. By default, Cube will humanize your dimension key to create a display name. In order to override default behavior, please use the title property:

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: products
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: meta_value
        title: Size
        sql: meta_value
        type: string

type

type is a required parameter. There are various types that can be assigned to a dimension. Please refer to the Dimension Types for the full list of dimension types.

YAML

JavaScript

cubes:
  - name: orders
    # ...
 
    dimensions:
      - name: rating
        sql: rating
        type: number

Measures Joins