📎 This article includes 1 downloadable practice file ↓
📘 Smart View & Essbase Basics Course · Lesson 4 of 6
In this article Open it Ways to select Names and aliases Practice
Zooming is quick, but for a report you want specific members in a specific order. Member Selection is the precise tool.
Open it
Click a cell holding a member (or the POV) › Member Selection . The hierarchy appears on the left; chosen members on the right.
Ways to select
Browse the tree and tick members; use the arrows to order them.
Search by name or alias.
Filters : Children, Descendants, Level (0 = bottom members), Generation, attributes, UDAs.
Names and aliases
Members often have a technical name (e.g. 410000) and aliases (e.g. “Sales Revenue”). Choose the alias table in Options. Reports read better with aliases; formulas and uploads often need member names.
💡 Use ‘Level 0 descendants of North’ instead of picking 40 branches by hand. When a new branch is added to the hierarchy, your report includes it after refresh.
Examples use a sample Essbase application (Sample.Basic-style dimensions). Connection URLs, applications and member names differ in every company.
Practice
Build the 6-account grid described in the checklist.
← Smart View Lesson 3: Zoom, Pivot, Keep Only and POV Smart View Lesson 5: Smart View Functions (HsGetValue) →
📎 Practice files for this article Free to use for learning. Files with macros (.bas) are plain text — import them with Alt +F11 → File → Import File, and always test on a copy.
Written by Atul Vij Atul (AJ) builds office-automation and local-first AI tools as Atulya AI, and works with Excel, SAP and Oracle EPM every day. He writes about the shortcuts, macros and automations that actually save time — plus the occasional wacky fact. Videos on YouTube: Lazy Automator AI (@LazyAutomatorAI).
More posts by Atul → ← Previous Smart View Lesson 3: Zoom, Pivot, Keep Only and POVNext → Smart View Lesson 5: Smart View Functions (HsGetValue)
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