Consistent Usage of Measure Terminology

Measures are one of the more complex features of BA, so when the terminology is used inconsistently, they become unnecessarily more complex use. This request addresses the primary inconsistencies that we struggle with and our suggestion to fix them.

As a BA user and teaching of BA users,

I want consistent use of measure terminology,

So that it becomes easier to use and understand measures,

Benefits are:

Save time when working with measures;
Avoid misunderstandings when working with measure; and
When teaching BA user, eliminate the need to explain the currently inconsistent measure terminology and how they related to each other.

Acceptance criteria are that the measure terms described in Measures Guide are the only terms used for measures and are used consistently throughout the BA UI.

Originator: S&S

Priority: Medium – the new Create Measures synchronizer, which took us hours to figure out how to use, was the breaking point that moved this issue from negligible to something that we must now address.

To summarise, here are the measure terms from Measures Guide that we see used inconsistently:

Term	Description
Measure type	Defined in “Manage Themes…”. Should only be referred to as “measure type” or abbreviated to “type” when the context allows.
Measure relationship type	Defined in “Manage Themes…”. Should only be referred to as “measure relationship type” or “measure relationship”.
Measure	Elements listed in themes. Should only be referred to as “measure” or “measure element”.
Measure instance	Applied to elements and contains measure values. Should only be referred to as “measure instance” or abbreviated to “instance” when the context allows.
Container element	Primary elements to which measure instances are applied. This term is not defined in the Measures Guide. In the context measures it should be referred to as “container element” or “element that contains …”. It should not be referred to only as “element” to avoid confusion with “measure element”.

We have primarily identified two places where the measure terms are used inconsistently. Here is our suggestion for changes.

Query Builder

In the query build, on the “Measures” tab:

Current Text	Proposed New Text	Description
Find Instances from Primary Element	Find instances from measures	Finds measure instances from one or more measures
Find Instances from Container Element	Find instances from container elements	Finds measure instances from one or more container elements
Find Instances from Epoch	Find instances from epochs	Finds instances from one or more epoch
Find Instances Type	Find measures from instances	Finds measures from one or more measure instances
Find Instances Container Element	Find container elements from instances	Finds container elements from one or more measure instances
Find Instances Epoch	Find epochs from instances	Finds epoch from one or more measure instances
Find Sibling Instances	Find sibling instances	Finds sibling measure instances

The proposed new texts are based on these guidelines:

They use this template: Find <output> from <input>
They use plurals because we find it important to indicate that the blocks can take multiple inputs and return multiple outputs. This usage seems to be consistent with other block options.
In the query builder, there is inconsistent use of capitalised letters. We have written the above suggestions without the use of capitalised letters. You are welcome to this if you choose to make the use of capitalised letters consistent – one way or another.

Create Measures Synchronizer

On the pop-up to configure “Create Measures” synchronizer:

Current Text	Proposed New Text
This synchronization creates measure instances for the selected measure types and epochs (if epochs are appropriate) on the elements for the selected field.	This synchronization creates measure instances for the selected measures and epochs (if epochs are appropriate) on the container elements for the selected measure relationship.
Select the elements to create measure instances for	Select the container elements to create measure instances for
Elements	Container elements
Select the field to hold them	Select the measure relationship to hold them
Field	Measure relationship
Select the measure types to create instance for	Select the measures to create instances for
Measures	Measures
Select the epochs to apply to the measure types	Select the epochs to apply to the measure instances
Epochs	Epochs

Consistent Usage of Measure Terminology

Query Builder

Create Measures Synchronizer

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