Why recalculate the whole year if you only changed one day? Intelligent Calculation is the server's way of remembering what is already finished.
1. The Definition: Clean vs. Dirty
Essbase tracks the status of every data block using a 'status bit'.
* Dirty Blocks: Blocks where data has been newly loaded or modified. They are 'marked' for calculation.
* Clean Blocks: Blocks that have already been calculated and haven't changed since. Essbase will skip these to save time.
2. The "Laundry" Example
Imagine your weekly chores:
* The Dumb Way: Washing every piece of clothing you own every Sunday, even the clothes still hanging clean in your closet.
* The Intelligent Way: Only washing the clothes in the 'Dirty' hamper.
By only focusing on the 'Dirty' data, Essbase can finish a calculation in seconds that would otherwise take hours.
3. How it is useful while building an application
* Efficiency: It drastically reduces the 'Maintenance Window' during month-end close.
* System Health: It prevents the CPU from running at 100% unnecessarily, keeping the system fast for other users.
* Incremental Updates: Perfect for 'Daily Sales' loads where you only want to update the latest figures.
4. Where do we use these concepts?
* SET UPDATECALC: In a Calc Script, we use 'SET UPDATECALC ON;' to enable this feature.
* Full Re-Calcs: When an Architect changes a formula, they temporarily turn this OFF to force the system to refresh every block.
* Database Statistics: You can actually see how many 'Satus: Dirty' blocks exist in the Essbase Application settings.
5. Extra Information: The Architect's Warning
Pro-Tip: If you use 'Complex Cross-Cube' formulas, sometimes Essbase doesn't realize a block is dirty. As a safety measure, most Architects run a 'Full Calculation' (UpdateCalc Off) at least once a week to ensure 100% data accuracy.