### An introduction to business/report cubes

A business/report cube, which is needed for creating multidimensional data cubes, contains database connections and relationships between cube elements. The business/report cube shields report end users from having to understand the physical structure of a data source, and enables them to build reports and analyze data based on a set of cube elements they can understand. It also enables IT professionals to maintain control of the business data and ensure its integrity, while presenting end users with an intuitive view of the underlying data structures.

A business/report cube may contain category objects and cube elements (dimension objects, measure objects, and detail information objects). You can insert these cube elements or remove them to change the report result when you view reports in DHTML format.

- Category objects
  Category objects contain a collection of cube elements. A business/report cube may contain more than one category. In the Resource View panel, the icon indicates that an object is a category. Categories are only for categorizing cube elements, and they cannot be inserted into a report. The category is often used for indicating the name of the underlying DBMS table.
- Dimension objects
  Dimension objects are cube elements that will become the basis for analysis in a report. They characteristically return text or date values. In the Resource View panel, the icon indicates that an object is a dimension object. A dimension object can be inserted wherever a group field can be inserted into. It can be inserted as a column or row field in a crosstab, or as a group field or detail field in a banded object or a table, or displayed as category/series field in a chart.
- Measure objects
  Measure objects are numeric cube elements that have been calculated at the data warehouse level. The icon indicates that an object is a measure object. A measure object can be inserted to wherever a summary can be inserted. For instance, it can be inserted into the group header or footer panel in a table or banded object, or into a crosstab as an aggregate field. A measure object can also be used as a detail field in a banded object or table. JReport Web will calculate the summary values based on the group level the measure object has been inserted into.
- Detail Information objects
  Detail Information objects provide additional information. The icon indicates that an object is a detail information object. It can be inserted to wherever a DBField can be inserted. For example, you can insert a detail information object into a table or banded object as a detail field.

Notes: To make use of a business/report cube, you need to first define it at report design time in JReport Designer. For additional information, see Using business/report cubes in the JReport Designer User's Guide.