Scaling Factor and Precision - Data Control

You can use the supplied scaling plugin, outputscaling to set a scale value to be applied to each cell in the table.

The scale factor will be applied to the cell values displayed in the client, as well as any downloaded data (including Excel, CSV and SDMX output).

Module Properties

The outputscaling plugin has a number of properties that you can configure.

Property	Description
scale_factor	The scaling factor to apply. Every cell value in the table will be divided by 10^n (where n is the scale_factor). For example, if you set the scale_factor to 2 then each cell value in the table will be divided by 100 (10^2 = 100). The default value of scale factor is 0 (i.e. no scaling applied to the table).
precision	The number of decimal places to round values to. Must be an integer value that is greater than or equal to 0.
annotation_symbol	A string value used to annotate the scaled results. For example, "(x100)". Make sure the symbol you specify does not clash with any annotation symbols for other Data Control modules. For example, the RSE annotation module uses the asterisk symbol for annotation.
annotation_description	A string value used for the annotation description. For example, "Hundreds (values are scaled)".
log_file	The name of a file to log information from the scaling plugin to. This is optional. If you do not set the property, then the plugin will use a default value: outputscaling.log.txt, and save the log file to the SuperSERVER program data logs directory (if you installed to the default location the file will be saved as C:\ProgramData\STR\SuperSERVER SA\logs\outputscaling.log.txt). If you choose to specify a log file name, then you can either: Specify a relative path. The log file will be saved relative to the directory where the plugin is located (C:\Program Files\STR\SuperSERVER SA by default). Specify an absolute path. You must escape any Windows style directory separators (\) in the path with a backslash. For example: CODE `> method scaling output_scaling addproperty log_file "C:\\logs\\scaling_log.txt"` The scaling plugin does not write any output to the log file by default. See below for details about how to configure the log output.
measures_scale_file	The name of a configuration file for per measure scaling. This is optional. By default the `scale_factor` setting will be applied to record counts as well as all measures, but you can use this setting to apply a different scaling factor depending on the measure in use in the table. The configuration file must be in Comma Separated Values (CSV) format, with the following fields (the file must not include any header row): CODE `"Measure ID", "Statistics function name", "Scale factor", "Annotation Symbol", "Annotation Description"` How do I find out the measure ID? `Measure ID` is the internal field ID of the measure. You can find a field's ID by typing `cat <database_id> <field>` in SuperADMIN. For example: CODE `> cat bank "Customer Profit" [ Summation Field : 'Customer Profit' ] [ ID : 'SXV4__Retail_Banking__F_Customer__Cust_Profit_FLD' ]` This ID takes the following format: `SXV4__<database>__<fact_table>__<field_ID>_FLD`. As you can see, the components of the field ID are separated by a double underscore character (`__`). You need the `<field_id>` part for the scaling file. In the above example, this is `Cust_Profit`. These IDs are also visible in SuperCROSS. Go to the Define Recode window and click Use Codes. For example: CODE `Cust_Profit,SUM,10,"+","(X10)" Acc_Profit,SUM,100,"&","(X100)"` You can either specify the filename using an absolute path or a path relative to the location of the plugin. You must escape any Windows style directory separators (\) in the path with a backslash.

Apply the Plugin

Login to SuperADMIN and create a new method:
CODE
```
> method addmethod scaling mandatory scaling
```

Add the Data Control plugin to the method:

CODE

> method scaling adddcplugin output_scaling outputscaling 1

Set the plugin properties:

CODE

> method scaling output_scaling addproperty scale_factor "2"
> method scaling output_scaling addproperty precision "2"
> method scaling output_scaling addproperty annotation_symbol "(x100)"
> method scaling output_scaling addproperty annotation_description "Hundreds (values are scaled)"
> method scaling output_scaling addproperty log_file "output_scaling_logfile.txt"
> method scaling output_scaling addproperty measures_scale_file "C:\\config\\scaling_file.csv"

Assign the method to a dataset (in this example we are assigning the method to a dataset with the ID bank):

CODE

> cat bank addmethod scaling

You can review the method details using the command cat <dataset_id> methods details <method_id>:

CODE

> cat bank methods details scaling
[ Method : scaling (id:scaling) (type:mandatory) ]
    [ Common ]
    [ DCPlugin : outputscaling (id:output_scaling) (priority:1) ]
        [ scale_factor : 2 ]
        [ precision : 2 ]
        [ annotation_symbol : (x100) ]
        [ annotation_description : Hundreds (values are scaled) ]
        [ log_file : output_scaling_logfile.txt ]
        [ measures_scale_file : C:\\config\\scaling_file.csv ]

Configure Log Output

The Data Control plugins do not log any output by default. To activate log output:

Open C:\ProgramData\STR\SuperSERVER SA\log4j.scsa.xml in a text editor.

Locate the following section:

XML

      <logger name="AUDIT_DataServer.Dcapi" additivity="false">
          <level value ="DEBUG" />
          <appender-ref ref="MainLog" />
          <appender-ref ref="CONSOLE"/>       
      </logger>

By default, the above section is commented out. Uncomment the section.

XML

-->
      <logger name="AUDIT_DataServer.Dcapi" additivity="false">
          <level value ="DEBUG" />
          <appender-ref ref="MainLog" />
          <appender-ref ref="CONSOLE"/>       
      </logger>
<!--

Restart SuperSERVER.

The plugin logs the configuration parameters and the input and output value for each value in the table.