Data analytics is especially practicable for comprehensive ad-hoc analyses. To enable quick and consistent ad hoc analyses, the logical links of the individual tables must be specified during customizing. The description of a logical link is also called association.
Individual tables are linked based on specific criteria, the so-called association criteria. Association criteria in the tables to be linked must have the same data type. Except for floating point numbers, you can use all data types for criteria. Two tables are linked by two criteria, i.e., one criterion per table. For proper assignment, the values of the individual criteria must be identical and must not exist in different granularities, except for time stamps.
Data analytics example
A table named Staff contains the data of all employees of a company, such as name, education, salary, etc. Another table called Departments contains the data of the company's individual departments, e.g., department name, location, staff, etc. This means that each employee of the company is assigned to a specific department.
For the individual tables to be linked and the data to be assigned, both tables must each have a column containing the same criterion values. The Departments table, for example, could have a column called ID, which contains unique values for each department. The Staff table could include a column named Department_ID containing values, each of which references a department. As soon as individual values of the two criteria are identical, their records can be assigned and linked.