In many BusinessObjects universes, you will find attributes organized into a Current folder and a Historical folder.
For example, in HCM Worker, you will find a worker’s full name in the Worker Current Attributes folder, and also the Worker Historical Attributes folder. Or in the Financial Account Transaction Detail universe, you will find an Account attribute in both the Account Attributes folder and also the Account Current Attributes folder.
In these examples it is important to remember that the data behind these universes are recorded over time. In the HCM Worker universe, a history of snapshots goes back in time to December 2017. In the Financial Account Transaction Detail universe, a history of transaction records goes back to 2003.
In BusinessObjects universe folder names, the following definitions apply:
- Historic – the attributes contain a value as-of the snapshot or transaction date. So if a query selects data from March 2018, the values in the historic attributes are as-of March 2018.
- Current – the attributes contain a value as-of the latest data available, regardless of the snapshot or transaction date. So if a query selects data from March 2018, the values in the current attributes are as-of the night before the report runs.
Why do we have both in one universe?
In some reporting cases, it is helpful to analyze historic data based-on current attributes. For example, if you recently became the responsible person on an account, you might want to see transactions for the entire fiscal year, even though you weren’t the responsible person at the time of the transaction. A query in the Financial Account Transaction Detail universe with Current Responsible Person = [you] and the Current Fiscal Year filter would return that data.
So if I always use Current attributes, I’ll see current data only?
Even when using Current attributes, it is best practice to add a date filter to your query. In snapshot universes (like HCM Worker), the Current Profile Only filter will make sure you only see current data. That way, if you need to add an attribute from another folder, it will also give you only current data.