Dear Rstudio users,
I have used R and R markdown a little bit. I also produce spreadsheets in e.g. Libreoffice calc and MS Excel........
I notice that there is a utility in R called XL connect that can help you convert spreadsheet files into what I assume would be a multidimensional cube format that could be saved as an OLAP type file.
I am still learning about this.
Most of the discussions I have found googling around on this subject and watching youtube videos on the topic seem to revolve around two different kinds of activity.
One is an explanation of how to analyse data in existing OLAP type files (and also how to create an OLAP database from scratch .
The other is how to take an existing spreadsheet made e.g. in MS Excel etc and then make what is termed a pivot table from it and then manipulate the table to produce OLAP type files with useful data and I think formulae in them that would be cube based.
So, if I understand it correctly, you could start with a conventional spreadsheet made in Excel or LIbreoffice Calc and then convert it into an OLAP based "cube" equivalent cousin that does performs the same function through the multidimensional looking glass, as it were.
For example, I have found examples of a profit and loss statement produced in mulitdimensional cube format on various helpful websites and of course there are many examples of conventional P&L statements that you could create in either Excel or Libreoffice calc.
I had imagined (but I might be wrong here) that e.g. if I took a sample conventional P&L spreadsheet made for an Excel presentation, then in theory I ought to be able to read it into e.g. R using XLconnect and magically convert it into its multidimensional cube formula based cousin ie a homologue of the example cube based P&L olap spreadsheets that I can find on helpful websites using google.
Is that practical or wise, or would it be better to create the P&L spreadsheet from scratch in the multidimensional cube format using the formulae in the conventional spreadsheet as a paper starting point and not try to use an algorithm to convert from conventional formule to cube types?
Comments appreciated
Regards
Michael Fothergill