Level Indicators on Nodes

The Visual Level Indicators feature enhances the Model Editor by visually representing where dimensionality changes occur within driver trees. Color-coded level indicators in model nodes and operation editors help users instantly identify which levels are involved in each calculation, streamlining model navigation and improving clarity when working with multi-dimensional data.

This feature supports transparent modeling practices by embedding dimension-level awareness directly into the visual layout of the Model Editor.

Key benefits

With Visual Level Indicators, users can:

• Instantly understand dimensionality at a glance via color-coded level bubbles
• Identify where levels are added or dropped within calculations
• View and manage level details below the operation editor with informative tags
• Customize the display to fit individual preferences or modeling needs

Example use case

A car manufacturer is modeling production planning across various product categories and time levels (e.g., Year, Quarter, Month). Using Visual Level Indicators, the planning team can easily track how time-based dimensions evolve throughout the driver tree, enabling faster validation and clearer communication across stakeholders.

Setup and usage

Recommended preparation

To ensure optimal use of Visual Level Indicators:

• Work with a model that includes multi-level dimensions (e.g., time hierarchies or product categories)
• Ensure the dimensional structure is well-defined in Dimension Management
• Keep model complexity manageable to benefit most from the visual enhancements

Activating visual level indicators

Visual Level Indicators are not created manually but are enabled as a visual overlay within the Model Editor.

To activate:

1. Open a model in the Model Editor
2. Open the Inspector on the right and select the Layout tab
3. Under Node Display, switch on Show Dimension Levels

Once activated, the following elements will appear:

• Color-coded bubbles in the bottom-left corner of each node
• Color-coded tags below the operation editor

The dimension legend depends on this setting. Show Dimension Legend, one row below in the same section, stays greyed out until Show Dimension Levels is on, with the tooltip ‘Activate “Show Dimension Levels” to enable the legend.’ Switch the levels on first and the legend becomes available.

Interacting with visual level indicators

Node indicators

• Each color bubble represents one dimension, not one level. Where a node carries several levels of the same dimension, only the deepest is shown, so a node using Year, Quarter and Month gets a single bubble for Month
• The color belongs to the dimension, so every level of that dimension shares it and the color is consistent across the model
• A number inside the bubble indicates the level’s position in the hierarchy (e.g., “3” for Month after Year and Quarter)
• Bubbles are sorted alphabetically by level name, not by position in the hierarchy

Truncation

• If a node has bubbles for more than 7 dimensions, the rest collapse into a “+X” bubble
• Hovering over the collapsed bubble reveals the full list

Operation editor tags

• Tags are shown below the operation editor and are alphabetically sorted

Managing, configuration and limitations

Supported configuration

• Levels are automatically assigned colors per dimension
• Up to 7 level bubbles can be displayed per node before truncation
• Up to 20 level tags are shown below the operation editor before truncation
• Tooltips are available on hover for both tags and truncated bubbles

Limitations

Data synchronization and integration

• Display settings are saved per model view, similar to annotations and frames
• No additional user rights are required: any user with edit permissions can enable or disable the feature
• Visual Level Indicators are a client-side visualization layer and do not affect the underlying data model

Summary

Visual Level Indicators provide a clear and structured way to understand how dimensions are used throughout a model. By combining node-level color bubbles, operation editor tags, and dynamic truncation logic, this feature improves model readability, accelerates validation and debugging, and brings transparency to complex driver trees.