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What is a key difference in how Dimensions and Attributes are typically used?
In Workday Adaptive Planning, Dimensions and Attributes serve fundamentally different purposes within the planning model. Dimensions are used to tag and categorize planning data during entry or import --- they are applied to sheets and accounts to enable multi-dimensional data input and reporting along axes such as Product, Project, Customer, or Location. When a dimension is added to a sheet, planners can enter data at the intersection of the dimension value, level, account, and time period. Attributes, by contrast, are used to tag existing model elements such as levels or accounts with descriptive metadata. For example, a Level Attribute might classify each level as a 'Cost Center Type' (Shared Services, Direct, etc.), or an Account Attribute might tag accounts by 'P&L Category.' Attributes do not create new data input axes --- they add descriptive properties to existing elements for filtering and grouping in reports. This distinction is fundamental to Adaptive Planning's dimensional architecture. Reference: Workday Adaptive Planning --- Dimensions vs Attributes, Dimensional Architecture, Model Design.