In this chapter, we have taken a look at hierarchies, both the concepts, and how they can be used inside SAP HANA. We saw that hierarchies allow us to group data, to obtain subtotals automatically, and to perform aggregation of data.

We noted that hierarchies can only be used in reporting software, not inside the Studio, and that only reporting software using the MDX language can use them.

Finally, we examined the notion of label column, which creates a link between the ID column of an object in a view, and its description column, and how this link can be used to make our data more descriptive for our users.

In the next chapter, we'll be learning how to deploy our different views to reporting software, such as Microsoft Excel, of which we have just had a glimpse. We'll be taking a look at different reporting suites, and how the choice of software can provide different functionality to our users, even when we use the very same views for reporting.