[FM] difference between shortcut and link

[dxwallace]

what is the difference between a shortcut and a link?

[goose]

Links
A link is used to bring in parts of other models etc into your project. Sometimes its beneficial to have multiple projects and link parts of them together, for example changes to a child model will automatically reflect in the parent model and also now multiple users can work on different models without worry about over writing some elses changes.

From the docs:
You create links to help organize work across large projects, to maintain consistency, and to reuse information. For example, the project named Inventory contains the folder named Products. You can create a link from the GoSales Products to Inventory Products. If any changes or additions are made to the Inventory Products folder, you will see them in the GoSales Products folder.

Shortcuts
A shortcut is bacially used to create multiple references to the same object. This is recommended by Cognos if you need to use the same object multiple times in the business view.

From the docs:
A shortcut is a reference to an object, such as a relationship, a dimension, a query subject, or a folder. We recommend that you use shortcuts in the business view when there is an overlap between user groups and you want to include the metadata in more than one folder. With shortcuts, you can have multiple references to an object.

For example, you create folders named Orders, Products, and Customers. If you want both Orders and Customers to contain the same dimension, you must create a shortcut to the dimension and add it to both folders.

[dxwallace]

thanks very good explanation