Aggregate awareness is a term that describes the ability of a universe to make use of aggregate tables in a database. These are tables that contain pre-calculated data. You can use a function called @Aggregate_Aware in the Select statement for an object that directs a query to be run against aggregate tables rather than a table containing non aggregated data.
Using aggregate tables speeds up the execution of queries, improving the performance of SQL transactions.
The reliability and usefulness of aggregate awareness in a universe depends on the accuracy of the aggregate tables. They must be refreshed at the same time as all fact tables.
A universe that has one or more objects with alternative definitions based on aggregate tables is said to be “aggregate aware”. These definitions correspond to levels of aggregation. For example, an object called Profit can be aggregated by month, by quarter, or by year. These objects are called aggregate objects.
Queries built from a universe using aggregate objects return information aggregated to the appropriate level at optimal speed.