--- title: "Dimensionality Hints" slug: "dimension-alignment-indicator" description: "Learn about the Dimension alignment indicator, automatic adjustments, and how discrepancies in formula outputs affect your Metric structure." tags: ["Automatic Adjustments", "Dimension Alignment", "Metric Structure", "Modeling Formulas"] updated: 2026-03-18T15:22:36Z published: 2026-03-18T15:22:36Z --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.pigment.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Dimensionality Hints The formula bar provides hints that help you improve performance and understand automatic adjustments that Pigment has made on your formulas. In some cases it warns about missing or unnecessary Dimensions, so that you can take appropriate action. In other cases it helps users’ understanding by providing context. This page covers hints flagging Dimension misalignment. For other kinds of hints, see [Explanatory Hints](/v1/docs/explanatory-hints) and [Performance Improvement Hints](/v1/docs/performance-hints) (coming soon). ## Find the hints Hints are available when the ***⨍*** indicator next to the formula bar turns yellow or a light bulb appears. See the example below. ## ![](https://cdn.document360.io/e47cfe35-dc28-40c7-a083-6cf003073d8e/Images/Documentation/image(260).png) ## When the ***⨍*** turns yellow, you need to take action If your formula’s output requires Dimensions that were not [specified in the Metric’s structure](/v1/docs/measure-data-metrics#what-are-metrics-made-of), the ***⨍*** indicator turns yellow. For example, if the formula in your Metric references data that is by `Month` and `Product` and your Metric’s structure is set to only `Product`, the indicator turns yellow. It could also turn yellow if the formula’s output is only `Product` but your Metric has both the `Month` and `Product` Dimensions in its structure. Select the hint. An **Automatic Formula Dimensions Adjustment**pop-up opens giving information on whether Dimensions need to be added or removed. #### When Adding a Dimension Sometimes your Metrics have Dimensions used in their structure that are not part of the output of the formula. For example, if your formula’s output has `Month` and `Country` as Dimensions but your Metric’s structure is `Month`, `Country`, and `Product`, the `Product` Dimension is automatically added to the formula’s output to match the Metric’s structure. This is done by using the same behavior as `[ADD Constant: Dimension]` modifier which essentially adds the Dimension and adds the values consistently across them. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/e47cfe35-dc28-40c7-a083-6cf003073d8e/Images/Documentation/0ff34f87-9bbb-4d5a-a8d5-992399e97885.png) In the example above, you'd see a Metric with `Country` and `Month` at the top. The Metric below has a structure of `Country`, `Month`, and `Product`. The **Country, Month and Product** Metric’s formula references the first Metric and therefore the formula’s output is by `Country` and `Month`. Because `Products` was not included in the output of the formula, Pigment added it automatically. After adding the `Product` Dimension, it uses the Constant allocation method, meaning that the value is applied consistently across all products. For example, look at the **Country and Month** Metric and find the cell for the United States in Jan 24. The value is 5. In the **Country, Month and Product** Metric, you can see that same value of 5 was added to each of the different products consistently. > [!NOTE] > ℹ️ **Note** > > When adding a formula that does not have any Dimensions, such as `TRUE` or `BLANK`, the hints appear because the engine has added the Dimensions of the Metric to account for all cells. #### When Removing a Dimension A Dimension is removed when that Dimension isn’t part of the Metric structure but is referenced or included in the formula. For example, if your formula’s output has `Month` and `Country` as Dimensions, but your Metric’s structure is just `Country`. The Month Dimension is automatically removed and the totals reflect that the Dimension was removed. This is done by using the same behavior as `[REMOVE SUM: Month]` which removes the Dimension and sums the value from that Dimension. In this example, you can see the Metric on the bottom has the `Country` and `Month` Dimensions as its structure. This is our source Metric, as it is referenced by the two Metrics above. The two different Metrics above have one by `Country` and another by `Month`. Both Metrics at the top have the same formula referencing the **Country and Month** Metric, therefore there is a discrepancy between formula output and structure. ![](https://cdn.document360.io/e47cfe35-dc28-40c7-a083-6cf003073d8e/Images/Documentation/e2d2c641-7157-49ed-a184-f4563a7badbd.png) The pop-up shows the following for the **Country**Metric: **“Automatic adjustments were made because the formula output structure is different from the Metric structure. 1 dimension was removed- Month”** The pop-up shows the following for the **Month**Metric: **“Automatic adjustments were made because the formula output structure is different from the Metric structure. 1 dimension was removed- Country”** In both of these examples, the data from the removed Dimensions is summed and that value is provided. You can see for the Month Metric, it’s taking the total or summed value for each month, highlighted in green. In the Country Metric, its taking the summed value across every month, highlighted in red. You can adjust the Dimensions of all of these formula outputs by using Modifiers.