Defining Dimensions for Contexts

If a given tag is not specific enough to meet the needs of the firm, dimensional information may be included to further classify an item. To define Dimensions for contexts, first begin the standard tagging procedure.

1. Click Tools | XBRL | Tags and select an appropriate Version 2.1 taxonomy from the XBRL for Financial Statements dialog.
2. Select an appropriate taggable value in the document and locate its corresponding tag in the XBRL Document Tagging dialog's label list.
3. Right-click on the tag in the list and select New Dimensional Context.
4. The Edit Dimensions dialog will launch, allowing you to configure Dimensions to further classify Scenarios and Segments.
5. Once you click OK and return to the XBRL Contexts dialog, you will note that [Dimensional] appears in place of the Scenario or Segment value. Clicking Advanced will launch the View Dimensions dialog where the Dimension(s) assigned to the tag are listed and may be selected for further editing.

In terms of process, a tag with Dimensional information behaves no differently than one without. They simply contain standardized tag information where in the past these tags would have been manually created by each firm. When viewed in an application which supports dimensional context tagging, the resulting XBRL instance file will contain more levels of classification for previously indefinable values.

Related topics

• About XBRL and context