XBRL Axis

Definition

XBRL Axis. An XBRL Instance document contains facts; an axis (or dimension) differentiates facts and each axis represents a way that the facts may be classified. For example, revenue for a period might be reported along with a business unit axis, a country axis, a product axis, and so forth.

NB: The terminology XBRL Dimension is more technical (in terms of defining the Data Structure) but essentially equivalent.

Built-in Dimensions

Dimensions that are defined by the XBRL specification, and which are required for all facts (depending on their datatype) are built-in dimensions. For example, the "period" built-in dimension defines the date or period in time to which a fact relates, and the "unit" built-in dimension defines the units, such as a monetary currency, in which a numeric fact is reported.

The base XBRL specification essentially defines three dimensions (axes):

• reporting period
• reporting entity (i.e.; a company or a division thereof), and
• a reporting scenario

Taxonomies may add additional dimensions, referred to as taxonomy-defined dimensions (the technical term is "core dimensions"). Additional dimensions can be developed using the XBRL Dimensions Module.

Axis Default Relationship

The dimensional relationship indicating that the table axis has a default domain member

Axis Domain Relationship

The dimensional relationship indicating that the table axis has members drawn from a domain

Example

Revenue for a period might be reported along a business unit axis, a country axis, a product axis, and so forth.