Resolution
There is no limit on the number of extended attributes one can define and save in the cube. However, only twenty attributes can be used in queries such as those you can build on the advanced analytics pages. Multi-valued attributes do not count toward the maximum extended attributes since these are stored in a separate table.
All extended attributes go in a XML clob, this lets the administrator save things to the cube, see them in the Life Cycle Manager, use them in policies and reports, etc. However, attributes in the XML clob can not be used in queries unless they are stored in their own column of the identity table. When the administrator defines an identity attribute and checks the "Searchable" box, one of the twenty available columns is reserved for that attribute.
So, if more than twenty extended attributes are needed, the administrator may need to analyze the searchable attributes that are currently being used.
Is it technically feasible to change the product and support more than twenty extended Identity Attributes?
The number twenty is special because of the way Hibernate maps columns to properties in a Java class. You can edit IdentityExtended.hbm.xml and define more than twenty attributes and this will generate a table definition with more than twenty columns. But in addition the Identity.java class must have property get/set methods for every attribute. For example we currently have a set of methods that look like this:
public void setExtended1(String s)
public String getExtended1()
public void setExtended2(String s)
public String getExtended2()
...
public void setExtended20(String s)
public String getExtended20()
So while it is possible to add new columns to the database schema just by editing an .xml clob, you cannot add the corresponding Java property methods without editing the Java source code and recompiling it. We do not recommend this workflow.
It is not technically hard to make this number bigger, but it has to be done in code, it can't be data driven. Please let us know if you feel you need more than twenty attributes for advanced analytics and one of the Access Governance Suite team members will be able to assist you.