Why does XBRL return differing values for same concept and how to address it

[Teji Abraham]

Hi David,
I have run into some cases where I get differing values for the exact same concept, with same ultimus value. Any idea why this happens and how to address it to return a single valid value? See example below:
Thanks much.

For e.g for AAL, cik=0000006201, fiscal year=2017, concept: OperatingLeasesFutureMinimumPaymentsDueCurrent returns the data below with two different values.

  "data": [
    {
      "concept.local-name": "OperatingLeasesFutureMinimumPaymentsDueCurrent",
      "report.type": "10-K",
      "period.fiscal-period": "Y",
      "period.fiscal-year": 2017,
      "fact.value": "2555000000",
      "fact.ultimus": true
    },
    {
      "concept.local-name": "OperatingLeasesFutureMinimumPaymentsDueCurrent",
      "report.type": "10-K",
      "period.fiscal-period": "Y",
      "period.fiscal-year": 2017,
      "fact.value": "2572000000",
      "fact.ultimus": true
    }
  ]

[David Tauriello]

Teji – both values are valid; fact.id 195333267 is a dimensional fact of ConsolidatedEntitiesAxis / SubsidiariesMember (value = 2555000000).

Add fact.has-dimensions=false to your query to return non-dimensional facts.

[Teji Abraham]

Many thanks David – is there per chance a reference document where I can find info for a particular fact.id and also perhaps explains the difference between two facts that outwardly seem to share most characteristics ?
Thanks again, Teji

[David Tauriello]

Teji – you can wildcard fact.* as the attribute of fields parameter to get all details for facts.

CAVEAT: use this with fact.limit() to get a sample return; it’s not recommended as a default because performance will be bad with a broad query.

For this CIK look for all of the latest 2017 Year facts appearing in a 10-K and show all the details for each fact, with a limit on the number of facts at 10.

[Teji Abraham]

Sounds good, thanks again David
Teji

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