- Select / type in the appropriate Server name
in Box 1.
- Make the appropriate selection, and enter any
authentication information required by your local environment, to log on
to the server in Box 2.
- Click the Allow Saving Password checkbox, to
check it for this exercise.
- Select the WebTrafficAnalysis_DB database in Box 3.
The Data Link Properties Dialog - Connection Tab appears
similar to that shown in Illustration 5, except for the environmental
differences we have noted.
Illustration
5: The Data Link Properties Dialog - Connection Tab
- Click the Test Connection button in the bottom
right hand corner of the Connection tab.
We should get a verification dialog confirming that the
source has been established in our definition (as depicted in Illustration 6).
Illustration
6: Verification of the Connection to the FoodMart 2000 Database
- Click OK, and the Microsoft Data Link
verification dialog box closes.
We will leave all the other Data Link Properties at their
default setpoints for now.
- Click the OK button on the Data Link
Properties dialog.
The Data Link Properties dialog closes,
and a Security Warning dialog appears, as shown in Illustration 7.
Illustration
7: Security Warning Dialog
For
purposes of this lesson, we will overlook the warning and proceed. Keep in
mind that most real-world environments would likely not allow for the luxury of
this flexibility, and to take steps to secure any embedded passwords, etc., as
appropriate.
- Click the OK button on the Security Warning
dialog.
The Security Warning dialog closes.
- Expand the Data Sources folder, within which
we have created the source, if necessary.
We can see that the new source appears under
the Data Sources folder in the tree area, again on the left side of the Analysis
Manager Console. The data source displays the actual file name, a composite of
the server and database names, and as shown in Illustration 8.
Illustration
8: Initial Tree View of Our Newly Created Data Source
Let's rename the file to be a bit more
concise.
- Right-click the new data
source.
- Click Copy.
- Right-click the Data
Sources folder.
- Select Paste from the
context menu that appears.
This causes Analysis Services to
indicate that a duplicate has been detected, and to prompt us for a unique
name. We will respond to the new name request with WebTrafficSource, using the dialog box
that appears (as shown in Illustration 9).
Illustration
9: Changing the Name of the Duplicated
Data Source as a Means of Renaming
- Type WebTrafficSource into the Name box of
the Duplicate Name dialog.
- Click OK to close the Duplicate
Name dialog.
Once we click OK, the Duplicate Name
dialog disappears, and the newly named data source appears under the Data
Sources folder. All that remains is to delete the original data source,
from which we cloned WebTrafficSource.
- Right-click the original data
source.
- Select Delete on the
context menu that appears.
- Click the Yes button,
to confirm the deletion.
Our tree should now resemble that shown in Illustration
10.
Illustration 10:
WebTrafficSource Appears in the Tree
In Lesson One, as well as in other lessons, we
used the Cube Wizard, together with the specialized "sub-wizards"
(including the Dimension Wizard), as called by the Cube Wizard,
to rapidly create a simple cube to explore the various aspects and steps of the
process from a relatively high level. In this lesson, we will create a simple
cube from the table we created in our last lesson, using the DTS package we
created to perform extraction, transformation and load of the original data
source, the sample Server Access Log.
Our preparation for the lesson is complete. We now have an Analysis
Services database in place, linked to a valid data source (the
WebTrafficAnalysis_DB database, containing
the ServerAccessLog table, created via the
DTS package in our last lesson). Next, we will initialize the Cube Editor,
and begin creating our cube.
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