Using ProClarity with an MSAS Cube
We will assume a basic
understanding of ProClarity throughout the article, as well as a proper "default"
installation of the software in general, as we noted in the introduction
above. The article assumes you have access to the MSSQL Server / the MSAS sample
cubes, be it via Windows Authentication Mode or Mixed Mode (for purposes of
this article, I'm using Windows Authentication). Keep in mind that the
multiple potential security configurations in our individual environments may
result in some differences in the steps as we proceed.
Initialize ProClarity and Establish Connectivity
The following steps allow
us to establish connectivity to the Budget sample cube in the relatively
simple scenario we have established for this lesson.
1. Click the Start button.
2. Select Programs --> ProClarity.
3. Select Professional from
the Submenu that appears, as shown in Illustration 1.
Illustration 1: Select ProClarity
--> Professional
The Welcome
dialog appears.
4. Select the Cube for browsing radio
button, as shown in Illustration 2.
Illustration 2: The
Welcome Dialog
The Connect ...
dialog appears.
6. Select the appropriate server in
the Server selector box.
Use the Find Server
search button, if necessary. In a single server configuration, the correct
server will likely be the default. Mine is MOTHER1, as shown in
Illustration 3.
Illustration 3: Select
the Server that Houses the Sample Cubes
We also have the
option of selecting a local cube as the data source within this dialog.
The Advanced tab extends the dialog to allow for input of a Username
and Password, should security requirements dictate the use of
authentication of this sort.
The Open Cube
dialog appears, as shown in Illustration 4.
Illustration 4: The Open
Cube Dialog
The Open
Cube dialog lists the MSAS cubes existing on the server. The Connect ...
button that appears on the dialog affords us another chance to change servers,
as required, to connect to the appropriate cube to meet our needs. We note, in
the lower left corner of the dialog, that connection is maintained via Microsoft
OLE DB Provider for OLAP Services 8.0.
8. Select the Budget cube by
highlighting it.
I chose the Budget
for Part I of our lesson because it has a very straightforward design
and a single measure. This means minimal distraction with the structure of the
cube, to allow us to focus on ProClarity and its functionality in our first
exercises.
We have the option of
selecting the desired visualization with which we browse our cube in the next
dialog that appears, as shown in Illustration 5.
Illustration 5: Select
How You Want to Visualize Your Information Dialog
We will
proceed from this point in the following section.
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