8.
Right-click on
the Cubes folder.
9.
Select Paste
from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 4.
The Duplicate
Name dialog appears.
We cannot
have two cubes of the same name in a given MSAS database.
10.
Type the
following into the Name box of the Duplicate Name dialog:
Virtual Cube w Actions
The Duplicate
Name dialog appears, with our modification, as depicted in Illustration 5.
TIP: As I have mentioned elsewhere in
the series, this is also an excellent way of renaming a cube (a "rename"
capability is not available here, as it is in many Windows applications).
Simply create a duplicate, give it the name to which you wish to rename the old
cube, and then delete the old cube. (This also works for MSAS databases.)
11.
Click OK
to save the name change.
The new cube
appears in the cube tree, among those already in place. We now have a copy of
the Warehouse and Sales cube, Virtual Cube w Actions, with which
we will proceed through the steps of our lesson. There is, however, another
series of steps we need to perform to prepare the new cube for the steps ahead.
When we
made a copy of the Warehouse and Sales cube, we copied the structure
exactly as it existed for the original sample. One component critical to our
ability to browse the cube, as well as to perform some edit actions however,
could not be a part of our cloning process - the Query log entries that
relate to our use of the Warehouse and Sales cube cannot accompany our
new cube, because they are identified in the Query log database (see Simple Cube Usage Analysis
for details regarding the log) as
belonging to the cube that generated them.
We will
process the cube, although we might have avoided doing so, if simply to obtain full
browse and edit capabilities to make our work with the clone more instructive. To
do this, we need first to process the cube, as the copy we have created
also brought no history of processing along - for the same reasons it is "log-less."
12.
Right-click Virtual
Cube w Actions.
13.
Select Edit
from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 6.
Illustration 6: Select Edit
from the Context Menu
The Virtual
Cube Editor opens, where we are greeted with a right-hand pane that is
blank, save for a warning message (instead of the typically Data tab) as
shown in Illustration 7.
Illustration 7: Virtual
Cube Editor, for Pre-Processed Cube, Showing Warning Message
14.
Select Tools
--> Process Virtual Cube from the main menu, atop the Cube
Editor.
Processing begins, and runs rapidly, as
evidenced by the Process viewer's presentation of processing log events
in real time. The Processing cycle ends and the success of the
evolution is indicated by the appearance of the Processing Completed
Successfully message (in green letters) at the bottom of the viewer, as
shown in Illustration 8.
Illustration 8: Indication of Successful
Processing of the Virtual Cube
15.
Click Close
to close the Processing viewer.
We are
returned to the Virtual Cube Editor, where data is immediately
retrieved, and appears on the Data tab.
16.
Select File
--> Exit to close the Virtual Cube
Editor.
We return
to Analysis Manager, where we will await our next activities.
Let's do
a quick review of virtual cubes, and then put an illustrative Action to
work.
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