Define a Data Source View
Our next steps surround
the creation of the Data Source View, a procedure that is customary at
this stage in both Analysis Services and Report Model Projects.
It is important to realize, as we work with a "live" data connection
that we have defined, that we could certainly continue our development efforts
with the metadata without an open connection. The Data Source View
provides a single, unified view of the metadata from the tables and views that
concern us within our project.
NOTE: For more information on Data
Source Views, see my article Introduction
to MSSQL Server Analysis Services: Introducing Data Source Views
at Database Journal.
To define a Data
Source View, we will take the following steps:
1.
Right-click Data
Source Views folder within the Solution Explorer.
2.
Select Add New
Data Source View from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration
16.
Illustration 16: Initial
Step in Creating a New Data Source View
The Data Source View Wizard
appears, opening with the Welcome to the Data Source View Wizard page,
as depicted in Illustration 17.
We arrive at the Select
a Data Source
page, where we see the Data Source we created in the previous section, RS028_Adventure
Works, in the Relational data sources list box on the left side of
the page, as shown in Illustration 18.
Illustration 18: Our New
Data Source Appears in the Relational Data Sources
Our newly created Data
Source is positioned as the default, and will serve us in meeting the
objectives of our practice exercise. A Data Source View for a Report
Model Project, unlike a Data Source View for an Analysis Services
Project, can only reference a single Data Source.
We arrive at the Select
Tables and Views
page, where we see the various tables of the Adventure Works data source
appear in the Available objects list box on the left of the page.
5.
Select all
tables in the Available objects list, by clicking the button marked ">>",
as depicted in Illustration 19.
Illustration 19:
Selecting All Tables for Inclusion in the Data Source View ...
The tables in the Available
objects list box move to the Included objects list on the right half
of the page, as shown in Illustration 20.
Illustration 20: All
Tables Selected for Inclusion in the Data Source View
The Completing the
Wizard page appears.
7.
Replace the
name that appears in the Data source name box with the following:
RS028_Adventure Works
The Completing the
Wizard page appears, as depicted in Illustration 21.
Illustration 21:
Completing the Wizard ...
8.
Click Finish
to create the new Data Source View, and to dismiss the Data
Source Wizard.
The Wizard closes,
and the new Data Source View appears in the Data Source Views folder
within the Solution Explorer as shown in Illustration 22.
Illustration 22: The New
Data Source View Appears in the Solution Explorer
We have defined a Data
Source View that contains the metadata for the entire Adventure Works
sample database. Naturally, we might have only entrained select tables, based
upon the business requirements of the intended audience of the model, but for
purposes of our practice session, this will serve to illustrate the concepts.
We will next define our Report Model based upon some of this metadata,
which designated information consumers can then use within the Report
Builder.
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