Procedure
Define a Data Source View
Having defined the Data
Source within our Analysis Services Project, our next steps surround
the creation of the Data Source View, a procedure that is customary at
this stage in most Analysis Services 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 New
Data Source View ...from the context menu that appears, as depicted in
Illustration 17.
Illustration 17: 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 shown in Illustration 18.
Illustration 18: The
Initial Page of the Data Source View Wizard
We arrive at the Select
a Data Source
page, where we see our Adventure Works DW Data Source in the Relational
data sources list box on the left side of the page, as depicted in Illustration
19.
Illustration 19:
Adventure Works DW 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. It is particularly useful to note, as we
have mentioned in Introducing Data Source Views, as
well as other articles, that we can define a primary data source (a
single Data Source like Adventure Works DW is an example), and
then add tables and views from additional data sources. As we have
noted in other articles of the Introduction to
MSSQL Server Analysis Services series, heterogeneous queries are supported as long as one
Data Source is a MSSQL Server Data Source.
Analysis Services scans Adventure Works DW schema, and then we arrive at the
Select Tables and Views page. Here we see the various tables of the Adventure
Works DW data source appear in the Available objects list box on the
left of the page. We will be selecting two fact tables, to allow us to house
both sales and "budget" data within our cube.
5.
Click FactInternetSales
in the Available objects list to select it.
6.
Click the
button marked ">" to move FactInternetSales to the Included objects
list on the right half of the page.
7.
Click FactSalesQuota
in the Available objects list to select it.
8.
Click the
button marked ">" to move FactSalesQuota to the Included objects list on the right
half of the page.
The added tables appear
within the Included objects list of Select Tables and Views page as
shown in Illustration 20.
Illustration 20: Table
Selections for Inclusion in the Data Source View
9.
Click the
newly added FactInternetSales table in the Included objects list
to select it.
10. Click the Add Related Tables button,
located underneath the Included objects list.
11. Click the newly added FactSalesQuota
table in the Included objects list to select it.
12. Click the Add Related Tables button,
located underneath the Included objects list.
Several related tables
appear within the Included objects list, as depicted in Illustration
21.
Illustration 21: Our
Tables Selection for the Data Source View
The Completing the
Wizard page appears, as shown in Illustration 22.
Illustration 22: The
Final Page of the Data Source View Wizard
As
indicated in the Completing the Wizard page, our selection includes the
following tables:
-
FactInternetSales
-
FactSalesQuota
-
DimProduct
-
DimCurrency
-
DimTime
-
FactInternetSalesReason
-
DimSalesTerritory
-
DimPromotion
-
DimCustomer
-
DimEmployee
14.
Click Finish
to create the new Data Source View, and to dismiss the Data
Source View Wizard.
Our new Data Source View,
Adventure Works DW, appears in the Data Source Views folder within
the Solution Explorer window, as depicted in Illustration 23.
Illustration 23: The New
Data Source View in the Solution Explorer
The Data Source View
is also presented within the Data Source View Designer, which opens simultaneously
with the Data Source View. The contents of the Designer appear within
Business Intelligence Development Studio, as shown in Illustration 24.
Illustration 24: The New
Data Source View in the Data Source View Designer
One of several designers
within the Studio, the Data Source View Designer for our new Data
Source View contains numerous elements that aid us in our organization and
design efforts. We can modify the composition of the tables that comprise our
view, as well as performing other activities, here.
We will next create a
cube based upon the Data Source and Data Source View we have
assembled. As a part of this process, we will get some hands-on exposure to working
with Measure Groups.
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