Verification
Deploy the Analysis Services
Solution
Deploying
the solution will dispatch the code we have created using the Cube Wizard
and Designer interfaces. After the XML reaches the targeted Analysis
Server (the destination server must be targeted, before beginning
deployment, within the project's Deployment Configuration Properties
page), the Analysis Services database is created and processed. Once
this has been accomplished, we can fully leverage the Browser that the Cube
Designer makes available to us.
1.
Right-click
the ANSYS050 Perspectives solution, atop the tree in Solution
Explorer.
2.
Select Deploy
Solution from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration
49.
Illustration 49: Deploying
the Solution ...
Processing begins, as we
can see in the Deployment Progress pane. Once deployment has
completed successfully, we see a message to this effect in the Status
area, toward the bottom of the pane, as depicted in Illustration 50.
Illustration 50:
Indication of Successful Deployment Appears ...
We are
left with a processed Analysis Services database and cube. We are ready
for the final part of our article, where we will verify the effectiveness of
our handiwork via the Cube Browser.
Browse the Cube
We can
get to the Cube Browser, at this stage, and see our Perspectives at
work within the cube, by taking the following steps.
1.
Click the Browser
tab within the Cube Designer, as shown in Illustration 51.
Illustration 51: Click
the Browser Tab ...
2.
Once the Browser
loads, click the Reconnect button, as depicted in Illustration 52.
Illustration 52: Click
the Reconnect Button ...
As we proceed, keep in
mind that the power of Perspectives lies in "what they make
available" to the consumer. We'll do a quick examination that will
reinforce this concept. The Browser is an extremely convenient place to
accomplish this. However, more in-depth details about use of the Browser,
a formidable tool within itself, are developed within other articles of this
series, whose objectives (typically within "verification" procedures)
are to examine or analyze values and other details within the cube.
3.
Select the ANSYS050
– Planning Perspective within the Perspective list box, as shown in Illustration 53.
Illustration 53: Selecting
a Perspective in the Browser
We notice that the cube
tree (inside the Metadata pane, on the left side of the Browser tab)
immediately shifts to display the objects included within the new Perspective.
We also note that the Perspective itself appears atop the tree, in the
position typically occupied by the cube. This perhaps illustrates well the
nature of the Perspective within a browsing – and even a querying –
context.
NOTE:
We examine the employment of Perspectives within MDX queries in Other MDX Entities:
Perspectives, a member of my MDX
Essentials series at Database Journal.
It is useful to realize
that, although we can dictate dimension membership within our Perspective design,
we also can leverage the dimensional structure that we have already built into
our Measure Group relationships. As we can see in the present case, only
the dimensions associated with the Measure Groups we selected for
inclusion within the Perspective appear within the Metadata pane.
In addition to the obviously "thinned down" dimensions that we see
within the cube tree, let's take a look at the Measure Groups that are
made available within the ANSYS050 – Planning Perspective.
4.
Within the
cube tree appearing inside the Metadata pane, expand Measures.
5.
Expand the Fact
Sales Quota folder as depicted in Illustration 54.
Illustration 54: Examining
Selected Measure Group in the Measure Folder
We see
that the only Measure Group (with member measures) that appears within
the Measures folder of the Perspective is Fact Sales Quota,
exactly as we might have expected from our Perspective design in the
previous section.
6.
Select the ANSYS050
– Operations Perspective within the Perspective list box.
7.
Within the
cube tree appearing inside the Metadata pane, expand the Measures
folder, as before.
8.
Expand the Fact
Internet Sales folder, as shown in Illustration 55.
Illustration 55: Examining
the Measure Group within Another Perspective
We see
that the only Measure Group that appears within the Measures
folder of the Perspective is Fact Internet Sales, again as we
might have expected from our Perspective design in the previous section.
We also note, within the Fact Internet Sales folder, the absence of the
single measure, Unit Price Discount Percent, which we eliminated from inclusion within the ANSYS050 –
Operations Perspective in our earlier design steps. Moreover, the
dimensions that appear within the Perspective reflect the selection we
made earlier.
9.
Further
inspect the structure of the Perspectives, performing browses as
desired.
10. Select File -> Save All from the main menu, to save our
work through this point, as depicted in Illustration 56.
Illustration 56: Saving All Work
from Our Session
11. Select File -> Exit, when ready, to leave the Business
Intelligence Development Studio.
Conclusion
In this article, we explored
Perspectives, another exciting new feature that debuts in Analysis
Services 2005. After introducing the concept of Perspectives, we
overviewed their creation, and discussed ways in which they can offer
flexibility in supporting our cube and solution / application end users. In
preparation for our examination of the steps involved in extending our cubes to
leverage Perspectives, we prepared Analysis Services, and our
environment, by creating an Analysis Services Project to house our development
steps, and to serve as a platform for the design of a quick cube model, within
which to perform subsequent procedures in our session. We next performed the
steps that are common to the design and creation of any cube within Analysis
Services 2005, including the creation of a Data Source, containing
the information Analysis Services needs to connect to a database, and a Data
Source View containing schema information.
We then created a basic cube, referencing our Data
Source and Data Source View, which contained data from our sample
relational tables. Next, we got some hands-on exposure to creating Perspectives,
via the Perspectives tab of the Cube Designer. Finally, after deploying
our Analysis Services solution, we browsed the cube,
focusing on the new Perspectives and the cube objects that each made
available.
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