Dimensional Model Components: Dimensions Part II - Page 3

February 15, 2008

Let's take a look at each of the individual properties, starting with the Advanced properties group, examining the possible settings with which we can come into contact.

Advanced Property: AllMemberAggregationUsage

The AllMemberAggregationUsage property governs the manner in which the Aggregation Designer designs aggregations within Analysis Services.

The selector for the AllMemberAggregationUsage property displays our selection options as shown in Illustration 8.

The values we might assign to the AllMemberAggregationUsage property field from the selector are as follows:

• Full: Every cube aggregation is to include the All member.
• None: No cube aggregation is to include the All member. (This is the default value.)
• Unrestricted: No restrictions are placed upon the Aggregation Designer
• Default: The same functionality as Unrestricted.

Advanced Property: DimensionID

The DimensionID property contains the unique identifier assigned to the underlying Database dimension. This property cannot be altered, and is therefore “grayed” within the property settings.

Advanced Property: HierarchyUniqueNameStyle

The HierarchyUniqueNameStyle property dictates the manner in which unique names are generated for hierarchies contained within the Cube dimension.

The selector for the HierarchyUniqueNameStyle property displays our selection options as depicted in Illustration 9.

The values we might assign to the HierarchyUniqueNameStyle property field the selector are as follows:

• IncludeDimensionName: The dimension name is to be included as part of the name of the hierarchy. (This is the default value.)
• ExcludeDimensionName: The dimension name is to be included as part of the name of the hierarchy.

Advanced Property: MemberUniqueNameStyle

The MemberUniqueNameStyle property dictates the manner in which unique names are generated for members of hierarchies contained within the Cube dimension.

The selector for the MemberUniqueNameStyle property displays our selection options as shown in Illustration 10.

The values we might assign to the Member UniqueNameStyle property field via the selector are as follows:

• Native: The unique names of members are automatically determined by Analysis Services. (This is the default value.)
• NamePath: A name is compounded based upon the name of each of the member level and caption.

Advanced Property: Visible

The Visible property dictates Cube dimension visibility.

The selector for the Visible property displays our selection options as depicted in Illustration 11.

The values we might assign to the Visible property field using the selector are as follows:

• True: The Cube dimension is visible. (This is the default value.)
• False: The Cube dimension is not visible.

The individual properties of the Basic properties group are straightforward.

Basic Property: Description

The Description property simply supplies a descriptive name for the level. The default setting is blank.

Basic Property: ID

The ID property contains the unique identifier assigned to the Cube dimension. This property cannot be altered, and is therefore “grayed” within the property settings.

Basic Property: Name

The optional Name property allows us to assign a friendly name to the Cube dimension. The name of a given Cube dimension is identical to its underlying Database dimension, unless another existing Cube dimension has the same name.

We will extend our examination of dimensions within our next article, where we will introduce and overview dimension attributes. Subsequent articles will focus upon characteristics and properties of attributes, including member keys and names, relationships, discretization and other considerations.

Conclusion

In this, the second half of a two-part article, we continued the initial article within a new subseries focusing upon dimensional model components, with an objective of discussing the associated concepts, and of providing hands-on exposure to the properties supporting each. We reviewed our Part I introduction to the dimensional model and summarized its role in meeting the primary objectives of business intelligence. Next, we provided a brief review of dimensions in general, including the two primary dimension types within Analysis Services, Database dimensions and Cube dimensions.

Having examined the Database and Cube dimension types within the design environment in Part I (primarily as a means of comparing the two types, and explaining their differences), we began our focus upon the Properties associated with a Cube dimension, based upon the examination of a representative dimension within our sample cube. Finally, we looked forward to subsequent articles of this subseries, where we explore the attribute, hierarchy, and other components of the dimensional model as implemented by Analysis Services.

» See All Articles by Columnist William E. Pearson, III

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