Verification
Review
the New Time Dimension Structure and Underlying Table
Review
the Time Dimension within the Designer
1.
Right-click
the newly created Date dimension (Date 1.dim) within Solution
Explorer.
2.
Click Open
from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 39.
Illustration 39: Opening
the Dimension Designer for the New Date Dimension
The Dimension
Designer for Date 1.dim opens, defaulting to the Dimension
Structure tab. Here are presented the Attributes, Hierarchies
and Levels, and Data Source View panes, as shown in Illustration
40.
Illustration 40: Panes
of the Dimension Structure Tab
From this
perspective, we can examine virtually any detail of the structure of the new Date
dimension. In addition, from the Data Source View pane, we can at least
partially verify the fact that, not only has an underlying table has been
created, but the table has been populated with data, based upon the date ranges
we provided when creating our cube.
3.
Right-click
the Date_1 table appearing within the Data Source View pane of
the Dimension Structure tab.
4.
Select Explore
Data from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 41.
Illustration 41: Select
Explore Data ...
A sample portion of the
data loads, and the Explore Date_1 Table tab appears. Various tools present
themselves within its sub tab region (including the default Table tab, a
Pivot Table tab, a Chart tab, and a Pivot Chart tab), as shown in Illustration 42.
Illustration 42: The Explore
Date_1 Table Tab (Partial View), Displaying Data from the Table
5.
When finished
examining the data, right-click the Explore
Date_1 Table tab.
6.
Select Close
from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 43.
Illustration 43: Closing
the Explore Date_1 Table Tab
Having
examined various aspects of the support for the new Date dimension
within the design environment, we will next take a look at the underlying table
within the Database Engine. We will accomplish this in the section that
follows.
» 