To create a member property
Member properties are optional components of dimensions and cubes.
Member properties are associated with members. A member is an item in a dimension level. For example, if a Time dimension contains Year, Month, and Day levels, and the dimension table’s data spans one full calendar year, the Month level contains 12 members: January through December. If the Time dimension table’s data spans two full calendar years, the Month level contains 24 members. Thus, members need not be unique values within a dimension level.
A member property is an attribute associated with a member. For example, each member of the Month level has an associated Boolean member property called Bonus Month. It records whether bonuses are awarded during the month because they are not awarded at a regular frequency. In months that bonuses are awarded, Bonus Month equals 1 (TRUE); in the remaining months, Bonus Month equals 0 (FALSE).
A member property is stored in a column in the same table as the dimension level containing the members. So, for example, Bonus Month is stored in the same table as the Month level.
A member property is created by inserting it into the level that contains the members with which the member property is associated. So, for example, Bonus Month is defined inside the Month level.
A member property is created in a dimension for the purpose of providing cube users with additional information about members. The information is typically less important to users than the members themselves and does not qualify as a level within the dimension.
For example, before Bonus Month existed as a member property, it existed as a column in the Time dimension table. Users requested that Bonus Month be added to some cubes. However, it was inappropriate to add Bonus Month as a level because it is not a natural component of the Time dimension hierarchy, and users may have drilled down, for example, from Month to Bonus Month to Day, experiencing an awkward and confusing presentation. Because Bonus Month is associated with members of the Month level, the solution was to create the Bonus Month member property by inserting it in the Month level. Consequently, users can now display Bonus Month values, for example by right-clicking Month values, and the basic Time dimension hierarchy is undisturbed.
Before you create a member property in a dimension level containing nonunique members, you must ensure that each member can have only one member property value. Otherwise, cube data will be incomplete and misleading because only one member property value can be displayed for each member. For example, members of the Salesperson level are not unique. Each Salesperson can have only one Manager, so Manager is a valid member property in the Salesperson level. However, a Salesperson can work in multiple Regions, so Region is not a valid member property. If Region were defined as a member property, it would display only one Region to cube users, even for Salespersons who work in multiple Regions.
Member properties are also used in the creation of virtual dimensions. For more information about virtual dimensions, see Creating Virtual Dimensions.
For more information about member properties, see Member Properties.
To create a member property in a dimension level, use the Dimension editor. You can create member properties only in shared dimensions.
To create a member property
After you create a member property, you must process the dimension that contains it with the Incremental update option. For more information, see Creating Shared Dimensions.
Users must then reconnect to the server computer in order to access the member property.
Note Member properties are not visible in the OLAP Manager tree view. You must use the Dimension editor or the Cube editor to view them. You must use the Dimension editor to create, update, or delete them.