Cube Editor - Schema

Enables you to examine and edit your cube’s structure. It appears in two views, Browse and Schema. You can switch from one view to another by clicking the Preview Cube Data button or the View Source Tables button. You can also click Data or Schema on the View menu.

The Cube editor appears when you do either of the following:

In the OLAP Manager tree view, right-click a cube, and then click Edit.
In the OLAP Manager tree view, click a cube, and then on the Action menu, click Edit.

In this topic, you can read about:

The Schema pane.
The Cube editor menus.
The Cube editor toolbar.
The tree view.
The Properties pane.
Working in the Cube editor.

Schema Pane

In the Cube editor Schema pane, you can organize the structure of a cube in a graphical display, add additional measures and shared dimensions, and create private dimensions.

The Schema pane displays the cube’s fact table with a yellow title bar and all dimension tables with blue title bars. Joins are depicted by lines connecting the key columns between the tables.

Lengthen a selected table window vertically or use the scroll bars to view all columns in the table. You can also widen the table window to view long column names.

Note Changing the structure of a cube causes the results of previous cube processing to be invalidated. After a cube’s structure has changed, you must process the cube to re-create its data.

Working in the Schema Pane

This section lists the actions that can be performed in the Schema pane. Many actions can be performed in multiple ways. For example, an action can be accomplished by a drag-and-drop procedure, or by right-clicking an object and then clicking an item on the shortcut menu.

To remove a table

Right-click the title bar of the table, and then click Remove.

To add a new table

Right-click anywhere in the Schema pane, and then click Insert Tables. A join using the key column is automatically created between this new dimension table and the fact table.

To browse the data in a table

Right-click the title bar of the table, and then click Browse Data.

To create a join between two tables

Select the key column name in the first table, and then drag it to the corresponding key column name in the second table.

To remove a join between two tables

Right-click the line depicting the join, and then click Remove.

To replace the fact table

Right-click an empty section of the Schema pane, and then click Replace Fact Table.
The schema is refreshed with the new fact table. Joins with the existing dimension tables are constructed from the common key columns in the corresponding tables.

To add a new dimension

You can add a new cube dimension from any column contained in a table.

Right-click the column, and then click Insert as Dimension.
-Or-
Double-click the column. In the Map the Column dialog box, click Dimension, and then click OK.
-Or-
Drag the column name from the tree view to the Dimensions folder.

Note If you add or delete dimensions in your cube, you must redesign the aggregations and reprocess the cube.

To add a new measure

You can add a new measure from any numeric or time column contained in the fact table. Each cube must contain at least one measure.

Right-click the column, and then click Insert As Measure.
-Or-
Double-click the column. In the Map the Column dialog box, click Measure, and then click OK.
-Or-
Drag the column name from the tree view to the Measures folder.

Note If you add or delete measures in your cube, you must redesign the aggregations and reprocess the cube.

To delete an existing measure

In the Cube editor tree view, right-click a measure, and then click Delete.

To switch to the Browse pane

Click the Preview Cube Data button on the lower toolbar.

Cube Editor Menus

Menu	Option	Description
File	New Cube - Wizard	Creates a new cube using the Cube wizard.
	New Cube - Editor	Creates a new cube using the Cube editor.
	Save	Saves the cube.
	Save As	Saves the cube under a different name.
	Exit	Closes the Cube editor.
Edit	Rename	Renames the selected object.
	Delete	Deletes the selected object.
	Remove Join	Removes all joins from the selected column.
View	Schema	Displays the Schema pane.
	Data	Displays the Browse pane.
	Properties	Expands the Properties pane.
Insert	Tables	Adds a table to the cube.
	Dimension - Manager	Adds a dimension using the Dimension Manager.
	Dimension - New Private	Adds a new private dimension.
	Level	Adds a new level.
	Measure	Adds a new measure.
	Calculated Member	Adds a calculated member.
	Join	Adds a join to the selected column.
Tools	Process Cube	Processes the cube.
	Design Storage	Designs aggregations and storage using the Storage Design wizard.
	Count Dimension Members	Counts the number of members in a dimension.
	Validate Cube Structure	Verifies that the cube structure doesn’t contain invalid components that would prevent processing of the cube.
	Optimize Schema	Simplifies a cube’s schema for maximum performance by removing unnecessary joins and other inefficient processes.
	Manage Roles	Manages roles and users.
Help	Help on Cube Editor	Displays this Help topic.
	Contents and Index	Opens Microsoft® SQL Server™ OLAP Services Books Online.

Toolbar

Tree View

The tree view previews the structure of the cube in a hierarchical tree. Right-click an object to see a shortcut menu for that object.

Right-click	Shortcut menu option	Description
Cube name	New Cube	Adds a new cube.
	Process Cube	Processes the cube.
	Dimension Manager	Opens the Dimension Manager.
	New Private Dimension	Adds a new private dimension.
	New Measure	Adds a new measure.
Dimensions folder	Dimension Manager	Opens the Dimension Manager.
	New Private Dimension	Adds a new private dimension.
Dimension	Dimension Manager	Opens the dimension manager.
	New Private Dimension	Adds a new private dimension.
	Remove	Removes the dimension.
Level	Dimension Manager	Opens the Dimension Manager.
	New Private Dimension	Adds a new private dimension.
Measures folder	New Measure	Adds a new measure.
Measure	New Measure	Adds a new measure.
	Delete	Deletes the measure.
	Rename	Renames the measure.
Calculated members folder	New Calculated Member	Adds a new calculated member.
Calculated member	New Calculated Member	Adds a new calculated member.
	Edit	Edits the calculated member.
	Delete	Deletes the calculated member.
	Rename	Renames the calculated member.

Properties Pane

The Properties pane displays the properties of a selected object in the tree view. Each type of object (cube, dimension, levels, and measures) contains a different set of properties. Use the Properties pane to modify the property settings for any selected object.

To expand the Properties pane for an object in the tree view

Click an object, and then click the arrow on the Properties pane.
-Or-
On the View menu, click Properties.

Note The MemberKeyColumn property for a dimension level can refer to a column or to a value derived from a column, such as a formula that extracts the year value from a date-formatted column. However, the column or the value derived from the column must be a string or a number.

For more information about properties, see Properties Cross-Reference.

Working in the Cube Editor

This section lists the actions that can be performed in the Cube editor. Many actions can be performed in multiple ways. For example, an action can be accomplished either by clicking a menu item, by clicking a button on the toolbar, or by right-clicking an object and then clicking an item on the shortcut menu.

To select a different cube

In the Cube box, click the desired cube.

To create a new cube using the Cube wizard

On the File menu, point to New Cube, and then click Wizard.
-Or-
Click the New Cube button on the toolbar.

To create a new cube using the Cube editor

On the File menu, point to New Cube, and then click Editor.
-Or-
In the Cube box, click <New>.
-Or-
Right-click a cube in the tree view, and then click New Cube.

To save the current cube

On the File menu, click Save.
-Or-
Click the Save button on the toolbar.

To save the current cube under a different name

On the File menu, click Save As.
Enter a name in the Cube Name box, and then click OK.

To add a table

On the Insert menu, click Tables.
-Or-
Click the Insert Table button on the toolbar.

To access the Dimension Manager

On the Insert menu, point to Dimension, and then click Manager.
-Or-
Click the Insert Dimension button on the toolbar.
-Or-
In the tree view, right-click either 1) a cube name, 2) the Dimensions folder, or 3) a dimension name, and then click Dimension Manager.

To add a new private dimension

On the Insert menu, point to Dimension, and then click New Private.
-Or-
In the tree view, right-click either 1) a cube name, 2) the Dimensions folder, or 3) a dimension name, and then click New Private Dimension.

To remove a dimension

In the tree view, right-click a dimension, and then click Remove.

To add a measure

On the Insert menu, click Measure.
-Or-
Click the Insert Measure button on the toolbar.
-Or-
In the tree view, right-click either 1) the Measures folder or 2) a measure name, and then click New Measure.

To delete a measure

In the tree view, right-click a measure, and then click Delete.

To rename a measure

In the tree view, right-click a measure, and then click Rename.
Type the new name over the old name, and then press ENTER.

To add a calculated member

On the Insert menu, click Calculated Member.
-Or-
Click the Insert Calculated Member button on the toolbar.
-Or-
In the tree view, right-click either 1) the Calculated Members folder or 2) a calculated member name, and then click New Calculated Member.

To edit a calculated member

In the tree view, right-click a calculated member, and then click Edit.

To delete a calculated member

In the tree view, right-click a calculated member, and then click Delete.

To process the cube

On the Tools menu, click Process Cube.

To design aggregations and storage

On the Tools menu, click Design Storage.

To count dimension members

On the Tools menu, click Count Dimension Members.

To validate the cube structure

On the Tools menu, click Validate Cube Structure.

To optimize the cube schema

On the Tools menu, click Optimize Schema.

To manage roles

On the Tools menu, click Manage Roles.
-Or-
Click the Manage Roles button on the toolbar.

To view the Browse pane

On the View menu, click Data.
-Or-
On the lower toolbar, click the Preview Cube Data button.

To view the Properties pane

On the View menu, click Properties.
-Or-
Click the arrow on Properties below the tree view.

To edit the properties of an object

In the Properties pane, place the pointer in the desired cell and type in the new value, or select a value from the list, if a list is presented.

To close the Cube editor

On the File menu, click Exit.