A cube is a set of related measures and dimensions that is used to analyze data.
- A measure is a transactional value or measurement that a user may want to aggregate. The source of measures are usually columns in one or more source tables. Measures are grouped into measure groups.
- A dimension is a group of attributes that represent an area of interest related to the measures in the cube and which are used to analyze the measures in the cube. For example, a customer dimension might include the attributes:
- Customer Name
- Customer Gender
- Customer City
These enable measures in the cube to be analyzed by Customer Name, Customer Gender, and Customer City. The source of attributes are usually columns in one or more source tables. The attributes within each dimension can be organized into hierarchies to provide paths for analysis.
A cube is then augmented with calculations, key performance indicators (generally known as KPIs), actions, partitions, perspectives, and translations.
The information required to build and support an Analysis Services cube and its surrounding structure is reasonably complex and diverse. In attempting to automate the building of Analysis Services cubes, WhereScape RED has simplified and restricted many of the functions available to the cube designer. WhereScape RED includes most of the commonly used capabilities and the components that logically fit into the methodology incorporated within WhereScape RED.
WhereScape RED broadly provides functionality to manage all of the above, except for perspectives and translations. These can be created outside of WhereScape RED, scripted in xmla and executed from within WhereScape RED. Features of cubes that are not supported in WhereScape RED can be added to the cube via the Microsoft tools. These altered cubes can still be processed through the WhereScape RED scheduler, and the cube should be documented within WhereScape RED to explain the post creation phases required.
As a general rule, once a cube or a component of a cube is created on the Analysis Services server it cannot be altered through WhereScape RED. The OLAP object can be dropped and recreated easily using RED. New OLAP objects defined in RED (e.g. additional calculations or measures) can be added by recreating the cube.