Dimensional attributes contain information about the Dimension object. Attributes are exposed in the cube to provide the ability to navigate and aggregate the data in the cube. User defined hierarchies can be built over attributes to provide drill paths through the data and to aid aggregation.
The properties of an attribute can be displayed by right clicking an attribute in the middle pane and choosing Properties. The following dialog is displayed:

Fields

Description

Dimension Name

A read only field to display the dimension which the attribute is related to.

Internal Attribute Name

The name of the attribute in WhereScape RED.

Published Name

The name of the attribute created in Analysis Services.

Description

A business name that is stored in WhereScape RED for documentation and stored in the Analysis Services metadata.

Estimated Count

Specifies the number of members in the attribute. This number is either the amount last counted by Analysis Services or a user provided estimate of the member count.

Member Names Unique

Indicates whether member names are unique for this attribute.

Hierarchy Visible

Indicates whether the attribute hierarchy is visible to client applications. Even if the attribute hierarchy is not visible, it can still be used in a user defined hierarchy.

Hierarchy Enabled

Indicates whether an attribute hierarchy is enabled for this attribute. If the attribute hierarchy is not enabled, then the attribute cannot be used in a user defined hierarchy.

Hierarchy Optimized State

Specifies the level of optimization applied to the attribute hierarchy.

Hierarchy Display Folder

Attribute hierarchies can be organized into user-defined folders to view and manage these attributes within the Analysis Services user interface more easily. Enter the display folder name.

Note

One object can be in multiple display folders, for example:

Dimension Attributes and Dimension Hierarchies have the same display folder drop-down list.


Order by

Specifies the method used to order the members of the attribute.

Order by attribute

Specifies the attribute used to order the members of the attribute hierarchy.
If the Order By property is set to 'AttributeKey' or 'AttributeName' then Order By Attribute cannot be empty. It must be populated with values from attribute relationships.

Type

Specifies the type of information contained by the attribute.

Usage

Specifies the usage of the attribute.

Key Column

Specifies the details of the binding to the column containing the member key.

Name Column

Specifies the details of the binding to the column containing the member name.

Value Column

Specifies the details of the binding to the column containing the member value.

Note

Using the Value Column OLAP cube attribute setting for Excel date filtering
In the relevant OLAP Date dimension ensure the OLAP Dimension Type property is set to "Time", then for the Key Attribute of the OLAP Date Dimension (e.g. dim_date_key) set the Value Column property to a date data type column (e.g. calendar_date). Usually, it will be useful to set the Name Value property for the Key Attribute to a column containing a textual date format (e.g. dates presented in dd/mm/yy format). After publishing and processing the OLAP cube, use Microsoft Office Excel Pivot Tables to expose date-specific filtering options for the dimension's hierarchies instead of label filtering options.


To View Attributes

To view the list of Attributes, right-click on an OLAP Dimension in the left pane and select Display Attributes.

To Add an Attribute

  1. Display the attributes of an OLAP Dimension in the middle pane. Display the columns of the dimension in the right pane then drag over a column from the underlying relational dimension into the middle pane.
  2. To add an Attribute, right-click on an OLAP Dimension in the left pane and select Add Attribute. This can also be achieved by displaying Attributes in the middle pane, right-clicking and selecting Add Attribute. Fill out the dialog box with the relevant details.
  3. To create an Attribute that is similar to an existing Attribute, display the Attributes in the middle pane and select Copy Attribute. The same dialog box appears as for Add Attribute with most of the fields filled in. Notice that the Attribute name has the suffix "- Copy". Change the name in the Attribute Name field and make any other alterations and then click OK.

To Delete an Attribute

Display the Attributes in the middle pane, right-click the Attribute and then select Delete.

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