While the Dimension Wizard is a helpful tool for rapid cube design, we often come across scenarios where we have to take more direct control of the dimension design process. We accomplish this through the use of the Dimension Editor, which exposes numerous properties of a dimension that are not accessible to us through the use of the Dimension Wizard.

Using Analysis Services, we can create our basic dimensions through the use of the wizard, or we can use the manual Dimension and Cube Editors to build our dimensions -- and indeed, our entire cube structure, from scratch. (I often do a rapid design of an overall cube "skeleton"- a "draft setup," as it were, using the Wizards - which I then return to "fine tune" with the respective Editors.) Using the Dimension Editor allows us to generate more sophisticated cubes and to produce OLAP data sources that help us analyze more precisely the important attributes of business."

In this article, we will:

• Create a new OLAP database;
• Become familiar with the Dimension Editor by creating a single-table dimension;
• Learn to use the Dimension Editor to manipulate dimensions, and the hierarchal levels that exist within dimensions;
• Create Multi-table Dimensions;
• Manipulate dimension and member properties, and discuss design and development characteristics for each.

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About the Series:

This article is a member of the series Introduction to MSSQL Server 2000 Analysis Services. The series is designed to provide hands-on application of the fundamentals of MS SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, with each installment progressively adding features and techniques designed to meet specific real - world needs. For more information on the series, as well as the hardware / software requirements to prepare for the exercises we will undertake, please see my initial article, Creating Our First Cube.

Analysis Services, Dimension, Cube Editor, Dimension Editor, Dimension Properties, Member Properties

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