Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Combining tables using calculated
columns
To begin working with calculated columns, we'll make a modification to the Tabular
Model design created in the previous chapter. In a business intelligence solution, we
often combine data from multiple source tables to simplify the structure and make it
easier for users to navigate and report on information. Previously, we used a T-SQL
query to join the
Product Subcategory
and
Product Category
table informa-
tion to populate a single table in the semantic model. To gain experience with a differ-
ent table design technique and develop new skills, we will change the approach.
Getting ready
You're going to make a design modification to the Tabular Model you created in
Chapter 9
,
Using Tabular Models
. If you would like to keep that project in its current
state for reference, you can make a copy of the project folder for backup purposes.
Otherwise, we'll just pick up from where we left off and continue to work in the same
Tabular Model.
How to do it…
You'll start with the work you did in the previous chapter:
1. Open the
SQL Server Data Tools
(
SSDT
) project you created in the previous
chapter.
2. Using the
Solution Explorer
, double-click on the
Model.bim
file to open it in
the model designer. You should be looking at the tables in the grid view.
3. Click on the
Product Category
tab at the bottom to view the rows and
columns in this table.
4. On the
Table
menu, find and select the
Table Properties
item. This
opens the
Edit Table Properties
dialog.
5. Take a quick look at the query script that uses a join operator to combine the
columns of two tables. The steps following this screenshot will have you re-
place it with similar functionality in the model.
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