Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Here are two examples you can change in the Parent attribute to make your parent-child dimensions more
readable:
•
Set the MemberWithDataCaption property on the Employees attribute to * (Mgr)
: This adds
an additional description indicating the value comes from the parent of a child member.
So, in Figure
12-32
, the manager has been appended to both Steve Buchanan and Andrew
Fuller's values.
•
Set the Naming Template property to
Mgr;Asst Mgr;Emp
: This changes the level names from
the defaults level 02, level 03, level 04, and more, to a more descriptive name (Figure
12-32
).
Figure 12-32.
Property changes reflected in the dimension's Browser tab
Changes like these also show up in client applications such as Microsoft Excel and can make your reports
more readable.
Adding a parent-child dimension to a cube is just like adding a regular dimension. There are no additional
configurations necessary to make a parent-child dimension work with the cube, because the relationship is
defined in the dimension and not within the cube. This is not the case for all dimensions. In dimensions such
as role-playing and reference dimensions, the configurations are performed in the cube designer and not the
dimension designer.
Role-Playing Dimensions
Role-playing dimensions allow you to reuse a single dimension multiple times. A role-playing dimension starts
off as a normal dimension within the data warehouse and is created using the Dimension Wizard like any other.
However, when you use the Visual Studio's Cube Wizard, it determines if a single dimension, in our case the
DimDates dimension, is represented multiple times based on the relationships defined in the data source view.
