Conceptual Data Model - Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services - page 34

on the semantic properties of the language. You can look for details of the syntax of DDL
in Books Online.

DDL is object oriented. It enables you to define a set of objects that are part of the multi-
dimensional model and to define all the properties necessary to those objects.

You can use Microsoft Business Intelligence Development Studio and SQL Server
Management Studio to work with the conceptual model of Analysis Services. Under the
hood, those applications generate DDL commands and send them to Analysis Services.
However, although you can avoid delving into the details of DDL, we highly recommend
you to spend time trying to understand it so that you can take full advantage of the capa-
bility to talk directly to the Analysis server in its own language. In this chapter, we intro-
duce you to the object model that defines the conceptual model and discuss the common
characteristics of all the objects. In the following chapters, we'll delve deeper into the
most important objects of the conceptual model, such as Dimension , Cube , Measure
Group , and so on.

Objects in DDL

All the objects in DDL are either major objects or minor objects. Major objects are objects
that the user can manipulate—independently of their parent objects—to create and
change the model. Minor objects are children of major objects.

The root object (which is a major one) of the model is Database (sometimes called
Catalog ), which allows you to navigate to all the objects of the model.

Major objects must have two unique identifiers: the ID and Name properties. Minor objects
sometimes don't need these properties, because they are always part of a major object. In
addition, each object (major or minor) can have a Description property that contains text
that describes the purpose of the object (useful for the developer who created the object
and the user of the application that uses the object). Objects can also have the Annotation
property, or lists of Annotations , that external applications use to display or manipulate
their data.

LISTING 4.1

The DDL Definition of the FoodMart Database

<Databasexmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/analysisservices/2003/engine”>
<ID>FoodMart 2008</ID>
<Name>FoodMart 2008</Name>
<CreatedTimestamp>0001-01-01T08:00:00Z</CreatedTimestamp>
<LastSchemaUpdate>0001-01-01T08:00:00Z</LastSchemaUpdate>
<LastProcessed>0001-01-01T08:00:00Z</LastProcessed>
<State>Unprocessed</State>
<LastUpdate>0001-01-01T08:00:00Z</LastUpdate>
<DataSourceImpersonationInfo>
<ImpersonationMode>Default</ImpersonationMode>
<ImpersonationInfoSecurity>Unchanged</ImpersonationInfoSecurity>