Understanding the Input Files Used to Create the Deployment Script

When you build a Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services project, Business Intelligence Development Studio generates XML files for the project. Business Intelligence Development Studio puts these XML files in the Output folder of the Analysis Services project. By default output is out in the \Bin folder. The following table lists the XML files that Business Intelligence Development Studio creates.

XMLA file

Description

<project name>.asdatabase

Contains the declarative definitions for all the Analysis Services objects in the project.

<project name>.deploymenttargets

Contains the name of the Analysis Services instance and database in which the Analysis Services objects will be created.

<project name>.configsettings

Contains environment specific settings, such as data source connection information and object storage locations. Settings in this file override settings in the <project name>.asdatabase file.

<project name>.deploymentoptions

Contains deployment options, such as whether deployment is transactional and whether deployed objects should be processed after deployment.

Note

Business Intelligence Development Studio never stores passwords in its project files.

Modifying the Input Files

Modifying the values in the input files, or the values retrieved from the input files, makes it possible to change the deployment destination, the configuration settings, and deployment options without editing the whole <project name>.asdatabase file (or a whole XMLA script file if you generate a script from an existing Analysis Services database). Being able to modify individual files lets you easily create different deployment scripts for different purposes.

The following topics explain how to modify values in the various input files: