How to: Add or Delete a User-Defined Hierarchy

You add a user-defined hierarchy to or remove a user-defined hierarchy from a dimension on the Dimension Structure tab in Dimension Designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio.

When you add a user-defined hierarchy, it is not available to users until it is instantiated in an Analysis Services instance and the dimension is processed. For more information, see Defining an Analysis Services Database and Processing Analysis Services Objects.

To add a user-defined hierarchy to a dimension

  1. In Business Intelligence Development Studio, open the appropriate Analysis Services project, and then open the dimension with which you want to work.

    The dimension opens in Dimension Designer on the Dimension Structure tab.

  2. From the Attributes pane, drag an attribute that you want to use in the user-defined hierarchy to the Hierarchies pane.

  3. Drag additional attributes to form levels in the user-defined hierarchy.

    The order in which attributes are listed in the hierarchy is important. For example, in a time hierarchy, years should appear higher in the hierarchy list than days.

  4. Optionally, rearrange the levels in the user-defined hierarchy by dragging them to the correct positions.

  5. Optionally, modify properties of the user-defined hierarchy or its levels.

    For example, you might want to specify a name for the user-defined hierarchy, rename one or more of its levels, and define a custom name for the All level. For more information, see User Hierarchy Properties, and Level Properties.

    Note

    By default, a user-defined hierarchy is just a path that enables users to drill down for information. However, if relationships exist between levels, you can increase query performance by configuring attribute relationships between levels. For more information, see Attribute Relationships and Defining Attribute Relationships.

To remove a user-defined hierarchy from a dimension

  • On the Dimension Structure tab, click the user-defined hierarchy that you want to remove in the Hierarchies pane. On the toolbar, click Delete.

    — or —

  • Right-click the user-defined hierarchy that you want to remove in the Hierarchies pane and then click Delete.

    — or —

  • Drag the user-defined hierarchy off of the design surface.