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Defining Database Dimensions

Use Dimension Designer in Business Intelligence Development Studio to configure an existing database dimension in a Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services project or database. You can use Dimension Designer to do the following:

  • Configure the dimension-level properties.

  • Add and configure dimension attributes.

  • Define and configure user-defined hierarchies.

  • Define and configure relationships between attributes.

  • Define dimension translations.

  • For processed dimensions, you can browse the dimension structure and view data.

After you modify a dimension, attribute, or hierarchy, you must process that dimension to view the changes. When working in project mode, you deploy the changes to the Analysis Services instance before processing.

For more information about how to open a dimension in Dimension Designer, see How to: Modify or Delete a Database Dimension in Solution Explorer.

Dimension Designer has three different tabs, which are described in the following table.

Tab

Description

Dimension Structure

Use this tab to work with the structure of a dimension—to examine or create the data source view schema for a dimension, to work with attributes, and to organize attributes in user-defined hierarchies. For more information about the options on this tab, see Dimension Structure (Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

Attribute Relationships

Use this tab to create, modify, or delete the attribute relationships of a dimension. For more information about the options on this tab, see Attribute Relationships (Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

Translations

Use this tab to add and edit translations of dimension metadata in different languages. For more information about the options on this tab, see Translations (Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

Browser

Use this tab to examine the members of a processed dimension and to review translations of dimension metadata. For more information about the options on this tab, see Browser (Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

The following topics describe the tasks that you can perform in Dimension Designer.