Defining Logical Relationships in a Data Source View (Analysis Services)

The Data Source View Wizard and Data Source View Designer automatically define relationships between tables added to a data source view, based on underlying database relationships, or based on the name matching criteria you specify, unless you disable. However, you may need to manually define logical relationships in the data source view to supplement those relationships that are defined automatically. Relationships are required in Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services to identify fact and dimension tables, to construct queries for retrieving data and metadata from underlying data sources, and to take advantage of advanced business intelligence features.

You can define the following types of relationships in Data Source View Designer:

  • A relationship from one table to another table in the same data source.

  • A relationship from one table to itself, as in a parent-child relationship.

  • A relationship from one table in a data source to another table in a different data source.

Note

The relationships defined in a data source view are logical and may not reflect the actual relationships defined in the underlying data source. You can create relationships in Data Source View Designer that do not exist in the underlying data source, and remove relationships created by Data Source View Designer from existing foreign key relationships in the underlying data source.

Relationships are directed. For every value in the source column, there is a corresponding value in the destination column. In a data source view diagram, such as the diagrams displayed in the Diagram pane, an arrow on the line between two tables indicates the direction of the relationship.

How To Add, Modify, View, or Delete Relationships

To view instructions about how to add, modify, view or delete relationships, see How to: Add, Delete, View, or Modify a Logical Relationship Using Data Source View Designer (Analysis Services).