Technical data

Understanding Analytic Models Chapter 3

Data Cubes and Dimensions

The primary pa

rts in an ana lytic model are data cubes (cubes) and dimensions:

• A data cube is like a sheet of paper that contains one and only one kind of data.

When you build an analytic model, you create a data cube for each kind of information in the analytic

model. For example, an analytic model of a business might contain a data cube for sales, a data cube for

rent, a data cube for salary, and so on.

• A dimension contains a list of one kind of data that can span various contexts.

For example, an analytic model of a business might contain the PRODUCT_CODES dimension and

the MONTHS dimension. These two dimensions can be used in both a SALES cube collection and a

COST_OF_GOODS cube collection to track the products’ sales and costs over a period of months.

• A dimension member (member) is one list item within a dimension.

There are many different kinds of dimension members. For example, the 010 product code is a detail member

of the PRODUCT_CODES dimension. Western Europe is an aggregate member of the REGIONS dimension.

See C

hapter 9, “Creating Hierarchies,” Types of Dimension Members, page 73.

Note. You d o not create dimension m embers in the analytic model definition. Instead, dimension members

are dynamically created during runtime.

See Chapter 9, “Creating Hierarchies,” Creation of New Members at Runtime, page 78.

Data cubes and dimensions work together to create the structure of the analytic model. To see how this works,

imagine writing SALES at the top of a blank sheet of paper. This is the equivalent of creating a new data cube.

You coul d wri

te only a single value in the SALES cube, but a cube with only one value is not useful. So

your next act

ion is to write a list of months across the top o f the cube and a list of product codes down the

side of the cu

be. This is an example of this image:

SALES

2004/01 2004/02 2004/03

010

020

070

SALES da

ta cube with attach ed PRODUCT_C ODES and MONTHS dimensions

The SALES cube now contains a value for e very month and product code because you attached two

dimensions to the cube.