Building Your First SSAS Cube
Welcome to this step-by-step guide on creating your very first SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) cube. Cubes are fundamental to OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) and provide a powerful way to analyze large datasets. This article will walk you through the essential steps, from connecting to your data source to deploying your cube.
Prerequisites
Before we begin, ensure you have the following installed:
- SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) for Visual Studio
- A SQL Server instance with Analysis Services installed
- Access to a sample database (e.g., AdventureWorksDW)
Step 1: Create a New SSAS Project
Open Visual Studio and navigate to File > New > Project.
Under 'Business Intelligence', select 'Analysis Services Project'. Give your project a meaningful name (e.g., 'FirstCubeProject') and choose a location. Click 'OK'.
Step 2: Create a Data Source
In the Solution Explorer, right-click on 'Data Sources' and select 'New Data Source'.
This will launch the Data Source Wizard:
- Click 'New...' to create a new connection.
- Select your SQL Server instance and the database you'll use (e.g., AdventureWorksDW).
- Test the connection and click 'Finish'.
- Give your data source a name (e.g., 'AdventureWorksDWDS') and click 'Finish'.
Step 3: Create a Data Source View
Next, we'll create a Data Source View (DSV), which is a logical representation of your data. Right-click on 'Data Source Views' and select 'New Data Source View'.
The Data Source View Wizard will appear:
- Select the data source you created in Step 2.
- From the available tables, select those needed for your cube. For a simple sales cube, you might choose 'DimCustomer', 'DimProduct', 'DimDate', and 'FactInternetSales'.
- Click 'Finish'.
You can now see your tables and their relationships in the DSV designer. SSAS often detects relationships automatically, but you can create or modify them here.
Step 4: Create a Cube
Right-click on 'Cubes' and select 'New Cube'.
The Cube Wizard will guide you:
- Choose to use tables from an existing data source view.
- Select the fact table (e.g., 'FactInternetSales').
- Select the measure columns from the fact table you want to include (e.g., 'SalesAmount', 'OrderQuantity').
- Next, select the dimension tables that relate to your fact table. For each dimension table, you'll create a dimension. SSAS will prompt you to create dimensions for the selected tables.
- Review the dimensions and measures. You can rename them and choose hierarchies for dimensions (e.g., Year, Quarter, Month for the Date dimension).
- Give your cube a name (e.g., 'SalesCube') and click 'Finish'.
Step 5: Deploy and Process the Cube
To make your cube available for analysis, you need to deploy and then process it.
- Right-click on the 'FirstCubeProject' in Solution Explorer and select 'Properties'.
- Under 'Deployment', ensure the 'Server name' is set to your SSAS instance.
- Press F5 or click 'Start' to build, deploy, and process your cube.
The deployment process will compile your project and send it to the SSAS server. The processing step loads the actual data into the cube structures.
Step 6: Browse the Cube
Once processing is complete, Visual Studio will automatically switch to the 'Cube Browser' tab.
You can now drag and drop your measures (e.g., 'SalesAmount') and dimensions (e.g., 'Product Category', 'Year') onto the design pane to explore your data. For example, drag 'SalesAmount' to the data area and 'Year' from 'DimDate' to the rows area.
"Analysis Services empowers users to slice and dice data in ways that traditional relational databases cannot easily support."
Conclusion
Congratulations! You've successfully built and deployed your first SSAS cube. This is the foundation for powerful business intelligence solutions. From here, you can explore more advanced topics like calculated members, KPI's, and security.
-- Example MDX query in Cube Browser
SELECT
{[Measures].[Internet Sales Amount]} ON COLUMNS,
{[DimProduct].[Category].[Category].Members} ON ROWS
FROM [SalesCube]
WHERE ([DimDate].[Calendar Year].[Calendar Year].&[2023])