Module 6

Enhancing a Cube
Module Overview

• Working with Key Performance Indicators

• Working with Actions
• Working with Perspectives
• Working with Translations
Lesson 1: Working with Key Performance Indicators

• Introducing KPIs
• Elements of a KPI
• Browsing KPIs
• Demonstration: Creating a KPI
Introducing KPIs

• A quantifiable measurement for gauging

business success
• Displayed in client applications and reports as a
visual indicator
Elements of a KPI

• Value
• The measure or calculation to be evaluated
• Goal
• The target for the value
• Status
• An MDX expression that evaluates the value
against the goal and returns a value between -1
and 1
• Trend
• An MDX expression that evaluates how the value
compares to the goal over time
 Browsing KPIs

• Use MDX to retrieve KPI values

SELECT
{ KPIValue("Total Revenue"), KPIGoal("Total Revenue"),
KPIStatus("Total Revenue"), KPITrend("Total Revenue")
} ON Columns,
Descendants
( { [Date].[Fiscal].[Fiscal Year].&[2008],
[Date].[Fiscal].[Fiscal Year].&[2009],
[Date].[Fiscal].[Fiscal Year].&[2010]
}, [Date].[Fiscal].[Fiscal Quarter]
) ON Rows
FROM [Sales];

• Client applications often provide their own

graphical indicators for KPIs
Demonstration: Creating a KPI

In this demonstration, you will see how to:

• Create a KPI
• Browse a KPI in the Cube Designer
• Browse a KPI in Excel
Lesson 2: Working with Actions

• Introducing Actions
• Types of Actions
• Building Actions for a Cube
Introducing Actions

• Stored statements that can be presented to and

employed by client applications
• Client commands that are defined and stored on
the server
Types of Actions

• Standard Actions
• Dataset
• Proprietary
• Rowset
• Statement
• URL
• Reporting Actions
• Drill-through Actions
 Building Actions for a Cube

Standard Actions Drill-through Actions Reporting Actions

• Name • Name • Name
• Target type • Target type • Target type
• Target object • Target object • Target object
• Condition • Condition • Condition
• Action type • Drill-through columns • Report Settings
• Dataset • Dimensions • Server Name
• Proprietary • Return columns • Server Path
• Rowset • Additional properties • Report Format
• Statement
• URL
• Action expression
• Additional properties
Lesson 3: Working with Perspectives

• Introducing Perspectives
• Creating a Perspective
Introducing Perspectives

• Defines a viewable subset of a cube

• Can reduce the perceived complexity of a cube
in Analysis Services
• Can display or hide several types of cube
objects including dimensions, attributes, and
more
• Is not meant to be used as a security
mechanism
• Cannot provide access to objects in a cube to
which a user does not already have access
Creating a Perspective

1. Create a new perspective

2. Assign a meaningful name
3. Select the measures, hierarchies, attributes,
KPIs, and other objects to be included
Lesson 4: Working with Translations

• Introducing Translations
• Implementing Cube Translations
• Implementing Dimension Translations
Introducing Translations

• A mechanism to localize displayed labels and

captions
• Each translation is defined as a pair of values:
• A string with the translated text
• A number with the language ID
• Two types of translations:
• Cube Translation: A language-specific representation
of the name of a cube object such as a display folder
• Dimension Translation: A language-specific
representation of the name of a dimension or one of
its members
Implementing Cube Translations

• Measure Groups and Measures

• Dimensions
• KPIs
• Named Sets
• Calculated Members
Implementing Dimension Translations

• Dimension
• Attributes
• Hierarchies and Levels
Lab: Customizing a Cube

• Exercise 1: Implementing an Action

• Exercise 2: Implementing Perspectives
• Exercise 3: Implementing a Translation

Logon Information
Virtual machine: 20466C-MIA-SQL
User name: ADVENTUREWORKS\Student
Password: Pa$$w0rd

Estimated Time: 45 minutes

Lab Scenario

Information workers in the sales department at

Adventure Works Cycles use the cube you have
created to analyze sales data. Several users have
asked to be able to view aggregated sales figures
in Microsoft Excel®, and then quickly drill through
to see details of specific orders for a given
aggregation. Some users are also finding the cube
too complex for their needs. These users typically
only want to analyze sales amount by customer,
and would like to view the measures and
dimensions needed to support this requirement.
Lab Scenario (continued)

Finally, the company employs a number of senior

sales managers who would like to view cube data
and metadata in French, their first language.
Module Review and Takeaways

• Review Question(s)