Shared and Unshared Dimensions

Shared and Unshared Dimensions Introduction

One difference between Transfer Cube and other features is that in a Transfer Cube, a user needs to specify both the source and destination. There may be instances wherein the source and destination Cubes have different dimensionality. This illustration will demonstrate how to deal with that particular scenario.

Creating a Transfer Cube      
with different Cube dimensionality

For this exercise, we will still be using the UsingPO.olp. But first, we need to create a new cube that has a different dimensionality with the cubes in the database and we will call it Canada Future Year Model which should consist of the dimensions Actual VS Budget, Accounts, Months and a new dimension called Canada to US Exchange Measure. The idea here is to transfer the Canada data coming from the Future Year Model cube into the newly created cube.

To begin, add a Canada to US Exchange Measure dimension with members Rate and Amount, then create the Canada Future Year Model cube. An example of a slice of the cube is shown below:

Once you have completed creating the new cube, proceed to creating the Transfer Cube task.

Create the Transfer Cube task as follows:

1.   From the PowerOLAP ribbon, go to Data tab, then in the Data Transfer control group select Transfer Cube icon or Transfer Data command.
The Transfer Cube Tasks dialog box is displayed.

2.   To create a new cube transfer task, click Add.
The Select Source and Destination dialog box is displayed.

The steps from here until you reach the Limit Source Cube and Destination Members dialog is similar to the previous topic on creating a simple Transfer Cube task.

3.   Specify a <name> to define the transfer cube task (e.g., Different Dimensions).

4.   Specify the Source cube (i.e., Future Year Model).

5.   Specify the Destination cube (i.e., Canada Future Year Model).

The image below shows the configuration made for the Transfer cube Task.

6.   Click Next.
The Transfer Options dialog box is displayed.

7.   Enable the settings desired for the transfer cube task. For this example, use the default settings.

8.   Click Next.
The Limit Source Cube dialog box is displayed.

If at this point you click Next, you will be prompted with the following message:

Notes


PowerOLAP® is able to detect that one of the Dimensions exists in the source but not in the destination, user must now select a particular Member or define a data point from that Dimension.  The Dimension which existed in the source Cube and not in destination will automatically be selected.

Since there is a dimension that exists only in the source cube, you need to pick a specific member for that dimension from which the data will be pulled from and be imported into the destination cube. In this case, Regions dimension exists only in the Future Year Model and so it will be automatically selected as shown below:

9.   Select a Member from that Dimension (i.e., Canada).

The selection above means that only all data applicable to the region Canada will be imported into the destination cube.

10. Click Next.
The Destination Members dialog box will be displayed.

If you look into this dialog, you will notice that there is also one dimension that exists only in the Destination cube Canada Future Year Model but not in the source cube, the dimension in this case is the Canada to US Exchange Measure.

If at this point you proceed with the task creation and execute it, the Canada data will be imported into both the Rate and Amount members. If you want to import the data into one or a few specific members only, then you must select those members by ticking the corresponding checkboxes.

11. Pick the <destination member> by ticking the box (i.e., Amount).

12. Click Next.
The Summary dialog is displayed.

A summary of the selections and settings configured for the transfer cube task will be displayed. To modify the cube task, click Back.

13. Click Finish to return to the Transfer Cube Tasks dialog.
The newly created task now appears in the dialog.

14. To process task, simply click the Execute button.
A prompt indicating that the task was successfully completed will appear.

15. Click OK button.

16. Back in the Transfer Cube Tasks dialog, click Done to return to main interface.

If you create a slice out of the Canada Future Year Model, you will see data figures only for Amount column as shown below:

Notes


By default, the data of the selected Member as defined in the source will be put in each and every Member of the Dimension that does not match the destination. In instances where there are multiple Members in the Dimension, the Transfer Cube structure will copy the data at the corresponding intersection to every Member of the Dimension. If you do not want to import to all members of the Dimension, it is important to select the correct Members that data would go into.