Create Additional Tables

You can also facilitate Dimension creation by creating your own separate auxiliary tables for static data in your underlying database. Static data exists, for example, in a table like Months (no new Months will be added). The use of such auxiliary tables, with Member names that appear only once, can improve performance—OLAP Exchange can refer to the created auxiliary table rather than reviewing each line of each record to determine if an entry is unique and, if unique, create a Member.

Consider the following example OrderID table, from which we can build a meaningful five-dimensional Cube.

Order ID Table for use as central Measures Table

The rows are records of Units sold of Products, with Region, Month, and Year indicated; Units would supply the figures for the Measures dimension. Let us assume that there is also a Products table in this database, which contains the list of products the company sells. To create the Products dimension, you would use Define Links dialog box in OLAP Exchange^® to reach the Products table. (You could perhaps even build a six-dimensional Cube, reaching Customers through the OrderID field.)

Suppose that there is no equivalent Region table. In order to create a Region dimension, you would have to, therefore, check the Allow Duplicates feature, and proceed to build Region from the above table—the central Measures table.

Another option exists: add a Region table to your database. In it, you could list each country where you presently (and perhaps intend to) do business. You could also create a Hierarchy of Regions—assuming these were meaningful for your data analysis purposes.

Below is an example of a table you might create as the basis of a Regions dimension—rather than using a field in your Measures table. Note that by creating this table, you could add significant Regions hierarchy levels that would allow analysis and reporting by continent and company division (AcmeWest and AcmeAsia).

User-created Regions Table