Setting up Placeholder Categories for Cube Groups

When you define a cube group, you can manually add a placeholder category to the level from which future cubes will be derived to allow for additions. Provided the new members have the same rolled-up data as the existing members, the cube containing the placeholder category will gather the incrementally updated data that the new member needs.

For example, suppose a model uses a cube group for your sales offices, which you update incrementally. Each member cube therefore contains historical summary data. Your company is planning to add another sales office in the future, but details are not yet available. You want the new office to have access to the same historical data as the other offices.

Some limitations apply. For more information, see Update Cubes Incrementally and Choosing a Partitioning Strategy.

Procedure

  1. Open the diagram for the dimension on which the cube group will be based.
  2. In the category viewer, insert a category into the level from which the member cube will be derived.
  3. Define the cube group and, on the Processing tab of the PowerCube property sheet, select the This cube is incrementally updated check box.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In the PowerCubes list, expand the cube group to list the members.
  6. In the property sheet for the placeholder cube, change the name to New.