Defining a dimension based on a relational table

In IBM® Cognos® Cube Designer, you can generate commonly used dimensions at the project level and reference them in one or more dynamic cubes. You can also generate dimensions within a specific cube.

Generate, dimension using data sampling applies a heuristic algorithm that interprets relationships among the data to identify levels. Based on the data in the selected table, a hierarchy of levels is generated, based on the cardinality of the data and the column names.

If your data is clean and complete, the generated levels are more accurate. The algorithm does not detect multiple hierarchies.

Procedure

Select the location from which you want create the dimension:
- To create a shared dimension at the project level, select Model from the Project Explorer tree.
- To create a dimension that this automatically linked to a dynamic cube, select the cube from the Project Explorer tree.
  The dimension is also shared at the project level.
Tip: Use folders and namespaces to organize objects. Using folders and namespaces makes it easier for you to locate objects and view the structure of a project in the Project Explorer.
Click Generate, dimension with data sampling.

What to do next

Review the generated dimension definition and, if required, manually modify it to reflect how you want to view your data.

Tip: Right-click a relational table and select Explore Metadata. You can use the Relational Explorer Diagram to help you understand the structure of the metadata that is used to design the hierarchies and levels.

When you finish modeling a dimension, you can perform the following tasks:

Browse members from the data source. For more information, see Browsing members.
Add a shared dimension to a dynamic cube by dragging and dropping it onto the dynamic cube in the Project Explorer tree.