Cubing — Level properties

A level references a collection of related attributes that uniquely define one piece of a hierarchy in a dimension.

A hierarchy can contain multiple levels. Each level contains the following sets of attributes:

Level key attributes: Level key attributes are an ordered set of one or more attributes that provide a unique key for the level. Each level must have at least one level key attribute. For example, you might have City ID or the set of City Name and State Name as the level key attribute for a City level.
Default related attribute: A default related attribute contains display data for the level. Each level must contain exactly one default related attribute. For example, if the level key attribute is City ID, the default related attribute might be City Name.
Related attributes: Related attributes are a set of zero or more attributes that provide more information about the level key attributes. For example, if the level key attribute is City ID, the related attributes might include City Mayor, City Population, City Location, City Description, and City Area.

Ordering attributes: Ordering attributes are a set of zero or more attributes that provide the order of members of a level. For example, the level default attribute is Month Name, but you might want to order it by Month Number.

When you select a level in the Data Project Explorer, use the properties view to specify the properties of a new level or to modify the properties of an existing level. When a level is selected in the Database Explorer, the properties view is read-only. The properties view has the following pages:

General page

Use this page to specify or modify the name and label of the level.

Name: This field shows the name of the level.

Label: This field shows the business name of the level.

Level Key page

Use this page to specify or modify the set of level key attributes.

The Level key attributes list shows the set of attributes. To add or remove attributes in the set of level key attributes, use the Add and Delete push buttons.

Important: The set of level key attributes must provide a unique key for the level.

Use this page to specify or modify the set of related attributes for the level. The Related attributes column shows the set of attributes. To add or remove related attributes for the level, use the Add and Delete push buttons.

You can also use this page to modify which related attribute is the default attribute for the level. The level must have exactly one default attribute that contains display data for the level. To change the default attribute, select the check box for the related attribute that you want to be the default attribute.

Important: Specify a default attribute and related attributes that are functionally determined by the level key attributes.

Order page

Use this page to specify or modify zero or more sort attributes that specify the order that members of the level will be displayed in by other applications. The Attributes list shows the attributes that you selected for the dimension. You can specify the order as ascending or descending by clicking the Order field for the attribute and selecting the order type from the drop-down list. To move an attribute up in the list, select the attribute, and click Move up . To move an attribute down in a list, select the attribute, and click Move down .

Type page

Use this page to specify or modify the level type. You can specify one of the following level types:

Unknown: Specifies that you do not know the level type.

Regular: Specifies that the level is not related to time.

Time or Date

Specifies that the level is related to time. If you select Time or Date, then you must select one of the following options:

Complete date: Specifies that the level refers to a specific date. Example: 01/07/2004.

Undefined time: Specifies that the level refers to an indeterminate or nonstandard measurement of time.

The additional options are Years, Half years, Quarters, Months, Weeks, Days, Hours, Minutes, and Seconds.

Important: Changing the level type might affect the hierarchy. Levels for a time hierarchy must be in a valid order. For example, a level of type Years must come before a level of type Half years. After you change the type of a level, you can use the Analyze Model wizard to verify that the order of that level is valid in all existing hierarchies.

Documentation page

Use this page to specify or modify comments about the level.

Annotation page

This page is available only when the level is selected in the Data Project Explorer. You can use this page to add user-defined properties to an object. For example, you might want to annotate language support. If you have a cube that is named Sales Cube in English, you can add a property French with the value le cube des ventes to indicate the cube name in French.