New blog address:

www.sqldb.co.nr

Granting Custom Access to Dimension Data

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms175366.aspx

After a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) database role has read or read/write permission to a dimension, you can define security on each dimension member (also called dimension security). By default, a database role is not allowed access to any members of any dimension. You have to grant permission to allow access to specific attributes and attribute members within the dimension. The properties that are available for viewing attributes and attribute members are: IsAllowed, AllowedSet, DeniedSet, ApplyDenied, VisualTotals, and DefaultMember. The type of access that members of a dimension role have is based on the dimension access granted, either read or read/write.

Using MDX Expressions to Set Cell Data Permissions

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174590.aspx

The Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) expression that sets permissions to cell data can either specify which cells can be accessed or which cells cannot be accessed. By allowing access to cells for specific members in some dimensions and denying access to cells for specific members in other dimensions, cell security provides great flexibility. In fact, you can create an MDX expression that allows or denies access to any possible combination of cells.

Granting Custom Access to Cell Data

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174590.aspx

After you grant a database role in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) read or read/write permissions to a cube, you have to grant to this database role the permission to view some or all cell data. Only granting cube access to a database role does not give that database role access to specific cube cells.

Design Constraints and Unavoidable Realities

http://www.intelligententerprise.com/020903/514warehouse1_1.jhtml

No design problem in school was this hard

by Ralph Kimball

The basic mission of a data warehouse professional, as I described in my previous column (“An Engineer’s View,” July 26, 2002), is to publish the right data. Because I am an engineer and try to build practical things that work, I then asked: What does a good engineer do when confronted with the task of presenting an organization’s data most effectively?

User Defined Functions (UDFs) in Analysis Services 2005

http://www.mrachek.com/PermaLink,guid,c913d82f-1006-49dd-9253-98b478ef8959.aspx

 

I’ve found myself working with UDF’s more and more lately and thought it would make a good blog topic. So, if you are interested in creating a UDF to use in your MDX, read on.

I’m using the Adventure Works database which is the sample database Analysis Services 2005. If you have not yet created the Adventure Works database, you can get the source files and installation instructions here.

Dynamic Security and Analytics Server Performance

http://blogs.proclarity.com/blogs/dgustafson/archive/2006/3/21/54.aspx

 

I recently was presented with a mystery. During a load test, I was simulating a large number of users, all viewing the same Analytics Server data in their browsers. This is a typical scenario for a corporate dashboard or portal. The OLAP source was Analysis Services 2005, and I expected Analytics Server to perform well. I knew these identical queries would all return the same data; the Analytics Server caching system should make quick work of the load.

To my surprise, the Performance Statistics page (pas/perfstats.asp) indicated the QueryMetadata portion of the cache was not detecting hits. But these were identical MDX queries; why were they being passed on to the OLAP server?

Managing and Deploying SQL Server Integration Services

 

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/mgngssis.mspx

 

By Michael Otey, TECA, Inc and Denielle Otey, TECA, Inc

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is an enterprise-level data integration platform. SSIS is an entirely new subsystem in SQL Server 2005. This paper tells you how to take advantage of the SSIS management and deployment features.

Enabling Drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnsql90/html/sql2k5_anservdrill.asp

T.K. Anand
Microsoft Corporation

Summary: Discover the new Analysis Services 2005 drillthrough architecture. See how to set up drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005 and get guidance on migrating drillthrough settings from Analysis Services 2000 databases. (10 printed pages)

Deploying an Analysis Services Database into the Production Environment

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms174887.aspx

 

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) provides three tools for deploying an Analysis Services database onto an Analysis Services server in the production environment:

• Using an XML Script Use SQL Server Management Studio to generate an XML script of the metadata of an existing Analysis Services database, and then run that script on another server to recreate the initial database.
• Using the Analysis Services Deployment Wizard Use the Analysis Services Deployment Wizard to use the XMLA output files generated by an Analysis Services project to deploy the project’s metadata to a destination server.
• Synchronizing Analysis Services Databases Use the Synchronize Database Wizard to synchronize the metadata and data between any two Analysis Services databases.

In addition to using one of the deployment tools, you can deploy Analysis Services by using the backup and restore functionality. For more information, see Backing Up and Restoring an Analysis Services Database.