Book Image

Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook

By : Derek Wilson
Book Image

Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook

By: Derek Wilson

Overview of this book

SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS) has been widely used across multiple businesses to build smart online analytical reporting solutions. It includes two different types of modeling for analysis services: Tabular and Multi Dimensional. This book covers Tabular modeling, which uses tables and relationships with a fast in-memory engine to provide state of the art compression algorithms and query performance. The book begins by quickly taking you through the concepts required to model tabular data and set up the necessary tools and services. As you learn to create tabular models using tools such as Excel and Power View, you’ll be shown various strategies to deploy your model on the server and choose a query mode (In-memory or DirectQuery) that best suits your reporting needs. You’ll also learn how to implement key and newly introduced DAX functions to create calculated columns and measures for your model data. Last but not least, you’ll be shown techniques that will help you administer and secure your BI implementation along with some widely used tips and tricks to optimize your reporting solution. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained hands-on experience with the powerful new features that have been added to Tabular models in SSAS 2016 and you’ll be able to improve user satisfaction with faster reports and analytical queries.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Adding a calculated column


Calculations contain code that is applied to all rows in your data. You will create calculations to make the data easier for your users to use. In this recipe, you will add a function to create a new date column to your model.

Getting ready

The data that was imported has the CRASH_DATE column formatted as a text field. In order to use this field for calculations, you need the CRASH_DATE column to be formatted as a date data type. You can create a new column and use the built-in functions to achieve this result.

How to do it...

  1. From the design mode view on the Crash_Data tab, scroll to the end of the columns until you see Add Column.

  2. Next you need to create a new column based on the CRASH_DATE column that is formatted as a date data type. This new column will be used later to create a relationship with the calendar table. Select Add Column and in the function box enter:

                 =LEFT(Crash_Data[CRASH_DATE],10)
  3. Press Enter.

  4. The formula will run and the column is renamed...