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

Creating hierarchies


Now that you have created and imported a table that contains date information, you need to establish how the data in the MasterCalendar_T table is related. This recipe shows you how to create the standard Year | Quarter | Month | Day hierarchy.

How to do it...

  1. Left-click on the MasterCalendar_T to select the table, then right-click to bring up the menu of options, and select Create Hierarchy.

  2. On the new virtual column that was added to your table, you will add the columns required to build the hierarchy.

  3. Select each column one by one and drag to the Hierarchy1 name. When completed you will see your completed hierarchy.

  4. Next, right-click on Hierarchy1 and then select Rename and change the name to Calendar_YQMD. This identifies the hierarchy as a regular calendar and tells your users what values are available in the hierarchy.

  5. Next, you need to define the sort order of the calendar for the hierarchy. Sort order is set on the property of the base columns. On the Quarter_Name...