Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Bible

Cube Processing

Before browsing or querying the cube, you must refresh the data it contains by processing the cube. You generally accomplished this on a regular schedule through SQL Server Agent or an SSIS package after you update the data warehouse.

Processing Methods

You can process the cube as a whole or individual object such as the dimensions or a single partition. This is particularly useful so that you can process different partitions on different schedules. Several options are available when you process the cube and vary it based on the object chosen. Figure 53.13 shows the cube processing screen. Each option can cause different objects to process:

Figure 53.13 Setting processing options for your cube.

• Process Default: Processes only unprocessed objects.
• Process Full: Processes the structure, data, and aggregations.
• Process Data: Processes only data.
• Process Structure: Processes the cube definition, but not any data.
• Unprocess: Removes the data stored in the cube.
• Process Index: Processes only aggregations.
• Process Incremental: You must provide a query that contains the fact data for processing.

Other Considerations

Data integrity functionality in Analysis Services addresses inconsistencies that would otherwise cause improper data presentation. Analysis Services views these inconsistencies in two categories: Null Processing and Key Errors. Analysis Services also enables ...