Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Analysis Services Step by Step

Working with Time Dimensions

There’s practically no such thing as an OLAP database without a Time dimension. Often, a Time dimension contains months as the lowest level of detail—aggregated into quarters and years. Sometimes, a Time dimension will contain days as the lowest level of detail. On occasion, particularly if you’re monitoring a manufacturing operation, you might create a dimension with minutes or even seconds as the lowest level of detail. Whatever the level of detail, a Time dimension has certain unique qualities.

For example, time typically occurs in regular intervals. Each hour contains 60 minutes, each day contains 24 hours, each quarter contains 3 months, and each year contains 4 quarters. This repetitive nature of time encourages ...