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Edit a Secondary Dimensional Attribute

You can edit secondary dimensional attributes to change their names and other properties.

Procedure​

To edit a secondary dimensional attribute:

  1. In Design Center, open a model and switch to the Canvas tab.
  2. Find the dimension you want to edit, click its context menu, and select Edit. The Edit Dimension panel opens.
  3. In the Hierarchies section, find the secondary attribute you want to edit, click its context menu, and select Edit. The Edit Secondary Attribute panel opens.
  4. Edit the available fields as needed. For descriptions, see the sections below.
  5. Click Apply.

General​

Display name​

The user-friendly name for the secondary attribute. Consider the following specifics of the name:

  • Should be unique among other secondary attributes in the parent level.
  • Can be the same as the name of the parent level.
  • Can be the same as the name of another secondary attribute in a different dimension.

Unique name​

The SQL or MDX column name for this dimension attribute in the published AtScale model. This is how the AtScale engine refers to this attribute internally.

This value must be unique within the dimension. Additionally, you should not change this value after the model has been published, as changing it may break existing data sources and reports that rely on this model.

Description​

A description of the data that this secondary attribute contains. Some BI tools can show this description, some can't. It's a good practice to enter descriptions to help other people get familiar with the data in the model.

Sources​

Dataset​

The source dataset that contains the column that the secondary attribute is based on.

Key Columns​

The dataset column(s) that the secondary attribute is based on. If the secondary attribute has a compound key, click the plus icon to specify other columns that comprise the key.

Unique​

Specifies whether each row in the key columns contains a value that is unique within the dataset. Selecting this checkbox is equivalent to declaring the key to be a primary key. The AtScale engine uses this selection as input when joining rows from this dimension level to other datasets in the model.

  • If the Key Column values are unique for each row, select this option. The join behavior would then consider the first matching row at query runtime.
  • If the Key Column values are multi-valued, then leave unselected. The join behavior would then consider all matching rows at query runtime.

For more information about this check box and requirements for modeling hierarchies, see Requirements for Modeling Dimensional Hierarchies.

Value Column​

The dataset column that the attribute is based on.

Sort Column​

By default, sorts are on the column that you specify in the Value Column field. If you want to sort on a different column, select that column here. This applies to MDX queries only (i.e. queries received through the XMLA interface).

Data handling and formatting​

Exclude from System-Generated Dimension-Only Aggregates​

Excludes this attribute from system generated dimension-only aggregates. This is useful if the attribute contains a large number (millions) of distinct values that you don't want to aggregate.

Exclude from System-Generated Fact-Based Aggregates​

Excludes this attribute from system generated fact-based aggregates. This is useful if the attribute contains a large number (millions) of distinct values that you don't want to aggregate.

Contains Unique Names​

Determines whether each member of this level attribute has a unique name. Do not enable this functionality if two members have different keys but the same name.name.

Custom Empty Member​

Enable this property to ensure un-joinable values such as NULL that may reside in the foreign key columns of the fact dataset are included in your query results. The Custom Empty Member feature provides the convenience of handling NULL values so data architects are not forced to fix their fact tables. For maximum compatibility with BI tools, you will have to add an empty member record to the dimension dataset. To learn more about Custom Empty Members, see Using Custom Empty Members for Levels and Attributes.

Dimensionally Modified Aggregates​

Enables/disables the creation of dimensionally modified aggregates for the current level. The following calculation types are available:

  • Prev, Next, Lead, Lag
  • Siblings
  • Moving Window (aka Range Operator + Lag)

When working with a time dimension, you can only select calculation types when the Time unit for the level is set to Day or longer.

For more information, see Dimensionally Modified Aggregates.

Visaualization​

Visualize in BI tool?​

Determines whether the secondary attribute is visible in BI tools.