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Attributes (Dimension Structure Tab, Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data)

Use this pane to manage the attributes associated with the selected dimension. Attributes can be dragged from this pane to the Hierarchies pane to create hierarchies and levels. For more information, see Hierarchies (Dimension Structure Tab, Dimension Designer) (Analysis Services - Multidimensional Data).

To create an attribute, drag a column from the Data Source View pane to the Attributes pane while in list, tree, or view mode. To remove an attribute, select Delete on the shortcut menu.

To display the Attributes pane

  1. In Business Intelligence Development Studio, open the Analysis Services project, and then open the dimension that you want.

  2. If not selected, click the Dimension Structure tab.

Options

  • Attributes
    Displays the attributes available to the selected dimension. This option can be viewed in the following modes:

    • List mode

      Use this mode to create and modify hierarchies. To view the attributes in list mode, select Show Attributes in on the shortcut menu, and then click List.

    • Tree mode

      Use this mode to create and modify hierarchies. To view the attributes in tree mode, select Show Attributes in on the shortcut menu, and then click Tree.

    • Grid mode

      Use this mode to create dimensions manually, or to modify attribute properties. To view the attributes in grid mode, select Show Attributes in on the shortcut menu, and then click Grid.

Grid Mode Options

When viewing attributes in grid mode, you have access to the columns listed in the following table.

  • Name
    Displays the name of the attribute.

  • Usage
    Sets the usage of the selected attribute. Click the down arrow to select from the following choices:

    Value

    Description

    Regular

    Identifies a regular attribute.

    Key

    Identifies the key attribute for the dimension. This corresponds to the leaf members of the dimension. There can only be one key attribute per dimension. To modify, click the ellipsis button (...) next to the KeyColumns property in the Properties pane.

    Parent

    Denotes the parent attribute for a parent-child relationship. The child attribute in this relationship must always be the key attribute.

    AccountType

    Denotes an account type attribute. This is used by the server or engine when the aggregation function for a measure is set to "by account."

  • Type
    Sets the type of the attribute. Click the down arrow to select from the available choices.

  • Key Column
    Displays the data type of the underlying columns. When creating a new attribute, click the down arrow to select from the available choices.

  • Name Column
    Displays the location of the underlying column. When creating a new attribute, click the down arrow to select between Same as key and Separate column. If Separate column is chosen, the NameColumn property in the Properties pane sets the column that stores the name to use for the attribute.