Cube Properties

This dialog box displays the properties of a cube, which is part of the multidimensional model. It is displayed when you view the properties of a cube or when you import cube views metadata. (Importing cube views metadata enables you to create a multidimensional model based on an existing implementation.)

Cubes are first-class database objects that store data in a dimensional format. For more information about working with multidimensional data, see Oracle OLAP User's Guide and the online help for Analytic Workspace Manager.

General

Name: Name of the cube.

Virtual: Indicates whether this is a virtual cube or an actual cube. A virtual cube combines multiple actual cubes into a single logical cube.

Partitioned: Controls whether the cube is partitioned. Partitioning is a method of physically storing the measures in a cube. It improves the performance of large measures.

Part. Dimension: Dimension for partitioning the cube. (For example, if your partitioning strategy is driven primarily by life-cycle management considerations, then you should partition the cube on the Time dimension.) The dimension must have at least one level-based hierarchy and its members should be distributed evenly, such that every parent at a particular level has roughly the same number of children.

Part. Hierarchy: Hierarchy to be used for partitioning. If the dimension has multiple hierarchies, choose the one that has the most members; it should be defined as the default hierarchy.

Part. Level: Level to be used for partitioning. Each dimension member at that level is stored in a separate partition, along with its descendants. Any dimension members that are at higher levels or are not in the hierarchy are stored together in the top partition. The size of the top partition should not exceed the size of the level-based partitions.

Global Composites: Controls whether the cube will use one global composite or multiple composites. An unpartitioned cube always has one composite for the cube, whether it is compressed or uncompressed. A partitioned compressed cube always has a composite for each partition. A choice between single (global) and multiple composites is available only for uncompressed, partitioned cubes.

When in doubt, do not choose this option. The cube will have one composite for each partition.

Compressed Composites: Controls whether composites are compressed or uncompressed. Cubes that are very sparse often use a compressed composite.

Full Cube Materialization: Materialized view for a cube that has been enhanced with materialized view capabilities. A cube materialized view can be incrementally refreshed at prescheduled times or on demand through the Oracle Database materialized view subsystem. It can also serve as a target for transparent rewrite of queries against the source tables.

Entities

Lists unselected, available entities for the cube on the left and selected cubes on the right. Use the arrow keys to move selected entities from one side to the other.

Use Fact Entities Only: Controls whether only tables in a star schema that contain facts are displayed.

Joins

Lists any joins for the cube. To add a join, click the Add (+) icon; to remove a join from the cube definition, select it and click the Remove (X) icon. (See also Join Properties.)

Dimensions

Lists any dimensions for the cube. To add a dimension, click the Add (+) icon; to remove a dimension from the cube definition, select it and click the Remove (X) icon. (See also Dimension Properties.)

Default Operator: Default operator assigned to the dimension.

IsSparse: If selected, null values and empty fields are excluded, in order to manage space.

Measures

Calculated measures can add information-rich data to a cube. The data set is calculated on the fly, so no data is stored. You can add as many calculated measures as you like without increasing the size of the database.

Precalculated Slices

Lists any slices for which values are precalculated (precomputed) and stored in the cube during data maintenance. To add a precalculated slice, click the Add (+) icon; to remove a precalculated slice from the cube definition, select it and click the Remove (X) icon. (See also Slice Properties.)

Oracle Names

Short Name: Short descriptive name that can be used by applications instead of the long name.

Long Name: Long descriptive name, typically used for display.

Plural Name: Plural name (for reporting purposes). For example: Mycubes if the Short Name is Mycube

SQL Access to Oracle AW

Lists any relevant SQL Access to Oracle Analytic Workspaces (AW) objects. To add a SQL Access to Oracle AW object, click the Add (+) icon; to remove a SQL Access to Oracle AW object from the cube definition, select it and click the Remove (X) icon. To edit a SQL Access to Oracle AW object, double-click its item, or click its item and click the Properties icon. (See also SQL Access to Oracle AW Properties.)

Description

Description of the cube.

Partitioning Description

Description of the partitioning for the cube.

Comments, Notes, Responsible Parties, Documents, Summary

See Common Information in Dialog Boxes.