How do you use logical primary keys and relationships in SSAS data source views?

SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) is a powerful tool for building and deploying analytical solutions. One of the key components of SSAS is the data source view (DSV), which defines the logical schema of the data sources that feed the SSAS project. In this article, you will learn how to use logical primary keys and relationships in SSAS DSVs to customize and extend your data models.

1 What are logical primary keys and relationships?

Logical primary keys and relationships are metadata properties that you can assign to tables and columns in your SSAS DSVs. They are not the same as physical primary keys and foreign keys in your data sources, although they can be derived from them. Logical primary keys and relationships are used by SSAS to identify unique rows, enforce referential integrity, and support dimension and attribute relationships.

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Júlio César Marques

Coordenador de Novos Negócios no Aiqfome 💜 Grupo Magalu | Supermercado 🛒 | Expansão 📈 | Startup 📲 | Farmácia, Petshop e outras lojas 🐶🧸 | Gerente no PMI DF
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São propriedades de metadados que você pode atribuir a tabelas e colunas, são usadas para identificar as linhas e oferecer suporte ao atributo.

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2 Why use logical primary keys and relationships?

Logical primary keys and relationships can help you improve the performance, accuracy, and usability of your SSAS solutions. For instance, using surrogate keys instead of natural keys can reduce the size of your fact tables, while setting primary keys on your dimension tables can prevent duplicate rows and null values. You can also define parent-child or many-to-many relationships to enable attribute relationships and natural hierarchies. In addition, you can simplify your DSV design by hiding or renaming irrelevant or confusing columns, or add custom calculations or business logic by creating named calculations or named queries.

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Júlio César Marques

Coordenador de Novos Negócios no Aiqfome 💜 Grupo Magalu | Supermercado 🛒 | Expansão 📈 | Startup 📲 | Farmácia, Petshop e outras lojas 🐶🧸 | Gerente no PMI DF
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Deve-se usar a chave primária lógica para ajudar a melhorar o desempenho, pode definir uma relação entre o atributo e a hierarquia natural.

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3 How to set logical primary keys and relationships?

In order to set logical primary keys and relationships in your SSAS DSVs, you must utilize the DSV Designer in Visual Studio. This is accessed by double-clicking on the DSV file in the Solution Explorer. To set a logical primary key for a table, right-click on the table name and select Set Logical Primary Key, then choose one or more columns that uniquely identify each row in the table. To set a logical relationship between two tables, right-click on the table name and select New Logical Relationship. Select the related table and matching columns in both tables, as well as specify the cardinality and delete rule for the relationship. To modify or delete a logical primary key or relationship, right-click on the key or relationship icon and select Edit or Delete.

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Júlio César Marques

Coordenador de Novos Negócios no Aiqfome 💜 Grupo Magalu | Supermercado 🛒 | Expansão 📈 | Startup 📲 | Farmácia, Petshop e outras lojas 🐶🧸 | Gerente no PMI DF
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Para definir uma chave primária lógica é preciso realizar um processo de usar o DSV ir em gerenciar soluções e escolher uma ou mais colunas.

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4 How to verify logical primary keys and relationships?

To verify that your logical primary keys and relationships are correct and consistent, you can use the DSV Designer or the DSV Schema View. In the DSV Designer, you can see the graphical representation of your tables, columns, keys, and relationships. You can also use the Error List window to check for any warnings or errors in your DSV. In the DSV Schema View, you can see the XML code of your DSV. You can also use the Schema Validation tool to validate your DSV against the SSAS schema definition language (SDL).

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Júlio César Marques

Coordenador de Novos Negócios no Aiqfome 💜 Grupo Magalu | Supermercado 🛒 | Expansão 📈 | Startup 📲 | Farmácia, Petshop e outras lojas 🐶🧸 | Gerente no PMI DF
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Para verificar as chaves primárias lógicas você pode olhar a listar de erros ou pode validar o DSV em relação à linguagem de definição.

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5 How to use logical primary keys and relationships in SSAS objects?

Once you have defined your logical primary keys and relationships in your SSAS DSVs, you can use them to create and configure your SSAS objects, such as cubes, dimensions, measures, and hierarchies. For instance, you can map your dimension tables to dimension objects and specify the key columns and name columns for each dimension attribute. Additionally, you can map your fact tables to measure group objects and define dimension usage and attribute relationships for each measure group and dimension pair. You can also create user-defined hierarchies and parent-child hierarchies based on the logical relationships in your DSV. Furthermore, you can create many-to-many dimensions and measure groups based on the intermediate tables and relationships in your DSV.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Zahra Amini

Machine Learning Lecturer | Interested in AI | Data Science
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In SSAS Data Source Views, logical primary keys and relationships are essential for data integrity and query performance, aligning with data warehousing practices and handling of surrogate keys. They affect query efficiency, necessitating proper indexing and understanding of cardinality. Advanced relationships like many-to-many and role-playing dimensions enhance modeling flexibility. These relationships also impact security implementations, particularly in row-level security. The setup influences MDX and DAX queries, critical for complex calculations. Compatibility across SQL Server versions is key during migrations. Troubleshooting common issues like circular references is vital. Automated testing ensures model reliability.

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Júlio César Marques

Coordenador de Novos Negócios no Aiqfome 💜 Grupo Magalu | Supermercado 🛒 | Expansão 📈 | Startup 📲 | Farmácia, Petshop e outras lojas 🐶🧸 | Gerente no PMI DF
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Para usa chaves primárias lógicas e relacionamentos em exibições da fonte de dados SSAS, Deve-se usar a chave primária lógica para ajudar a melhorar o desempenho, pode definir uma relação entre o atributo e a hierarquia natural. Para definir uma chave primária lógica é preciso realizar um processo de usar o DSV ir em gerenciar soluções e escolher uma ou mais colunas.

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How do you use logical primary keys and relationships in SSAS data source views?

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1 What are logical primary keys and relationships?

2 Why use logical primary keys and relationships?

3 How to set logical primary keys and relationships?

4 How to verify logical primary keys and relationships?

5 How to use logical primary keys and relationships in SSAS objects?

6 Here’s what else to consider

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