Birst Training Manual - WordPress.com€¦ · ure 25 will enable the Birst Admin to Add, Edit, Delete and Run selected tasks. Figure 25 Birst Connect Tasks Birst Connect Task Properties

AdminModule

2015

Birst,IncPROPRIETARYandCONFIDENTIAL

Vol5.20Rev1

2.0 AdminModuleInthischapter,studentswilllearnhowtoutilizetheBirstAdminmoduletocreateandman‐agethelogicaldatamodel.StudentswillusetheTrainingBusinessScenarioexplainedintheintroductionchapterandtheSupremEatsdatasetsprovidedtowalkthroughaseriesofexer‐cises.

AudienceThiscourseisdesignedforstudentswhowillbedesigningthelogicaldatamodel,customizingthespaceandsettingupsecurity.

PrerequisiteEducationStudentsmustviewtheprerequisitevideosonline.

Prerequisite Experience

StudentsshouldhaveanunderstandingofDataWarehousingandDimensionalModelingcon‐cepts.

ObjectivesThischaptercoversthefollowingobjectives:

• Creatingandmanagingaspace,understandingthelogicaldatamodel,processingdataandinterpretingtheresults:

• SpaceManagement:CreationandSharing• DataSourceUpload• DataModeling• ProcessData

• Personalizingcontentwithcustomcalculations,customattributes,bucketedmea‐suresanddrillmaps

• Managingapplicationsecurityanduseraccess.

• ManageUserAccessandGroups• Setupcustomsubjectarea• Setupreportgroupandreportcatalog• Schedulereportdelivery

PROPRIETARYandCONFIDENTIAL| Admin |BirstAdminPage27

2.1 SpaceCreationInBirst,“Spaces”arecontainersthatholdthedataaswellasreportsanddashboardsthatuserswithaccesstothespacebuildandview.Theremaybeonlyonespaceortherecanbeseparatespacesforunrelatedsetsofdatasourceswithdifferentanalyticalpurposes(orfordevelopmentpurposesasdiscussedlater).

2.1.1 CreatingaNewSpace1. NavigatetotheBirstloginpagebygoingtothissite:https://login.bws.birst.com

2. Login.

3. FromtheHomepage,clicktheAddSpacebutton:

Figure17 NewSpaceCreation

Note: Onthebottomleftofthehomescreenthereisacopyrightnotice.ThenumbersattheendofthatnoticeistheversionofBirstthattheuseriscurrentlyusing.

4. AsshowninFigure18,Birstthenpromptstheusertoselectthetypeofspacetobecreated.


Figure18 TypesofSpaces

5. ChooseanoptionandclickNext.

6. Onthenextpopupwindow,enteranameforthenewspaceandoptionalcomments(e.g.purposeofthespace,whattypeofdataitcontainsetc.)andclickDone.

Figure19 Createnewspace


Types of Spaces

Automatic

• Birsttakescontrolofanalyzingthedataforhierarchies,grains,andfieldformatandcreatesastarschema

• GreatwaytogetstartedbylettingBirstmakeaninitialpassatsettingupthelogicaldatamodel

• CanbeconvertedtoanAdvancedspacelater

Discovery

• Birsttakescontrolofanalyzingthedataandreadiesitforquickreportanddashboardcreation

• Nodatamodeling.Thereisnodatawarehouse.

• Noadvancedreportingfeatures

• CanbeconvertedtoanAdvancedspacelater

Advanced

• OfferstheAdminthegreatestflexibility

• Birstanalyzesthedatafileformatsandcreatessourcesandfieldsbasedondatainsources

• Allowsfieldnameandtypeeditingonlywhennodataispublished

• Userhasfullcontroloverthedatamodel.

Usage Tracking

• AvailabletoAccountAdminsonly

• Pre‐Definedusageanalysisofdashboarduse

2.1.2 BrowserUploadAfternamingthespace,BirstwillautomaticallydisplaytheNavigationpageontheManageSpaceTab.


Figure20 NavigationPage

TheeasiestwaytoloaddataisthroughtheBrowserUploadpage,whichallowsdataflatfiles(upto20MB),suchasdelimitedfiles,Excelfiles,andAccessdatabasestobeuploaded.

IfthedataresidesinanRDBMSorisaccessibleviaODBC,BirstConnectcanbeusedinstead.(See“BirstConnect”onpage 35formoreinformationonBirstConnect)

1. ClickBrowsetonavigatetoafileonthesystemanduploadoneormoreofthefollowingdatasourcetypes:

• DelimitedText

• Excel

• AccessDatabase

• AzippedfilewithanycombinationofDelimitedText,Exceland/orAccessDatabase

Note: Fileslargerthan20megabytescanbeuploadedusingBirstConnect.


Figure21 BrowserUpload

2. ClickUploadtosendchosendatasourcestoBirstforanalysisandprocessing.

Atthispoint,Birstscansthefirst10,000rowsofdataineachsourceinordertomakesomepreliminarydecisionsaboutthedata,suchasdatatypesandprimarykeys.

BrowserUpload‐OptionsFigure22 Optionsbutton

TheAdditionalOptionsdialogoffersfurtherchoices,appliedtoallsources,including:

• Automaticallyconsolidatesourceswithidenticalstructures

• Indicatethatthefirstrowofsourcecontainscolumnnames

• Excel:Filterlikelynon‐datarowsinpoorlystructuredspreadsheets

• Lockdatasourceformats

• Onlyrecognizequotesatthestartandendoffields

• Skipspecificnumberofrowsatthebeginning/endoffiles

• Columnseparator

• Specifycharacterencoding

• Handlespecificreplacementsinthesourcefiles


Figure23 OptionsWindow

InanAutomaticorDiscoveryspace,whenusingBrowserUploadthereisanoptiontoauto‐maticallystartprocessingthedataafterclickingon‘Upload’.Ifuploadingseveralseparatefilesbeforeprocessingtakesplace,keepthe‘ProcessAutomatically’optionuncheckeduntilthelastfile.Choosingto“ProcessAutomatically”willcauseBirsttoanalyzetheuploadeddatasourcesandcreateasubjectareathat’savailableforimmediatereportcreation.


Review1. WhatisthedifferencebetweenanAutomaticSpaceandaDiscovery

Space?

2. WhatadvantagesaretheretousinganAutomaticSpace?

3. WhattypesoffilescanbeloadedintoBirstviaBrowserUpload?

4. WhatarethelimitationsofBrowserUpload?


2.1.3 BirstConnectBirstConnectisaJavaWebStartapplicationthatautomatestheuploadingandprocessingofdatainBirst.BirstConnectrunsbehindthefirewallinordertoaccessfilesanddatasources,usingHTTPSasthemeansoftransferringthisdatatoBirst.JDBCdatasourcesandSAPERParesupported.Birstconnectcanalsoimportdelimited,ExcelorAccessdatafilesthatarelargerthan20MB,whichisthelimitwhenusingBrowserUpload.

TheBirstConnectversionmustmatchtheveriononBirstProductionServer.BirstConnectwillchecktheversionandifamismatchisdetected,itwilldisableBirstConnect.AlwaysdownloadtheversionthatmatchestheBirstUIversion.

TonavigatetoBirstConnect,clicktheDefineSourcestab,thentheBirstConnectPage.Allexistingconfigurationsarelistedonthepage.

WhenworkingwithBirstConnecttherearesomegoodpracticestokeepinmind:

• ALWAYSsavesettingsafteradding/editingconnections

• Driversmayneedtobedownloadedbeforedatacanbepulled(dependingonthedata‐basetype)

• RuntasksbyselectingoneormoretasksandclickingRunTask

• BirstConnectcanbecontrolledviascripts

• BirstConnectcanruncommandfilestoperformactionsonaBirstSpacesuchascacheclearing

BirstConnectConfigurationsMultipleBirstConnectconfigurationscanexistforthesamespace:

• Usefulwhenmultipledatasourcesaredistributedacrossthenetwork

• AllowsuserstorunseparateinstancesofBirstConnectfromdifferentmachineswithinthenetwork

ClickCreateaNewConfigurationtobeginanewconfiguration.

ClickDeleteorLaunchtointeractwithacurrentconfiguration.

Figure24 BirstConnect


Note: ClickingCreateorLaunchdownloadsaspacespecificconfigurationfileandlaunchesJAVAforconfiguration.Thisfilestorestasksthatcanbeexecutedmanuallyorsched‐uledtorunonaregularbasis.JAVA7orhighermustbeinstalledonthecomputer.

AfterclickingtheCreateaNewConfigurationorLaunchbutton,thescreenshowninFig‐ure25willenabletheBirstAdmintoAdd,Edit,DeleteandRunselectedtasks.

Figure25 BirstConnectTasks

BirstConnectTaskProperties

Add/Edit

• ThetaskdialogboxopenswhenclickingAddTaskorEditTasks.

• Setitemssuchas:

• Taskname• EnableorDisablethetaskasnecessary• Setaprocessinggroup(s)–moreonthislater• Choosetoprocessdataafteruploading.Iftherearemultipletasksmakesurethisis

checkedonlyonthelastdataloadingtask.• CreateQuickDashboardsifdesired• Consolidateidenticaldatasourcesinthetask

BBP UseasystemtaskschedulertoscheduleBirstConnect.SeeBirstHelpformoreinformation.


Figure26 TaskProperties

Note: Iftheuploadeddataneedsadifferentprocessingdatethanthecurrentdate,settheoffsetbyscrollingtothenumberofdaysaheadorbehind.

BirstConnectTaskSources

Add File

IntheSourcestab,theBirstAdministratorwillchoosethemethodtomovedataintoBirst.Addfile(s)issimilartoBrowserUploadbutallowsforschedulingandforuploadingfileslargerthan20MB.

Note: AftermakingchangestoeachfilemakesuretoclickUpdatesochangesarere‐saved.Also,click“File”and“SaveSettings”.


Figure27 AddFile

Add Table

ThesecondmethodtouploaddatatoBirstthroughBirstConnectistoaddTable(s).Provideallrequiredinformation(Databasetype,ServerName,DatabaseName,UsernameandPass‐word)andclickGetTablestolistallavailabletables.SelectmultipletablesbyusingShiftorCTRLclick.


Figure28 AddTable

PressingAddTablewillopentheGetTablesscreenshowninFigure29.Enterthedetailsforthedatabasetoconnectwith,includinganyrequiredcredentials,andpressGetTables.

Figure29 GetTables


Birstlooksatthedatabaseandliststhetablesthatareavailable.

Thedatabasetypesthatcanbeaccessedarelistedhere.Itmaybenecessarytodownloadadriverinordertomaketheproperconnection.Ifthereisayellowtrianglewithanexclama‐tionpointinitbesideasource,thisindicatestheneedforadriver.

• MySQL

• Oracle11g

• ODBC

• PostgreSQL

• Hive/Hadoop

• GenericJDBCDatabase

• SAPHANA

Add Query

ThethirdwaytogetdatainBirstusingBirstConnectistouseaQuerytopullinformation.

• SimilartoAddTable,entertherequiredinformationtoaccessthedatabase

• TheQueryNamebecomesthesourcenameinBirst

• Anyquerywritteninthequerylanguageoftheconnecteddatabasecanbeused,includingjoins.Birstvariablescanalsobeusedinthequerybox

Note: RemembertoclickUpdateafteranychangetoupdatethetaskwiththenewestinfor‐mation

Figure30 AddQuery


Add URL

ToaccessdatafromaURL,chooseAddURL,andentertherequiredinformation.

Figure31 AddURL

Add S3 Object

ThefinalwaytogetdataintoBirstthroughBirstConnectisbyaddinganS3Object.(AmazonS3‐SimpleStorageService).

SimplyentertherelevantinformationsuchastheCredentialFile,BucketName,BucketKeyandanyreplacementsneeded.

Figure32 AddS3Object


Scheduling

EachtaskinthespacecanhaveitsownscheduleandcanbescheduleddirectlyfromBirstConnect,however,itisrecommendedtoschedulethesetasksfromthesystem’sTaskSched‐ulerbecauseschedulescreatedinBirstConnectrequirethatBirstConnectberunningcon‐tinuouslytobeeffective.

MakesuretochecktheScheduleTaskboxtoenabletheschedule

• ChosefromDaily,Weekly(dayofweek)andMonthly(dayofmonth)

• SettheexecutiontimewhichusesthelocaltimeonthemachinewhereBirstConnectisrunning

• SelectRetryonFailureifthereisaloadfailure

• BirstConnectneedstoberunningatalltimesfortheschedulertoprocess.

Figure33 Scheduler

OtherschedulingapplicationscanbeusedbytheBirstConnectcommandlineinterface.Theschedulerissettothetimezoneofthelocalmachinebydefault.

BBP AsystemtaskschedulerhasmoreoptionsforcontrollingtasksanddoesnotrelyonBirstConnectrunningcontinuously.BirstrecommendstheuseofthesystemtaskschedulertoscheduleBirstConnect.SeeBirstHelpformoreinformation.


2.2 ApplicationConnectorsApplicationconnectorsallowBirsttoconnecttodatasourcesincloudapplications,suchasSalesforceandNetSuiteandextractthatdataintoBirst.

2.2.1 ProcessOverviewInordertouseanapplicationconnector,someinformationisrequiredtosetupandauthen‐ticatetheaccount.

1. Tobegin,navigatetotheDefineSourcestabandtheApplicationConnectorspage.ORFromthehomescreen,choose“UseExtractors”.

Figure34 FindingConnectorsfromtheDefineSourcestab

Figure35 FindingConnectorsfromtheNavigationscreen

TheApplicationConnectorspagewillbeopened,asseeninFigure36.


Figure36 ApplicationConnectors

Ontheleftsideofthescreenisaboxshowinganyconnectionsthathavealreadybeenconfig‐ured.Tocreateanewconnectiontoanexternalcloudapplication,clickontheNewbutton.

Figure37 ConnectionDetails

WhentheNewbuttonisclicked,theConnectionDetailswindowopenstotheright.


Figure38 EloquaConnectionDetails

Nametheconnection,choosetheconnectortypeandAPIversion.Eachconnectorwillrequiresimilar,butvaried,information,includingthingslikeUsernameandPassword.Figure38showstheEloquaconnectorsetup.

Figure39 GoogleAnalyticsConnector

Figure40 JiraConnector

Figure41 MarketConnector


Figure42 NetSuiteConnector

Figure43 NetSuiteJDBCConnector

Figure44 OmnitureSiteCatalyst

Figure45 OracleCRMonDemand

Figure46 SalesforceConnector


Figure47 SFTPConnector

Foreachconnection,entertherequiredinformationandtesttheconnection.Oncethecon‐nectionisconfirmed,savetheconnection.

ImportingObjectsWhileeachconnectorwillhavesomedifferences,thebasicfunctionsarelargelythesame.Forthisexample,theSalesforceconnectorwillbeused.

1. Oncetheconnectionhasbeentestedandsaved,clickShowAllObjects.

Figure48 ShowAllObjects

2. Chooseobjectstoimportbyclickingtheboxbesidetheobject.

3. ClickSave.

4. ClickExtract.


Figure49 SaveandExtract

5. ClickSaveagain.

6. ToestablishExtractGroups,clickonShowSelectedObjects,thenclickintheExtractGroupscolumnandenteranamefortheExtractGroup.

Note: LikeProcessingGroups,ExtractGroupsallowtheAdmintocontrolwhichobjectsareextractedandwhen

Figure50 ShowSelectedObjects

7. Toaddaqueryobject,clicktheAddQueryObjectbutton.


Figure51 AddQueryObjectDialogBox

8. NamethequeryobjectdesiredandclickGetQueryObject.BirstwillpopulatetheQueryandMappingboxeswiththeinformationfromSalesforce.

9. Tolimitthefieldsbroughtinwiththeobject,changetheQuery.Anyscriptinthisboxmustbewritteninthelanguageoftheunderlyingapplication,inthiscaseSOQL.

10. ChangethemappingboxtoreflectchangesmadeintheQuery.

Note: The“true”commentsinthemappingwindowmarktheprimarykey.“False”indicatesthecolumnisnotaprimarykey.

Note: Anycolumnsthatinclude“_c”inthenameofthecolumnarecustomfields.

11. ChangethenametoauniquenameandclickSave.

12. Oncedoneimportingobjects,navigatetotheScheduleDataProcessingpageofthePro‐cessDatatab.

Note: Thisisonlyforapplicationconnectors.

13. ClicktheActionsbutton.


Figure52 ScheduleDataProcessing

14. ChooseCreateNewSchedule.

Figure53 CreateNewSchedule

15. Givethescheduleaname.

16. ClicktheConnectionbuttonandchoosethedesiredconnection.ClickSave.

Figure54 NewScheduleDialog

17. SpecifyanyExtractandProcessingGroups.

18. Definetheschedulerecurrence.

19. ClickSave.


Other Methods of Importing Data

ThereareotherwaysthatdatacanbeimportedintoBirst,includingBirstConnectfromtheCommandLine,LiveAccess,andWebServices.Formoreinformationaboutanyofthese,seetheBirstonlineHelp.

Review1. HowmanydifferentwaysaretheretoloaddataintoBirst?

2. WhatisBirstConnectandwhenshoulditbeused?

3. NamethreetypeoffilesthatcanbeimportedwithBirstConnect.

4. CanBirstconnectto“live”datasources?

5. Howshouldtaskschedulingbemanaged?


Aspaceisacontainerthatholdsdata,reportsanddashboards.Therearefourkindsofspaces:Automatic,Discovery,AdvancedandUsageTracking.ThesimplestwayofloadingdataintoBirstisthroughtheBrowserUpload.Itisnottheonlyway,howeverandthenextsectionwillcovertheotherwaystoloaddataintoBirst.BirstConnectallowsuploadofdatainmultiplelocationsorflatfileslargerthan20mb.LiveAccesssupportsconnectingBirsttolivedatabasesinrealtime.ApplicationConnectorsreachouttospecificapplicationstobringtheexistingdataintoBirst

Summary


2.3 DataModelCreationTheLogicalDataModelFigure55 LoadProcess

Whendataisuploaded,Birststoresitlocallyandcreatestheinitialsourcemeta‐datadefinitions.Theadministratorofthespacethencreatesthelogicaldatamodelandsetsupanyscriptprocessing,customizesthespace,andsetssecurityrequirements.Oncesetupiscomplete,thedatainthespaceisprocessed,whichloadsthedatafromthefilestostagingtablesandfromthereintothedatawarehousetables.

EndusersofBirstdonotinteractdirectlywithobjectsastheyarestoredintheunderlyingdatabase.Usersinteractwithelementsofthelogicalmodel,andBirsttranslatesthoserequestsintoqueriesthataccessphysicaldata.

Alogicalmodelisimportantfortworeasons:

1. Birstputsalayerofabstractionbetweentheuserandthedatacalledthelogicalmodel.

Usersdonotneedtounderstandhowdifferenttablesshouldbejoinedtogethertoproducevariousresults.Alogicalmodelsignificantlysimplifiestheexperienceofend‐users.Businesscalculationscanbepre‐builtforeasyad‐hocanalysis,best‐practicesandothercalculationscanbere‐usedandsharedeasily.Aggregationlogiccanalsobehiddenfromend‐users.


2. Itprovidesasecurelayerthatallowsforend‐userdevelopment

Ifend‐usershaddirectaccesstorawdata,organizationswouldbeforcedtolimitwhocouldbuildareportoradashboard.Byincludingdeeprole‐basedandindividualsecurity,end‐userscanbegivenaccesstoad‐hoctoolstobuildreportswithouttheworrythattheywillpullthewronginformation.Securityallowsasinglereporttobecreatedforlargenumbersofpeoplethatshowseachperson'sdatawithouthavingtobuildareportforeachperson.

Logical to Physical Mapping

WhenusersofBirstcreateareportoraquery,theydosousinglogicaldataelements—ele‐mentsthatdonotphysicallyexist,butinternallyaremappedtophysicalobjects.Therearetwotypesoflogicalobjectsthatcanbeusedtocomposeaqueryorareport:dimensioncol‐umns,alsoknownasattributesandmeasurecolumns.

Dimensioncolumnsarecolumnsthatareusedtocategorizeorgroupdata.Examplesofdimensionalcolumnsare;[Time.Quarter],[Route.Hemisphere],and[Source.Category].Dimensioncolumnsarespecifiedbythelogicaldimension(forexample,Time,RouteandSource)andtheindividualattributewithinthatdimension(forexample,Quarter,Hemi‐sphereandCategory).

Similarly,logicalmeasuresareaggregationsthatcalculatevaluesbasedontheattributesinaquery.Inthissameexample[#Packages]couldbeameasure,whichcouldbegroupedby[Time.Quarter],[Source.Category]orboth.

Whenusersselectfromtheavailabledimensionandmeasurecolumns(calledaSubjectAreainBirst),itisBirst’sjobtofigureouthowtobringthatdatatogether.SometimesthedatathatsatisfiesalogicalqueryexistsinonephysicaltableintheBirstdatabase.Muchmoreoften,itexistsinmanytablesandBirstmustcreatephysicalqueriesthataresenttotheunderlyingBirstdatabasetoperformtheaggregationsandcalculationsthatarerequired.Itdoesthisbyusingspecialmetadatathatmaintainsmappingsbetweenlogicalcolumnsandphysicaldata‐baseobjects.

Logicaldimensioncolumnsandlogicalmeasurecolumnsaremappedusinginternalmeta‐dataobjectscalledlogicaltables.

Note: Birsthidesthedetailsofthismappingfromdatamodelersandend‐usersasthesemappingsaregeneratedautomaticallyduringtheprocessofapplicationbuilding(exceptinthecaseofLiveAccessusingManageLocalSources).However,itishelpfultounderstandhowthisprocessworks.


Figure56 Interactionbetweenlogicalandphysicaldatamodels

2.3.1 DataModelingConceptsTherearetwomethodsofbuildingtheLogicalDataModelinBirst,theDataFlowMethodandtheListMethod.TheAdminshouldchooseonemethodandusethatmethodthroughout.RegardlessofMethodchosen,datamodelinginBirstismadeupofthefollowingsteps.TheDataFlowmethodautomatessomeofthis,whiletheListMethodrequiresthattheAdminperformeachstepmanually.

HierarchiesInBirstaHierarchyrepresentsadimensiontable.Ahierarchyisabucketthatcontainsasetofrelatedcolumnsthatcanbeusedtocategorizedata.Forexample,theremightbeaProducthierarchythatcontainsallattributesforaproduct.Creatinghierarchiesidentifiesthedimen‐siontablesinthelogicalmodel.

Hierarchiescanbesinglelevelormultiplelevel,meaningifthereisaonetomanyrelationshipbetweendatasources,ahierarchycouldhavemultiplelevelsofdatacomingfrommultiplesourcesorahierarchycouldhaveonelevelofdatacomingfromasingledatasource.

FactTablesAfacttable,alsoknownasameasuretable,isabucketthatcontainsdatathatcanbecalcu‐lated.Forexample,acolumncalledrevenue,containingnumbersandmarkedasameasure,willbeputintoafacttableallowingaggregationofthedatainthecolumn,suchasasumofrevenue,averagerevenue,etc.

GrainsGrainsareneededtologicallyjoinafacttabletoadimensiontable(physically,settingagraininsertstheprimarykeyoftheselectedgrainintoeveryrowinthefacttable.).Ameasure


table,canbejoinedtomanydimensionsandBirstmustunderstandwhatdimensionsamea‐suretablecanjointo.SelectingthegrainallowsBirsttoanalyzethemeasureacrossdimen‐sions.LookingattheSupremEatsdata,thismeansthattheOrder_Detailssourcecanbegrainedtoalltheothersourcesbecauseitisrelatedtoallofthosesources,throughthekeyswithinOrder_Details.ProductIDconnectsittotheProductsource,andfromtheretotheCate‐gorysourceandSuppliersource.OrderIDconnectsittotheOrderssource,andfromtheretotheEmployees,CustomerandShippersources.

TargetingTargetingacolumnmakesitavailabletothereportdesignerstouseinthesubjectarea.Phys‐ically,targetingacolumntellsBirsttoinsertthedatafromthatcolumnintoadimensiontableand/orafacttable.

2.3.2 DataFlowMethodTheDataFlowmethodmakesuseofBirst’sautomationtosetupthedatamodel.

OncethedatahasbeenuploadedintoBirst,regardlessofthesourcesormethodsused,theDataFlowscreenwilldisplayallofthesources.Thisiswherethelogicaldatamodelwillbebuilt.

Figure57 DataFlow

WhensourcescomeintoBirsttheyarelistedontheDataFlowscreenandaredisabled(ignored).Inordertousethesesources,theymustbeenabled.

Enabling Sources

Beforethesourcescanbeusedtocreatethelogicaldatamodel,theymustfirstbe“enabled”orturnedonsothatBirstknowsthatthesourceisincluded.

DataSources


Toenablesources,right‐clickeachsourceandselectEnableSource.Onceenabled,thelabelforthesourcechangescolor,andotheroptionsbecomeavailablewhenrightclickingonthelabel.

Figure58 EnableSources

Figure59 WithSourcesEnabled

ArrangingSourcesOntheDataFlowscreenthedatasourcescanbemovedintoanydesiredposition.Arrangingsourcesdoesnotaffectanythingwiththedatamodel,itissolelyforvisualizationpurposes;doingthismayhelpvisualizetheflowofinformation.Intheexamplebelowthesourcesarearrangedinaformatthat’slogicaltothisparticularuser.

RightClick


Example: CustomersplaceandEmployeesfillorders.OrdershaveOrderDetails.OrderDetailsconsistofCategoriesandProducts.ProductshaveSuppliersandfinallyShippersshipOrders.

Figure60 ArrangingSources

SettingPrimaryKeysAPrimaryKeyisauniqueidentifierforarecord.Often,aprimarykeyisanIDfield,suchasanEmployeeNumber,CustomerID,orShipperID.ForeachnumberorIDthereisonlyonerecordinthattable.Forexample,ifcustomerConsolidatedHoldingsisassignedtheID“CONSH”andanewcustomernamedConsumerHandlers,Incisadded,thenewcustomercannotalsohavetheID“CONSH”.

Birstscansthefirst10,000rowsofdataandattemptstodeterminewhichcolumnholdstheuniqueidentifierorPrimaryKeyforeachsourcewhenthedataisuploaded.Howeveritisimportanttoensurethatthecorrectcolumnsareselected.

ToseewhichcolumnBirstselectedasthePrimaryKey,right‐clickthelabelthatrepresentsthesourceandselect“SetPrimaryKey.”Ifthecolumnselectedisincorrect,unchecktheboxandcheckthecorrectone.


Figure61 SettingthePrimaryKey

Joining Sources

Onceprimarykeyshavebeencorrectlyassigned,thenextstepistocreatejoinsbetweenrelatedsources.Joiningsourcescreatesrelationships.Birsthelpswiththistaskbyindicatingwherejoinscanbecreated.Birstrecognizesrelatedsourcesbylookingforprimarykey/for‐eignkeyrelationshipsacrosssources.

1. Right‐clickeachsourceandchoose“JointoaRelatedSource.”Afterclicking,thecursorwillhaveablacklinethatfollowsthecursor(seeFigure62).Birstwillshowonlythesourcesthathavearelationship.

2. Hoverthecursorovertherelatedsourceandclick.Therelationisnowmade.SeeFigure62below.


Figure62 JoiningSources

IntheexampleshowninFigure62,acustomermayhavemanyorders,buteveryorderwillonlyhaveonecustomer.Thisisaonetomanyrelationship.

Note: Ifthekeycolumnnamesarenotidentical,Birstwillnotrecognizearelationshipbetweendifferentdatasources.Forexample,ifthedatahasCustomerinformationintwodatasourcesandonecolumniscalled“Customer”andtheothercolumniscalled“Client”Birstwillnotrecognizetherelationship.

Note: ColumnnamescanbechangedinManageSources(right‐clickthesourceandselectManageSources)byretypingthenameofthecolumntoexactly(case,spaceandpunctuationsensitive)matchtheother.Afterchangingbothcolumnnamestoaniden‐ticalname,andensuringthatthecolumntypeandwidthalsomatch,Birstwillrecog‐nizetherelationship.

Birstshowswhichtablesarerelated Whentherelationismade,Birstshowsthe“birdfoot”signifyingaonetomanyrelationship


Update Warehouse Model

Withallofthesourcesjoined,thedatawarehouseisreadytobeupdated.

ClickUpdate(seeFigure63).BirstlooksattheprimarykeyassignmentsandthejoinedrelatedsourcesinordertocreatetheStarSchemaWarehouseModel.Hierarchiesarecreated,grainsselectedandcolumnstargeted.

Figure63 UpdatingtheWarehouseModel

Note: ClicktheUpdatebuttononetimeonly.Oncethemodeliscreateditcanonlybemodi‐fiedmanually.

InthecenteroftheStarSchemaarethefacttables,containingmeasures,andsurroundingthecenterarethedimensiontables,containingattributes.

Hierarchies

Hierarchy Overview

IntheexampleinFigure64,therearethreehierarchies:Product,EmployeesandOrderDetails.Thereare6levels(ingreen)and6facttables(inred).Eachhierarchyequalsadimen‐siontable.

StarSchema


Figure64 Examplewarehouse

Dimensions/Hierarchies

Oneofthemostfundamentalconceptsinthistypeofmodelingisthatofadimensionorhier‐archy.

Ahierarchyisasetofrelatedcolumnsthatcanbeusedtocategorizedata.Forexample,theremightbeaProducthierarchythatcontainsallattributesforaproduct.Considerthefollowingsetofcolumnsinthesourcedataset:

Figure65 Columns

Thesecolumnsprovideinformationabouteachproductandarecalledattributes.Foreveryproduct,thereisoneandonlyonevalueforeachoftheseattributes.Inadditiontogroupingtheserelatedcolumnsintoahierarchy,theycanalsobedefinedintoparentandchildlevels.


Levels

Eachhierarchymustbedefinedbyatleastonelevel,buttheremaybemultiplelevels(eachwithonlyoneparent).Figure66showsanexamplesetoflevelsandhierarchiesthatapplytotheexampledatamodel.Thetopofeachofthesetreesindicatesthehierarchynameandtheitemsbelowindicatespecificlevels.Forexample,theEmployeeshierarchyhasonelevel,Employees,whereastheProductshierarchyhastwolevels,SuppliersandProducts.

Figure66 HierarchiesandLevels

LevelstellBirstthefollowing:

• Howtostoredimensiondata.Foreachlevel,aphysicaltableiscreated(forexample,Productshas2levels:SuppliersandProducts,thismeansBirstwillbuildtwophysicaltables).

• Whatitemsareuniqueinthedata.Eachlevelmusthaveauniquekeywhichbecomestheprimarykeyofitsphysicaldimensiontable,thelevelkey.

Internally,Birstguaranteesthateachlevelkeyisuniquewithinthedimensiontableatthatlevel.Thispreventsbadjoinsonnon‐specifickeys.Whyisthisnecessary?

Considerasourcetableof1millionrecords,whereoneofthecolumnsinthattablewasdefinedasthelevelkeyandthatcolumnhadidenticalvaluesineveryrow.IfthattablewasusedtoloadbothafacttableandadimensiontablewhenBirsttriedtojointhosetwotablestogetherbasedonthatkey,ifBirstdidnotmakethatcolumnuniqueforthedimensiontable,therewouldbeadangerousjoinconditioncalledaCartesianjoin(ormany‐to‐manyjoin).

Thatmeansthattherewouldbe1millionrecordsinthedimensiontableand1millionrecordsinthefacttablewhereeveryrecordinthedimensiontablejoinedtoallrecordsinthefacttable—creating1trillioncombinations—andthatwouldbeverybadforthesystemtotrytodo.Whenloadingdimensiontables,Birstactuallygroupsbylevelkeys,ensuringthateach


levelkeyvalueisunique.Sointhiscase,thedimensionwouldonlybeloadedwith1record—theuniquevalueofthelevelkey.

AsBirstusesthelevelkeytojoinbetweendifferenttables,itisgenerallybesttopickintegercolumnsoverstring/varcharcolumns,andshortercolumnsoverlongerones.SointhecaseoftheProductsdimension,[ProductID]isabetterchoicethan[ProductName]

Working with Hierarchies

Workingwithhierarchies,selectingthegrainsofthesourcesandtargetingthefields,areallapartofcreatingthelogicaldatamodel.Beforetalkingabouthowtoperformeachofthesetasks,it’simportanttounderstandtheimplicationsofthesetasks.

Figure67 Hierarchies

HierarchiesaremanagedintheDefineSourcestab,ontheDataFlowpage,byclickingonthemodifybutton,asshowninFigure67.

Creating Hierarchies

TheStarSchemaiscreatedwhentheUpdatebuttonisclicked.Aspartofthatprocesshierar‐chiesarecreated.Toview/editordeletethehierarchiesthatBirsthascreated,navigatetotheHierarchiessectionbyclickingModifyfromwithinDataFlow.


Figure68 Hierarchies‐LeftSideofScreen

Figure68showsanexampleofamulti‐levelhierarchy.Anotheroptionistobuildsingle‐levelhierarchies.

Figure69 Hierarchies‐RightSideofScreen

IntheHierarchieswindow,thereisalistofHierarchiesthatBirsthascreated.clickthearrowbyeachHierarchytoseethelevel(s)withineachHierarchy.Whenalevelwithinahierarchy

BBP ClickUpdateonetime,afterthat,processingdatawillupdatethewarehousemodel.

HierarchiesLevelswithinHierarchies

Level(PrimaryKey)

Key


isclickedontheleftofthescreen,thebottompaneoftherightsideofthescreendisplaystheLevelKeythatBirstselected.Ifthelevelkeyisincorrect,itcanbechangedonthisscreen.

ThewindowabovetheLevelKeyColumnissimplyusedasafiltertothespecificcolumnsofthesourcebeingworkedwithsothattheappropriateLevelKeycanbechosen.

InBirstaHierarchyrepresentsadimensiontable.Creatinghierarchiesidentifiesthedimen‐siontablesinthelogicalmodel.

TofurtherexplainHierarchies,onceagainconsidertheSupremEatsdata.

SincethecoreofSupremEatsdatarevolvesaroundOrderDetails,OrderDetailsshouldbeaHierarchy.Withinthishierarchytherearelevelsofinformation:“Customers”(CustomerID,Address,City,etc.)whichcontainsdataabouttheCustomers,“Orders”(OrderID,ShipCountry,ShipCity,etc.)whichcontainsdataabouttheOrder,and“Order_Details”whichcontainsthelineitemsoftheorder(qty,unitprice).TheOrder_DetailsHierarchydisplaysthelayoutofthedataflow,basedonthejoinscreatedinDataFlow.

Figure70 OrderDetailsHierarchy

AHierarchymustcontainoneormorelevelsofinformation.

Figure71 LevelsoftheOrderDetailsHierarchy

BirstwillautomaticallybuildhierarchiesifDataFlowisusedandthe“Update”buttonisclicked.Multi‐levelhierarchieswillbebuiltifBirstdeterminesthattheone‐to‐manyrelation‐shipsinthedatasourcesmakesthempossible.

Example

B’sBeverages

OrderID10289

1OutbackLager4SasquatchAle

BecauseBirstcarrieskeysdownhill,allthekeysintheupperlevelsareavailableatthelowestlevel:

CustomerID

CustomerID&OrderID

OrderID&ProductID

Order_DetailscanbeanalyzedbyanyofthekeyscontainedintheOrdersorCustomerslevels.


EventhoughBirstautomaticallycreateshierarchies,intheAdminmoduleofAdvancedSpacesthesehierarchiescanbeedited,addedtoordeleted.

Forexample,startingwithOrderDetails:

Figure72 OrderDetailsHierarchy

Thehierarchynameisjustthetitleofthehierarchy,nodatalivesinthetitlefield.Withinthehierarchy,levelsofdataarearranged:CustomersLevel,OrdersLevel,andOrderDetailsLevel.

Foreachlevel,columnsarealsoselectedtocreateakeyforthatlevel.Akeyuniquelydefineseachelementinthatlevel.Thereshouldbenoduplicationsofalevelkey‐thiswaythesystemcanalwayslookuptherightinformationatthatlevelusingthekey.InthecaseofSupremEats,thelevelkeyfortheOrderslevelistheOrderIDcolumn.ThereisoneOrderIDforeachorder.FortheOrderDetaildata,thelevelkeyisthecombinationofOrderIDandProductID‐therecanbeonlyonerecordforeachproductforeachorder.

Similarly,theProductshierarchycanbedefined,aswellashierarchiesforEmployees,Suppli‐ersandShippers.

Now,withthehierarchiesconfigured,Birstcaninsertincomingdatasourcestothesehierar‐chies.

HierarchyName

LevelsofdatawithintheHierarchy

SelectLevelKey(s)foreachlevelintheHierarchy


Review1. Whatisaprimarykey?

2. WhatisthefirstthingthatmustbedoneintheDataFlowscreen?

3. WhatcanpreventBirstfromrecognizingrelationshipsbetweensources?

4. WhenshouldtheUpdatebuttonbeused?

5. Howareprimarykeysselected?


2.3.3 ListMethodTheListMethoddoesnotautomaticallydefinehierarchies,leavingtheAdminincontrolofhowthesearedefined.

Enabling Sources

Afteruploadingdataviaanymethod,allofthesourcesneedtobeenabledpriortomodeling.

IntheListMethod,thisisaccomplishedthroughtheManageSourcespageoftheDefineSourcestab.

Figure73 ManageSources

Ontheleftsideofthescreen,clickthearrowbesideAlltoopenthelistoftheimportedsources.Toenableasource,clickonit,thenclickonthegeariconanduncheckIgnoreSource.

Figure74 EnableSource

Enableallofthesourcesthisway.

Creating Hierarchies

Tobeginworkingwithhierarchies,navigatetotheDefineSourcestabintheAdminmoduleandselecttheHierarchiespage.Whenahierarchy(dimensiontable)iscreatedonthispage,essentially,anemptybucketiscreatedthatwillultimatelybefilledwithattributedata.

Figure75 Hierarchies


Figure76 HierarchaiesPage

OntherightsideoftheHierarchiespage,therearetwosections.ThetopsectionallowstheusertochooseafilterandthebottomdisplaysthechosenLevelKeyColumn(s).ThelevelkeyisthesameasthePrimaryKey.

Toaddanewhierarchy:

1. ClicktheAddbuttononthetopoftheleftside.

2. Clickonthe“NewHierarchy”oncetoselectitandasecondtimetoopenthefieldtoedit.Namethehierarchy.

Figure77 AddingHierarchy

3. Clickthearrowbesidethenewhierarchy.

4. Clickonceonthe“NewLevel”toselectitandagaintoopenthefieldtoedit.Namethelevel.


Figure78 AddLevel

5. Oncethelevelisnamed,choosethecorrectdatasourceforthelevelfromthelistontheright.

Figure79 Choosingdatasource

6. Oncethedatasourceischosen,theLevelKeywindowwillpopulatewithalistofthecol‐umnsinthatdatasource.ChoosethecolumnorcolumnsthatformtheLevel(Primary)key.

Figure80 ChooseLevelKey

Rememberthatforsomesituations,thelevelkeywillbemadeupofmorethanonecolumn.

Repeatthesestepsforeachhierarchythatmustbecreated.Thisisataskthatshouldbecon‐sideredcarefully.WhentheDataFlowmethodisused,andBirstisallowedtobuildthehier‐


archies,severalhierarchiesbuiltwere“Multi‐LevelHierarchies”wheretherearemultiplelevelswithinthehierarchy.

Multi‐levelhierarchiesbuildlargerlogicaldimensiontablesfilledwithrelateddatafrommulti‐plesourceswhereonetomanyrelationshipsexist.Inmanydatamodels,therewillbeonedimensiontableforeachdatasource.IntheListMethod,theAdmincreatesthehierarchiesandmaychoosetocreatesingleormultilevelhierarchies.Neitheroptionisrightorwrongandthechoiceisinthehandsofthedatamodeler.

Figure81 Multi‐LevelHierarchies

ExampleofaMulti‐LevelHierarchy


Figure82 Single‐Level(Flattened)Hierarchies

Inthiscase,eachhierarchyhasonlyonelevel.InFigure83,isanexampleofwhatthestarschemawouldlooklikeaftercompletingonlythisstepofthemodelingprocess.

Figure83 StarSchema


TobuildaMulti‐Levelhierarchymanually,beginbycreatingthehierarchy,thesameassteps1‐6above,thenclickontheAddbuttonandchoose“AddParentLevel.”

Figure84 AddingParentLevel

Namethenewlevel,selectit’sdatasourceandlevelkey,justaswasdoneforthefirstlevel.


TheBirstdatamodelputsspacebetweenthedataandtheuser,shiftingtheburdenofunder‐standingthewaydataislinkedtotheAdministratorandallowinguserstocreatecomplexreportsanddashboardswithoutthatunderstanding.InBirsttherearetwowaystomodeldata,DataFlowwhichtakesadvantageofsomeofBirst'sautomationandtheListMethodwhichuseslessautomation.

Ahierarchyrepresentsadimension.Itislikeacontainerthatholdsthelevelsofrelateddata.

Review1. Whatisahierarchyandwhyisitimportant?

2. Whatisalevelkey?

3. HowisaHierarchyadded?

Summary


2.3.4 ManageSourcesJustastherearetwowaystoenablesourcesandtosetupandviewhierarchies,therearetwowaystotargetcolumnsasmeasures(whichcreatesfacttables),targetcolumnstohierarchies(whichputsthatinformationintothedimensiontables)andtosetgrains(whichtellsBirsthowthedataisconnected).

TheAdminworkinginDataFlowwillaccessManageSourcesontheDataFlowpageoftheDefineSourcestabbyrightclickingoneachsourceandselectingManageSources.

Figure85 ManageSourcesfromDataFlow

TheAdminworkingintheListMethodwillaccessManageSourcesbyclickingontheMan‐ageSourcespageontheDefineSourcestab.

Figure86 ManageSourcesinListMethod

Regardlessofwhichmethodisused,thescreensaresimilarexceptforonthefarrightside.IntheDataFlowManageSources,therearebuttonsforSaveandClosewhilethosesamebut‐tonsintheListMethodManageSourcesareSaveandCancel.Inaddition,usingtheListMethod,allofthesourcesarelistedontheleftsideofthescreen.

RightClickformenu


Figure87 SaveandClosevsSaveandCancel

TherearefivetabsinManageSources:Columns,Grain,Properties,RawDataandScript.

Figure88 ManageSourcesTabs

• TheColumnstabdisplayseachcolumnintheselecteddatasourceaswellasthetypeofcolumn,itswidth,theHierarchyassignedandwhetherthecolumnismarkedasameasure.

• IntheGraintab,thegrainsofthesourceareindicated.

• ThePropertiestaballowsmanagementofsomepropertiesofeachsource,suchasprocessingdirectives,sourcedatachangebehavior,anddatacharacteristics.

• TheRawdatatabdisplaysuptothefirst200rowsofthedatainthesource.

• TheScripttaboffersanopportunitytocreateadatasource(scriptedsource)withaselectstatementandscript.

• Thesaveandclose/cancelbuttonsareintheupper‐right.Saveeverytimeachangehasbeenmade.Areminderwillpopupifauserattemptstoclosewithoutsaving.

• Underthesaveandclosebuttonsaretwocheckboxes:DiscoverySourceandExcludefromWarehouseModel.

• DiscoverySource:InAdvancedspaces,checkingthisboxidentifiesthesourceasaDiscoverysource,enablingthesourcetobeaddedwithoutincludingitinthedatawarehouse.

DataFlowMethod ListMethod


• ExcludeFromWarehouseModel:Thisboxappliestonon‐Discoverysources.CheckingthisboxpreventsthesourcefromfeedingintotheBirstdatawarehouse.

TargetingColumnsTargetingacolumnisdonetomakeitavailabletothereportdesignersinthesubjectareaoftheDesignermodule.TargetingalsotellsBirsttophysicallyplacecolumnsintoeitherthefacttableorintothedimensiontable(hierarchy)whenthedataisprocessed.Therearethreepri‐marywaystotargetacolumn:toahierarchy,asameasureandtoanalyzebydate.

Whenacolumnistargetedtoahierarchy,Birstwilltreatthatcolumnasanattribute.Itwillbeavailableinthedefaultsubjectareaforreportdesignerstouseto“sliceanddice”theasso‐ciatedmeasures.TargetingtoahierarchyalsotellsBirsttoinsertthedataintothedimensiontable/hierarchy

Whenacolumnistargetedasameasure,Birstwillincludeitinthemeasuresofthedefaultsubjectareaandcreatethevariousaggregationssuitabletothetypeofdatainthecol‐umn.TargetingasameasurealsotellsBirsttoinsertthedataintothefacttableandenableaggregation.

Whenacolumnismarkedtoanalyzebydate,Birstwillusethatdatetocreatemeasuresthatareautomaticallygroupedagainstthesedates.Forexample,inthe“Orders”sourcetherearemultipledates;OrderDate,RequiredDate,ShippedDate.BymarkingallthreeoftheseasAna‐lyzebyDate,Birstwillcreatemeasuresgroupedandaggregatedbasedonthosedates.

Ifacolumnisnottargetedatall(assignedtoahierarchy,markedasameasureormarkedasanalyzebydate),Birstwillessentiallyignoreitanditwillnotbeavailableatallinthedefaultsubjectareanorwillitbeplacedintoanytableinthedatawarehousewhendataisprocessed.

Figure89 TargetColumnsinCategories

Columnsisthefirsttabontherightsideofthescreen.WithintheColumnsscreenarethefol‐lowingfields:

• Name:thetitleofthefield

• Type:datatypeasidentifiedbyBirst

• Width:thecolumnsize

• LockType:securesthedatatypetopreventchanges

• Hierarchy:indicatestargetedhierarchy


• Level:rarelyused,referencehelpforanexample

• Measure:indicatesdataistargetedtoafacttable

• AnalyzeMeasure:indicatesadegeneratedimension

• AnalyzebyDate:indicatestoBirsttogroupmeasuresbythisdate

• Format:usedfordatecolumnstocontroldateformats,i.e.MM/DD/YYYY

• Options

• UnknownReplacement:populatenullvalueswithreplacementspecified• SecurityFilter:usedtosecuredimensionormeasuredata

TotargetacolumntoaHierarchy,clickintheHierarchyfieldforthatcolumn.

Figure90 TargettoaHierarchy

Clickasecondtimetoopenthefield,thenusethedropdownmenutoselectthecorrecthier‐archy.InFigure90,CategoryIDisbeingtargetedtotheCategoriesHierarchy.ThisistellingBirsttoinsertthedatafromtheCategoryIDcolumnintotheCategoriesdimensiontableandtomakeitavailableinthedefaultsubjectareaforuseonareport.

LeavingthehierarchyblankmeansthatBirstwillnotinsertthatcolumnintothedimensiontable,andthecolumnwillnotbeavailableintheSubjectArea.

Thereareinstanceswheredataistargetedtoahierarchytobetreatedasanattribute,andisalsomarkedasameasure.CategoryIDisagoodexample,asitistargetedtotheCategorieshierarchyandisalsomarkedasameasure,whichtellsBirsttoalsoinsertthedataintothefacttable.WithCategoryIDtargetedtoboththeCategorieshierarchyandasameasure,BirstcanperformacountofCategoryIDaswellasusethefieldasanattributetoanalyzerelateddata.

Totargetacolumnasameasure,clickthecheckboxunder“Measure”.Rememberthatmea‐surescanbenon‐integercolumntypes,allowingBirsttoaggregate“count”and“countdis‐tinct”measures.

Tomarkacolumnas“AnalyzebyDate”clickthecheckboxunderAnalyzebyDate.


Figure91 TargetasaMeasureorAnalyzebyDate

Toapplythesamechangetomultiplecolumns,clickthecheckboxesinthefirstcolumn.Tochoseall,clickthecheckboxbesideName.

Figure92 Multi‐selectingColumns

Oncethecolumnsareselected,clicktheEditColumnbutton.


Figure93 EditColumn

Inthe“EditMultipleColumns”dialogbox,variouschangescanbeaccomplished,including:

• ColumnType

• LockType

• Format

• Width

• Hierarchy

• Level

• Measure

• AnalyzeMeasure

• AnalyzebyDate

• UnknownReplacement

Totargetmultiplecolumnstothesamehierarchy,choosethathierarchyfromthedropdownmenu.ClicktheOKbuttonwhenfinished.

Columnnamescanbechangedinthisscreenaswell.Thiscomesinhandywhenrelatedcol‐umnsintwodifferentsourceshavebeennameddifferently.InorderforBirstautomationtoseethemasrelated,oneofthemneedstobechangedtomatchtheother,forexample,intheSupremEatsdata,theOrderssourcehasacolumncalled“ShipVia”whichcontainsthesameinformationasthe“ShipperID”columnintheShipperssource.Tochangethecolumnname,clicktwiceinthecolumnnameandthentypethenewname.


Figure94 ChangeColumnName

2.3.5 GrainsGrainsareneededtologicallyjoinafacttabletoadimensiontablewherethekeysarepresent(physically,settingagraininsertstheprimarykeyintothefacttable).Ameasuretable,ontheotherhand,canbejoinedtomanydimensionsandBirstmustunderstandwhatdimensionsameasuretablecanjointo.SelectingthegrainallowsBirsttoanalyzethemeasurebytheattri‐butesplacedinthosedimensions.

Thegrainistheconnectionbetweenthefactanddimensiontables.

Inthecurrentexample,considerthesimplestgrain:onelevel.

Figure95 Categories

Figure95,showsthe[CategoryID]columnasameasurecolumn.ThattellsBirstthatitmustcreateafacttabletoholdthisvaluesothatitcanbuildthelogicalmeasures[#CategoryID]and[CountDistinct:CategoryID].

ThisfacttablewillbeloadedfromtheCategoriessourceandhaveonerowper[CategoryID].Also,thisfacttablewillneedtoconnecttotheCategoriesdimensiontableinordertosliceaquerybycolumnssuchas[CategoryName].Thereisnootherdimensionlevelthatalsoappliestothissource,andasaresultitsgrainconsistsmerelyofCategories.


Withgrainsproperlysetup,Birstcanjointhetablesandthislinkageallowsmeasurestobeslicedanddicedbycolumnspresentindimensiontables.(Notethatthewordsfactandmea‐sureareusedinterchangeablyinBirst).

Working with Grains

AdminsworkingintheDataFlowMethodcanaccessGrainsontheDataFlowpagebyrightclickingeachsource.Choose,“ManageSources”andclickingontheGraintab.

Figure96 SelectingGrainsinDataFlow

FortheOrder_Detailssource,thegrainsareCategories,Employees,Order_Details,ProductsandShippers.ThismeansthatwhenreportingonmeasuresfromOrder_Details(thecoreofSupremEats,wherethemainmeasuresare),theanalysiscanincludeCategories,Employees,Products,ShippersandtheOrder_Details,aswellasCustomersandOrders(aspartoftheOrder_Detailshierarchy)andSuppliers(aspartoftheProductshierarchy).

AdminsworkingintheListMethodcanaccessGrainsontheManageSourcespagebyclick‐ingontheGrainstab.


Figure97 SelectingGrainsinListMethod

Inthiscase,withtheflattenedhierarchystructure,thegrainsforOrder_Detailsincludesallofthehierarchies.Thisisbecausethedatacanbejoinedthroughforeignkeys.

Anotherwaytothinkofthisis,“WhatattributesgivecontexttothemeasuresintheOrder_‐Detailsfacttable(quantitysold,forexample)?”

Inordertochoosethegrainsofthesources,clicktheGraintab.Expandeachhierarchybyclickingonthearrowtotheleft.

Foreachsource,selecttheappropriategrain(s).

Grain Examples

UsingSupremEatsasanexample,ifallgrainsareremovedfromeverysource,herearetheresultsinthesubjectareaofDesignerModule:

Figure98 DesignModuleSubjectArea


TheonlythingthatcanbereportedonisTime.Nomeasuresareavailabletouseinareport,norareanyotherattributes,becausethegrainistheconnectionbetweenafacttableandadimensiontable.

IftheappropriategrainfortheEmployeesourceandtheSuppliersourceonlyareselected,theresultsinthesubjectareaofDesignerModulewouldbe:

Figure99 DefaultSubjectArea

Noticethatnow,onlyEmployeeIDandSupplierIDareavailableasmeasuresandEmployeesandSuppliersareavailableasAttributes(andTime,althoughTimeisalwaysavailableineveryspace).

Withallgrainsselectedappropriately,analysiscanbeperformedacrossallattributesandmeasuresthathavearelationship.

Carrying Higher Keys Downhill

Birstprovidesapowerfulfeaturetoallowhigherleveldatarelationshipstobecarrieddowntolowerdatalevels.

NoteinFigure96,theOrderDetailsHierarchy,thatthelevelsforEmployeeandShipperarealsochecked.TheOrderDetailssourcedoesnotcontainkeystolevelsinthosehierarchies.However,higherlevelsourcesinthehierarchyandtheProducthierarchydo.ThisillustratesthatGrainismeanttoindicatethelevelofthedata,NOTthekeyrelationships.


Figure100 UnderstandingLevels&Grains‐MultiLevelHierarchies

Note: TheillustrationinFigure100displayshowthekeyscarryacrossanddown,allowingmeasuresinonesourcetobeanalyzedbyattributesinarelatedsource,evenifthatrelationisthroughanothersource.

ByunderstandingthatallofthekeyspresentontheOrderssourcearealsopresentontheOrderDetailssource,BirstcanconcludethatforeachOrderrecord,thereisauniquesetofrecordsontheOrderDetailstable‐inotherwords,OrderDetailsisamoredetailedversionofthesamedata.ThatmeansthatanymetricthatexistsontheOrderDetailssourcecanbeana‐lyzedagainstanyattributeordimensionthatexistsattheOrderslevel.

Orders

OrderDetails Products

Employees

Shippers

Orders

Categories


Forexample,thereisacustomerlinktotheOrderssource,nottotheOrderDetailssource.But,onecananalyzequantitysold(ontheOrderDetailssource)bycustomername(ontheCustomerhierarchywhichislinkedtotheOrderssourceviaCustomerID).BirstknowsthatsinceitcananalyzemetricsontheOrderstableagainstcustomerdata,itcanalsoanalyzeOrderDetailsmetricsagainstcustomerdata.

AgrainisacollectionoflevelsthatBirstusestoanalyzemeasuresacrosshierarchies.Birstcarrieskeysdown,allowinglowerleveldatatobeanalyzedbythoserelationships.

TargetingcolumnsenablesreportdesignerstousethosecolumnsintheDesignermodule.Targetingacolumnasameasuremakesthatcolumnavailableformathematicalanalysisandtargetingacolumntoahierarchymakesthatcolumnavailableasanattributetodescribeameasure.

Review1. Whataffectdoesselectingthegrainhave?

2. HowdoesBirstknowwhichlevelsofdataapplytoasource?

3. Whatistargetingcolumnsandwhatisitspurpose?

Summary


2.4 ProcessDataOncethedatamodelhasbeencreatedandanyeditshavebeenmade,thedataneedstobeprocessed.Processingthedatarunstheuploadedsourcedatathroughthemodelthathasbeencreated,andthenputsthedataintotablesinthewarehouse.Eachtimedataisprocessedcacheisalsocleared.

OntheProcessDatatabtherearefourpages:ProcessData,DeleteData,ViewProcessedDataandScheduleDataProcessing.

First,navigatetotheProcessDatatabandtheProcessDatapage.ThenclickProcessNow.Theamountoftimeittakestoprocessthedataisdependentontheamountofdatabeingpro‐cessed.

Figure101 ProcessData

Oncethedataprocessinghascompleted,thedetailsoftheprocesscanbeviewedbyclicking“Details”ontheDataProcessingLog.


Figure102 ProcessDataPageafterProcessing

ProcessedDataLog

DetailsforProcessedData


Documents

Birst Training Manual - WordPress.com€¦ · ure 25 will enable the Birst Admin to Add, Edit, Delete and Run selected tasks. Figure 25 Birst Connect Tasks Birst Connect Task Properties