CubeViewer - Process to Build the Cube Viewer

As pointed out in the last post, the Cube Viewer is a new way of displaying data for advanced analysis. The Cube Viewer functionality extends the existing ConfigTools (a.k.a Task Optimization) objects to allow the analysis to be defined as a Cube Type and Cube View. Those definitions are used by the widget to display correctly and define what level of interactivity the user can enjoy.

The process of building a cube introduces new concepts and new objects to ConfigTools to allow for an efficient method of defining the analysis and interactivity. In summary form the process is described by the figure below:

• Design Your Cube. Decide the data and related information to to be used in the Cube Viewer for analysis. This is not just a typical list of values but a design of dimensions, filters and values. This is an important step as it helps determine whether the Cube Viewer is appropriate for the data to be analyzed.
• Design Cube SQL. Translating the design into a Cube based SQL. This SQL statement is formatted specifically for use in a cube.
• Setup Query Zone. The SQL statement designed in the last step needs to be defined in a ConfigTools Query Zone for use in the Cube Type later in the process. This also allows for the configuration of additional information not contained in the SQL to be added to the Cube.
• Setup Business Service. The Cube Viewer requires a Business Service based upon the standard FWLZDEXP application service. This is also used by the Cube Type later process.
• Setup Cube Type. Define a Cube Type object defining the Query Zone, Business Service and other settings to be used by the Cube Viewer at runtime. This  brings all the configuration together into a new ConfigTools object.
• Setup Cube View. Define an instance of the Cube Type with the relevant predefined settings for use in the user interface as a Cube View object. Appropriate users can use this as the initial view into the cube and use it as a basis for any Saved Views they want to implement.

Over the next few weeks, a number of articles will be available to outline each of these steps to help you understand the feature and be on your way to building your own cubes.