Write-Enabled Dimensions
A write-enabled dimension allows end users to modify the contents of the dimension and see the immediate impact on the cube. This ability provides added analytical options to end users. For example, in an Employee dimension, an end user can move the employee members beneath different managers to assess the changes on measures such as Budget and Staffing Level. Only parent-child dimensions support this dimension characteristic.
Note This feature is available only if you install Analysis Services for Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2000 Enterprise Edition.
End users can update a write-enabled dimension by using client applications. Administrators can update members of a write-enabled dimension by using Analysis Manager. In a write-enabled dimension, end users and administrators can change, move, add, and delete members. They can also update member property values. In Analysis Services, these updates are referred to collectively as dimension writeback.
Note Unlike updates to a write-enabled cube, which are stored in a writeback table separate from the cube's source tables, updates to a write-enabled dimension are recorded directly in the dimension's table. Also, if the write-enabled dimension is included in a cube with multiple partitions where some or all of their data sources have copies of the dimension table, only the original dimension table is updated during a writeback process.
Write-enabled dimensions and write-enabled cubes have different but complementary features. A write-enabled dimension gives end users the ability to update members, whereas a write-enabled cube gives them the ability to update cube cells. Using these two features in combination is optional. For example, a write-enabled dimension can be included in a cube that is not write-enabled. Different procedures are used to write-enable dimensions and cubes and to maintain their security. The only kind of dimension that can be write-enabled is a parent-child dimension.
The only end users who can update a write-enabled dimension are those in cube roles granted read/write access to the dimension. For each role, you can control which members can and cannot be updated. In order for end users to update write-enabled dimensions, their client application must support this capability.
For shared write-enabled dimensions, an administrator can update the members and associated member property values of a write-enabled dimension in the dimension members pane of Dimension Editor or in Dimension Browser. For private write-enabled dimensions, Dimension Browser can be opened from Cube Editor to update the members and associated member property values of a write-enabled dimension. These actions require the write-enabled dimension to be included in a cube that was processed since the dimension last changed.
Dimension writeback is not supported in distributed partitioned cubes. You cannot write-enable a dimension that is included in a distributed partitioned cube, and you cannot add a write-enabled dimension to a distributed partitioned cube. For more information about distributed partitioned cubes, see Distributed Partitioned Cubes.
To write-enable a dimension, set its Write-enabled property to True in the properties pane of Dimension Editor (if the dimension is shared) or Cube Editor (if the dimension is private).
All write-enabled dimensions are also changing dimensions. That is, their Changing property is set to True. This value cannot be changed. Write-enabled dimensions have the same processing requirements as changing dimensions except that dimension writeback does not require subsequent processing.