Validating Cube Dimension Data

The Dimension Data Validation extension to SQL Developer provides reports that quickly find conditions in dimension table data that might cause errors when maintaining an OLAP cube dimension or cause problems when querying a cube using a business intelligence tool. Dimension Data Validation also reports errors in mapping the cube dimension metadata to database columns.

Dimension Data Validation is intended for quick tests and fixes during proof of concept and development phases of an OLAP cube. It is not intended as a replacement for a full-featured data quality tool. It does not find and fix every possible data error. Use it to quickly find and fix certain errors so that the process of designing OLAP cubes can continue.

Dimension Data Validation provides the following features:

Views of cube dimension metadata and the mappings of the metadata to database columns
High-level summary reports that help identify problems
Detailed reports that identify the cube dimension members that might cause a problem
Methods that can quickly fix many different types of data errors in dimension tables so that the process of designing and testing cube dimensions and cubes can continue

With Dimension Data Validation, you can also do the following:

Synchronize the view of the metadata and mappings with the current state of the source tables
Export the SQL for the fixes to SQL Developer Worksheet or to the clipboard
Return to the same level in the report you were viewing when you exited Dimension Data Validation if you restart the extension while you are in the same SQL Developer session

To start Dimension Data Validation and view mappings:

In the Connections navigator, expand OLAP Option and then Analytic Workspaces. Right-click an analytic workspace and select Dimension Data Validation.

The Launching Dimension Data Validation dialog box appears and reports the progress of the validation process. To stop the operation, click Cancel Task; otherwise, the Dimension Data Validation for Analytic Workspace analytic_workspace_name dialog box appears.

The dialog box contains a navigation tree, which lists the reports that you can generate, and a pane that displays the selected report, which is initially the All Messages report. If this is the first time you have used Dimension Data Validation, then the rows in the All Messages report are empty.
In the navigation tree, click Metadata and Mappings.

The Metadata and Mappings tab displays the status of the mappings of the cube dimension metadata to the source tables in the database. It reports errors detected in the mappings. If an error exists, do the following:
1. Using the OLAP option, correct any errors in the mappings of the cube dimensions in the analytic workspace.
2. Exit Dimension Data Validation and restart it.
Repeat Step 2 until no mapping errors are reported.

In the navigation tree, right-click a report.

For All Messages or Metadata and Mapping, point to Validate and then select either All Dimensions or a single cube dimension.
For any of the other reports, point to Validate Report for and then select either All Dimensions or a single cube dimension..

Note:

While most reports run very quickly even on large cube dimensions, the Duplicate Members across Levels report might take a considerable amount of time to run on large cube dimensions because it compares members in every level with members of every other level. A large table with many levels takes considerably longer to test as compared to a small table with few levels. If your dimension table is very large, then considering running individual reports as needed rather than running all reports.

To prevent the Duplicate Members across Levels report from running when you run the All Members Report, you can disable this report by right-clicking Duplicate Members across Levels in the navigation tree and selecting Disable Duplicate Members across Levels Report.

For more information on using Data Dimension Validation, see OLAP Dimension Data Validation Concepts and Usage in the SQL Developer online Help.