Integrating the Business Layer Components

Universes group objects into folders. This grouping is done to provide a structure for the universe and makes it easier for users to locate particular objects. A common strategy is to group related dimension and attribute objects into one folder, while grouping measure objects into a unique and single-measures folder.

This strategy can be extended by introducing subfolders to break down the objects into further subsets.

Dimension objects, where possible, tend to be organized hierarchically within a folder. Each object maps to a column(s) or function in the target database via a SELECT statement.

One of the most common requirements for data analysis is to provide the ability to analyze data for different time periods. Time is a special case because all the information for the dimension objects can come from a single date column in a database. In most other cases, each dimension object infers a separate database column.

Creating time dimension objects can be achieved by using SQL date scalar functions. SQL data scalar functions extract the day, month, year, and possibly quarter from a single database column of a date type. You create the standard time structure by ordering the objects Year, Quarter, Month, and Week.​

An attribute provides descriptive data about a dimension and is always attached to it. It maps one or more columns or functions in the database that provide detailed information related to a specific dimension.