On Dynamics AX 2009 Perspectives, OLAP Cubes and Analysis Server

On Dynamics AX 2009 Perspectives, OLAP Cubes and Analysis Server

 

Good morning,

 

I've been working with Cubes in Dynamics AX 2009 to modify some out-of-the-box Enterprise Portal reports. I had to add a measure to an existing cube, and that measure was the sum of a new column (supported on Perspectives, see MSDN). I asked Microsoft what was the best way to deploy changes to Cubes that were done for AX but were too complex to be done using AX perspectives (though my case was simple enough and could be limited to editing a perspective).

 

Here was Microsoft's answer (I couldn't find that information on MSDN):

1. If the model change can be done in AX by customizing Perspectives, that is the preferred approach. The steps to do this include:
   a. Modify the analysis settings for a perspective, table or type.
   b. Use the OLAP Project Update form to update the out of the box BIDS project with these new settings.
   c. Reopen the updated project in BIDS to validate that the changes you were expecting were made (or look at the project update log).
   d. Redeploy the cubes on the customer SSAS.
2. If the model change cannot be done in AX, and is a customization that needs to be done in the BIDS project (because it is too complex, too detailed, or not supported by our project generation/update framework).
   a. Extract the cubes project from the original deployed SSAS database.
   b. Make any manual modifications to the project.
   c. Redeploy the project.

Hope this will help others when the need to deploy Cubes in 2009 comes up!