Building dimensions that are based on surrogate keys

Hi -
I am new to AWM and have a question.
I read the docs, but I still do not understand how to build a cube using AWM.
So we have a DW with dimensions and fact tables. The dimension tables use surrogate keys.
The fact table uses the surrogate keys of the dimensions.
I want to define the time dimension in AWM.
The unique key for the dimension is the surrogate key (time_key).
In AWM I defined levels: day, month and year.
Would the hierarchy for the day level be:
time_key -> day?
Thanks,
Frank

Thankyou so much.
now when I try that here is the error that I get for that
line:
1118: Implicit coercion of a value with static type
flash.display:DisplayObject to a possibly unrelated type
flash.display:MovieClip.
I've placed a zipfile with my FLA, .as and .xml here:
http://bigfins.com/temp/test5xml.zip
The actionscript alone is below.
Thankyou again for any assistance.

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The most common problem with calculated measures is that they can cause the cube to loop densely (i.e. all logical member combinations) instead of sparsely (i.e. only the member combinations that have data). But I don't think this is the problem in your case since the difference between rows_read and rows_returned is small
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If dense looping has happened then the rows_read is often orders of magnitude greater than rows_returned. You can see the looping strategy by running
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Best approach to delete records that are not in the source table anymore.

I have a situation where I need to remove records from dimensions that are not in the source data anymore. Right now we are not maintaing history, i.e. not using SCD but planning for the next release. If we did that it would be easy to figure the latest records. The load is nightly and records are updated and new added.
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About Surrogate Key and Dimension Key on OWB 10.2

Hi, everyone.
I am using OWB 10.2 and I have a question about Surrogate key and Dimension Key.
I indicated the foreign key as VARCHAR2 type in Fact Table and Dimension Key as VARCHAR2 type is operated as Primary key in Dimension Table. I made Single Level in Dimension Table.
I know that Dimension Key stores the surrogate ID for dimension and is the primary key of the table. Also, Surrogate ID should be only NUMBER type.
So, in this case, Surrogate ID is NUMBER type
Dimension key should be NUMBER type to store the surrogate ID.
But, Dimension key also should operate the primary to relate Foreign key as VARCHAR2 type.
How I can solve this confusing condition?
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JWS

Hi JWS,
From a SQL point of view it should not be a problem to join a NUMBER field to a VARCHAR2 field because during execution there will be an implicite cast for the NUMBER value to a VARCHAR2 value. See the example below.
SELECT * FROM DUAL
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To resolve this issue I would advise you to use a Sequence that generates your Surrogate Key (NUMBER type) for the Dimension table and store it in the Primary Key Column (VARCHAR2 type).
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Hi,
What would be the best approach on ODI to implement the Surrogate Key Mapping Table on the STG layer according to Kimball's technique:
"Surrogate key mapping tables are designed to map natural keys from the disparate source systems to their master data warehouse surrogate key. Mapping tables are an efficient way to maintain surrogate keys in your data warehouse. These compact tables are designed for high-speed processing. Mapping tables contain only the most current value of a surrogate key— used to populate a dimension—and the natural key from the source system. Since the same dimension can have many sources, a mapping table contains a natural key column for each of its sources.
Mapping tables can be equally effective if they are stored in a database or on the file system. The advantage of using a database for mapping tables is that you can utilize the database sequence generator to create new surrogate keys. And also, when indexed properly, mapping tables in a database are very efficient during key value lookups."
We have a requirement to implement cross-reference mapping tables with Natural and Surrogate Keys for each dimension table. These mappings tables will be populated automatically (only inserts) during the E-LT execution, right after inserting into the dimension table.
Someone have any idea on how to implement this on ODI?
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Hi,
first of all please avoid bolding something. After this according Kimball (if i remember well) is a 1:1 mapping, so no-surrogate key.
After that personally you could use Lookup Table
http://www.odigurus.com/2012/02/lookup-transformation-using-odi.html
or make a simple outer join filtering by your "Active_Flag" column (remember that this filter need to be inside your outer join).
Let us know
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Hi All,
my question is - How we use Surrogate Keys for snowflake dimension
i heard from some body Surrogate Keys only work with star schema.
please correct me if i wrong.
Regards,
Manish

Hi manishcal16PPS,
According to your description, you can only create natural key in your dimension. But it's not working when using surrogate key. Right?
In Analysis Services, the snowflake schema of the dimensions are represented by more than one dimension table in other words its takes multiple dimension tables to define a dimension. Surrogate key are just some extra, redundant, unique key based on the
natural key. So there's no direct relationship or some limitations between surrogate keys and snowflake schema.
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Best Practice loading Dimension Table with Surrogate Keys for Levels

Hi Experts,
how would you load an Oracle dimension table with a hierarchy of at least 5 levels with surrogate keys in each level and a unique dimension key for the dimension table.
With OWB it is an integrated feature to use surrogate keys in every level of a hierarchy. You don't have to care about
the parent child relation. The load process of the mapping generates the right keys and cares about the relation between the parent and child inside the dimension key.
I tried to use one interface per Level and created a surrogate key with a native Oracle sequence.
After that I put all the interfaces in to one big Interface with a union data set per level and added look ups for the right parent child relation.
I think it is a bit too complicated making the interface like that.
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negib
Edited by: nmarhoul on Jun 14, 2012 2:26 AM

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I do like the level keys feature of OWB - It makes aggregate tables very easy to implement if your sticking with a star schema.
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Implementing surrogate keys in dimensions

hello,
First thing, I'm new to ODI! I am using Oracle data integrator 10.1.3.
I have a dimension table 'Dim_Contracts' as target table. The structure is as follows:
PK_Dim_Contract Primary key (surrogate key - to be populated from an Oracle database sequence in the target)
Contract_ID (normal field in target - no constraints in target- to be populated from source - originally a primary key in source)
+ other dimension attributes.
from what i have googled out and read in the forum, i cannot define 'PK_Dim_Contract' as the primary key of my dimension (target) table, to be able to update it from the oracle sequence defined - rather the 'contract_ID', which is the natural key should be the primary key. Is that correct? If yes, isn't it against dimension modelling principle?
More to the point, my question is: How do I populate a sequence in my primary key field in the target table?
Thanks for your help.
Regards,
Anju

Hello Anju,
Welcome in the ODI community ;).
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What are the surrogate key and row_number( )

what are the surrogate key and row_number( ) function, and why do not we always make the row_number a primary key in the table.

Mohannad,
we just try to safe your efforts and to prevent common
mistakes you can make.
Look here.
Your requirement is to avoid gaps in sequence.
OK. But it means you HAVE to lock your sequence
exclusively until you commit transaction.
Also, it means you have to rollback sequence
number to original value if you rollback you
entire transaction.
SQL> create table my_tab (id number);
&nbsp
Table created.
&nbsp
SQL> create table numer_tab (id number);
&nbsp
Table created.
&nbsp
SQL> insert into numer_tab values(0);
&nbsp
1 row created.
&nbsp
SQL> create or replace trigger
2   tr_no_gap
3   before insert on my_tab
4   for each row
5   begin
6    /* Let's lock sequence in exclusive mode */
7    update numer_tab set id = id + 1
8    returning id into :new.id;
9   end;
10 /
&nbsp
Trigger created.Now I havn't to worry about gaps:
Fisrt session:
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbsp
1 row created.because my next session is waiting:
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbspI do commit in first and second session -everything is OK:
SQL> commit;
&nbsp
Commit complete.
&nbsp
SQL> select * from my_tab;
&nbsp
        ID
         2
         1Now I do the same but do rollback in 1th:
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbsp
1 row created.
&nbsp
SQL> rollback;
&nbsp
Rollback complete.and commit in 2th:
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbsp
1 row created.
&nbsp
SQL> commit;
&nbsp
Commit complete.No gaps:
SQL> select * from my_tab;
&nbsp
        ID
         2
         3
         1Now I will not lock sequence resource due a transaction:
SQL> create or replace trigger
2   tr_no_gap
3   before insert on my_tab
4   for each row
5   declare
6    pragma autonomous_transaction;
7   begin
8    /* Let's lock sequence in exclusive mode */
9    update numer_tab set id = id + 1
10    returning id into :new.id;
11    commit;
12   end;
13 /
&nbsp
Trigger created.And I repeate my last operation.
Both inserts execute immediately
1th
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbsp
1 row created.2th
SQL> insert into my_tab values(null);
&nbsp
1 row created.Now I rollback the first and commit the second.
And what I see is the gap:
SQL> select * from my_tab;
&nbsp
        ID
         2
         3
         5
         1We are just trying to explain what you will have to
pay the serious price of performance in the
absence of gaps and you will have the lack
of Oracle multithreading advantage in this case.
I doubt your customers will happy with that.
Rgds.

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