OLAP Setup and User's Guide

Chapter 7. Creating an OLAP Application and Database

This chapter describes how to start creating OLAP applications and multidimensional databases. The tools you use depend on whether you installed the full DB2 OLAP Server product, the full product with the DB2 OLAP Integration Server add-on, or the DB2 OLAP Starter Kit:

• DB2 OLAP Starter Kit customers can use the DB2 OLAP Integration Server desktop interface as described by the DB2 OLAP Integration Server documentation, starting with the OLAP Integration Server Administration Guide.
• DB2 OLAP Server users can use the DB2 OLAP Integration Server, the Application Manger, or the ESSCMD command line interface to create OLAP applications. If you use the Application Manager, follow the instructions in the Database Administrator's Guide.

If you installed the DB2 OLAP Starter Kit, disregard references to the Application Manager in this chapter.

The basic steps for creating and OLAP application are:

1. Create an OLAP application.
2. Create a multidimensional database:
   1. Create a database outline.
   2. Define dimensions and members.
   3. Specify dense and sparse dimensions.
   4. Specify an anchor dimension (required for DB2 OLAP Server).
   5. Assign alias names, generation and level names, and attributes.
   6. Save your outline.

When you create an OLAP database, DB2 OLAP Server also creates a relational cube in your relational database. For detailed information about the contents of a relational cube, see How Multidimensional Storage Differs from Relational Storage.

After you create an OLAP application, you can load and calculate data in its associated database using the same methods and techniques that are described in the Database Administrator's Guide and in "Loading Data into a Database".

This chapter includes the following topics:

• Information specific to using DB2 OLAP Server and the DB2 OLAP Starter Kit to create applications and databases.
• The differences between multidimensional and relational data storage.
• What relational attributes are and how to use them.