Chapter 10 -- Data Analysis Tools and Architecture

Chapter 10

About This Chapter

This chapter discusses the basic concepts of data analysis, including drilling into data and data mining, and describes how to analyze data while disconnected from a network. The chapter introduces and demonstrates data analysis tools that include the OLAP Manager Cube Browser, Microsoft Excel 2000, and Web pages. OLAP Services provides an architecture for software vendors to develop OLAP data analysis tools that work with any OLE DB provider. You can also use this architecture to write your own OLAP client applications.

Before You Begin

To complete the lessons in this chapter, you must

• Have installed SQL Server 7.0 and OLAP Services.
• Be able to log in to SQL Server as an administrator.



• Have installed the Exercise files from the Supplemental Course Materials CD-ROM to your hard disk drive. See the "Getting Started" section in "About This Book" for installation instructions.
• Have completed the exercises in Chapter 8, "Advanced DTS," to create and populate the Northwind_Mart data warehouse database. If you have not created the Northwind_Mart database, you can execute the C:\SQLDW\Exercise\Ch08\MakeMart.BAT batch file to create and populate the database. You cannot perform the exercises in this chapter if you have not created and populated the Northwind_Mart database.
• Have completed the exercises in Chapter 9, "Microsoft SQL Server OLAP Services," to create and populate the Northwind_DSS OLAP Services database and the Sales cube. If you have not created the Northwind_DSS database and the Sales cube, you can execute the C:\SQLDW\Exercise\ Ch09\MakeMDdb.BAT batch file to create and populate the database and the cube. You cannot perform the exercises in this chapter if you have not created and populated the Northwind_DSS database and the Sales cube.
• Have installed Microsoft Excel 2000 and Microsoft Query 2000.
• Have installed Internet Information Server and Active Server Pages.
• Have a basic knowledge of Visual Basic for Applications or VBScript to complete the programming exercises in this chapter.