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Quick Start Guide

Using the Dundas Chart for .NET OLAP Services Interactive Demo

The Dundas Chart for .NET OLAP Services interactive demo shows off many of the built-in features of Dundas OLAP Services, including the new grid and toolbar controls introduced in version 5.5. In addition to standard OLAP functions, such as drill down, filtering, sorting and pivoting, the demo leverages the complete set of Dundas OLAP tools to visualize a sample OLAP database.

To help you get started, we have provided this guide that introduces the process of analyzing OLAP data, and the benefits of Dundas OLAP Services.

Quick Start - get the basics and go

1. Start the demo by clicking on the link to the right.
2. Go to the Dimension Browser, located on the lower left of the demo, and find the item(s) you want to view.
3. Items under the Measures node can be drag and dropped onto the series axis builder to the right of the chart. Items under the other nodes can be dropped on to the filter axis builder above the chart or the category axis builder below the chart.
4. Once dropped these items can be dragged to a different position within an axis, to another axis or back to the Dimension Browser. Options can also be found by right clicking on an item to bring up a context menu.
5. In addition, items can be dragged directly onto the new grid control. The grid also contains options to drill up or down, and the built-in context menu can be used to add, remove, filter and sort data. All changes made to the grid update the chart, and vice versa.

Getting Started

The following diagram represents the main elements of the demo:

Figure 1: The OLAP services interactive demo user-interface

Using Reports

The Report List allows you to easily load, manage, save, and share pre-defined report views. It also allows you to discard report views, created after several iterations of adding and removing data, and revert back to the original report view.

To navigate through a set of pre-defined reports, click on the Report List drop-down control and select a report.

Adding and Removing Data

Dundas OLAP Services uses basic drag-and-drop operations to add data to a report. Measures represent categories of stored values; Dimensions represent categories of OLAP information.

To add a Measure, perform the following steps:

1. Locate the measure you would like to add. Measures are represented by a , within the Cube Dimension Browser.
2. Drag and drop the Measure onto the OLAP Chart, OLAP Grid, or one of the three axes.

To add a Dimension, perform the following steps:

1. Locate the dimension you would like to add. Dimensions are represented by a , within the Cube Dimension Browser.
2. Drag and drop the Measure onto the OLAP Chart, OLAP Grid, or one of the three axes.

All UI controls update their contents automatically, and the resulting query is displayed on the OLAP Chart and OLAP Grid.

Drilling Up and Down

Drill Down by Member
Drill Down by member can be accomplished doing the following:

1. Locate a on the OLAP Grid.
2. In order to drill down, click on either the , or the , and expand the parent member to display its child members.

Figure 2: Drill Down by member using chart (left), drill down by member using grid (right).

Drill Down by Level
Level based Drill Down causes all parent members to expose their child members. There are two ways to accomplish Level-Based Drill Down:

• Context Menu Drill Down - simply right click, on a dimension in an Axis, and then click drill down.
  
  
  
• Dimension Level Drill Down - left click on a dimensions arrow on an axis, and then click the drill down icon.
  

Filtering and Sorting

Filtering and Sorting gives you a powerful tool for organizing and analyzing multidimensional data.

This continual focusing of data allows you to reach the level of focus, and analysis required so that you can get the highest and best use of your data cube's multidimensional data. The following are ways that you can sort and filter:

• Slicer Axis: Allows you to filter an entire category of information. For instance, you could filter for a specific quarter in the Fiscal Year of 2004 by dragging and dropping that dimension onto the slicer axis (shown below).
  

• Quick Sort: Allows for one-click sorting. Click the icon to sort in ascending order. Click this icon again to sort in descending order.

• Sorting and Filtering Dialog: Allows you to filter using value-based or top-level expressions. Click the icon to start sorting and filtering.

Paging Support

For clients using large cell sets, the latest version of Dundas Chart OLAP Services lets you see results much faster with its feature-rich paging support. Navigation between pages can be done using the paging control, which can be used separately (web only) as well as part of the axis builder. Dundas Chart's paging control allows users to go to a specific page in a cell set easily, by simply clicking the corresponding page number link. Click the page up/down button to see the other page numbers that are not in the currently visible range. You can now visualize your large OLAP cube data instantly without having to wait for the entire cell set data to load.

Ver. 6.2 also includes KPI support. You can now view and select your database's key performance indicators in charts or grids via the Measures/Dimensions pane.

 

Beyond the Demo

The demo shows one possible layout of the OLAP controls, but the OLAP controls are built to allow for many different configurations to suit your individual needs. We encourage you to download a Full Evaluation copy, quickly integrate the controls into your applications and discover the features and power behind Dundas Chart for .NET OLAP Services.