7. Click the Add all measures (“>>”) button to add all measures to the Selected measures list on the right of the dialog.
The Select the measures for the virtual cube dialog appears as depicted in Figure 25, with our selections appearing in the Selected measures list.
Figure 25: Our Measures Selections Appear
8. Click Next.
The Select the dimensions for the virtual cube dialog appears. We will select all dimensions for purposes of this lesson.
9. Click the Add all dimensions (“>>”) button to add all dimensions to the Selected dimensions list on the right of the dialog.
The Select the dimensions for the virtual cube dialog appears as shown in Figure 26, with our selections appearing in the Selected dimensions list.
Figure 26: Our Dimensions Selections Appear
10. Click Next.
The Finish the Virtual Cube Wizard dialog appears.
11. Type the following into the Virtual Cube Name box:
Customer Sales
After we create a virtual cube, we must process it before client applications can browse it. The necessary internal links to the specified dimensions and measures in the underlying cubes are established through processing the virtual cube. While the linking operation that is involved in processing is typically quick in itself, we need to keep in mind that initialization of processing of our virtual cube will automatically trigger the processing of any underlying cubes that themselves require processing. This can add significant time to the update, and needs to be included in planning when taking the virtual cube route. Ideally, the underlying cubes will be preprocessed, but this is certainly not a requirement, and may not even be the best strategy, in certain situations.
12. Ensure that the Process Now radio button is selected (the default).
This, the last step of the Virtual Cube Wizard, presents us with the option to process the virtual cube now, or at a later time. The Finish the Virtual Cube Wizard dialog, with our selections, appears as depicted in Figure 27.
Figure 27: The Completed Finish the Virtual Cube Wizard Dialog
13. Click Finish.
After clicking Finish above, we see that the Process dialog appears just as it did when we processed the DISTINCT_CUSTOMER cube earlier, logging the significant processing events, then rapidly presenting a green Processing Completed Successfully message at the bottom of the dialog, as shown in Figure 28.
Figure 28: The Process Dialog (Compressed View) Indicates Completion
14. Click Close.
The Process dialog closes, and the Virtual Cube Editor (a customized version of the Cube Editor, which has no Schema tab, as does the standard Cube Editor) appears, as partially depicted in Figure 29.
Figure 29: The Virtual Cube Editor (Compressed, Partial View)
15. Select File —> Exit from the main menu to close the Virtual Cube Editor.