The Finish the Partition Wizard dialog appears. Here we can name the partition, and can make provision for its storage design. In our example, where we are creating partitions to segregate years, it is likely that, in the future (say, in 2000), our partitioning strategy might include the merging of years beyond the current and its immediate predecessor, which are by far the most frequently accessed for financial reporting purposes.
21. Type the following into the Partition name box:
Budget_1997
Merging 1997 and 1998 (the reciprocal partition) together requires that the storage design for both be identical. Another convenience that is provided in the Finish the Partition Wizard dialog is the opportunity to design storage for the new partition in the image of the existing partition (remember that all cubes have at least one), through the use of the Copy the aggregation design from an existing partition radio button.
22. Select the radio button to the immediate left of Copy the aggregation design from an existing partition, in the What do you want to do? section of the dialog.
The Copy from selector that accompanies the Copy the aggregation design from an existing partition option becomes enabled.
23. Ensure that SSPerf_Budget appears in the Copy from selector.
24. Click the Process the partition when finished check box.
Another option we have at this stage is accessed via the Advanced button, appearing in the lower right of the dialog. Here, we can use the WHERE clause of an SQL statement to further filter our partition. We will revisit this option in subsequent articles.
The Finish the Partition Wizard dialog appears as depicted in Figure 9.
Figure 9: The Finish the Partition Wizard Dialog with Our Settings
25. Click Finish.
Processing begins, and we are soon greeted with indication of successful completion via the Process log viewer. The log viewer appears as shown in Figure 10.
Figure 10: The Process Log Viewer Indicates Successful Completion
26. Click Close to close the Process log viewer.
The new partition, together with the pre-existing one, appears in the cube tree, as depicted in Figure 11.
Figure 11: The New Partition Appears.
27. Discard the SSPerf_Budget cube, as desired. (Right-click and Delete.)
28. Select File —> Exit, when ready to close Analysis Manager.