Hide a cube dimension

Overview

Dimensions in a cube can be hidden using the XPATH XMLA capabilities in Jet Data Manager. This is especially relevant if dimensions have been added solely for drill-through purposes.

By hiding the dimension, we can ensure that the front-end user does not (by mistake) drag a large drill-through dimension into a query which may subsequently bring the OLAP server to a standstill.

Step by step guide

1. Create a new OLAP script action in JDM.

   

2. Add the following XPATH XMLA script in the custom step dialog.

   XMLA Script

   <Script> <AddNameSpace Alias=”my” AddNameSpace=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/analysisservices/2003/engine”/> <InsertEnd Node=”//my:Dimension[my:ID =’’]” SearchType=”Path” Operator=”All”> <Visible>false</Visible> </InsertEnd> </Script>

3. Drag the dimension to hidden and drop it between the two single quotation marks. By doing so one ensures not to break the code should the dimension later be renamed.

   

   Give the script a name to the script and hit ‘OK’.
4. Add the script to the cube as an inline script.

   

   Select the script from the Inline Script dropdown box.

   

5. Deploy and Execute. After deployment and execution the dimension is no longer visible in the cube.