Chapter 9: Analytics

CHAPTER 9: ANALYTICS
Objectives
The objectives are:

Explain the high-level improvements to Analytics in Microsoft

Dynamics AX 2012.

Understand the developer experience improvements.

Introduction
The Business Intelligence infrastructure is improved to help simplify the
administration, setup, and deployment of Analytics in Microsoft Dynamics AX
2012.

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What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Overview
Two New Cubes
Two new cubes have been added to Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012.

The Environmental Sustainability cube provides data that can help

you track your organization's energy consumption and greenhouse
gas emissions, which your organization can use to be more proactive
in its approach to environmental issues.

The Workflow cube provides data that can help you track the history
and current status of business processes in your organization, which
you can use to identify processes that have become inefficient and
help your business run more smoothly.

Financial Cube Updates

Financial cubes have been updated for compatibility with Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 features. This includes support for new budget and ledger transaction
tables, unlimited financial dimensions, changes to fiscal calendars, and Microsoft
Dynamics AX perspectives.

Upgrade
Perspectives, used to generate cubes in Microsoft AX 2009, will not be upgraded.
It is recommended to use the cubes that are provided with Microsoft Dynamics
AX 2012 and customize them to meet your needs or create new custom cubes.

Fixed Schema
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, when you disable license or configuration
keys, associated columns were removed from tables in the online transaction
processing (OLTP) database. As a result:

Cubes could not be processed because they could not access the
columns they were designed to retrieve data from.

Errors were displayed in reports and Role Center Web parts that used
cubes as a data source.

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, the OLTP database has a fixed schema. This
means that when you disable license or configuration keys, associated columns
are not removed from tables in the OLTP database. Instead, data is removed from
those columns. As a result:

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Cubes can be processed successfully.

Errors might be displayed in reports and Role Center Web parts that
use cubes as a data source. You will need to modify these reports and
Web parts so that they no longer try to retrieve data from a column
or field that contains no data.

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Chapter 9: Analytics
If you change the license or configuration keys in Microsoft Dynamics AX, you
must configure your cubes using the Analysis Services project wizard. The
wizard will remove measures, dimensions, and Key Performance Indicators
(KPI) that you do not have access to according to the license and configuration
keys in Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Analysis Services Project Wizard

The Analysis Services Project wizard has been added to Microsoft Dynamics AX
2012.
What can you
do?

Microsoft Dynamics AX
2009

Microsoft Dynamics AX
2012

Deploy default
cubes.

Initially deploy the default

cubes by using the Setup
wizard.

Use the Analysis Services

project wizard to deploy an
existing Analysis Services
project. Choose the default
cubes from the AOT.

Configure an
Analysis
Services
project after
you change
the Microsoft
Dynamics AX
configuration.

Manually update your

Analysis Services project in
BIDS to remove measures,
dimensions, and KPIs that you
do not have access to
according to the license and
configuration keys in
Microsoft Dynamics AX.

Use the Analysis Services

project wizard to remove
measures, dimensions, and
KPIs that you do not have
access to according to the
license and configuration
keys in Microsoft
Dynamics AX.

Update an
existing
Analysis
Services
project.

Use the Update a Business

Intelligence project form.

Use the Analysis Services

project wizard to update an
Analysis Services project
to do the following:
Add or remove
dimensions.

Create a new
Analysis
Services
project.

Use the Update a Business

Intelligence project form.

Add, remove, or
update calendars to use
as Date dimensions.

Add or remove label

translations.

Add or remove
currency conversion.

Use the Analysis Services

project wizard to create an
Analysis Services project.

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What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Development Information
Date Dimension and the Gregorian Calendar
The default cubes that are included with Microsoft Dynamics AX include a Date
dimension. The Date dimension is based on the Gregorian calendar, which is a
365.25 day western calendar that starts in January.
In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012, you can define the properties of the Gregorian
calendar by using the Calendar builder form in your Microsoft Dynamics AX
client.
To access the Calendar Builder click Organization administration >
Common > Calendars > Gregorian calendars.

FIGURE 9.1 CALENDAR BUILDER

Other improvements include:

Ability to add multiple calendars without requiring any

customizations.

Support for null dates.

Ability to translate date attributes.

View Support in Perspectives

In Microsoft Dynamics AX 2009, custom query definitions were required to
perform the following tasks:

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Join tables with complex join conditions.

Reduce the scope of tables.

Create measures or dimension attributes using calculated fields.

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Chapter 9: Analytics
The Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 online analytical processing (OLAP)
framework supports Microsoft Dynamics AX views in perspectives. The user is
able to drag-and-drop Microsoft Dynamics AX views into perspective nodes in
the Application Object Tree (AOT) and set the Analysis properties. You can
generate an Analysis Services project from a perspective that contains Microsoft
Dynamics AX views in addition to tables.

FIGURE 9.2 VIEW NODE UNDER PERSPECTIVES

Summary
In this chapter you learned about the improvements to Analytics in Microsoft
Dynamics AX 2012, which include the following:

Addition of native Gregorian calendar support on the date dimension

in cubes.

Addition of a financial cube to accommodate changes to Microsoft

AX financials.

Use of the OLAP framework to use Microsoft Dynamics AX views

to model OLAP cubes.

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What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Test Your Knowledge

1. What new type of calendar is now supported for use with the time dimension
in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 default cubes?
( ) Gregorian
( ) Fiscal
( ) Mayan
( ) Chronological
2. What cubes have been added in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012? (Select all
that apply)
( ) Inventory cube
( ) Environmental Sustainability cube
( ) Workflow cube
( ) Production Cube

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Chapter 9: Analytics

Quick Interaction: Lessons Learned

Take a moment and write down three key points you have learned from this
chapter
1.

2.

3.

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What's New - Technical in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 for Development

Solutions
Test Your Knowledge
1. What new type of calendar is now supported for use with the time dimension
in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 default cubes?
() Gregorian
( ) Fiscal
( ) Mayan
( ) Chronological
2. What cubes have been added in Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012? (Select all
that apply)
( ) Inventory cube
() Environmental Sustainability cube
() Workflow cube
( ) Production Cube

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