20.1 What Modeller Is For¶
Acinta Modeller builds the data model that Datashop users work with. It connects to your data warehouse, describes its tables and how they relate, and turns them into the dimensions (customers, items, dates…) and facts (amounts, quantities…) that users drag into workbooks.
Modeller is for administrators and consultants who set up and maintain a project. Datashop users never need it – they see the result as dimensions and metrics in Datashop. See Chapter 3 Understanding Data Models for the concepts.
What You Do in Modeller¶
| Task | Chapter |
|---|---|
| Connect to data sources such as the data warehouse database | 21 Data Sources and Connections |
| Add tables and dynamic views, and relate them | 22 Tables, Dynamic Views and Joins |
| Define dimensions, their units and hierarchies | 23 Dimensions, Units and Hierarchies |
| Mark the measures as facts, and define transformations | 24 Facts and Transformations |
| Translate names and descriptions | 25 Translations |
| Check the model, set project options, repair and back up | 26 Validation, Options and Repair |
| Speed up queries | 27 Performance |
The Typical Order of Work¶
- Open a project, or create a new one – see 20.2 Starting Modeller and Opening a Project.
- Add the data source and its tables.
- Relate the tables, e.g. invoice lines to customers and items.
- Create dimensions and units from the lookup tables, e.g. Customer with ID and name.
- Mark the amount and quantity columns as facts.
- Validate, fix what's reported, and Save.
- Open Datashop and create metrics and workbooks on the new model.
Metrics, filters, workbooks and other Datashop objects are created in Datashop, not in Modeller.