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- Data
Build a Dimension Table in SQL Server
In this Azure SQL Database lab, you will build and load a product dimension table with a surrogate key, business key, descriptive and hierarchy columns, and audit columns, apply Type 1 and Type 2 slowly changing dimension logic to handle attribute changes, and validate the design against reporting rollups and sample fact data to model a dimension that tracks changes the way a real warehouse requires.
Lab Info
Table of Contents
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Challenge
Design and build the product dimension table
- Review the product source data to identify the business key, descriptive attributes, and category hierarchy the dimension needs.
- Create the product dimension table with a surrogate key, a business key, descriptive and hierarchy columns, effective-dating columns, and audit columns.
- Load the dimension from the source as current rows, then verify the table structure and the loaded data.
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Challenge
Implement slowly changing dimension patterns
- Apply a Type 1 change that corrects an attribute in place, overwriting the value without keeping history.
- Apply a Type 2 change that preserves history by closing the current row and adding a new current version with effective dating and a current-row flag.
- Confirm each pattern by querying the affected products, seeing the Type 1 product as a single corrected row and the Type 2 product as both a historical and a current version.
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Challenge
Validate the dimension design
- Run a reporting-style query that rolls up the current products along the category hierarchy.
- Verify referential integrity between the dimension and sample fact data.
- Confirm that current reporting reflects only current product versions, excluding the historical row created by the Type 2 change.
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