Design and implement dimension tables

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Determine attributes
Dimension tables group related attributes that provide context to business processes. Attributes can be used to describe the “what,” “when,” “where,” “who,” and “how” for any given business process.

  • Analyzing the entity relationship model (ERM) of line of business (LOB) applications
  • Carrying out discovery sessions with business users and subject matter experts
  • Review existing reports and dashboards
  • Analyze forms and instruments that are used to track certain business processes


The next step is to group related attributes into dimension tables. Grouping related attributes into dimensions facilitates data filtering, slicing, and dicing.


Implement dimensions


After you determine attributes and group them into dimensions, you can define the dimension tables in your data warehouse. Each attribute becomes a column in the dimension table and holds specific data type values.

Four main types of dimension columns:

Surrogate key Columns with a value that uniquely identifies a dimension member in the data warehouse.

Alternate key Columns with a value that uniquely identifies a dimension member in the LOB application.

Attributes Columns that can be used as filters, slicers, row, and column headers in reports to provide context to measures.

Metadata Columns that track data lineage, auditing, and other data warehouse processes.

Exam 70-767

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