Process Method
The processing or updating method of a Measure Group is an area that requires careful consideration. The default option is 'Full process' which will result in the Measure Group being rebuilt. This is in many ways the safest option, but processing time may mean other options must be chosen. The valid options are:
The following describes the processing methods that are available in Analysis Services for Measure Groups:
Default Process
Detects the process state of the measure group, and performs processing necessary to deliver a fully processed state.
Full Process
Processes an Analysis Services Measure Group regardless of state. When Process Full is executed against a Measure Group that has already been processed, Analysis Services drops all data, and then processes it.
Incremental Process
Adds newly available fact data and process only to the relevant partitions. In order to use this option you must set the 'incremental filter' field with a statement that will result in only new data being selected. Failure to do so will result in duplicated data in the cube. In many data warehouses a fact table undergoes changes to the data as well as the addition of new data, and so the incremental update option is not possible. A validation regime should be put in place to compare cube data to the fact data if incremental is used. This validation regime should be used to notify the administrator in the event that duplicate data is inserted into the cube.
Update Data
Processes data only without building aggregations or indexes. If there is data in the partitions, it will be dropped before re-populating the partition with source data. This processing option is supported for dimensions, cubes, measure groups, and partitions.
Build Structure
If the cube is unprocessed, Analysis Services will process, if it is necessary, all the cube's dimensions. After that, Analysis Services will create only cube definitions. The build structure option just builds the cube structure without populating it. This can be useful if you have a very large cube and want to validate the design.