1. Date Dimension: One Script for All
Steve Wake
DW/BI Engineer III, National CineMedia
Chapter Leader, Mile Hi Power BI User Group

2. What is a Date Dimension?
Dimension to track dates (usually by day)
Can track multiple calendars (Gregorian, Julian, Fiscal)
Time should be in separate Dimension (if needed)
One row per date/day
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3. What is a Time Dimension?
Dimension to track time hours/minutes/seconds (depends on application)
Keep time zones in mind
Separate from Date Dimension for flexibility
Only needs to cover 24 hours
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4. Why Date/Time Dimensions?
Most reporting is done by date/time
Track Holidays and other significant dates
Do date calculations in SQL once
Date/Time period comparisons
Generate for years/decades easily
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5. Date/Time Dimension Types
Calculated
Tool Created
Custom Physical
Hybrid
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6. What to Include in the Date_DIM?
Date as Integer for PK to make reload not break links ( )
Date in multiple formats (“02/11/2017”, “Saturday, February 11, 2017”, etc.)
Multiple parts (Month, Day, Year, Month Text, Day Text, etc.)
Holiday indicator (domestic/international/religious)
Gregorian/Julian/Fiscal Calendars
Calculated measures (Day # in week, Day # in month, Day # in year, Week # in month, Week # in year, etc.)
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7. Demo dimDate script dimTime script 7 | 2/11/2017
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8. Summary What & Why of Date/Time Dimensions Date Dimension Benefits
What to Include in Date Dimension
What to Include in Time Dimension
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9. Contact swake@ncm.com @stevewake on Twitter LinkedIn, Google+
Blog –
Mile Hi Power BI –
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