1. Using SAS® Information Map Studio
Chapter 10
Using SAS® Information Map Studio

2. Overview of the SAS Information Map Studio
Section 10.1
Overview of the SAS Information Map Studio

3. Information Consumers
A Problem
In most businesses, there are many information consumers who need reports from business data, but relatively few IT professionals available to meet their requests.
Information Consumers
Overworked IT

4. A Solution?
One way to reduce this backlog is to empower the end users so that they can create more of their own reports, leaving IT to the business of managing and developing mission critical applications. Allowing end users access to business data gives them the ability to create reports quickly and make changes as often as needed.

5. Understanding the Data
Unfortunately, empowering end users is not as easy as just telling them how to get to the data and turning them loose with Excel spreadsheets. Most people outside of the IT department are not trained to understand and interpret the complex data structures that store business data.

6. What Are SAS Information Maps?
SAS Information Maps consist of metadata that describe a data warehouse in business terms. This provides the ability to take a ubiquitous data warehouse and surface it to business users in context to the way they work.

7. What Are SAS Information Maps?
Instead of seeing a multitude of tables and columns…
Physical Data View

8. What Are SAS Information Maps?
… the user gets a list of business terms that they can select. These items are surfaced with relevant labels that are customized for the business user.
Information Map
...

9. What Are SAS Information Maps?
An information map contains metadata about
the physical tables used in the information map
how the tables relate to each other
how to surface data items to end users
business rules.

10. Who Uses Information Maps?
Information maps are used by business users when they are asking questions of the data. Because the warehouse is surfaced in terms they understand, business users can be more self-sufficient with ad hoc questions and reports. Reporting applications such as SAS Web Report Studio, which is targeted at business users, surface information maps as data sources for queries and reports.

11. SAS Information Map Studio
SAS Information Map Studio provides the bridge between your data warehouse and the end user who builds reports from the data.
Physical Data Warehouse
Business
Metadata
Reporting
SAS ETL Studio
SAS Information Map Studio
SAS Web Report Studio
Report Viewing
Ad-hoc Reporting
Builds
Information Maps
Builds
warehouse metadata
Reads
warehouse metadata
Reads Information Maps
SAS Metadata Server
Builds and reads report metadata

12. SAS Information Map Studio
SAS Information Map Studio is a Java application used to create, edit, and manage SAS Information Maps. The application runs on several Windows operating systems:
Windows NT
Windows 2000
Windows XP.

13. Where Are Information Maps Used?
End users can access information maps through
SAS Web Report Studio (create reports)
SAS Information Delivery Portal (view only)
SAS Solutions (SAS Marketing Automation)
custom applications developed through SAS AppDev Studio.

14. Who Will Build Information Maps?
SAS Information Map Studio is targeted at data modelers or data architects who
have experience in data modeling
are familiar with SQL, MDX, or both
know the physical data
have a strong understanding of the business domain.
Most report writers are consumers of information maps for building reports. Typically, these users do not create information maps.

15. Information Maps versus Database Views
Information maps are much more powerful than database views. In addition to surfacing physical database variables, they capture metadata about allowable usage and query generation rules.
Information maps describe what can be done.
Information maps hide the physical structure of the data from the business user. Query code is generated in the background, so the business user does not need to know SQL.
continued...

16. Information Maps versus Database Views
Information maps support the ability to group data items logically into folders, providing a simpler way of locating items.
Information maps contain business rules such as filters and calculated items. These rules are surfaced whenever the information map is accessed, providing consistent and accurate results.
continued...

17. Information Maps versus Database Views
Information maps can be extended by SAS Stored Processes, integrating the power of SAS transformations and analytics with business reporting.
Information maps interact with the common OMR security scheme, allowing for centralized security management through SAS applications.

18. Interaction with SAS Application Servers
Information maps can use different types of application servers:
SAS Metadata Server
Required to read and write metadata in a SAS metadata repository.
SAS Workspace Server
Required to execute SAS code and access data.
SAS OLAP Server
Required to generate information maps from OLAP cubes.
...

19. Using the Information Map Studio
Section 10.2
Using the Information Map Studio

20. SAS Information Map Studio Interface
The main window of SAS Information Map Studio is used to view, create, and modify information maps and contains the following elements:
Menu Bar
Toolbar
Repository Tree
Presentation Tab
Properties Tab
Relationships Tab.

21. Menus and Tools
...

22. Repository Tree
...

23. Presentation Tab

24. Properties Tab
...

25. Relationships Tab

26. Joining Tables
When joining tables, the default relationship is an inner join, which returns only matching rows. Outer joins can also be used to return non-matching rows. The modifiers left, full, and right determine which table contributes the non-matching rows.
Left
Full
Right

27. Information Map Data Items
An information map is made up of data items. Each data item has metadata to specify its properties, such as
data item name
description
classification
aggregation
format
permissions
value generation method.
...

28. Information Maps – Filters
A filter is an information map item that contains criteria to enable the information map consumer to subset a result set. Having filters stored in an information map can be useful when the filter is complex and difficult for an end user to build without advance knowledge of data values.

29. Information Maps – New Data Items
Information map data items can refer to a physical data field or a calculation. When you create a new data item, the underlying data sources are not changed. You are creating a field that is created dynamically every time the information map is accessed. You are not physically saving the result in the data. It is only a metadata instruction on how to build the field.

30. Using the SAS Information Map Studio
This demonstration shows how to build an information map.
Register Source Tables
Define
Data Libraries
Create ETL Jobs
Target Tables
Create OLAP Cubes
View and Analyze Data
Create
Stored Processes
Create Reports
Create Information Maps
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Metadata

31. Exercise
Create an information map named Employee Listing from the Organization_Dim table.
Register Source Tables
Define
Data Libraries
Create ETL Jobs
Target Tables
Create OLAP Cubes
View and Analyze Data
Create
Stored Processes
Create Reports
Create Information Maps
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Metadata

32. Exercise
Modify the Employee Listing information map by adding filters, new data items and Folders.
Register Source Tables
Define
Data Libraries
Create ETL Jobs
Target Tables
Create OLAP Cubes
View and Analyze Data
Create
Stored Processes
Create Reports
Create Information Maps
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Metadata

33. Exercise
Modify the Employee Listing map by joining it with the Order_Fact table.
Register Source Tables
Define
Data Libraries
Create ETL Jobs
Target Tables
Create OLAP Cubes
View and Analyze Data
Create
Stored Processes
Create Reports
Create Information Maps
Use the Information
Delivery Portal
Metadata