Assume that TBC has two main databases—Sample.Basic and TBC.Demo. Both databases have similar outlines, but TBC.Demo has two additional dimensions:
Channel, which describes where a product is sold
Package, which describes how the product is packaged
The DBA for Sample.Basic notices that more users are requesting that she add channel information to Sample.Basic. But, because she does not own the data for channel information, she is reluctant to do so. Instead, she decides to allow her users to link to the TBC.Demo database, which already contains this information.
To link two databases:
The DBA decides to link the Product dimension of Sample.Basic to the Product dimension of TBC.Demo.
Users can then drill across to TBC.Demo and view the Channel and Package information.
Choose the data source and the data target.
Because users start at the Sample.Basic database, it is considered the data target. Because users move to TBC.Demo, it is considered the data source.
Decide which type of partition to use.
Use a linked partition because the databases have different dimensionality.
Establish a link from the Product member of Sample.Basic to the Product dimension of TBC.Demo. Remember to map the extra dimensions from TBC.Demo—Channel and Product—to void in Sample.Basic. See Mapping Data Cubes with Extra Dimensions.
Set up a guest account on TBC.Demo that gives the users who connect from Sample.Basic permissions to access the Channel and Package dimensions. For a general discussion on creating accounts, see Granting Permissions to Users and Groups in Essbase Native Security Mode. To assign accounts to linked partitions, see Choosing a Partition Type.
After the databases are linked, users and DBAs see the following benefits: