Defining and Browsing Translations

A translation is a representation of the names of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) objects (such as measure groups, measures, dimensions, attributes, hierarchies, KPIs, actions, and calculated members) in a specific language. Translations provide server support for client applications that can support multiple languages. With such a client, the client passes the locale identifier (LCID) to the instance of Analysis Services, which uses the LCID to determine which set of translations to use when providing metadata for Analysis Services objects. If an Analysis Services object does not contain a translation for that language or does not contain a translation for a specified object, the default language is used in returning the object metadata back to the client. For example, if a business user in France accesses a cube from a workstation that has a French locale setting, the business user sees the member captions and member property values in French if a French translation exists. However, if a business user in Germany accesses the same cube from a workstation that has a German locale setting, the business user sees the captions names and member property values in German.

You define translations for dimension metadata on the Translations tab in Dimension Designer for the appropriate dimension and on the Translations tab in Cube Designer. You can use the Translations tab of Dimension Designer to define translations not just for the caption of an attribute, but also for the captions of members that are represented by that attribute. For more information, see Dimension Translations, Cube Translations, Working with Translations (SSAS).

In the tasks in this topic, you define metadata translations for a limited set of dimension objects in the Time dimension and cube objects in the Analysis Services Tutorial cube. You will then browse these dimension and cube objects to examine the metadata translations.

Specifying Translations for the Time Dimension Metadata

To specify translations for the Time dimension metadata

1. Open Dimension Designer for the Time dimension, and then click the Translations tab.

   The metadata in the default language for each dimension object appears, as shown in the following image. The default language in the Analysis Services Tutorial cube is English.

   

2. On the toolbar of the Translations tab, click New Translation.

   A list of languages appears in the Select Language dialog box.

3. Click Spanish (Spain), and then click OK.

   A new column appears in which you will define the Spanish translations for the metadata objects you want to translate. In this tutorial, we will only translate a small number of objects just to illustrate the process.

4. On the toolbar of the Translations tab, click New Translation, click French (France) in the Select Language dialog box, and then click OK.

   Another language column appears in which you will define French translations, as shown in the following image.

   

5. In the row for the Caption object for the Time dimension, type Tiempo in the Spanish (Spain) translation column and Temps in the French (France) translation column.

6. In the row for the All Periods object for the Time dimension, type Todos los Períodos in the Spanish (Spain) translation column and Toutes les Périodes in the French (France) translation column.

7. In the row for the Caption object for the Month Name attribute, type Mes del Año in the Spanish (Spain) translation column and Mois d'Année in the French (France) translation column.

   Notice that when you enter these translations, an ellipsis (…) appears, as shown in the following image. Clicking this ellipsis will let you specify a column in the underlying table that provides translations for each member of the attribute hierarchy.

   

8. Click the ellipsis (…) for the Spanish (Spain) translation for the Month Name attribute.

   The Attribute Data Translation dialog box appears.

9. In the Translation columns list, select SpanishMonthName, as shown in the following image.

   

10. Click OK, and then click the ellipsis (…) for the French (France) translation for the Month Name attribute.

11. In the Translation columns list, select FrenchMonthName, and then click OK.

    The steps in this procedure illustrate the process of defining metadata translations for dimension objects and members.

Specifying Translations for the Analysis Services Tutorial Cube Metadata

To specify translations for the Analysis Services Tutorial Cube metadata

1. Switch to Cube Designer for the Analysis Services Tutorial cube, and then switch to the Translations tab.

   The metadata in the default language for each cube object appears, as shown in the following image. The default language in the Analysis Services Tutorial cube is English.

   

2. On the toolbar of the Translations tab, click New Translation.

   A list of languages appears in the Select Language dialog box.

3. Select Spanish (Spain), and then click OK.

   A new column appears in which you will define the Spanish translations for the metadata objects you want to translate. In this tutorial, we will only translate a small number of objects just to illustrate the process.

4. On the toolbar of the Translations tab, click New Translation, select French (France) in the Select Language dialog box, and then click OK.

   Another language column appears in which you will define French translations.

5. In the row for the Caption object for the Internet Sales measure group, type Ventas del lnternet in the Spanish (Spain) translation column and Ventes D'Internet in the French (France) translation column.

6. In the row for the Caption object for the Internet Sales-Sales Amount measure, type Cantidad de las Ventas del Internet in the Spanish (Spain) translation column and Quantité de Ventes d'Internet in the French (France) translation column.

   The steps in this procedure illustrate the process of defining metadata translations for cube objects.

Browsing the Cube By Using Translations

To browse the cube by using translations

1. On the Build menu, click Deploy Analysis Services Tutorial.

2. When deployment has successfully completed, switch to the Browser tab, and then click Reconnect.

3. Remove all hierarchies and measures from the Data pane, select Analysis Services Tutorial in the Perspectives list, and then verify that Analysis Services Tutorial appears in the Language list.

4. In the Metadata pane, expand Measures and then expand Internet Sales.

   Notice that the Internet Sales-Sales Amount measure appears in English in this measure group.

5. On the toolbar, select Spanish (Spain) in the Language list.

   Notice that the items in the Metadata pane are repopulated. After the items in the Metadata pane are repopulated, notice that the Internet Sales-Sales Amount measure no longer appears in the Internet Sales display folder. Instead, it appears in Spanish in a new display folder named Ventas del lnternet, as shown in the following image.

   

6. In the Metadata pane, right-click Cantidad de las Ventas del Internet and then select Add to Data Area.

7. In the Metadata pane, expand Date, expand Calendar, right-click Date.Calendar Time, and then select Add to Row Area.

8. In the Data pane, expand CY 2004, expand H1 CY 2004, and then expand Q1 CY 2004.

   Notice that the month names appear in Spanish, as shown in the following image.

   

9. On the toolbar, select French (France) in the Language list.

   Notice that the month names now appear in French and that the measure name now also appears in French.

Note

A completed project through Lesson 9 is available by downloading and installing the updated samples. For more information, see Obtaining Updated Samples in Installing Samples.

Next Lesson

Lesson 10: Defining Administrative Roles

See Also

Other Resources

Dimension Translations
Cube Translations
Working with Translations (SSAS)

Help and Information

Getting SQL Server 2005 Assistance