Naming Guidelines and Rules for the SAS OLAP Server

General Naming Guidelines

When you are creating SAS OLAP cubes, there are naming guidelines and restrictions that you should follow. Below are general guidelines for naming SAS OLAP cubes and related objects:

Name Uniqueness

Name uniqueness is case insensitive. Therefore, a name can contain mixed-case letters. SAS stores and writes the variable name in the same case that is used in the first reference to the variable. However, when SAS processes a variable name, SAS internally converts it to uppercase. You cannot, therefore, use the same variable name with a different combination of uppercase and lowercase letters to represent different variables. For example, cat, Cat, and CAT all represent the same variable. Names must be unique within a folder by type but not by subtype.

Macro Variables or Functions

When building or editing a SAS OLAP cube, you should be aware that the fields within the Cube Designer wizard do not support macro variables or functions. The fields are purely character strings and are not resolved before being written to the cube's metadata.

Name Literals

If the name has embedded blanks or characters other than letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers, or underscores, then PROC OLAP formats the name as a name literal. This means that it is enclosed within quotation marks followed by the letter n. (Name literals enable you to use special characters or blanks that are not otherwise allowed in SAS names. Here are some examples:

CUBE='Financials@HQ'n

DIMENSION 'Product@Work Dimension'n hierarchies=
(Product@Work Hierarchy'n)

HIERARCHY 'Product@Work Hierarchy'n levels=
(prodtype product)

VALIDVARNAME =Option

If you need to use special characters in a name, you must use the VALIDVARNAME= option. Ideally, the SAS Workspace Server should have the VALIDVARNAME= system option set to ANY. If the SAS Workspace Server is not running with VALIDVARNAME=ANY, then you can set the option on the Cube Designer wizard. In this case, select the Advanced button on the Cube Designer-General page. On the Submit SAS Code tab, enter the VALIDVARNAME= option. Modify your names to meet the naming requirements that the SAS Workspace Server is running with.

Note: For more information about the VALIDVARNAME= option, see “VALIDVARNAME= System Option” in the SAS Language Reference: Dictionary.

SAS OLAP Cubes

In addition to the general requirements, SAS OLAP Server names for cubes follow these general rules:

A cube name can be up to 32 characters in length.
A cube name must be a SAS name.
A cube name cannot contain square brackets. This is an MDX restriction.
A cube name cannot have non-printable characters.
A cube name cannot have leading white spaces because cubes are public objects that are contained in metadata folders.
A cube name cannot contain forward slashes or backward slashes.
If you need to use special characters in a name, you must use the VALIDVARNAME=ANY option. This applies to special characters except forward slashes, backward slashes, and square brackets.

Dimensions, Levels, Hierarchies, and Measures

SAS OLAP Server names for dimensions, levels, hierarchies, and measures follow these general rules:

A name can be up to 32 characters in length.
A name must be a SAS name.
If you need to use special characters in a name, you must use the VALIDVARNAME=ANY option.

Note: Cube dimensions cannot have the same name as any level name within the dimension. However, if there is only one hierarchy for the dimension it is automatically assigned the same name as the dimension.

OLAP Cube Aggregations

Aggregation names can be up to 32 characters in length. They can also include slashes, periods, and square brackets.

OLAP Schemas

SAS OLAP Server names for OLAP schemas follow these general rules:

A schema name can be up to 60 characters in length.
A schema name cannot have forward slashes or backward slashes.
A schema name cannot have non-printable characters.
A schema name cannot have leading white spaces because schemas are public objects that are contained in metadata folders.

Calculated Measures and Members

SAS OLAP Server names for calculated measures and members follow this general rule:

A calculated measure or member name can be up to 60 characters in length. However, it is recommended that you maintain a 32-character limit for calculated measures.