I've written about this topic before, but find that more people are interested in how this works. Hoping to provide more detail below. Let me know if I missed anything!
When using the 'GEO' dimension type in SAS OLAP Cubes, users will not see anything new unless the OLAP cube is linked to a map service. The map and associated map service must be created using ESRI products. Because of ESRI's expense, not many organizations have joined the two together. An alternative is to utilize PROC GMAP functionality via Stored Processes or look into the Google Earth apis (various user papers offer some valuable insights).
For those with ESRI, included are the steps to set up a linkage.
- Create an ArcMap (with ESRI product such as ArcView). Each level in the OLAP dimension should be represented in a separate layer in the ArcMap.
- Create an ESRI map service.
- (One time ever) Define an ESRI Server in SAS Management Console
- (One time ever) Facilitate authentication from SAS into ESRI system by setting up an authentication domain and utilize a shared user account that is a member of the agsusers group.
- Define the ESRI map service within SAS Management Console Map Service Manager plug-in.
- Change (or create a dimension) in OLAP Cube Studio with the type of 'GEO'
- Select the 'GIS Maps' button on the general dimension designer screen
- At each level within the dimension, link the cube detail data table to the ESRI map layer (called Field IDs on the screen). Note that data quality is especially important, as errors are returned when the field ids do not match correctly.
All of the above steps (except where noted) should be completed for each new ArcMap created.
Reference:
http://support.sas.com/documentation/cdl/en/biwaag/63149/HTML/default/viewer.htm#a003145069.htm
