Let’s Automate

06.3 Cubes

A cube is a big table rolled up to what your dashboards actually show. Instead of every order, it holds sales per day, per region, per product, so a dashboard reads a few thousand rows instead of millions.

Build a cube

  1. Warehouse → Cubes → Build a cube.
  2. Call it: e.g. Order items by region.
  3. Add tables: choose Connection, Database, Table → Add to canvas.
    • If the table isn’t in the warehouse yet, Analytics asks which columns to copy (Copied, Suggested, Left out) and how it should reload (see 06.2).
  4. Join them: Add a join between tables (LEFT, INNER, RIGHT, FULL) on matching columns. Every table must be joined.
  5. Next: choose columns. Analytics starts copying the tables. You can carry on while it does.
  6. Columns: give each column a role:
Role Meaning Example
Time The date to roll up by (one per cube). Choose Bucket by (day, month…) and Report days in (time zone). order date
Dimension Something to split by region, product
Fact Something to add up amount, quantity
Not used Leave it out internal notes

Every dimension makes the cube bigger. Keep only what dashboards need. 7. Filters (optional): leave rows out for good, e.g. test orders. 8. Review: Analytics estimates the size and says how much smaller the cube is (e.g. 40× smaller). If it’s not worth building, use the table live instead. 9. Save cube. Saving doesn’t fill it. 10. Click Build (Overview) or Build now (Cubes). The cube now shows Data as of ….

Use it

Create a dataset and choose A warehouse cube, see 03.2. It always reads the latest build. Nothing to change after a rebuild.

Keep it current

  • Build now reloads any table copy that’s past its tolerance, then rebuilds.
  • A cube marked Older data still answers, with the previous numbers, until you build it.
  • To rebuild automatically, e.g. every night, create a job with the cube-build action, see 07.1.
  • During a rebuild, dashboards keep showing the previous build and switch over when it’s done.

Change or remove

  • Edit changes the definition. Build again afterwards.
  • Delete removes the cube and its built data. The table copies stay.

Next: 06.4 Fast repeat answers

Last updated 12 October 2026