FIX: Copy/Paste Cubes Fail Without Any Error Messages (255135)

SYMPTOMS

If you use the OLAP Manager to copy and paste a cube from one database to another, you may find that only the name of the cube is copied. When you try to edit the cube, you see this error message:

The 'CubeName' cube's data source,", is missing.

CAUSE

This error occurs only when your target database has a couple of hierarchy dimensions. For example, a hierarchy for a Time dimension would have two dimensions:

Time.Calendar

-and-
Time.Fiscal

While the cubes are being copied, the OLAP Manager tries to see if all the dimensions also exist at the target database. If they do not, OLAP creates them. In this case, there is no "Time" dimension at the target, so OLAP tries to create the "Time" dimension. Because there are a couple of dimensions with the "Time." prefix already, OLAP prohibits creation of the "Time" dimension. The Copy/Paste utility fails to capture and display this creation error.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in SQL Server 7.0. This problem has been corrected in U.S. Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

254561 INF: How to Obtain Service Pack 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) 1.0

For more information, contact your primary support provider.

MORE INFORMATION

After you apply OLAP Service Pack 2 (SP2), the OLAP Manager captures the Decision Support Objects (DSO) error string 'Invalid name' and displays the error in a message box.