Question

When I process a cube in SSMS and script to XMLA, I notice the following element:

<WriteBackTableCreation>UseExisting</WriteBackTableCreation>

What is the writeback table creation feature, and what does it mean for SSAS to UseExisting?

Answer 1

WritebackTableCreation Element (XMLA):

Determines whether a writeback table is created during the Process
operation…

UseExisting Use the existing writeback table, if one already exists. If one does not exist, an error occurs.

Also on Specifying Processing Options:

Writeback Table Options If writeback is enabled in the Analysis
Services project, this setting defines how writeback is handled….

For more details, see Enabling and Securing Data Entry with Analysis Services Writeback:

Why would you want to write data back to Analysis Services rather than
the relational database that provides the raw data? One reason is
latency. When you write data back to a relational database, users have
to wait until the cube is processed before the latest data becomes
available in their reports. However, when you enable writeback, users
can submit data straight into the cube in the current session, making
it instantly visible to other users of the Analysis Services database