Once you connect to or import your raw data, a Data Source is created.  This Data Source is the logical presentation of the data you connected to.   Data Sources that are created off the same database or file are packaged together in a single connection.  A connection allows you to set and change connectivity/login credentials for all its bound Data Sources at once.

 

Unlike tables, Data Sources are not made of fields and rows.  While fields and rows are a very good structure for storing and quickly scanning through rows of raw data on a hard-drive, it is very hard to manipulate and extract business information from data structured in such a way.

 

Instead of fields and rows, Data Sources are made up of Dimensions and Measures that model tabular data in terms of business entities and value measurements.  This allows for a more intuitive, business-oriented, way of accessing and extracting data from a tabular source and performing business queries on it. 

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