Resetting Dimension Surrogate Keys

Hi

I have recently come across a situation where some dimensions and fact tables are truncate and re-populated.
Since the surrogate keys were defined as identity integers some of the dimension members now have different surrogate keys than what they had originally.

This presents a problem when using reporting software that stores the surrogate key when a filter is set.

I know of two strategies to overcome this:

1. rather use MERGE statements in Sql Server 2008 to update / expire records (instead of repopulating the dimension completely)
2. generating surrogate keys internally comprising some business key in conjunction with a source key

Any thoughts on this?

I would never truncate and repopulate a dimension table as an ongoing process. Change the code and perform proper updates on the dimension.

Facts are less of an issue.

I agree.