Editing or deleting cubes and dimensions can affect many objects in the repository. When you edit a property of a cube or dimension, the Repository Service creates a write-intent lock on all related objects until you save the changes or cancel the edit. Therefore, if an object is a part of a cube or dimension being edited, you might notice the object is locked even when no one is working with it.
For example, if you use the Dimension Editor to change a Level Property field, the Repository Service locks all related dimension tables until you save the changes. Any user who tries to edit a related dimension table receives an in-use lock on the table.