July 30, 2003 at 6:49 am
I am very new to SQLServer so please excuse my lack of knowledge. How do I access a cube created using the Analysis services from SQL? I can only find references using pivot tables and we don't want to do that. Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.
July 30, 2003 at 8:02 am
There is another 'SQL language' around that is designed specifically for querying cubes. It is called MDX (Multi-Dimensional Expressions, if I recall correctly). You can use that to query your cubes in all sorts of ways.
July 30, 2003 at 8:09 am
NPeeters, Thanks for your answer. I remember seeing something about MDX in the online books. I will read up on it further. Our biggest issue is that we want to create cubes using the Analysis Manager and then use these cubes in SQL and Oracle. Do you know of a way to convert the cubes to SQLScript or to convert the cubes created using AS to local cubes (.cub files)?
July 30, 2003 at 5:48 pm
Hi Ray,
You can aslo use SQL to access the cubes (there shopuld be a post about how to do this *somewhere* back in the history of this forum), but it's not an overly clean/nice way to do it. Best bet is to learn MDX, if you're writing some sort of app, use ADOMD(COM) or XMLA(web service) to access the server and then use your MDX to write the queries.
If you're looking for a book, try out 'MDX Solutions' by George Spofford (ISBN 0-471-40046-7). It covers off MDX really well, the index is a bit slack though (IMHO).
Steve
Steve.
July 31, 2003 at 7:03 am
quote:
How do I access a cube created using the Analysis services from SQL? I can only find references using pivot tables and we don't want to do that.
I know sometimes you have to work with strange customer requirements. If you have any say in this, however, you should reconsider your opinion on the pivot tables. The entire reason cubes exist is to provide upper management with the means to slice, dice, and drill down on information, in an effort to find meaningful data patterns that don't show up any other way. There is certainly a use for fixed type reports to catch trends early and so on, but cubes that are not being looked at and manipulated through a pivot table are definitley being underutilitzed. Ralph Kimball's books would be good reading for you. IMHO he is to data warehousing and OLAP what CJ Date is to OLTP database design theory.
July 31, 2003 at 7:10 am
Thanks, Ron. I will pass you recommendations onto the powers that be. I have been a java developer for a while now, so all of this is very new to me. I can only go on what they tell me. I am not really sure how they envision using the cubes in our application. I really need to find out more, or go back to java.
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