Compose MDX graphically

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item Compose MDX graphically

  • I think this question doesn't provide the right answer with the 4 alternatives.

    The answer should be BIDS, when developing a Reporting Services Project!

    IMHO you can not do it in Reporting Services, as this is no GUI, but a service.

    However, it points out an omission in SQL 2005: there is no quick, straightforward way to produce a MDX query by using GUI to build the query. My favorite solution in this will probably be the Profiler to catch the MDX statements that clients (Excel, ProClarity) send to AS.

    Can anyone share whether there will be a more straightforward solution to this in SQL 2008 (hopefully SSMS2008)?

    Peter Rijs
    BI Consultant, The Netherlands

  • I agree - the SSAS is a service and has no GUI - I instantly thought that it had to be Management Studio but I wasn't really aware that I couldn't get the MDX statement from browsing a cube... damn :ermm:

  • Hi Peter and sgivoni,

    yes you are right, the answer is not accurate and I apologise for that.

    The correct answer should have been, as you said, in Reporting Services Project in BIDS.

    Today I checked in the Feb CTP version of SQL Server 2008 and it's not there either.

    In SSMS we can browse the cube but there is no facility to view the MDX.

    Ditto for the "Browse Cube" tab in the Analysis Services Project in BIDS.

    The only place in SQL Server 2008 where we can browse the cube and view the MDX is in the Query Designer of a Reporting Services Project.

    Personally, in the current project I use ProClarity to browse a cube or view the MDX, rather than using using BIDS or SSMS. I found that the cube browser more user friendly. But to compose/type queries manually I use SSMS.

    Kind regards,

    Vincent

  • Actually, one of the answers "management studio" is correct.

    You can construct MDX graphically in Sql management studio while connected to Analysis Services

  • Yulia Golod (3/4/2008)


    Actually, one of the answers "management studio" is correct.

    You can construct MDX graphically in Sql management studio while connected to Analysis Services

    Yes, you can construct MDX graphically when browsing a cube, but NO you can't see the MDX statement behind - which was the question.

  • In SSMS you can drag'n'drop elements from a list in a textual MDX query (when using the "New query" feature). However, you still got to make up the correct MDX statement in text.

    Another option is to "Browse" a cube, here you can use a real GUI, but you can not view the MDX statement in text.

    So, what we are looking for is a combination of those 2: create a query like "Browse", and see the MDX statement like in "New query". AFAIK, there is no direct way in 2005, and Vincent pointed out there will be no direct way in 2008 either. :crying:

    Peter Rijs
    BI Consultant, The Netherlands

  • I agree that MSFT still have some work to do in terms of giving us the ability to report off OLAP cubes in SSRS.

    If you have Excel 2007, Marco Russo has a neat way (that I use) to view the MDX created from an Excel 2007 Pivot Table report

    http://sqlblog.com/blogs/marco_russo/archive/2007/01/18/display-the-mdx-query-of-an-excel-2007-pivottable.aspx

    Proclarity was/is my preferred tool though - the MDX produced is less "verbose"

    Kind Regards, Will

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