One of the difficult parts of developing anaylsis services cubes is determining which aggregations should be chosen. Yaniv Mor brings us the second part of his series and examines using Usage Based Optimization in SQL Server 2005.   Read more...

Analysis Services 2005 seems like it receives much less notice than most of the other features in the latest version of SQL Server. However it is becoming more widely used in more and more companies. One of the features that can prove useful is the logging of queries. New author Yaniv Mor brings us a look at how this has changed in 2005.   Read more...

In Part Two of his series, database administration expert Baya Pavliashvili explores the challenges involved in building and maintaining a warehousing solution using a simple database warehouse.  Read more...

In the first of a two-part series, Baya Pavliashvili, database administration expert, offers solutions to your business problem using a data warehouse.  Read more...

In this lesson, we revisit usage-based optimization, a subject that we undertook in my article MSAS Administration and Optimization: Simple Cube Usage Analysis, in September of 2003, and MSAS Administration and Optimization: Toward More Sophisticated Analysis in October of 2003. In the earlier articles, we discovered that, among several tools that Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services offered us to assist in the maintenance and optimization of our cubes, two of these tools, the Usage Analysis Wizard and the Usage-Based Optimization Wizard, leveraged the usage-based optimization features of Analysis Services.   Read more...

It has been widely publicized that Analysis Services 2005 uses XML for Analysis 1.1 (XMLA) as its only network protocol for communication between client and server. XMLA is standard public protocol defined by XMLA council and full description can be found at www.xmla.org  Read more...

In this lesson, we revisit Named Sets, a subject that we undertook in my article MDX in Analysis Services: Named Sets in MDX: An Introduction, in March of 2004. There, we introduced Named Sets from the perspective of the MDX query language, having obtained brief exposure to the concept of Named Sets earlier in the MDX in Analysis Services series (Using Sets in MDX Queries). We examined Named Sets as they existed within Analysis Services 2000, touching upon them from the perspective of Analysis Manager, the Cube Editor, and related interfaces in Analysis Services.  Read more...

One of the many tasks of the SQL Server Database administrator is to take and maintain backups of SQL Server databases. This includes taking backups of analytical databases as well. Read on to learn how to backup an Analysis service database.   Read more...

In this article, we will begin an extended examination of the MDX surrounding drilling up and down within our Analysis Services cubes. Comprising an analytical technique by which an information consumer can maneuver between summarized ("drilling up") and detailed ("drilling down") levels of data, drilling up or down occurs along the lines of drilling paths that are defined within the physical structures of our cubes. Often specified by the cube's dimensional hierarchies, these paths can also be based upon alternative relationships that exist within or between dimensions.  Read more...

In this article, I will introduce a significant improvement that underlies the new Analysis Services development approach, the Data Source View. A Data Source View is a design-time object that makes its home in the workbench environment of the Business Intelligence Development Studio.   Read more...

Throughout this and other of my series, we have examined parameterization and parameter picklist support. While my focus has often been support of picklists using datasets generated through MDX queries against the cube under consideration, I have often found myself in client engagement scenarios where differing reporting requirements, as well as various "exceptions," drive a need to extend picklist support beyond the capabilities of the basic MDX queries that we have examined.   Read more...

n this lesson, we will examine another function / property in the MDX toolset, the .UniqueName function. The general purpose of the .UniqueName function is to return the Unique Name of the object to which it is appended. .UniqueName can be used in conjunction with hierarchies, dimensions, levels, and members, in a manner similar to the .Name function that we examined in String Functions: The .Name Function, and, also like .Name, .UniqueName can be useful in a host of different applications.   Read more...

Discover the new Analysis Services 2005 drillthrough architecture. See how to set up drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005 and get guidance on migrating drillthrough settings from Analysis Services 2000 databases.  Read more...

AMO lets developers put their own programs into action. It facilitates client-side custom programming as Decision Support Objects (DSO), the object model in SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services. With AMO, a whole range of data mining questions can be answered at the operational level. This means that sales and marketing departments get answers more quickly and thus can make informed decisions. Specialized resources, like the IT team and analysts, can be brought in when they're needed most.  Read more...

See an example of using the Many-to-Many dimension in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services to analyze sales data, and get ideas for other uses such as treating medical conditions, software testing, and more.  Read more...

In this article, we will examine a subject that is near and dear to broadly focused report authors - the use of cube structure to create desired cosmetic effects - in the Cube Browser, and more importantly, in a reporting environment. I constantly get e-mails, and see questions in forums and elsewhere, asking how to achieve effects that are not apparently "available" in "intuitive" cube structures, such as any of those that we see in the sample cubes. One of the apparent "shortfalls" that frustrate users is their inability to display the same dimension on both the "x-" and "y-" axes for presentation purposes.  Read more...

Aggregation, which is commonly used to deliver reports to users, often also delivers poor performance. To help guarantee that you're delivering the best performance possible, you should explore different versions of the query and pick the best one. This month, look over Tom Moreau's shoulder as he shows you how to work with multiple-child aggregations.  Read more...

In this article, we will return to a function we introduced in an earlier article, CROSSJOIN(), whose mission it is to combine two sets of dimension members into one. We will discuss how CROSSJOIN() works in general, and then discuss how its performance can become an issue in medium to large-sized data sets. We will then undertake a multiple-step practice example intended to assist us in gaining an understanding of the issues, before exposing approaches to minimizing the performance overhead that we can encounter in using CROSSJOIN() to reach our reporting and analysis needs.  Read more...

This article is a member of the series Introduction to MSSQL Server 2000 Analysis Services. The series is designed to provide hands-on application of the fundamentals of MS SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, with each installment progressively adding features and techniques designed to meet specific real - world needs.  Read more...

This is the twenty-fifth article of the series, MDX Essentials. The series is designed to provide hands-on application of the fundamentals of the Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) language, with each tutorial progressively adding features designed to meet specific real-world needs.  Read more...