Microsoft® SQL Server® 2008 Analysis Services Step by Step

Using MDX to Retrieve Values from a Cube

The formula in a calculated member needs to retrieve values from the cells in a multidimensional cube. If you have worked with a spreadsheet application, you already know how to retrieve values from the cells in a two-dimensional worksheet using spreadsheet formulas. Working with multidimensional data is not much different, although it is a bit harder to visualize and requires a different language, MDX, to retrieve values from the cells in a cube. To see how MDX refers to the values in the cells in a multidimensional cube, consider first how a Microsoft Office Excel formula in one cell refers to values in other cells in a two-dimensional worksheet.

Imagine that you are creating a worksheet that calculates ...