MDX Fundamentals
This course provides an introduction to MDX by explaining key concepts, introducing commonly used functions, and demonstrating working examples of MDX queries.
What you'll learn
This course explains how to use MDX to query an Analysis Services multidimensional database. It begins with an introduction to the language, showing how it can be used beyond developing a cube, as well as an introduction to important concepts such as tuples and sets. The course then focuses on how to structure queries and how to create sets to use on a query axis. The course then continues with an exploration of the multiple navigation functions used to traverse hierarchical data. Last, it explains how to build more complex queries by adding calculations in the form of calculated measures, calculated members, and named sets. This course was written for SQL Server 2012 Analysis Services, but most principles apply to SQL Server 2005 and later.
Table of contents
- Introduction 1m
- Introduction to Set Functions 2m
- Set Usage in A Query 1m
- Demo: Set Functions-Members and AllMembers 11m
- Set Order 1m
- Demo: Order Function 7m
- Subsets 1m
- Demo: Head and Tail Functions 4m
- Sort and Create A Subset in One Step 1m
- Demo: TopCount Function and Variations 7m
- Filtered Set 1m
- Demo: Filter Function 5m
- Multidimensional Set 1m
- Demo: CrossJoin function 4m
- Polymorphic Operators 1m
- Demo: *, +, and - Operators 3m
- Set Creation Through Iteration 1m
- Demo: Generate Function 3m
- Tuple Elimination 1m
- Demo: Nonempty Function 4m
- Tuple Extraction 1m
- Demo: Extract Function 4m
- Asymmetrical Set 1m
- Demo: Asymmetrical Set 2m
- Demo: Summary 4m
- Introduction 2m
- Introduction to Calculations 2m
- Tuple-Based Calculations 4m
- Demo: Tuple-Based Calculations 7m
- Set-Based Calculations 2m
- Demo: Set-Based Calculations 12m
- Time-Series Calculations 2m
- Demo: Time-Series Calculations 8m
- Miscellaneous Functions 1m
- Demo: Miscellaneous Functions 4m
- Summary 3m
About the author
Stacia Misner Varga is an instructor, author, and principal consultant of Data Inspirations. Her career spans more than 30 years, with a focus on improving business practices through technology. Since 2000, she has provided consulting and education services for Microsoft’s data platform and authored or co-authored many books covering this topic. In addition, Stacia has been a frequent speaker over the years at technology conferences worldwide.