MDX Multidimensional Expressions

Microsofts proposal for a multidimensional query and presentation language for OLE DB for OLAP
Robert Fenk March 11, 1999

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Contents

MDX Overview
Data Cube MDX Syntax Data Set

MDX and Range Queries MDX Summary Implementing MDX Processing of two Example Queries
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MDX Overview

MDX query

Data Set Data Cube

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MDX Data Cube

The MDX view of a multidimensional data cube: Dimension: a set of elements of the same type Member: elements of a dimension Hierarchy: groups members of a dimension MemberProperties: additional information

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Example MDX Data Cube

4 Dimensions:

Salesperson, Time, Measures, Product

. . . , Netz, . . . , Venkatrao, . . . ..., 1998, Qtr1 1998, Jan 1998,

Salespersondim: Time dim: Measuresdim: Product dim:

MemberProps of

1/1/1998, . . . , 1999, . . . Sales, Turnover, . . . . . . , TV, ColorTV, . . . Name, Phone, . . .

Salespersondim:

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HierarchySchemata over the Time dimension

Dimension:Time Hierarchy: Quarters Level: All Level: Year Level: Quarter Level: Month Level: Day
A dimension member contained in different hierarchies A dimension member only contained in one hierarchy
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Hierarchy: Weeks Level: All Level: Year Level: Weeks Level: Days

Example Hierarchy over the Time dimension

Dimension:Time Hierarchy: Quarters Level: All
All

Level: Year

...

1985

...
1998.Qtr1

1998

Level: Quarter
1998.Qtr2 1998.Qtr3 1998.Qtr4 Level: Month
1998.Qtr1.Jan 1998.Qtr1.Feb 1998.Qtr1.Mar 1998.Qtr4.Oct 1998.Qtr4.Nov 1998.Qtr4.Dec

Level: Day
1998.Qtr1.Jan.1 1998.Qtr1.Jan.31 1998.Qtr1.Dec.1 1998.Qtr1.Dec.31

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Example Fact Table according to ROLAP

dimensions / key attributes
Salesperson Venkatrao Netz ... Time 1998 1998 ... Product TV TV ... Cost 50000 56789 ...

measures
Sales 10023 90023 ... Turnover 190000 100000 ...

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Example Fact Table for an MDX Data Cube

dimensions / key attributes
Salesperson Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao Netz Netz Netz ...
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one datacell
Value 50000 10023 190000 56789 90023 100000 ...
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Time 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 1998 ...

Product TV TV TV TV TV TV ...

Measures Cost Sales Turnover Cost Sales Turnover ...

Robert Fenk

MDX Rowsets storing meta data

CUBE Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME CUBE_TYPE CUBE_GUID CREATED_ON LAST_SCHEMA_UPDATE SCHEMA_UPDATED_BY LAST_DATA_UPDATE DATA_UPDATED_BY DESCRIPTION

DIMENSIONS Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME DIMENSION_NAME DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME DIMENSION_GUID DIMENSION_CAPTION DIMENSION_ORDINAL DIMENSION_TYPE DIMENSION_CARDINALITY DEFAULT_HIERARCHY DESCRIPTION

HIERACHIES Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME HIERARCHY_NAME HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_NAME HIERACHY_GUID HIERACHY_CAPTION DIMENSION_NAME HIERACHY_CARINALITY DEFAULT_MEMBER ALL_MEMBER DESCRIPTION

LEVELS Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME HIERARCHY_NAME HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_NAME LEVEL_NAME LEVEL_UNIQUE_NAME LEVEL_GUID LEVEL_CAPTION LEVEL_NUMBER LEVEL_CARDINALITY LEVEL_TYPE DESCRIPTION

MEASURES Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME MEASURE_NAME MEASURE_UNIQUE_NAME MEASURE_CAPTION MEASURE_GUID MEASURE_AGGREGATOR DATA_TYPE NUMERIC_PRECISION NUMERIC_SCALE NUMERIC_UNITS DESCRIPTION

MEMBERS Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME HIERACHY_UNIQUE_NAME LEVEL_UNIQUE_NAME LEVEL_NUMBER MEMBER_ORDINAL MEMBER_NAME MEMBER_UNIQUE_NAME MEMBER_TYPE MEMBER_GUID MEMBER_CAPTION CHILDREN_CARDINALITY PARENT_LEVEL PARENT_UNIQUE_NAME PARENT_COUNT DESCRIPTION

PROPERTIES Rowset
CATALOG_NAME SCHEMA_NAME CUBE_NAME DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME HIERACHY_UNIQUE_NAME LEVEL_UNIQUE_NAME MEMBER_UNIQUE_NAME PROPERTY_TYPE PROPERTY_NAME PROPERTY_CAPTION DATA_TYPE CHARACTER_MAXIMUM_LENGTH CHARACTER_OCTET_LENGTH NUMERIC_PRECISION NUMERIC_SCALE DESCRIPTION

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MDX Syntax

[WITH

<formula_spec>] [, <axis_spec>, ...] [, <cube_spec>, ...] [cell_properties]

SELECT <axis_spec> FROM WHERE <cube_spec> <slicer_spec>

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MDX Syntax Description

WITH clause: creation of a new dimension member, which lives

in the context of the expression. e.g.:
WITH MEMBER Measures.[% Change from Last Years Sales] AS Sales / (Sales, Year.PREVMEMBER)

axis spec: maps dimensions to axes and gives restrictions. e.g.: 1998, 1999 ON COLUMNS cube spec: determines the data cube (usually a single data
cube)

slicer spec: restricts to dimensions not given in the axis spec (meaning of the cell contents)
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MDXQuery Example

SELECT CROSSJOIN({Venkatrao, Netz}, {USA_North.CHILDREN, USA_South, Japan}) ON COLUMNS {Qtr1.CHILDREN, Qtr2, Qtr3, Qtr4.CHILDREN} ON ROWS FROM SalesCube WHERE (Sales, [1998], Products.All)

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MDX Data Set

The result of an MDXquery is called a data set. Dataset: a multidimensional cube / a set of Excel tables Axis: dimensions are mapped to axes Coordinate: elements of an axis Cell: element of the dataset specied by its axiscoordinates CellProperties: additional information

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Example Data Set

Sum of all product sales for 1998:
Venkatrao USA USA North USA South Boston Jan Qtr1 Feb Mar Qtr2 Qtr3 Oct Nov Qtr4 Dec

Netz USA Japan Seattle

USA North USA South Boston

Japan Seattle

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MDX Summary

Data Cube: contains also aggregated measures

contains the measures (a single value) the type of the measure is given by the Measuredimension

Restriction: given by sets of members

sets of members are ordered ( data set)

axis spec and slicer spec

Projection:
members given in the axis

spec are mapped to axes

the order of the members denes the order of the coordinates

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Restrictions resulting in intervals

member : member

(range)

dimension .MEMBERS hierarchy .MEMBERS level .MEMBERS member .CHILDREN level )

DESCENDANTS( member ,

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Examples Restrictions resulting in a Range Queries

Restriction: Huber, 1998, Sales, TV MDX: UBTree: a point query resulting in a single measure. two ranges (Time and Product dimension), + aggregation Restriction: Huber, 1998.CHILDREN, Sales, TV Restriction: Huber:Maier, 1998.CHILDREN, Sales, TV.MEMBERS

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Implementing MDX
1. Get an MDXParser 2. Map the data cube in a useful way to a DBMS e.g. a star schema of a RDBMS or a UBTree 3. Transform the MDXs to the querylanguage of the used DBMS e.g. MDX SQLs

4. Build up a data set with the results of the DBMSquery e.g. aggregations, reordering, folding 5. Provide the data set to the application

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Implementing a MDX Data Cube (SalesCubeRelation)

create a fact table with one column per hierarchy level of each dimension
Salesperson Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao Netz Netz Netz Netz Netz Netz Year 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 1998 1998 1998 1999 1999 1999 Month Jan Feb Mar Jan Feb Mar Jan Feb Mar Jan Feb Mar Day 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 Product TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV TV Sales 4 16 68 71 41 30 86 68 89 40 32 82

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Implementing MDX Queries

Query Transformation:

extract the restrictions on dimensions given in the axis spec and slicer spec determine by the slicer spec over which dimensions we
aggregate and get the aggregation type from the meta date Query Execution:

recognize ranges in the restrictions on the dimensions execute the transformed query
Transformation of the Result Relation to a Data Set:

reordering of the result relation according to the axis spec folding of the result relation according to the axis spec
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COGNOS like MDX Example (1/4)

SELECT { Salesperson.All.Venkatrao, Salesperson.All.Netz } ON AXIS(0) { Time.All.1998, Time.All.1999 } ON AXIS(1) FROM SalesCube WHERE { Product.All.TV, Measures.All.Sales }

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COGNOS like MDX Example (2/4)

The dimensions are restricted to: Salesperson: Time: Product: Measures: Aggregation is done over: Venkatrao, Netz 1998, 1999 TV Sales

Salepersondimension Year dimension

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COGNOS like MDX Example (3/4)

fold where

SalesCubeRelation Salesperson Venkatrao Netz Year

TV Measures Sales
Product

Sales
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COGNOS like MDX Example (4/4)

Result Relation:
Salesperson Venkatrao Venkatrao Netz Netz Year 1998 1999 1998 1999 Product TV TV TV TV Sales 88 142 243 154

Data Set: By folding the result relation according to the axis specication we get the following data set: Sum of the TV Sales
Venkatrao 1998 1999 88 142 Netz 243 154

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More general Example (1/4)

SELECT CROSSJOIN({Venkatrao, Netz}, {1998.Jan, 1998.Feb, 1998.Mar, 1998}) ON AXIS(0) {TV, Computer, Product.ALL} ON AXIS(1) FROM SalesCube WHERE {Sales}

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More general Example (2/4)

fold

Venkatrao Netz Product TV Computer Sales

Salesperson Year

Measures

Salesperson Year Month Product Salesperson Year Product Salesperson Year Month Salesperson Year

Month

Jan, Feb, Mar Year Month

Robert Fenk

Sales

ALL

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More general Example (3/4)

Result Relation:
Salesperson Netz Netz Netz ... Netz ... Netz ... Netz ... Venkatrao ... Venkatrao Venkatrao Venkatrao ... Venkatrao ... Venkatrao Year 1998 1998 1998 ... 1998 ... 1998 ... 1998 ... 1998 ... 1998 1998 1998 ... 1998 ... 1998 Month Jan Feb Mar ... ALL ... ALL ... ALL ... ALL ... Jan Feb Mar ... ALL ... ALL Product TV TV TV ... TV ... Computer ... ALL ... TV ... Computer Computer Computer ... Computer ... ALL Sales ... ... ... ... 243 ... 417 ... 660 ... 150 ... ... ... ... ... 350 ... 500

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More general Example (4/4)

Data Set:
Venkatrao 1998 Feb Mar ... ... ... ... ... ... Netz 1998 Feb Mar ... ... ... ... ... ...

TV Computer ALL

Jan ... ... ...

1998 150 350 500

Jan ... ... ...

1998 243 417 660

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