Accessing databases and cubes

Just as the standard M function library supports many different standard file formats, there are also core functions for accessing a variety of different industry-standard database/cube formats. Here we use the term cube to refer to database systems classified as Online Analytics Processing (OLAP) systems. The term database refers to relational databases classified as Online Transactional Processing (OLTP) systems. OLAP systems are suited for the multi-dimensional analysis of data while OLTP systems are suited for transactional operations.

OLTP systems tend to use highly normalized data structures that value the efficiency of data storage and speed of write operations over other concerns. Think high-transaction scenarios such as inventory management within a warehouse or retail sales. Conversely, OLAP systems aggregate (de-normalize) historical information and value the speed of read operations and the efficiency of analysis and reporting.

The...