Chapter 7. Adding Currency Conversion

In this chapter, we will discuss how we can implement currency conversion in an Analysis Services solution. As we will see, it is not always a good idea to perform this currency conversion in the cube itself, it could be better to implement it in the ETL phase—it all depends on our requirements and analysis needs. We will provide some examples of different choices that are available in different circumstances.

SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) provides a wizard to implement currency conversion in the cube, automatically generating the necessary objects and MDX Scripts. We will describe how to use this wizard in the most effective way. Then, we will see how to implement currency conversion using the MeasureExpression property of a measure, a feature that is faster but that is not available in the Standard Edition of Analysis Services (as it requires either the Business Intelligence or Enterprise edition).