Chapter 6. Adding Calculations to the Cube

This chapter explains how to enhance the analytical capabilities of our cube with MDX calculations. Calculations, especially calculated members, are very common in cubes as they are a very easy and convenient way to generate new and useful business metrics from the data you have imported.

This chapter does not cover basic MDX concepts, although we will provide several examples of MDX usage. For a complete reference of the MDX language or for a thorough tutorial you should refer to other books such as MDX Solutions, Fast Track to MDX, or Microsoft SQL Server 2008 MDX Step by Step.

Reading this chapter you will learn about:

• The different kinds of calculated members

• Several ready-to-use examples of calculated members

• The difference between using calculated measures and calculation dimensions

• Defining and using named sets