MDX... cool, but why? 2

[Mongr1l]

Ok, I've just recently be venturing into MDX scripts and such. I'm learning how to extract complicated info such as rolling avgs and trends.

However, how do I deliver this to an end user?

I mean, I know about OLAP clients with pivot tables such as XL 2007, but thats only good for pulling over your dimensions and measures, then letting the user decide how to combine.

My question is what good is developing a sophisticated MDX script if you can't share it with a user.


I suppose you could use Reporting Services to create a report that uses the MDX script to generate the underlying data set.

But is that the only way?


mongr1l

 

[RiverGuy]

If you have a front-end tool such as ProClarity, you can save "views" which are really like a starting point to a report, by coding MDX. A user can access this "view" and drill down, etc. as needed.

 

[MDXer]

There are a number of reporting tools that report from OLAP cubes. All generate MDX based upon the users selections. If you have generated queries that are or would be beneficial to your company then you should be publishing them out through something like reporting services. In small orginazations this probably isn't an issue, but if you are a member of a large orginization then this is probably the time to start discussions on what tool is going to be the one used. THis will avoid the creation of a number of reports only to have the someone come along later and decide a different tool is the one to use.

Other places MDX gets used is in Calculated Measures, Custom security, KPIs. THink of MDX as the SQL for OLAP cubes.

Some front ends you may want to look at are
1) Proclarity
2) Reporting Services
3) Panorama's NovaView
4) Alpa Blox


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