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Class Information
Class#: 121421 Available
Course#: S-465
Title: Mastering MDX for SQL Server Analysis Services
Location: Bellevue, WA
Instructor-led Class
Dates: 8/12/10 - 8/13/10 (2 Days)
Time: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Retail: $990.00
 
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Course Syllabus

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Audience
At Course Completion
Prerequisites
Microsoft Certified Professional Exams
Student Materials
Course Outline


This course was developed and is delivered by Business Intelligence Industry expert Tom Chester! Tom brings over 10 years of Business Intelligence experience in delivering this fast paced, 2-Day Course.

When it comes to education surrounding the Microsoft BI platform, Tom Chester wrote the book - literally. OLAP Train, which he founded in 1998, developed Microsoft's official curriculum for Analysis Services and MDX. He has worked in the Business Intelligence field since 1989 as a database consultant, software inventor, developer, author, and educator. Tom has worked with the Analysis Services product team since inception and is credited as a developer of the first version of Analysis Services. Tom is considered the expert's expert, having taught MDX to thousands of Analysis Service Practitioners, including hundreds of developers at Microsoft.


Introduction

BI solution developers, report designers and administrators of Analysis Services applications have many opportunities to use MDX expressions to enhance the analytic ability of an application. This course provides these professionals with the knowledge and skills to create and use MDX expressions and queries for Analysis Services cubes.

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Audience

This course is targeted to database developers and architects, Business Intelligence solution developers, report designers and business analysts such as financial planners, marketing analysts, and cost accountants.

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At Course Completion

At the end of this course, the student will have the foundation necessary to utilize MDX in Analysis Services to maximize the analytic ability of an application

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Prerequisites

Before beginning this course, students should have:

  • An understanding of basic database design, administration, and implementation concepts.
  • Understanding of basic OLAP database concepts in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services, including cubes, dimensions, hierarchies, and Measures.

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Microsoft Certified Professional Exams

No MCP exam currently exists for this course.

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Student Materials

The student kit includes a comprehensive workbook and other necessary materials for this class.

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Course Outline

1. Overview

  • MDX Foundations
  • Usage contexts
  • New capabilities in AS2005
  • Similarities to spreadsheet formulas


2. Syntax Fundamentals

  • Referencing members
  • Understanding Tuples
  • Understanding Sets 


3. MDX SELECT Statements

  • Why the skill is essential
  • Basic Structure
  • WITH Member/Set constructs


4. Family Functions

  • Dimensions, Hierarchies & Levels
  • Children() and Members() functions
  • Descendants() function


5. Filtering and Ordering Sets

  • Order() and Filter() functions
  • Top/Bottom Count 


6. Numeric Functions

  • Sum() and Aggregate() functions
  • Calculating averages
  • Ranking


7. Intermediate Skills

  • Conditional calculation using IF()
  • Testing for null values
  • Understanding EXISTS


8. Date/Time Handling

  • Set Functions
  • This period versus same period last YR
  • Last N periods
  • Running average
  • Trending


9. Creating Key Performance Indicators

  • Benefits
  • Creating KPIs
  • Querying KPIs


10. Scripting

  • Overview of development interface
  • Understanding subcubes
  • Declaring SCOPE and assigning cell values


11. Other MDX Contexts

  •  Custom member (versus calculated member)
  •  Custom level
  •  Actions
  •  Security

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