{"id":6906,"date":"2022-03-22T06:35:00","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T05:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/?p=6906"},"modified":"2022-10-03T12:52:59","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T10:52:59","slug":"mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"MDX or Multidimensional Expressions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, what does MDX stands for? MDX stands for Multidimensional Expressions. It’s a database programming language to query and create calculations and measures in Microsoft cubes. It’s a language used by databases dedicated to analysis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To go further, let’s consider the two types of Microsoft databases, multidimensional and transactional ones. In this article we are dealing with the first type of database: the multi dimensional ones, also called OLAP databases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MDX abbreviation stands for MultiDimensional eXpressions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To conclude, the MDX language is the equivalent of SQL but for cubes instead of databases. Business intelligence applications use it widely to allow end-users to analyze the financial or production data of a given company or organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MDX queries are therefore indispensable tools for complex SSAS<\/a> projects. In order to get more information on the language check the Wikip\u00e9dia article on MDX<\/a>. For tabular models and newer analytics tools from Microsoft like Power BI for example, the equivalent language is DAX<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OLAP cubes use MDX and Tabular Models use DAX<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The main differences between DAX and MDX langages is that MDX can handle more complex business cases including parent-child and many to many relationships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also, a Tabular Model with In-Memory mode is limited to the memory limit of the machine. The DirectQuery tabular models can handle more data as they are connected to a relational database. Whereas the OLAP cubes are stored on standard disks with specific caching of sub cubes, and it can handle very large volumes, like terabytes of data.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, what does MDX stands for? MDX stands for Multidimensional Expressions. It’s a database programming language to query and create calculations and measures in Microsoft cubes. It’s a language used by databases dedicated to analysis. To go further, let’s …<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6139,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[499],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-concepts"},"yoast_head":"\nMDX or Multidimensional Expressions - IT Concepts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MDX stands for Multidimensional Expressions, it's a database language to query and calculate Multidimensional cubes like SSAS for example.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MDX or Multidimensional Expressions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MDX stands for Multidimensional Expressions, it's a database language to query and calculate Multidimensional cubes like SSAS for example.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SQL and IT Tutorials\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ExpertOnlyCom\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-22T05:35:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-03T10:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/idea-93432E0FFA4_1920x1080.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Expert-Only\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@expert_only\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@expert_only\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Expert-Only\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Expert-Only\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/406a9576b52944f018739a42046873ef\"},\"headline\":\"MDX or Multidimensional Expressions\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-22T05:35:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-03T10:52:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\"},\"wordCount\":258,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/idea-93432E0FFA4_1920x1080.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"IT Concepts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/expert-only.com\/en\/concepts\/mdx-or-multidimensional-expressions\/\",\"name\":\"MDX or Multidimensional Expressions - 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