11. Virtual formulas creation.

A lot of times you will want to define new fields for your cube, but you don't want to bring this data form the database for whatever reason, either the you can't apply this formula to the database or you don'y want your cube to become to big. With this section you can define virtual fields whose definition will be part of the cube. From the enduser standpoint, this fields will be like regular cube fields, without knowing that in reality, the value of this field will be calculated.

The functions or formulas used are stated in the MDX (multidimensional expression) language used by Microsoft as the language to manipulate multidimensional cubes. It is beyond the scope of this manual to teach MDX, but you can get more information about formula writing with MDX in the following Internet addresses:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnolap/html/intromdx.asp, or at  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library and search for MDX .

In this screen the following fields are shown:

• Dimension: the cube dimension that owns this virtual field.
• Name: name of this field in the cube.
• Formula : MDX formula that will be applied when using this field in the cube.
• Solve order : the order in which the member formulas are executed. First the smallest solve order number.
• Format : DIsplay format for these field.

Use the following buttons to:

• Add : Add a new virtual field to the cube. The dialog Add virtual members to cube will appear, and it will let you add the new member.
• Edit : Choose a field and edit it using this button. The dialog Add virtual members to cube will appear, and it will let you update the member.
• Remove: Choose a field and press this button to remove it from the list.

You can press the  Next button to proceed to section 12. File or cube output selection .

The  Back will take you to section 10. Dimension and leve cube definition.