Fast Track to MDX [Paperback]

Mark Whitehorn (Author), Robert Zare (Author), Mosha Pasumansky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2005

Shows users and developers how to use MDX to effectively to provide relevant business information.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) is the most powerful Business Intelligence tool currently available and Microsoft's Analysis Manager makes OLAP cubes incredibly easy to build and deploy. However the real power of OLAP lies in its ability to help you solve real-life business problems; to release that power you need to use the language that controls the cubes and allows them to be queried. That language is MDX (Multi Dimensional eXpressions). Fast Track to MDX gives you all the necessary background to let you to write useful, powerful MDX expressions and introduces the most frequently used MDX functions and constructs. No prior knowledge is assumed and examples are used throughout the book to rapidly develop your MDX skills to the point where you can solve real business problems. Mark Whitehorn, co-author of the best-selling Inside Relational Databases, is renowned for his knowledge of database systems and the lucidity of his writing. Robert Zare is a Program Manager for Analysis Services at Microsoft: his inspiring talks on MDX sowed the seeds from which this book grew. Mosha Pasumansky was one of the authors of the OLEDB for OLAP specification that defined the MDX language and later he was the developer in charge of the first implementation of MDX in the Microsoft OLAP Services 7.0 product. He is currently the development lead of the Analysis Services engine team.   Second Edition – It was the clarity, precision and sheer readability of the first edition that made it a best-seller. With that firmly in mind the authors have left the original 18 chapters intact (apart from minor updates); meaning that the second edition remains the best introduction to MDX that is available. What they have done is to add three brand new chapters. These introduce the topic of recursion in MDX, walk the reader through the process of creating recursive expressions and finally demonstrate how recursion can be used to effectively solve a series of business problems. Forward by Amir Netz, Product Unit Manager, SQL Server – Analysis Services at Microsoft. A CD containing examples from within the book, and a time-limited version of ProClarity, is included.

About the Author

Mark Whitehorn, co-author of the best-selling Inside "Relational Databases," is renowned for his enthusiasm towards data handling and for the lucidity of his writing.

Robert Zare is a Program Manager for Analysis Services at Microsoft: his inspiring talks on MDX sowed the seeds from which this book grew.

Mosha Pasumansky was one of the authors of the OLEDB for OLAP specification that defined the MDX language and later he was the developer in charge of the first implementation of MDX in the Microsoft OLAP Services 7.0 product. He is currently the development lead of the Analysis Services engine team. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 2nd edition (October 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1846281741
• ISBN-13: 978-1846281747
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #205,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Data Warehousing
  • #99 in Books > Computers & Technology > Databases > Database Management Systems

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

88 of 89 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should you buy this book?, October 20, 2004

By 

Paul Wilson (Scotland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast Track to MDX (Paperback)

Reviews for this book seem to differ, mostly people think its great, but a few think its terrible. I think some people are buying the wrong book, so here is my attempt to help them to save their money.

This is a really bad book if you are expecting a detailed explanation on how to speed up complex MDX statements. It is a dreadful book if you want to see every function in MDX listed, this book only covers about a third of them. This is a terrible book of you are already familiar with MDX and are looking for a book to take that knowledge further. Do not waste your money on this book if that is what you want; this is the wrong book for you.

On the other hand, this is an excellent book if you know nothing about MDX and you are trying to learn it from scratch. It is a superb book if you want the basics explained clearly, in plain English, with multiple examples. It is a great book if you are currently confused by the basics of MDX and need to get up to speed quickly.

I started out wanting to know about MDX from scratch and I found it one of the best technical books that I have every read. I didn't find any of it repetitive or slow because I was having to absorb a whole load of new concepts and ideas. Sometimes the authors do explain something in more than one way, but then I need that.

Take `Tuple' for example, the authors explain it carefully, building up this complex idea bit by bit. Before I read this the book, I just couldn't get my head around the idea, now it all makes sense. But I'm sure that section would have seemed boring and repetitive if I had know all about tuples before I bought the book.

Which bring me back to the original point. This is both a great book and an awful book, it just depends where you are on the learning curve for MDX. The authors wrote it for those at the bottom. As someone who started at the bottom, I'm really grateful that they did. Don't buy it if you already know the basics, you'll be disappointed. If you don't know the basics of MDX, this is a must-have book.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book, July 9, 2004

By 

Paul Dickson (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fast Track to MDX (Paperback)

One question that may be going through your mind as you read these reviews is "Should I buy this book or `MDX Solutions'?". I know that because that is what went through mine about three months ago as I read them.

In general, Fast Track is seen as the introductory book, Solutions as the expert's book. So I nearly skipped Fast Track and went directly to Solutions; I am so glad I didn't.

Fast Track is certainly the book to buy if you are new to MDX. It does a great job of introducing the language, it is excellently written by a set of true craftspeople - it is highly readable and, heaven help us, at times it is even amusing. This isn't like reading a text book, it is like sitting down with the guys who wrote it and having them tell you how MDX works.

Solutions is much less readable - we are talking about a typically stodgy reference book. But it does have a massive amount of information and that information is accurate and therefore highly useful.

So the easy answer is to buy both books, learn the basics from Fast Track and then use Solutions as a reference. And that is all I was initially going to write as my review. But I glanced back through Fast Track before I did so, looking back at it now as someone who now understands the language. And I was amazed at the amount of information that these guys cover. For example, MDX has about 150 functions in all, and Fast Track covers about 50 of them. Since they have carefully chosen the most commonly used ones, by the end of the book, you are familiar with most of the functions that you will ever need. And even better, you have enough background information to be able to understand the rest by reading the help system.

In addition they cover queries, expressions, calculated members, moving averages, distinct count, filters, colour coding, navigating the hierarchy, parent-child dimensions, member properties, security, the list goes on and on.

So, this is an introductory book in the sense that it assumes that you know nothing about MDX and introduces it gently. What is so subtle about the book is that it makes learning so easy, such fun, that you simply don't notice how much information these guys are pumping into your brain. Remember that Mosha Pasumansky invented MDX and he is one of the authors. He really does know what you really need in order to get started and up to speed.

So I still go with the notion that you need both books. Solutions is still a great reference book, but whatever else you do, start with Fast Track. In terms of useful information per unit cost, this is by far and away the best technical book I have ever read.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Introductory Text, October 15, 2004

By 

bookreader (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fast Track to MDX (Paperback)

If you are new to MDX, just get this book. I have a heavy SQL/Programming background (C,C++, C# )and was having a hard time grasping MDX. The manuals don't do justice. Also it is hard to learn MDX from Analysis Services. Am from the old school that likes to type out commands to see results and both the Proclarity tool that comes with it and the Microsoft Sample Application are good to try out the examples. In particular i like the way that tuples and set are explained; clear examples and very easy reading. Also covered well are dimensions,measures, members, cells, heirarchies and aggregations. As is true with most complex topics in maths and computer science fine introductory books that are interesting and drive home concepts are rare. This is one such book. The concepts almost flow out of the author and into your brain !! Am almost at the end of the book. Took me less than 2 weeks ( 1 chapter per day , 18 chapters in all ). With Yukon not too far off all SQL professionals must be familiar with MDX as it is going to be a key part of MSFT's BI offering. My thanks to the authors and would like to suggest that they come out with a sequel for advanced readers.