Question : Division & OLAP Cubes

Hello Experts,

I have an Access Database summarized with Access queries and Pivot Tables. It has, however, grown beyond this method, as it is now 1.2M+ rows of data and takes 20 - 30 minutes to process calculations.

I have ventured into OLAP Cubes and have found the data subsets and aggregate functions extremely quick and tidy in most scenarios. However, I am running into the need to derive some averages and percentiles in my reports, which require some division. Is division possible within a cube? The only options I have are Sum, Count, Min & Max and no calculated fields allowed.

I have tried executing the calculations within the query, which works well, but once summarized in the cube, they are aggregated, which does not provide useful data.

Any help appreciated!

Bud

Answer : Division & OLAP Cubes

Well, one of the ideas of cubes is to aggregated data so if you cannot use these because you need access to the details, don't use cubes.

One option is to move the data to an SQL engine capable of using stored procedures. Then you can have the SQL engine do the dirty work. Both MSDE and the newer SQL Server 2005 Express are available for free as are several open-source engines like Firebird. Also Intersystems' Caché could prove useful though at some cost:

  http://www.intersystems.com/cache

A free single-developer unlimited is available.
Note this pdf too:

  http://www.intersystems.com/cache/analysts/reviews/bloor-cache31.pdf

/gustav