Hi,

I need to retrieve an OLAP cube's meta-data information using ADO.NET (not
ADOMD or ADOMD.NET). I use GetOleDbSchemaTable to see it, but it's not
organized in a way that makes sense to me. Can someone please shed some
light on how this meta-data is organized from an Ole DB perspective, or
point me to some documentation?

Thanks in advance!

Charlie.

Hello Charlie,

I think the following articles shall be helpful:

Retrieving Schema Information
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/olapdmpr/pt
_clien_9bn8.asp

Cube Schema Retrieval and Manipulation
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en...mples_6p7y.asp

Best Regards,

Peter Yang
MCSE2000/2003, MCSA, MCDBA
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

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--------------------
..phx.gbl

Firstly, thanks for your reply.

The first link is down, but I think I found its new URL according to the
titles your provided.

What I need is the ability to retrieve cube schema information (dimensions,
levels, members, member properties, etc) using the OleDb provider that comes
with ADO.NET. I am forbidden to use anything that relies on older
technologies such as ADO or ADOMD.

I tried using ADOMD.NET (although I prefer not to use it either for
performance considerations) but i couldn't even get it to connect to the
database with all sorts of weird errors such as "connection either timed out
or was lost" and such.

Can I access the schema information using solely ADO.NET ?

"Peter Yang [MSFT]" <petery (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

Hello Charlie,

Thank you for your reply. The .NET Framework doesn't natively support data
access for multidimensional (i.e., OLAP) data sources. So, OLAP developers
have to use existing COM-based ADO MD for application development.

ADO.NET is designed to be the best solution for a large number of
applications. However, some applications require capabilities that are only
available using ADO objects, for example ADO Multidimensional (ADOMD). In
these situations, the application can access ADO using COM Interop. Note
that using COM Interop to access data with ADO incurs a performance hit.
When designing an application, first determine if ADO.NET meets your design
needs before implementing a design that accesses ADO using COM Interop.

Please refer to the following article for more details:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/de...us/dnsqlmag02/
html/UsingADOMDwith_NET.asp

http://msdn.microsoft.com/data/downl...s/default.aspx

Have a great day!

Best Regards,

Peter Yang
MCSE2000/2003, MCSA, MCDBA
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

================================================== ===
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via
your newsreader so that others may learn and benefit
from your issue.
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--------------------
phx.gbl

Hi Peter,

Thanks for the great insight.

So bottom line is that I have to use COM based objects to access MD data?

ADO.NET doesn't provide something like OleDB for OLAP?

Thanks,

Charlie.


"Peter Yang [MSFT]" <petery (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

What you are looking for is ADOMD.NET
Download is at:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...DisplayLang=en

Be sure to read the release notes. You will either need the XMLA SDK
installed on your server or you will need to have PTS installed on the
client (ptslite.exe on the SQL Server SP3 release for Analysis Services) and
use a connectstring option to force ADOMD.NET to use PTS.
--
Dave Wickert [MSFT]
dwickert (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com
Program Manager
BI SystemsTeam
SQL BI Product Unit (Analysis Services)
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Charile" <nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) nospam> wrote

Dave,

Thanks.

What are the implications of each method (XMLA/PTS)?

Will PTS still exist when Yukon comes out?

"Dave Wickert [MSFT]" <dwickert (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com> wrote

Oh - and how do I force usage of PTS?

Thanks.

"Charile" <nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) nospam> wrote

Hello Charile,

Sorry for the confustion brought. Apparently ADOMD.net was released.
Regarding your question, you need not force usage of PTS becuase it is
always used no matter for local or remote connection.

To connect to an existing local cube file, you must provide the full path
and file name of a valid local cube file in the Data Source connection
string setting and, if applicable, a valid password in the Password
connection string setting. If the local cube file does not already exist, a
new local cube file is created and protected by the password, provided that
a password was specified.

PivotTable Service communicates with the Analysis server and provides
interfaces that client applications can use to access OLAP data and data
mining data on the server.

Please see "Client Architecture" in SQL 2000 books online for more detailed
information.

This release cannot access local cubes in SQL Server 2000 To access local
cubes in SQL Server 2005, use the SQL Server 2005 beta releases of
ADOMD.NET.

Best Regards,

Peter Yang
MCSE2000/2003, MCSA, MCDBA
Microsoft Online Partner Support

Get Secure! - www.microsoft.com/security

================================================== ===
When responding to posts, please "Reply to Group" via
your newsreader so that others may learn and benefit
from your issue.
================================================== ===
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--------------------
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From the ADOMD.NET readme:

--------------

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
7.0 ADOMD.NET now has In-Process XML for Analysis (IXMLA)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

The beta release of ADOMD.NET required the installation of the XML for
Analysis
SDK on the middle tier. With this release of ADOMD.NET, the XML for Analysis
SDK
is optional. If you do not wish to use an XML for Analysis provider, you can
use
the IXMLA capability included with ADOMD.NET. IXMLA is a DLL that ADOMD.NET
will
automatically load as needed. IXMLA provides the same services as the XML
for
Analysis SDK.

To use an external XML for Analysis provider
Use a connection string that uses a URL (such as
"Data Source=http://localhost").


To use the internal-XML for Analysis implementation
Use a connection string that does not use a URL (such as
"Data Source=localhost").

------------------------------------

Hope that helps.
--
Dave Wickert [MSFT]
dwickert (AT) online (DOT) microsoft.com
Program Manager
BI SystemsTeam
SQL BI Product Unit (Analysis Services)
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.

"Charile" <nospam (AT) nospam (DOT) nospam> wrote