MDX Named Sets in SQL Server 2005/2008

Our first installment of I-Data Weekly focuses on MDX Named Sets, and will cover the following:

• What are MDX Named Sets?
• How can you use MDX Named Sets in SQL Server 2005?
• Are there any "gotchas" with MDX Named Sets?
• Does SQL Server 2008 offer any new features for MDX Named Sets?

1 - What are MDX Named Sets?

An MDX Named Set is a list of members, based on some pre-defined retrieval logic. You may have a named set that lists your Customers in zip code order or products sold for 2005 in sales order amount. Since an MDX Named Set is simply an MDX expression, you could create a more complex Named Set using other MDX functions like DESCENDANTS to build a list of members from a customer geography, starting at a certain level (Region) down to another level (Market). 

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