MORE INFORMATION
Microsoft OLAP Services 7.0 generated Unique Member Names by using the Name Path algorithm, and by listing the Dimension.Member.Member....Member, such as:
[Time].[1997].[Q1].[1]
This syntax can get quite lengthy depending on the number of levels a hierarchy has.
An alternative to the Name Path algorithm is the Key Path algorithm, where the path is defined by the keys rather than the member names. If the path is defined by keys, the syntax is
[Time].&[1997].&[Q1].&[1]
because in the FoodMart Time dimension, the keys are the same as the names. However, keys are often meaningless surrogate integers and are usually more terse than names. For example, you may see a Key Name as
[Customers].&[USA].&[North Carolina].&[1234]
where &[1234] represents a specific name.
Finally, Microsoft Analysis Services 2000 can create a Member's Unique Name by using the information in the member properties. Not only are these unique names shorter, or at worst, no longer than the Key Path or Name Path, these names are guaranteed to be stable and unique over time. The Key Path algorithm is needed because Analysis Services supports ragged hierarchies, which can move the position of a member in the hierarchy.
The Unique Name should be transparent to the database administrator or user; however, the problem is that some client tools have written logic on top of the unique name in which the tool parses the unique name. If Analysis Services changes the algorithm, the client tool will not function correctly. To prevent your applications from breaking, you can use the
MDX Unique Name Style property of the connection string. The
MDX Unique Name Style property takes four values, as shown in the table that follows:
| Value | Description |
| 0 | Default (maps to 2). |
| 1 | Use Key Path. |
| 2 | Use Name Path. |
| 3 | Use Analysis Services 2000 compatible algorithm. |
A sample connection string is similar to:
Provider=MSOLAP;Data Source=OLAPServer;Initial Catalog=FoodMart 2000;MDX Unique Name Style=3
NOTE: If the
Allow Duplicate Names dimension advanced property is FALSE, which it is by default, and the
MDX Compatibility property of the connection is 1, again the default, then the
MDX Unique Name Style is set to 2 "Key Path" for that dimension, no matter how you have set the
MDX Unique Name Style property in the connection string. The reason here is that if the
MDX Compatibility property is set to 1, then you may be using an older or less functional client, so you should use the old-style unique name algorithm. Otherwise, the default is the compatible algorithm (3).
REFERENCES
For more information about the
MDX Unique Name Style and
MDX Compatibility properties, see SQL Server 2000 Books Online.