Introduction to Cubes
A cube is an MDX concept and it defines MDX elements for use in the Analyzer. These elements determine how you can query the data, specifically, a set of specific records (such as patient records or transaction records). The set of records is determined by the source class for the cube.
A cube can contain all the following definitions:
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Levels, which enable you to group records
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Hierarchies, which contain levels
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Dimensions, which contain hierarchies
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Level properties, which are values specific to the members of a level
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Measures, which show aggregate values of those records
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Listings, which are queries that enable you to access the source data
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Calculated members, which are members based on other members
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Named sets, which are reusable sets of members or other MDX elements
The following sections discuss most of these items. For information on named sets, see Using InterSystems MDX.
The Source Class of a Cube
In most cases, the source class for a cube is a persistent class.
The source class can also be a data connector, which is a class that extends %DeepSee.DataConnectorOpens in a new tab. A data connector maps the results of an arbitrary SQL query into an object that can be used as the source of a cube. Typically, a data connector accesses external data not in an InterSystems database, but you can also use it to specify an SQL query against an InterSystems database, including an SQL query on a view. See Defining and Using Data Connectors.
The source class can also be a child collection class.
