Book Image

Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook

By : Derek Wilson
Book Image

Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook

By: Derek Wilson

Overview of this book

SQL Server Analysis Service (SSAS) has been widely used across multiple businesses to build smart online analytical reporting solutions. It includes two different types of modeling for analysis services: Tabular and Multi Dimensional. This book covers Tabular modeling, which uses tables and relationships with a fast in-memory engine to provide state of the art compression algorithms and query performance. The book begins by quickly taking you through the concepts required to model tabular data and set up the necessary tools and services. As you learn to create tabular models using tools such as Excel and Power View, you’ll be shown various strategies to deploy your model on the server and choose a query mode (In-memory or DirectQuery) that best suits your reporting needs. You’ll also learn how to implement key and newly introduced DAX functions to create calculated columns and measures for your model data. Last but not least, you’ll be shown techniques that will help you administer and secure your BI implementation along with some widely used tips and tricks to optimize your reporting solution. By the end of this book, you’ll have gained hands-on experience with the powerful new features that have been added to Tabular models in SSAS 2016 and you’ll be able to improve user satisfaction with faster reports and analytical queries.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Tabular Modeling with SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services Cookbook
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Using the LEFT Function


The LEFT function is very useful when you need to parse a string to get a subset of the data. This is often used to make the data more meaningful for your users. In this recipe, you will create a column on the Manner_of_Crash table to return the first nine letters of each description. Then you will make the LEFT function use a dynamic argument to determine the number of characters to find a comma. On this table, you can now create a hierarchy that would group the two sideswipe rows into a single group. The LEFT function has a required syntax of LEFT(<text>,<num_chars>).

How to do it...

  1. Open the Chapter_9_DAX solution, select the CRASH_DATA_T table, and make sure you are in the data Grid view.

  2. Scroll to the right until you find the Add Column. Then in the expression box, add the formula to return the first nine characters of the field. Then press Enter to create the calculation. You will then see a label added to each row: =LEFT([Manner_of_Crash]).

  3. On the Properties...