MDX Intrinsic Properties

All Essbase database members have some essential intrinsic properties related to being part of an Essbase cube. These include details such as their names, aliases, and generation or level numbers. Learn how to query for the intrinsic properties using MDX.

Intrinsic properties are properties that defined for members in all dimensions. In Essbase, the intrinsic MDX member properties defined for all members in an Essbase database outline are MEMBER_NAME, MEMBER_ALIAS, LEVEL_NUMBER, GEN_NUMBER, IS_EXPENSE, COMMENTS, and MEMBER_UNIQUE_NAME.

The MEMBER_NAME intrinsic property returns a member name string for each member.

The MEMBER_ALIAS intrinsic property returns a member alias string for each member.

The LEVEL_NUMBER intrinsic property returns the level number of each member.

The GEN_NUMBER intrinsic property returns the generation number of each member.

The IS_EXPENSE intrinsic property returns TRUE if a member has the Expense account type, and FALSE otherwise. Example:

 SELECT
 [Measures].Members
  DIMENSION PROPERTIES [Measures].[IS_EXPENSE] on columns
from Sample.Basic; 

The COMMENTS intrinsic property returns a comment string for each member where applicable. Example:

 SELECT
 [Market].Members
  DIMENSION PROPERTIES [Market].[COMMENTS] on columns
from Sample.Basic;
 

The MEMBER_UNIQUE_NAME intrinsic property is a member-name property. It returns NULL for unique members, and a system-generated key for duplicate members.