Member Set Functions

Member set functions return a list of members. This list is based on the member specified and the function used. You can use operators to specify Generation and Level Range Operators for Member Set Functions with member set functions.

When a member set function is called as part of a formula, the list of members is generated before the calculation begins. The list never varies because it is based on the specified member and is independent of the current member.

If a member set function (for example, @CHILDREN or @SIBLINGS) is used to specify the list of members to calculate in a calculation script, Essbase bypasses the calculation of any Dynamic Calc or Dynamic Calc and Store members in the resulting list.

Only the @ATTRIBUTE and @WITHATTR functions can use attribute members or members of the Attribute Calculations dimension as parameters in member set functions.

You can use cross-dimension expressions such as ("1998":"2001" -> @Levmbrs (Year, 0)). The cross-dimensional operator is associative (x -> y) -> z=x -> (y -> z), but not commutative because x -> y = y -> x is a set, but the order of elements is different.

Table 2-8 Member Set Functions

Function	Return Value
@ALLANCESTORS	All ancestors of member, including ancestors of shared member.
@ANCEST	Ancestor at distance from the current member or an explicitly specified member.
@ANCESTORS	All ancestors of member, or those ancestors up to a specified distance.
@ATTRIBUTE	All base members associated with attribute member name.
@BETWEEN	All members whose name string value fall between, and are inclusive of, two specified string tokens.
@CHILDREN	Children of member.
@CURRMBR	Member currently being calculated in the specified dimension.
@DESCENDANTS	All descendants of member, or those descendants down to a specified distance.
@EQUAL	Member names that match the specified token name.
@EXPAND	Expands a member search by calling a member set function for each member in a member list.
@GENMBRS	Members of dimension that are at generation.
@IALLANCESTORS	Member and ancestors of member, including ancestors of shared member.
@IANCESTORS	Member, and either all member ancestors or those ancestors up to a specified distance.
@ICHILDREN	Member and its children.
@IDESCENDANTS	Member, and either all member descendants or those descendants down to a specified distance.
@ILANCESTORS	Members of the specified list of members, and either all ancestors of the specified list of members or those ancestors up to a specified distance.
@ILDESCENDANTS	Members of the specified list of members, and either all descendants of the specified list of members or those descendants down to a specified distance.
@ILSIBLINGS	Member and its left siblings.
@INTERSECT	Members that are at the intersection of two specified lists of members.
@IRSIBLINGS	Member and its right siblings.
@IRDESCENDANTS	Member and all its descendants, or those descendants down to a specified distance, including descendants of shared member.
@ISIBLINGS	Member and its siblings.
@LANCESTORS	All ancestors of the specified list of members, or those ancestors up to a specified distance.
@LDESCENDANTS	All descendants of the specified list of members, or those descendants down to a specified distance.
@LEVMBRS	Members of dimension that are at level.
@LIST	A single list compiled from arguments, and can be used for functions requiring an expression list, a member list, or a range list.
@LSIBLINGS	Left siblings of member.
@MATCH	Members that match a pattern search performed over a generation, a level, or a member and its descendants.
@MBRCOMPARE	Member names that match the comparison criteria.
@MBRPARENT	Parent of the specified member.
@MEMBER	Member with name string.
@MEMBERAT	Member at the specified location in a list.
@MERGE	Merged list from two lists.
@NEXTSIBLING	Next, or right-most, sibling of member.
@NOTEQUAL	Member names that do not match the specified token name.
@PARENT	Parent of the current member being calculated in dimension, optionally crossed with another member.
@PREVSIBLING	Previous, or left-most, sibling of member.
@RANGE	Member list that crosses a member from one dimension with a range from another dimension.
@RDESCENDANTS	All descendants of member, or those down to a specified distance, including descendants of shared member.
@RELATIVE	All members that are at distance from member.
@REMOVE	List1, with anything that is also in list2 removed.
@RSIBLINGS	Right siblings of member.
@SHIFTSIBLING	Sibling at specified distance from member.
@SIBLINGS	Siblings of member.
@UDA	Members of dimension that have UDA.
@WITHATTR	Base members from dimension that are associated with an attribute meeting a condition.
@XRANGE	Range of members between (and inclusive of) two members at the same level.

Generation and Level Range Operators for Member Set Functions

The operators : and :: can be used with member set functions, which return a list of members. The : operator returns level-based ranges and the :: operator returns generation-based ranges. For example, Jan:Dec and Jan::Dec both return all members between and inclusive of Jan and Dec.

The difference is that Jan:Dec returns all members at the same level and Jan::Dec returns all members at the same generation.

For example, if we have the outline:

  Q1 - Jan
       Feb
       Mar
  Q2 - Apr
       May
       Jun
  Q3
  Q4 - Oct 
       Nov
       Dec

The function @MOVAVG(Sales, 3, Jan:Dec) computes @MOVAVG(Sales, 3, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Q3, Oct, Nov, Dec).

The function @MOVAVG(Sales, 3, Jan::Dec) computes @MOVAVG(Sales, 3, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Oct, Nov, Dec).