Types of Cube Measures

There are different kinds of measures you can add to a cube: additive measures, non-additive measures, and semi-additive measures. This section explains the different kinds of measures and how AtScale's aggregate system manages them.

You add a measure to a cube by first identifying the fact dataset of your cube, then applying aggregate calculations to the quantifiable dataset columns. The type of aggregate calculation you apply determines the type of measure it is.

• Additive Measures

  Additive measures are those whose values can be summarized for any dimension attribute of the cube, and the results can be combined consistently.

• Non-Additive Measures

  Non-additive measures are those that cannot work with summarized values. They need to evaluate all dimension members individually to ensure accuracy.

• Semi-Additive Measures

  Semi-additive measures are those whose values can be summarized for some dimensions of a cube, but not all. Ratios such as Average are also considered semi-additive measures.

• Calculated Measures

  A calculated measure uses an MDX expression, often in the form of a mathematical formula, to combine, evaluate, or manipulate other measures defined in the cube.