“How can I use the CUBESET function in Excel to retrieve data from an OLAP cube?”

Description

Defines a calculated set of members or tuples by sending a set expression to the cube on the server, which creates the set, and then returns that set to Microsoft Excel.

Syntax

CUBESET(connection, set_expression, , [sort_order], [sort_by])

The CUBESET function syntax has the following arguments:

• Connection    Required. A text string of the name of the connection to the cube.

• Set_expression    Required. A text string of a set expression that results in a set of members or tuples. Set_expression can also be a cell reference to an Excel range that contains one or more members, tuples, or sets included in the set.

• Caption    Optional. A text string that is displayed in the cell instead of the caption, if one is defined, from the cube.

• Sort_order    Optional. The type of sort, if any, to perform and can be one of the following:

• The default value is 0. An alpha sort for a set of tuples sorts on the last element in each tuple. For more information on these different sort orders, see the Microsoft Office SQL Analysis Services help system.

• Sort_by    Optional. A text string of the value by which to sort. For example, to get the city with the highest sales, set_expression would be a set of cities, and sort_by would be the sales measure. Or, to get the city with the highest population, set_expression would be a set of cities, and sort_by would be the population measure. If sort_order requires sort_by, and sort_by is omitted, CUBESET returns the #VALUE! error message.

Remarks

• When the CUBESET function evaluates, it temporarily displays a “#GETTING_DATA…” message in the cell before all of the data is retrieved.

• If the connection name is not a valid workbook connection stored in the workbook, CUBESET returns a #NAME? error value. If the Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) server is not running, not available, or returns an error message, CUBESET returns a #NAME? error value.

• If the set_expression syntax is incorrect or the set contains at least one member with a different dimension than the other members, CUBESET returns a #N/A error value.

• If set_expression is longer than 255 characters, which is the limit for an argument to a function, CUBESET returns a #VALUE! error value. To use text strings longer than 255 characters, enter the text string in a cell (for which the limit is 32,767 characters), and then use a cell reference as the argument.

• CUBESET may return a #N/A error value if you reference a session-based object, such as a calculated member or named set, in a PivotTable when sharing a connection, and that PivotTable is deleted or you convert the PivotTable to formulas. (On the Options tab, in the Tools group, click OLAP Tools, and then click Convert to Formulas.)