Version

MeasureDescriptors Property

Returns a collection of the measure descriptors associated with this instance.
Syntax
'Declaration
 
Public ReadOnly Property MeasureDescriptors As MeasureDescriptorsCollection
public MeasureDescriptorsCollection MeasureDescriptors {get;}
Remarks

A measure represents the data from which cell values are obtained.

The distinction between a hierarchy and a measure is similar to the distincion between a row/column and a cell; where hierarchies identify the field from which the data is obtained, measures represent the actual data.

Measures are most commonly associated with numeric data, i.e., integral, floating point, and currency values.

To visualize the function of measures in a business intelligence application, consider the following example: A data source consists of a collection of objects which represents sales data; that object exposes properties such as 'Date', 'Product', 'City', and 'Total'. The 'Date', 'City', and 'Product' fields are manifested as hierarchies, and the 'Total' field as a measure.

An OLAP query can be constructed, using this structure, to answer business intelligence questions such as:

  • What is the sales revenue for product 'X' during the first quarter of year 'Y'?
  • What is the sales revenue for product 'X' in city 'Y'?
  • What is the sales revenue for product 'X' in city 'Y' for the first quarter of year 'Z'?

In each of these examples, the sales revenue is computed by adding the value of the 'Total' property for each item in the collection which fits the query criteria. This process is commonly referred to as aggregation.

Requirements

Target Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2

See Also