March 2010 Canberra SQL User Group follow up

Many thanks to Geoff Orr for his presentation on SQL MDX. I got a lot out of it and now realise it's not such a black art after all.

It was good to see that my giveaway book prize of Microsoft SQL Server 2008 MDX Step by Step, donated by O'Reilly Publications, was one of Geoff's recommended reference manuals. As I had just given away my only copy of this book I have since purchased an electronic copy of the book from O'Reilly and it looks fantastic on my Kindle DX, which is now available in Australia. Now to just find the time to read it.

Congratulations to Ben who won the book. He wasn't even planning to come to the meeting but was working with Geoff, our presenter, so tagged along when I picked Geoff up.

Other congratulations go to Thambap who won the copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64 bit that was donated by Microsoft User Group Support Services.

Thanks to both our sponsors, O'Reilly for the books, and Microsoft UGSS for the software and the pizza.

The March 2010 Canberra SQL User Group Meeting is this evening with Geoff Orr

Presenting for us this month is Geoff Orr with a presentation called 'MDX for SQL Dudes'.

Geoff describes his presentation as follows;

If your brain is wired for Transact-SQL and you're looking for a quick and dirty introduction to the weird and wonderful world of Multi-Dimensional eXpressions then this is the session for you. The syntax looks similar to SQL but does not work the same way. Cubes have far more metadata & MDX takes advantage of that. The session commences with an explanation of the basic concepts and principles underpinning the MDX language, contrasts it with TSQL and then proceeds to describe and demonstrate key syntax, MDX queries and some MDX scripting. Key Topics: Dimensions, Measure Groups and Members, How to do a join, How to add a condition, Where vs Filters. Perspectives, Accessing Properties, A few must know functions.

Some info about Geoff;

Geoff Orr is an MCAD with over 20 years experience in IT in Australia and the UK. Geoff works in Database, Development and Business Intelligence. He has worked on systems as diverse as government grants, logistics, finance and even rubbish trucks. Geoff believes that data has its own story and loves databases. Geoff has previously worked for Microsoft in Premier Support for SQL Server.

This month we have 2 give away prizes for 2 lucky attendees that fill out an evaluation form;

• Microsoft SQL Server 2008 MDX Step by Step which was kindly donated by O'Reilly Publications.
• Windows 7 Ultimate Edition 64 bit courtesy of Microsoft User Group Support Services.

Please register your attendance for this meeting at www.sqlserver.org.au or www.usergroupsupportservices.com