XML Enhancements for Analysis Server

While the majority of the XML enhancements in SQL Server 2005 have been implemented for the relational database engine, Analysis Services has also received several important new XML-related features, the most important of which is the new XML for Analysis Services also known as XMLA. In this section you’ll learn more about the new XML for Analysis Services feature.

XML for Analysis Services

XML for Analysis Services is an API that provides data access to Analysis Services data sources that reside on the web. XML for Analysis Services is modeled after OLE DB in that it is intended to provide a universal data access model for any multidimensional data source. However, unlike COM-based OLE DB, XML for Analysis Services is built on the XML-based SOAP protocol. Also unlike OLE DB, which was built with the client/server model in mind, XML for Analysis Services is optimized for use on the web.

XML for Analysis Services provides two publicly accessible methods: the Discover method and the Execute method. As its name implies, the Discover method gets information about a data source. The Discover method can list information about the available data sources, the data source providers, and the metadata that is available. The Execute method enables an application to run commands against XML for Analysis Services data sources.