defining-and-identifying-objects-xmla.md

title	Defining and Identifying Objects (XMLA) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/14/2017
ms.prod	sql-server-2016
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ms.technology	analysis-services docset-sql-devref
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helpviewer_keywords	objects [XML for Analysis] identifying objects [XML for Analysis] XML for Analysis, objects object references [XML for Analysis] object identifiers [XML for Analysis] object definitions [XML for Analysis] XMLA, objects
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Defining and Identifying Objects (XMLA)

Objects are identified in XML for Analysis (XMLA) commands by using object identifiers and object references, and are defined by using Analysis Services Scripting Language (ASSL) elements XMLA commands.

Object Identifiers

An object is identified by using the unique identifier of the object as defined on an instance of [!INCLUDEmsCoName] [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] [!INCLUDEssASnoversion]. Object identifiers can either be explicitly specified or determined by the [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] instance when [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] creates the object. You can use the Discover method to retrieve object identifiers for subsequent Discover or Execute method calls.

Object References

Several XMLA commands, such as Delete or Process, use an object reference to refer to an object in an unambiguous manner. An object reference contains the object identifier of the object on which a command is executed and the object identifiers of the ancestors for that object. For example, the object reference for a partition contains the object identifier of the partition, as well as the object identifiers of that partition's parent measure group, cube, and database.

Object Definitions

The Create and Alter commands in XMLA create or alter, respectively, objects on an [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] instance. The definitions for those objects are represented by an ObjectDefinition element that contains elements from ASSL. Object identifiers can be explicitly specified for all major and many minor objects by using the ID element. If the ID element is not used, the [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] instance provides a unique identifier, with a naming convention that depends on the object to be identified. For more information about how to use the Create and Alter commands to define objects, see Creating and Altering Objects (XMLA).

See Also

Object Element (XMLA)
ParentObject Element (XMLA)
Source Element (XMLA)
Target Element (XMLA)
Developing with XMLA in Analysis Services