mdx-syntax-elements-mdx.md

title	MDX Syntax Elements (MDX) | Microsoft Docs
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ms.date	03/02/2016
ms.prod	sql-server-2016
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helpviewer_keywords	Multidimensional Expressions [Analysis Services], syntax MDX [Analysis Services], syntax
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MDX Syntax Elements (MDX)

[!INCLUDEtsql-appliesto-ss2008-xxxx-xxxx-xxx_md]

Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) has several elements that are used by, or influence, most statements:

Term	Definition
Identifiers	Identifiers are the names of objects such as cubes, dimensions, members, and measures.
Data Types	Define the types of data that are contained by cells, member properties, and cell properties. MDX supports only the OLE VARIANT data type. For more information about the coercion, conversion, and manipulation of the VARIANT data type, see "VARIANT and VARIANTARG" in the Platform SDK documentation.
Expressions (MDX)	Expressions are units of syntax that [!INCLUDEmsCoName] [!INCLUDEssNoVersion] [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] can resolve to single (scalar) values or objects. Expressions include functions that return a single value, a set expression, and so on.
Operators	Operators are syntax elements that work with one or more simple MDX expressions to make more complex MDX expressions.
Functions	Functions are syntax elements that take zero, one, or more input values, and return a scalar value or an object. Examples include the Sum function for adding several values, the Members function for returning a set of members from a dimension or level, and so on.
Comments	Comments are pieces of text that are inserted into MDX statements or scripts to explain the purpose of the statement. [!INCLUDEssASnoversion] does not execute comments .
Reserved Keywords	Reserved keywords are words that are reserved for the use of MDX and should not be used for object names used in MDX statements.
Members, Tuples, and Sets	Members, tuples and sets are core concepts of multidimensional data that you must understand before you create an MDX query.

See Also

Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) Reference