OLAPAliasToMember

Description:

This function returns the member of the dimension for the alias in the specified alias group in the specified dimension for the specified database. The OLAPAliasToMember function is designed specifically to allow you to view the member names that are associated with an alias for the same in a specified dimension within a specified database. The function returns the member name which corresponds to an alias created for that member by the PowerOLAP user within the Modeler when creating an Alias Group. The function also takes as a parameter the name of the alias group as created and the name of a particular alias in that group.

Syntax: OLAPAliasToMember (database, dimension,group, alias)

Explained below are the 4 parameters that have to be provided when building this function.

• Database : Enter the name of the database which has the dimension and alias group that you want to access / enter the cell reference which has the name of this Database.
• Dimension : Enter the name of the dimension in the above mentioned database which has the Alias Group you want to access / enter the cell reference which has the name of such a dimension.
• Group : Enter the name of the Alias Group you want to access that exists in the dimension and database mentioned above / enter the cell reference which has the name of such an alias group.
• Index : Enter the index number for the alias in the above mentioned Alias Group within the specified dimension of the specified database / enter the cell reference which has the index as a value.

Remarks

• If a connection is not established with a database the result will be a #value.
• The value for parameter "Index" must be a positive real integer and should correspond to the value that the function has to return.
• There must be the same alias group existing in the database as entered for the Group parameter above.
• All arguments are compulsory and neither argument is optional.

Example

This function may be easier to understand with an example.

• In order to build this function with more ease, open the specific database and bring a slice from that database into Excel. In this way you will have connected to PowerOLAP because you now have the OLAPOpen formula automatically on your sheet when you bring a slice of the cube into Excel.
• In Excel, use the menu: Insert -> Function and select PowerOLAP from the drop down list.
• Choose the OLAPAlias function from the list of functions provided and click "Ok".
• When building the formula enter the cell range for the database name, the dimension name and type in the name for the alias group in that database as well as the index for the alias. If you don't want to manually enter the alias group name you can use another function called OLAPAliasGroup in a cell to get the alias group name/names and then use that cell as a reference for a formula.
• In the following example B1 is the cell that holds the database name, B6 is the cell that holds the dimension name, "DataLoadCodes" is the name of the Alias Group and the number 3 is the index of the alias in the group whose value the formula returns.

=OLAPAliasToMember ($B$1, $B$6,"DataLoadCodes",3)

 

The above formula returns a value = 11 which is the value for the alias in the database "Acuity"(B1) in the dimension "AP_Vendor"(B6) in the Alias Group called "DataLoadCodes".