International Considerations for Analysis Services

Article
12/03/2008

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services (SSAS) supports the storage and manipulation of multilingual data and metadata. Features include national language and collation support for sorts and comparisons, translations for multilingual metadata support, and currency conversion functionality. Using the Analysis Services multilingual and multicultural features, you can do the following:

Action	Description
Define the language and collation support for Analysis Services instances and databases.	You can define the default language and Windows collation for an Analysis Services instance, as well as defining translations for the properties of Analysis Services databases. To define the language and collation support for Analysis Services instances and databases: You can use SQL Server Management Studio to define the default language and collation for an Analysis Services instance. For more information, see Working with Languages and Collations (SSAS). You can use the Business Intelligence Development Studio to define the translations for the caption, description, and account types for an Analysis Services database. For more information, see Working with Translations (SSAS).
Define language and collation support for objects in an Analysis Services database.	Translations for data and metadata can be defined on an Analysis Services instance so that client applications can receive Analysis Services objects in a specified language and collation. To define and retrieve translated data and metadata: You can define translations on Analysis Services objects to support multiple languages. For more information, see Working with Translations (SSAS). You can retrieve data and metadata from Analysis Services objects on which translations have been defined automatically by providing a locale identifier when connecting to an Analysis Services instance. For more information, see Working with Client Applications (SSAS).
Provide support for multiple currencies in an Analysis Services database.	Analysis Services provides currency conversion support by using specialized Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) scripts to convert measures containing currency data. To provide support for multiple currencies in an Analysis Services database: You can use the Business Intelligence Wizard to generate an MDX script that uses a combination of data and metadata from dimensions, attributes, and measure groups to convert measures containing currency data. For more information, see Working with Currency Conversions (SSAS).

Define the language and collation support for Analysis Services instances and databases.

You can define the default language and Windows collation for an Analysis Services instance, as well as defining translations for the properties of Analysis Services databases.

To define the language and collation support for Analysis Services instances and databases:

You can use SQL Server Management Studio to define the default language and collation for an Analysis Services instance. For more information, see Working with Languages and Collations (SSAS).
You can use the Business Intelligence Development Studio to define the translations for the caption, description, and account types for an Analysis Services database. For more information, see Working with Translations (SSAS).

Define language and collation support for objects in an Analysis Services database.

Translations for data and metadata can be defined on an Analysis Services instance so that client applications can receive Analysis Services objects in a specified language and collation.

To define and retrieve translated data and metadata:

You can define translations on Analysis Services objects to support multiple languages. For more information, see Working with Translations (SSAS).
You can retrieve data and metadata from Analysis Services objects on which translations have been defined automatically by providing a locale identifier when connecting to an Analysis Services instance. For more information, see Working with Client Applications (SSAS).

Provide support for multiple currencies in an Analysis Services database.

Analysis Services provides currency conversion support by using specialized Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) scripts to convert measures containing currency data.

To provide support for multiple currencies in an Analysis Services database:

You can use the Business Intelligence Wizard to generate an MDX script that uses a combination of data and metadata from dimensions, attributes, and measure groups to convert measures containing currency data. For more information, see Working with Currency Conversions (SSAS).

In This Section

Topic	Description
Working with Languages and Collations (SSAS)	Describes how to specify default language and Windows collation for an Analysis Services instance, as well as how your choices affect data and metadata managed by Analysis Services.
Working with Translations (SSAS)	Describes how to define translations for an Analysis Services database and objects contained by the database, as well as how Analysis Services resolves requests for translated data and metadata from client applications.
Working with Currency Conversions (SSAS)	Describes how to define a currency conversion using the Business Intelligence Wizard.
Working with Client Applications (SSAS)	Describes the common issues encountered by client applications when working with multilingual and multicultural data and metadata in Analysis Services.

International Considerations for Analysis Services

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