MDX Format Directive

A format string is defined by the following syntax:

format_string_expression = MdxFormat (string_value_expression)

where string_value_expression is a valid MDX string value expression as described in the MDX specification documented in the Oracle Essbase Technical Reference.

Most MDX expressions can be used to specify format strings; however, format strings cannot contain references to values of data cells other than the current cell value being formatted. The current cell value can be referenced using the MDX CellValue function.

Essbase treats members with invalid format strings as if there is no format string defined. Outlines can be saved with invalid format strings. Essbase generates a warning if a query consists of a member with an invalid format string.

If a member is not associated with a format string, default format rules are applied. The default format rules format a cell based on whether the measure is numeric, text, or date type. For numeric measures, the default formatted value is the text version of that number. For text measures, the default formatted value is the text value based on the associated text list object. For date values, the default format is a date string formatted according the date format string defined in the outline properties.