Changing the Default Looping Behavior of Statements

By default, statements loop through the values of a dimensioned object using the order in which the dimensions of the object are listed in the definition of the object. Also, when a variable is dimensioned by a composite, most looping statements loop through the variable as though it was not dimensioned by a composite, but was, instead, dimensioned by the base dimensions of the composite.

The OLAP DML provides ways for you to change the default looping behavior or to explicitly request looping:

• ACROSS phrase—Some looping command (such as assignment statements that you use to assign values) have an ACROSS phrase that you can use to specify nondefault looping behavior. For detailed documentation of the ACROSS phrase, see the SET (=) command.

• ACROSS command—When an OLAP DML statement is not a looping statement or does not include an ACROSS phrase, you can request looping behavior by coding the DML statement as an argument of the ACROSS command.