Using a Subset of Data Without Changing Status

Sometimes you want to have an individual OLAP DML statement or expression work against a subset of data without actually changing the current status list of a dimension. To support this need, some OLAP DML statements allow you to specify the name of a previously-defined valueset object instead of the name of a dimension. Additionally, on-the-fly, you can specify the data subset that you want without changing the current status list of dimensions using one of the following:

• The CHGDIMS function which, during the evaluation of expression, changes the dimensionality of an expression or changes the dimension status.

• The LIMIT function which, during the evaluation of expression, returns the dimension or dimension surrogate values that result from a specified LIMIT command or a specified dimension status stack.

• Use a qualified data reference (QDR) which is a way of limiting one or more dimensions of an expression to a single value when you want to specify a single value of a data object without changing the current status.