Precision Considerations for Analysis Services Users

I noticed few discussions recently regarding Float data type and Accuracy.

(http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/alex_kuznetsov/archive/2007/10/26/when-sum-of-six-floats-depends-on-order-of-adding.aspx ,

http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/archive/2007/10/30/Are-floats-inaccurate-.aspx )

In this context, I’m happy to tell you about a new SSAS White Paper - Precision Considerations for Analysis Services Users.

This white paper covers accuracy and precision considerations in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. For example, it is possible to query Analysis Services with similar queries and obtain two different answers. While this appears to be a bug, it actually is due to the fact that Analysis Services caches query results and the imprecision that is associated with approximate data types. This white paper discusses how these issues manifest themselves, why they occur, and best practices to minimize their effect.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=bae8beec-9892-4ecd-a9db-292254895f9c&displaylang=en

Itay Braun                Premier Field Engineer - SQL Server                    Microsoft Services - UK

E-Mail: itayb@microsoft.com          Mobile: +44-796-928-9996       Blog: http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/thepremiers/

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