Might be worth exploring if other ways to connecting to OLAP is viable.

Possibly try using a jdbc replacement and configure either the database connector or write something in Java
http://www.matthewgodding.com/articles/2010/2/27/getting-data-from-sql-analysis-services-using-java-and-olap4.html

Or try making some R code instead:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/advanced-analytics/r/using-data-from-olap-cubes-in-r
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/26140753/connecting-to-a-ssas-cube-using-r

Thanks for your reply daniel, I'll take a look into the workarounds you have listed out for Omniscope Classic.

Hopefully Omniscope 3.0 would be able to accommodate for OLAP connectors internally, so that we won't have to continue to rely on making reports using workarounds.

I am also aware that PowerBI is able to report off SSAS Cubes as well, but PowerBI is primarily a visualisation tool and is not designed for ETL as Omniscope is. But, perhaps a combination of the tools may be necessary.

Thanks

Hi Alex/Daniel,

Thanks for your questions/comments. The OLAP connector in Omniscope classic is not ideal. We may develop an OLAP connector in Omniscope 3, however this is not currently planned in the short term.

With regards to the JDBC replacement, this is the method we use to extract data in Omniscope classic. It was selected at the time because it can be used to pull data from a variety of different OLAP vendors (Oracle, Microsoft etc). Unfortunately it does not work "out of the box" (the setup process is fairly complex involving linking with msmdpump.dll), and can be quite slow depending on the query. The only other option for pulling data from an OLAP server required developing a custom connector for each vendor using a lower-level API.

When/if we do develop an OLAP connector in Omniscope 3 we probably need to find a better solution than the MDX/JDBC route. It may be that we do need to develop custom connectors for separate vendors, or there may be another solution (possibly using R). In any case I don't think the development of a future OLAP connector will be straightforward and may take some time. We have therefore postponed the development of the connector until there is sufficient demand, and even if this demand exists we need to ensure that we can fulfill the requirements of all our users in a reasonable timescale.

If this is something you require urgently or would like to discuss further please feel free to contact us directly.

Chris

Hi Chris,

Will Microsoft R ( https://mran.microsoft.com/open/ ) be supported in Omniscope 3.0?

Thanks

Hi Alex,

We don't currently support Microsoft R but it's not too much work to do, I'll make sure we support it soon and get back to you when we do.

Dan

Hi Dan,

Thanks for your reply. Microsoft R will be useful; it's a prerequisite of the workaround in R that Daniel noted earlier.

Alex

Are you using SSAS to run some sort of dynamic query? If not and its mostly straightforward, you could get Microsoft R to to write out the results of the OLAP queries into a data file for Omniscope to pick up. Obviously it's adding an extra step but its just a thought or something to consider until it is supported properly.