PROPERTIES Rowset

The PROPERTIES rowset contains information about the available properties for each level of the dimension. The assumption here is that each level defines a class of members. The properties of all members in this class are the same. For a data source that does not support named levels, there is a dummy level that includes all the members in the dimension. The name of this level is the same as the name of the dimension.

The PROPERTIES rowset also contains all available properties for cells in a dataset. Because every provider is going to have at least three properties (the VALUE, FORMATTED_VALUE, and CELL_ORDINAL properties of a cell), the PROPERTIES rowset always has at least three rows. Consumers can distinguish between member properties and cell properties by looking at the PROPERTY_TYPE column. Note that a property can be both a member property and a cell property. Consumers can retrieve only the member property, only the cell property, or both, by restricting the PROPERTY_TYPE field of this rowset.

Column name Type indicator Description
CATALOG_NAME DBTYPE_WSTR The name of the catalog to which this property belongs. NULL if the provider does not support catalogs.
SCHEMA_NAME DBTYPE_WSTR The name of the schema to which this property belongs. NULL if the provider does not support schemas.
CUBE_NAME DBTYPE_WSTR Name of the cube to which this property belongs.
DIMENSION_UNIQUE_
NAME		 DBTYPE_WSTR Unique name of the dimension. For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each component of this name is delimited.
HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_
NAME		 DBTYPE_WSTR Unique name of the hierarchy. For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each component of this name is delimited.
LEVEL_UNIQUE_
NAME		 DBTYPE_WSTR Unique name of the level to which this property belongs. If the provider does not support named levels, then it should return the DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME value for this field. For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each component of this name is delimited.
MEMBER_UNIQUE_
NAME		 DBTYPE_WSTR This is used for data sources that do not support named levels or have properties on a member-by-member basis. This contains the unique name of the member to which the property belongs. If the property applies to all members in a level, then this is NULL. For providers that generate unique names by qualification, each component of this name is delimited.
PROPERTY_TYPE DBTYPE_I2 The following bit masks are used to describe the property type:
  • MDPROP_MEMBER, which indicates that this is a property of a member. Can be used in the DIMENSION PROPERTIES clause of the SELECT list.

  • MDPROP_CELL, which indicates that this is a property of the cell. Can be used in the CELL PROPERTIES clause that occurs at the end of the SELECT statement.
PROPERTY_NAME DBTYPE_WSTR Name of the property.
PROPERTY_CAPTION DBTYPE_WSTR A label or a caption associated with the property. Used primarily for display purposes. If a caption does not exist, PROPERTY_NAME is returned. .
DATA_TYPE DBTYPE_UI2 Data type of the property. Can be any of the types listed in Appendix A of the OLE DB Programmer's Reference.
CHARACTER_
MAXIMUM_LENGTH		 DBTYPE_UI4 The maximum possible length of a value in this property. For character, binary, and bit properties, this is one of the following:
  • The maximum length of the property in characters, bytes, or bits, respectively, if one is defined.

  • Zero (0) if there is no defined maximum length.

  • NULL for all other properties.
CHARACTER_OCTET_
LENGTH		 DBTYPE_UI4 Maximum length in octets (bytes) of the property, if the type of the property is either character or binary. A value of 0 means that the property has no defined maximum length. NULL for all other property types.
NUMERIC_PRECISION DBTYPE_UI2 If the property object’s data is numeric, this is the maximum precision of the property. NULL for all other property types.
NUMERIC_SCALE DBTYPE_I2 If the property object’s type indicator is DBTYPE_NUMERIC or DBTYPE_DECIMAL, this is the number of digits to the right of the decimal point. Otherwise, this is NULL.
DESCRIPTION DBTYPE_WSTR A human-readable description of the property. NULL if no description exists.

The default sort order is: PROPERTY_TYPE, CATALOG_NAME, SCHEMA_NAME, CUBE_NAME, DIMENSION_UNIQUE_NAME, HIERARCHY_UNIQUE_NAME, and LEVEL_UNIQUE_NAME.