Support Level for Named Levels

The OLE DB for OLAP algorithm for generating column names for the flattened dataset relies on the fact that levels can be named. However, some data stores do not support named levels. For such data stores, providers can use the following methods:

• They can generate dummy names for the tree levels they possess. This means that the column names in the set L described in Flattening Algorithm contain dummy names generated by the provider.

• They can generate set L so that there is one column per dimension, as opposed to one column per level.

• They can choose not to support flattening.

Of these three options, it is strongly recommended that the provider support the dummy name method. This makes the provider accessible to a larger class of applications.

Which of these options a provider chooses can be determined by the value of the MDPROP_FLATTENING_SUPPORT property in the DBPROPSET_DATASOURCEINFO property set.