Modify How a Measure Is Aggregated

You might want a measure in a relational data source to use a different aggregation method than the default method. For example, your data source includes a measure named Unit Cost that uses the sum aggregation method. You want to use the maximum aggregation method instead.

To change the aggregation method of a measure in a relational data source, complete these steps:

Select DataSummarization Options to open the Summarization Options dialog box.
In the Aggregation drop-down list that is next to the name of the measure that you want to change, select a new aggregation method.

Note: Your data source administrator determines whether you can change the aggregation method.

Summarization Options Dialog Box
Click OK.
(Optional) Change the name of the measure to better reflect the new aggregation method. For example, you could change Customer Spend to Average of Customer Spending. For more information, see Rename a Standard Data Item.

Tip

Sometimes changing how a measure is aggregated can give you a different view of the underlying data. For example, the measure Supplier IDs contains one unique ID for each supplier. The default aggregation method for Supplier IDs is sum. If you change the aggregation method to count, the query returns a numerical value that represents the number of suppliers. In this case, you would change the name of the measure to something more appropriate, such as Number of Suppliers. For more information, see Rename a Standard Data Item.

Note: For multidimensional data sources, records are always grouped and the aggregation method of a measure cannot be changed.