SSAS 2012 cube browser - how can I create columns from dimensions?

Question

I am new to SSAS and created a cube in SSAS 2012.

When I look at the cube, I can easily define my sizes as rows, but how to add them as columns? In previous versions (I have access to a cube created in 2008), when you view a cube, you can drag and drop dimensions into columns or rows.

Did I misconfigure my cube?

Answer 1

In short: you can no longer, because this function is no longer available. According to Chris Webb :

The cube browser has now disappeared from the SSDT and is replaced by the control used by the SSRS query generator. This is because the old browser used OWC control, which was deprecated many years ago and finally had to be replaced; its a massive step backward because this control is really terrible: for example, you can no longer set anything other than column measures in your query.

You can confirm this by going into design mode and creating a simple MDX query with a measurement on the column axis:

SELECT [Geography].[Country].[Country] ON COLUMNS FROM [Adventure Works] 

If I run this request in SSAS browser, I get an error

The request failed: ... The first axis [should not] refer to any size other than the dimension "

Answer 2

I assume you mean the cube browser in BIDS / Visual Studio? This is usually a waste of time: it has poor functionality and regularly returns results that differ from other tools.

You will be better off using the same client tool that your end users use. Excel 2010/2013 is pretty good.