Editing Online analytical processing (section)

==APIs and query languages==
Unlike [[relational databases]], which had SQL as the standard query language, and widespread [[Application programming interface|API]]s such as [[ODBC]], [[JDBC]] and [[OLEDB]], there was no such unification in the OLAP world for a long time. The first real standard API was [[OLE DB for OLAP]] specification from [[Microsoft]] which appeared in 1997 and introduced the [[Multidimensional Expressions|MDX]] query language. Several OLAP vendors – both server and client – adopted it. In 2001 Microsoft and [[Hyperion Solutions Corporation|Hyperion]] announced the [[XML for Analysis]] specification, which was endorsed by most of the OLAP vendors. Since this also used MDX as a query language, MDX became the de facto standard.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.olapreport.com/Comment_APIs.htm |title=Commentary: OLAP API wars |publisher=OLAP Report |author=Nigel Pendse |date=2007-08-23 |access-date=2008-03-18 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528220113/http://www.olapreport.com/Comment_APIs.htm |archive-date=May 28, 2008 }}</ref>
Since September-2011 [[LINQ]] can be used to query [[Microsoft Analysis Services|SSAS]] OLAP cubes from Microsoft .NET.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.agiledesignllc.com/Products|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929151255/http://www.agiledesignllc.com/Products|url-status=usurped|archive-date=September 29, 2011|title=SSAS Entity Framework Provider for LINQ to SSAS OLAP}}</ref>