SQL Server Analysis Services 2005/2008 articles,blogs,scripts,FAQs,tools,books

Q: How can I get a list of Analysis Services databases on the server using XMLA?

A: You can use following XMLA discover command:

<Discover xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-analysis">
   <RequestType>DBSCHEMA_CATALOGS</RequestType>
   <Restrictions />
   <Properties />
</Discover>

To test this start Microsoft SQL Server Management Sudio, connect to Analysis Services server and from menu choose File->New->Analysis Services XMLA query. Paste above query and execute. 

Result from my PC:

<return xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-analysis">
  <root xmlns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-analysis:rowset" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <xsd:schema targetNamespace="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-analysis:rowset" xmlns:sql="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:xml-sql" elementFormDefault="qualified">
      <xsd:element name="root">
        <xsd:complexType>
          <xsd:sequence minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
            <xsd:element name="row" type="row" />
          </xsd:sequence>
        </xsd:complexType>
      </xsd:element>
      <xsd:simpleType name="uuid">
        <xsd:restriction base="xsd:string">
          <xsd:pattern value="[0-9a-zA-Z]{8}-[0-9a-zA-Z]{4}-[0-9a-zA-Z]{4}-[0-9a-zA-Z]{4}-[0-9a-zA-Z]{12}" />
        </xsd:restriction>
      </xsd:simpleType>
      <xsd:complexType name="xmlDocument">
        <xsd:sequence>
          <xsd:any />
        </xsd:sequence>
      </xsd:complexType>
      <xsd:complexType name="row">
        <xsd:sequence>
          <xsd:element sql:field="CATALOG_NAME" name="CATALOG_NAME" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" />
          <xsd:element sql:field="DESCRIPTION" name="DESCRIPTION" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" />
          <xsd:element sql:field="ROLES" name="ROLES" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" />
          <xsd:element sql:field="DATE_MODIFIED" name="DATE_MODIFIED" type="xsd:dateTime" minOccurs="0" />
        </xsd:sequence>
      </xsd:complexType>
    </xsd:schema>
    <row>
      <CATALOG_NAME>Adventure Works DW</CATALOG_NAME>
      <DESCRIPTION>A Unified Dimensional Model that encompasses the Adventure Works data warehouse.</DESCRIPTION>
      <ROLES>*</ROLES>
      <DATE_MODIFIED>2007-05-22T00:50:30</DATE_MODIFIED>
    </row>
    <row>
      <CATALOG_NAME>Analysis Services Project1</CATALOG_NAME>
      <DESCRIPTION />
      <DATE_MODIFIED>2007-05-21T01:34:14</DATE_MODIFIED>
    </row>
    <row>
      <CATALOG_NAME>VidasProject1</CATALOG_NAME>
      <DESCRIPTION />
      <DATE_MODIFIED>2007-05-17T02:45:29</DATE_MODIFIED>
    </row>
  </root>
</return>

This FAQ is based on Darren Gosbell blog entry.