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This white paper covers accuracy and precision considerations in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services. For example, it is possible to query Analysis Services with similar queries and obtain two different answers. While this appears to be a bug, it actually is due to the fact that Analysis Services caches query results and the imprecision that is associated with approximate data types. This white paper discusses how these issues manifest themselves, why they occur, and best practices to minimize their effect.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Scenario
 Scenario Preparation
 Test Scenario
Scenario Results
 Inconsistency
 Inaccuracy
 Imprecision
 Recreating the Test Scenario in SQL
 Illustrating the Problem
 Discussion
Potential Solutions
 Solving the Problem at the Data Source
 Solving the Problem with MDX
Conclusion
Appendix A
 Conversion of a Number
 Conversion in SQL Server
 Number Comparison Sample Code
Appendix B

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