Learning the art of sorting in Analysis Services

Second Day learning MDX and I have discovered that writing simple properly sorted queries in Analysis Services is a true art

For example, in using Adventure Works 2008R2 database, I am trying to bring Sales amount results from all Products Subcategories and Calendar Years in a descending order.  My query wasn’t bringing a true descending of the Sales Amount until I have added a break (‘bdesc ‘ instead of just ‘desc’) in the sorting. The results brought the content of the rows Products and Calendar Years out of order, but my Sales Amount was in a true descending order. (And this is what I wanted my results to look like).

Definitely knowing when to add a break to your sorting as well as where to position ‘order’ in the query truly determines the behavior and the results of your report.