A dynamic subset is one which is not a fixed, static, list but instead it is based on a query which is re-evaluated every time the subset is used. In fact, MDX could be used to create a static subset and an example is shown below, but this unlikely to be useful or common.

Some examples of useful dynamic subsets might be a list of all base-level products; a list of our Top 10 customers by gross margin; a list of overdue supply shipments; all cost centres who have not yet submitted their budget. The point is, these lists (subsets) may vary from second to second based on the structure or data in TM1. For example, as soon as a new branch is added to Europe, the European Branches subset will immediately contain this new branch, without any manual intervention needed.

MDX is the query language used to define these subsets. MDX is an industry-standard query language for multi-dimensional databases like TM1, although TM1 only supports a certain subset (excuse the pun) of the entire language and adds in a few unique features of its own as well. When you define a subset using MDX instead of a standard subset, TM1 stores this definition rather than the resulting set. This means the definition – or query – is re-run every time you look at it – without the user or administrator needing to do anything at all. If the database has changed in some way then you may get different results from the last time you used it. For example, if a subset is defined as being “the children of West Coast Branches” and this initially returns “Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego” when it is first defined, it may later return “Oakland, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles” once LA has been added into the dimension as a child of West Coast Branches. This is what we mean by “dynamic” – the result changes. Another reason that can cause the subset to change is when it is based on the values within a cube or attribute. Every day in the newspaper the biggest stock market movers are listed, such as a top 10 in terms of share price rise. In a TM1 model this would be a subset looking at a share price change measure and clearly would be likely to return a different set of 10 members every day. The best part is that the subset will update its results automatically without any work needed on the part of a user.