null and zero values

There are four types of data that can be saved in a cube: null values, zero values, non-zero values and strings. A cell that has a null value is empty. A cell with a zero value contains the figure 0. This is significant because zero can be used in calculations but null cannot. In no circumstances are null values and zero values the same thing. A common feature of multidimensional databases is that they can be hypersparse. That is, no values exist for many combinations of elements. In a product dimension, for example, this might happen if a product is introduced or discontinued part-way through a year. Both null and zero values in reports can be suppressed by using filters.