<s>
Business	B-Language
Intelligence	I-Language
Markup	I-Language
Language	I-Language
(	O
BIML	B-Language
)	O
is	O
a	O
domain-specific	O
XML	B-Protocol
dialect	O
for	O
defining	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
(	O
BI	O
)	O
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Biml	B-Language
authored	O
BI	O
assets	O
can	O
currently	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
BIDS	B-Application
Helper	I-Application
add-on	O
for	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
Business	B-Application
Intelligence	I-Application
Development	I-Application
Studio	I-Application
(	O
BIDS	O
)	O
and	O
the	O
Varigence	O
Mist	O
(	O
now	O
called	O
BimlStudio	O
)	O
integrated	B-Application
development	I-Application
environment	I-Application
;	O
both	O
tools	O
translate	O
Biml	B-Language
metadata	O
into	O
SQL	B-Application
Server	I-Application
Integration	I-Application
Services	I-Application
(	O
SSIS	O
)	O
and	O
SQL	B-Application
Server	I-Application
Analysis	I-Application
Services	I-Application
(	O
SSAS	O
)	O
assets	O
for	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Application
SQL	I-Application
Server	I-Application
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
emitters	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
to	O
compile	O
Biml	B-Language
for	O
any	O
desired	O
BI	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Biml	B-Language
’s	O
declarative	O
design	O
is	O
sufficient	O
to	O
author	O
BI	O
assets	O
,	O
BimlScript	B-Language
extends	O
the	O
language	O
by	O
enabling	O
authors	O
to	O
embed	O
C#	B-Application
or	O
VB.NET	B-Language
code	O
within	O
Biml	B-Language
,	O
similar	O
to	O
how	O
ASP.NET	B-Application
includes	O
.NET	O
code	O
within	O
static	O
HTML	B-Language
markup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BimlScript	B-Language
is	O
used	O
to	O
merge	O
changes	O
into	O
existing	O
Biml	B-Language
assets	O
,	O
automatically	O
generate	O
Biml	B-Language
code	O
,	O
and	O
apply	O
changes	O
across	O
multiple	O
Biml	B-Language
files	O
during	O
compilation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Biml	B-Language
is	O
an	O
XML	B-Protocol
dialect	O
that	O
specifies	O
all	O
aspects	O
of	O
a	O
BI	O
solution	O
,	O
including	O
relational	O
models	O
,	O
data	O
transformation	O
packages	O
,	O
multi-dimensional	O
models	O
,	O
and	O
tabular	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unlike	O
other	O
BI	O
solutions	O
,	O
Biml	B-Language
has	O
a	O
"	O
write	O
once	O
,	O
target	O
any	O
platform	O
"	O
philosophy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
enables	O
Biml	B-Language
users	O
to	O
switch	O
their	O
target	O
platform	O
without	O
needing	O
to	O
change	O
their	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Currently	O
,	O
Biml	B-Language
targets	O
SQL	O
Server	O
versions	O
2005	O
,	O
2008	O
,	O
2008	O
R2	O
,	O
2012	O
and	O
2014	O
,	O
emitting	O
SSIS	B-Application
packages	I-Application
and	O
SSAS	O
cubes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Biml	B-Language
is	O
XML	B-Protocol
,	O
it	O
can	O
leverage	O
the	O
vast	O
ecosystem	O
of	O
tools	O
for	O
XML	B-Protocol
based	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
late	O
2009	O
,	O
Biml	B-Language
was	O
extended	O
with	O
BimlScript	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
BimlScript	B-Language
allows	O
C#	B-Application
or	O
VB.NET	B-Language
code	O
nuggets	O
to	O
be	O
embedded	O
directly	O
within	O
Biml	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
BimlScript	B-Language
's	O
goal	O
is	O
to	O
automate	O
repetitive	O
work	O
in	O
reusable	O
scripts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BimlScript	B-Language
is	O
also	O
used	O
to	O
take	O
metadata	O
from	O
various	O
sources	O
(	O
relational	O
database	O
structure	O
,	O
relational	O
data	O
,	O
flat	O
files	O
,	O
annotations	O
,	O
etc	O
...	O
)	O
and	O
automatically	O
generate	O
Biml	B-Language
code	O
from	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mist	O
is	O
an	O
IDE	O
for	O
authoring	O
Biml	B-Language
code	O
and	O
building	O
BI	O
assets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mist	O
leverages	O
visual	O
design	O
capabilities	O
and	O
debugging	O
features	O
to	O
simultaneously	O
edit	O
entire	O
business	B-General_Concept
intelligence	I-General_Concept
models	O
,	O
including	O
relational	O
tables	O
,	O
SSIS	B-Application
packages	I-Application
,	O
and	O
cubes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
Biml	B-Language
’s	O
popularity	O
has	O
grown	O
,	O
key	O
portions	O
of	O
the	O
Biml	B-Language
engine	O
,	O
including	O
dynamic	O
package	O
generation	O
,	O
have	O
been	O
contributed	O
to	O
the	O
open	O
source	O
project	O
hosted	O
on	O
CodePlex	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
is	O
a	O
community	O
website	O
for	O
developing	O
and	O
sharing	O
Biml	B-Language
solutions	O
to	O
BI	O
problems	O
,	O
and	O
contributing	O
Biml	B-Language
content	O
to	O
share	O
with	O
others	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Along	O
with	O
tutorials	O
,	O
walkthroughs	O
,	O
and	O
videos	O
,	O
the	O
site	O
provides	O
an	O
online	O
Biml	B-Language
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Biml	B-Language
files	O
are	O
compiled	O
to	O
produce	O
BI	O
assets	O
for	O
a	O
chosen	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Biml	B-Language
has	O
a	O
syntax	O
that	O
’s	O
common	O
to	O
all	O
XML	B-Protocol
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Biml	B-Language
has	O
a	O
well-defined	O
set	O
of	O
root	O
types	O
,	O
indicating	O
the	O
various	O
kinds	O
of	O
BI	O
assets	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
created	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
the	O
AdventureWorks	O
DimCurrency	O
table	O
,	O
authored	O
in	O
Biml	B-Language
:	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
BimlScript	B-Language
tags	O
begin	O
and	O
end	O
with	O
<# and #>	O
delimiters	O
,	O
respectively	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Special	O
types	O
of	O
BimlScript	B-Language
tags	O
use	O
augmented	O
versions	O
of	O
these	O
delimiters	O
,	O
to	O
indicate	O
specific	O
usages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Biml	B-Language
file	O
,	O
with	O
BimlScript	B-Language
,	O
begins	O
with	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
directive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Directives	O
provide	O
instructions	O
to	O
the	O
Biml	B-Language
engine	O
,	O
regarding	O
how	O
to	O
process	O
the	O
BimlScript	B-Language
and	O
generate	O
its	O
Biml	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
directive	O
indicates	O
that	O
the	O
file	O
's	O
BimlScript	B-Language
uses	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
programming	O
language	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
functionally	O
equivalent	O
to	O
the	O
C#	B-Application
using	O
statement	O
or	O
VB.NET	B-Language
Imports	O
statement	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
authoring	O
BimlScript	B-Language
,	O
additional	O
delimiters	O
may	O
be	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Delimiter	O
Description	O
<	O
#	O
Defines	O
statements	O
,	O
in	O
.NET	O
code	O
,	O
that	O
provide	O
control	O
flow	O
in	O
a	O
Biml	B-Language
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
<#=	O
Evaluates	O
.NET	O
code	O
,	O
converts	O
it	O
to	O
a	O
string	O
,	O
and	O
then	O
embeds	O
it	O
in	O
the	O
Biml	B-Language
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
<	O
#+	O
Defines	O
properties	O
,	O
methods	O
,	O
and	O
files	O
that	O
are	O
excluded	O
from	O
the	O
Biml	B-Language
file	O
but	O
may	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
other	O
BimlScript	B-Language
code	O
nuggets	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
BimlScript	B-Language
example	O
imports	O
a	O
database	O
's	O
assets	O
via	O
a	O
connection	O
,	O
declared	O
in	O
a	O
separate	O
file	O
,	O
named	O
"	O
AdventureWorksLT	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
example	O
shows	O
how	O
developers	O
can	O
use	O
Biml	B-Language
and	O
BimlScript	B-Language
to	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Import	O
the	O
assets	O
and	O
convert	O
them	O
to	O
Biml	B-Language
using	O
only	O
two	O
simple	O
lines	O
of	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
