Cubes & coordinates

A cube is a multidimensional spreadsheet. Where Excel has one sheet with arbitrary cells, a cube has structure: every cell sits at the intersection of well-defined dimension items — for example Revenue × France × Jan 2026.

The cube grid: row and column dimension items form the axes; every cell value sits at a precise coordinate.

Coordinates

A cube is defined by the dimensions attached to it. To read or write a value you specify one item from each dimension — that tuple is the cell's coordinate. There are no free-floating cells: if a coordinate isn't a valid combination of items, it doesn't exist.

This is why a tool reading cube data must walk the dimension items rather than guess codes. Use get_cube_structure to discover each dimension and its items, then pass exact item codes to get_cube_data.

Why it matters

Because the structure is explicit, formulas can reference items by name, totals roll up automatically, and the same data can be sliced along different axes without copying it. See Dimensions and Formulas.