ONLINE MODIFICATIONS OF DIMENSION STRUCTURES IN MULTIDIMENSIONAL PROCESSING

摘要

A method/operator is disclosed that modifies dimension structures and relations during processing in a multidimensional data cube. The online "blowup" operator disclosed uses one or more hierarchical structures to expand a hypercube in order to reveal internal connections between attributes in relations associated with the hypercube. The operator is generic and may be applied to any dimension using hierarchical structures to guide the process. Furthermore, it is applicable to any data warehouse design. The methods enable a user, performing multidimensional analysis, to view, online, internal connections between attributes when going from one level to another in the hierarchical structures. Such as when comparing complex health related statistics for individuals across different age periods or for individuals versus their ancestors. The methods disclosed, facilitate OLAP for more complex data than current designs do.