A Foundation for Multi-dimensional Databases

We present a multi-dimensional database model, which we believe can serve as a conceptual model for On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)-based applications. Apart from providing the functionalities necessary for OLAP-based applications, the main feature of the model we propose is a clear separation between structural aspects and the contents. This separation of concerns allows us to define data manipulation languages in a reasonably simple, transparent way. In particular, we show that the data cube operator can be expressed easily. Concretely, we define an algebra and a calculus and show them to be equivalent. We conclude by comparing our approach to related work. The conceptual multi-dimensional database model developed here is orthogonal to its implementation, which is not a subject of the present paper.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1997
• Where: VLDB
• Authors: Marc Gyssens, Laks V. S. Lakshmanan
• Keywords: Conceptual Model, Conceptual Multi-dimensional Database, Database, Multi-dimensional Database Model, VLDB 1997