DATA WAREHOUSE DATA MODEL ADAPTERS

• US 20120054249A1
• Filed: 08/25/2010
• Published: 03/01/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Batra, Vishal Singh, Bhide, Manish Anand, Mohania, Mukesh Kumar, Negi, Sumit
• Granted Patent: US 9,542,469 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/803
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP

Abstract

In the context of data administration in enterprises, an effective manner of providing a central data warehouse, particularly via employing a tool that helps by analyzing existing data and reports from different business units. In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, such a tool analyzes the data model of an enterprise and proposes alternatives for building a new data warehouse. The tool, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, models the problem of identifying fact/dimension attributes of a warehouse model as a graph cut on a Dependency Analysis Graph (DAG). The DAG is built using existing data models and the report generation scripts. The tool also uses the DAG for generation of ETL (Extract, Transform Load) scripts that can be used to populate the newly proposed data warehouse from data present in the existing schemas.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

assimilating scripts which generate reports, the scripts relating to preexisting base tables; and

developing a schema for a new data warehouse, said developing comprising;

finding base tables to form a fact table in the new data warehouse;

finding base tables to form dimensions in the new data warehouse; and

generating scripts for populating the new data warehouse.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising ensuring adherence to predetermined design criteria.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising merging like attributes from different base tables.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating comprises referring to base tables.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said finding of base tables to form a fact table comprises scanning a report-generating query to identify attributes on which aggregate operation is defined.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said scanning comprises identifying a direct projection attribute and an indirect projection attribute.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein said scanning comprises employing a dependency analysis graph which represents the report-generating query.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein said finding of base tables to form a fact table comprises ascertaining a need for multiple fact tables in the new data warehouse.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said finding of base tables to form dimensions comprises identifying a set of all attributes which are used in a group by clause of a report-generating query.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said finding of base tables to form dimensions comprises determining candidate dimension tables and ascertaining a potential hierarchy among the candidate dimension tables.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein said generating comprises determining a granularity for a fact table in the new data warehouse.

12. An apparatus comprising:

one or more processors; and

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith and executable by the one or more processors, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to assimilate scripts which generate reports, the scripts relating to preexisting base tables; and

computer readable program code configured to develop a schema for a new data warehouse via;

finding base tables to form a fact table in the new data warehouse;

finding base tables to form dimensions in the new data warehouse; and

generating scripts for populating the new data warehouse.

13. A computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to assimilate scripts which generate reports, the scripts relating to preexisting base tables; and

computer readable program code configured to develop a schema for a new data warehouse via;

finding base tables to form a fact table in the new data warehouse;

finding base tables to form dimensions in the new data warehouse; and

generating scripts for populating the new data warehouse.

14. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is further configured to ensure adherence to predetermined design criteria.

15. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is further configured to merge like attributes from different base tables.

16. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to refer to base tables in generating scripts for populating the new data warehouse.

17. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to scan a report-generating query to identify attributes on which aggregate operation is defined.

18. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to identify a direct projection attribute and an indirect projection attribute.

19. The computer program product according to claim 17, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to employ a dependency analysis graph which represents the report-generating query.

20. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to ascertain a need for multiple fact tables in the new data warehouse.

21. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to identify a set of all attributes which are used in a group by clause of a report-generating query.

22. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to determine candidate dimension tables and ascertain a potential hierarchy among the candidate dimension tables.

23. The computer program product according to claim 13, wherein said computer readable program code is configured to determine a granularity for a fact table in the new data warehouse.