Building custom dimension trees

• US 8,150,879 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2008
• Issued: 04/03/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Williamson, Eric J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones, Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mahmood, Rezwanul
• Application Number:
  US12/202,077
• Publication Number:
  US 20100057764A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,313 Days
• Field of Search: 707/600, 707/802, 707/999.003, 707/791, 707/805, 707/821, 707/829
• US Class Current: 707/791
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/242 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/283 Multi-dimensional databases or data warehouses, e.g. MOLAP or ROLAP

Abstract

A method and apparatus for creating custom dimension trees. The method may include receiving a user request to create a custom dimension tree, displaying a list of available dimensions, and receiving user selection of available dimensions from the list. The method may further include allowing the user to create virtual dimensions, mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions, and creating the custom dimension tree using the mapping. The custom dimension tree represents relationships between the virtual dimensions.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

presenting a reporting pyramid and indicators of a plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid, each level of the reporting pyramid being associated with a set of available dimensions corresponding to data attributes reflected in a format of a source database;

receiving, by a server computer system, a request of a first user to create a custom dimension tree, the request indicating a level of the plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid;

displaying a list of available dimensions at the requested level of the reporting pyramid;

receiving user selection of available dimensions from the list;

defining, based on user input, virtual dimensions based on additional data attributes not reflected in the format of the source database;

mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions; and

creating the custom dimension tree using the mapping, the custom dimension tree representing relationships between the virtual dimensions.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the displayed list of available dimensions includes dimensions inside dimension trees associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid, and individual dimensions associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the user request identifies an existing dimension tree; and

the displayed list of available dimensions includes dimensions inside the existing dimension tree.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein defining, based on user input, virtual dimensions comprises:

receiving user input specifying names of virtual dimensions; and

storing names of the virtual dimensions in a virtual dimension table.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions comprises:

receiving user input specifying one or more element criteria for each of the virtual dimensions; and

for each of the virtual dimensions, finding elements of the available dimensions that satisfy a corresponding element criteria, and mapping the found elements to a relevant virtual dimension in the virtual dimension table.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions comprises:

for each virtual dimension, receiving user input specifying which elements of the available dimensions are to be associated with a relevant virtual dimension; and

storing associations between the elements and the virtual dimensions based on the user input.

7. The method of claim 4 wherein creating the custom dimension tree comprises:

storing a name of the custom dimension tree with the names of the virtual dimensions in the virtual dimension table.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the custom dimension tree is available only to the first user.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the custom dimension tree is available to the first user and to one or more other users authorized by the first user.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

building a report based on the custom dimension tree.

11. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, coupled to the memory, to cause a custom tree builder to present a reporting pyramid and indicators of a plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid, each level of the reporting pyramid being associated with a set of available dimensions corresponding to data attributes reflected in a format of a source database, to receive a request of a first user to create a custom dimension tree, the request indicating a level of the plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid, to display a list of available dimensions at the requested level of the reporting pyramid, to receive user selection of available dimensions from the list, to define based on user input virtual dimensions, the virtual dimensions providing new relationships between data of the source database based on additional data attributes not reflected in the format of the source database, and to map elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions;

wherein the memory hosts a custom tree database, coupled to the custom tree builder, to store the custom dimension tree with mappings between the elements and the virtual dimensions, the custom dimension tree representing relationships between the virtual dimensions.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the displayed list of available dimensions includes dimensions inside dimension trees associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid, and individual dimensions associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein:

the user request identifies an existing dimension tree; and

the displayed list of available dimensions includes dimensions inside the existing dimension tree.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the custom tree builder is to map elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions by:

receiving user input specifying one or more element criteria for each of the virtual dimensions; and

for each of the virtual dimensions, finding elements of the available dimensions that satisfy a corresponding element criteria, and mapping the found elements to a relevant virtual dimension in the virtual dimension table.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the custom tree builder is to map elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions by:

for each virtual dimension, receiving user input specifying which elements of the available dimensions are to be associated with a relevant virtual dimension; and

storing associations between the elements and the virtual dimensions based on the user input.

16. The system of claim 11 further comprising a shared custom tree coordinator, coupled to the custom tree database, to make the custom dimension tree available to the first user and to one or more other users authorized by the first user.

17. The system of claim 11 further comprising a report builder, coupled to the custom tree database, to build a report based on the custom dimension tree.

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method comprising:

a reporting pyramid and indicators of a plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid, each level of the reporting pyramid being associated with a set of available dimensions corresponding to data attributes reflected in a format of a source database;

receiving, by a server computer system, a request of a first user to create a custom dimension tree, the request indicating a level of the plurality of levels of the reporting pyramid;

displaying a list of available dimensions at the requested level of the reporting pyramid;

receiving user selection of available dimensions from the list;

defining, based on user input, virtual dimensions based on additional data attributes not reflected in the format of the source database;

mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions; and

creating the custom dimension tree using the mapping, the custom dimension tree representing relationships between the virtual dimensions.

19. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein:

the displayed list of available dimensions includes dimensions inside dimension trees associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid, and individual dimensions associated with the identified level of the reporting pyramid.

20. The computer readable storage medium of claim 18 wherein mapping elements of the available dimensions to the virtual dimensions comprises:

receiving user input specifying one or more element criteria for each of the virtual dimensions; and

for each of the virtual dimensions, finding elements of the available dimensions that satisfy a corresponding element criteria, and mapping the found elements to a relevant virtual dimension in the virtual dimension table.