Re: Looking for data analysis tool

Mikael,

     I hope you don't mind if I post your e-mail reply to me.

> > It would help if you would describe the data you want to analyze.
>
> It shouldn't be neccessary, really, since we're looking for a general tool, and
> one that is fairly easy to reconfigure as we get new data fields to take into
> account.

     There's no such thing as a general analysis tool. Even among the offerings of vendors who sell suites, you have to choose among their tools.

> But since you're asking, it may be figures like: the size of the circulation
> in different areas (I'm working for a newspaper), the circulation for the
> different supplements, etc.

     Ah, sounds like a typical OLAP application, and not too large a DB either or too high a dimensionality. The market's fairly mature so you have a good number of tools to choose from. Why not prototype with something free, like Seagate Analysis (http://fetch.seagatesoftware.com/)?

> Our web department may want to use it to analyze the visitor stats and to get
> a view of which defective URL:s might need a check-up. I know there are
> specific tools for web stats but we want to be able to use the one and same, so
> that we won't have to learn how to administrate and program yet another one.

     Most people use Web-site log analysis tools for this purpose. Nigel P. or anyone else -- are any OLAP vendors offering modules yet to read Web-log files into pre-defined (i.e., vendor-defined) OLAP cubes?

                                      Seth
 

-- 
Seth Grimes   Alta Plana   database & Web / design & development
grimes_at_altaplana.com       http://altaplana.com    301-873-8225