Re: Normalization by Composing, not just Decomposing
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 2004 15:23:17 -0400
Message-ID: <_LednVPTGP1loOHdRVn-vg_at_comcast.com>
The terminology, by Kimball, refers to dimensional modeling. I would put
dimensional modeling on a par with ER modeling. It's abstract enough so
that it's not particularly tuned to any implementation.
A star schema is a dimensional model mapped into tables. This makes it easy
to imlpement in something like Oracle or DB2.
A cube is a dimensional model mapped into some kind of multidimensional
database system. Cognos powerplay is one example.
You can realize a dimensional model by building a cube, just as you can
realize an ER model by building a database.
However, it may be better to do the modeling first, then the building,
rather than the other way around, especially for large projects. But, at
first, we tend to do things backward. We learn how to program before we
learn how to design programs, and we learn ho to design programs before we
learn how to analyze requirements. Funny the way we think, huh?
Received on Tue Apr 13 2004 - 21:23:17 CEST