Hypergraph-based multidimensional data modeling towards on-demand business analysis by Duong Thi Anh Hoang, Torsten Priebe and A. Min Tjoa. (Proceeding iiWAS ’11 Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Information Integration and Web-based Applications and Services Pages 36-43 )
Abstract:
In the last few years, web-based environments have witnessed the emergence of new types of on-demand business analysis that facilitate complex and integrated analytical information from multidimensional databases. In these on-demand environments, users of business intelligence architectures can have very different reporting and analytical needs, requiring much greater flexibility and adaptability of today’s multidimensional data modeling. While structured data models for OLAP have been studied in detail, a majority of current approaches has not put its focus on the dynamic aspect of the multidimensional design and/or semantic enriched impact model. Within the scope of this paper, we present a flexible approach to model multidimensional databases in the context of dynamic web-based analysis and adaptive users’ requirements. The introduced formal approach is based on hypergraphs with the ability to provide formal constructs specifying the different types of multidimensional elements and relationships which enable the support of highly customized business analysis. The introduced hypergraphs are used to formally define the semantics of multidimensional models with unstructured ad-hoc analytic activities. The proposed model also supports a formal representation of advanced concepts like dynamic hierarchies, many-to-many associations, additivity constraints etc. Some scenario example are also provided to motivate and illustrate the proposed approach.
If you like illustrations of technologies with examples from the banking industry, this is the paper on hypergraphs for you.
Besides, banks are where they keep the money. 😉
Seriously, a very well illustrated introduction to the use of hypergraphs and multidimensional data modeling, plus why multidimensional data models matter to clients. (Another place where they keep money.)