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33.1 Discuss what Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) represents.
OLAP is a term that describes a technology that uses a multi-dimensional view of aggregate
33.2 Discuss the relationship between data warehousing and OLAP.
In the past few years, relational DBMS vendors have targeted the data warehousing market
and have promoted their systems as tools for building data warehouses. A data warehouse
33.3 Describe OLAP applications and identify the characteristics of such applications.
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Table 33.1 Examples of OLAP applications in various functional areas.
Functional area Examples of OLAP applications
Finance Budgeting, activity-based costing, financial performance analysis, and financial
modeling
An essential requirement of all OLAP applications is the ability to provide users with JIT
directions. JIT information is computed data that usually reflects complex relationships and is
33.4 Describe the characteristics of multi-dimensional data and how this data can be represented.
33.5 OLAP tools.
In 1993, E.F. Codd formulated twelve rules as the basis for selecting OLAP tools. The publication of
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Table 33.2
1. Multi-dimensional conceptual view
5. Client server architecture
9. Unrestricted cross-dimensional operations
33.6 Describe the architecture, characteristics, and issues associated with each of the following
categories of OLAP tools:
(a) MOLAP
34.7 Discuss how OLAP functionality is provided by the ROLLUP and CUBE functions of the SQL
standard.
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ROLLUP supports calculations using aggregations such as SUM, COUNT, MAX, MIN, and
33.8 Discuss how OLAP functionality is provided by elementary operators such as moving windows
and ranking functions of the SQL standard.
The Elementary OLAP operators of the OLAP package of the SQL standard supports a variety
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Exercises
33.9 You are asked by the Managing Director of DreamHome to investigate and report on the
applicability of OLAP for the organization. The report should describe the technology and provide a
comparison with traditional querying and reporting tools of relational DBMSs. The report should
33.10 Investigate whether your organization (such as your University/College or workplace) has invested
in OLAP technologies and if yes whether the OLAP tool(s) forms part of a larger investment in