A Multidimensional and Multiversion Structure for OLAP Applications

Abstract

When changes occur on data organization, conventional multidimensional structures are not adapted because dimensions are supposed to be static. In many cases, especially when time covered by the data warehouse is large, dimensions of the hypercube must be redesigned in order to integrate evolutions. We propose an approach allowing to track history but also to compare data, mapped into static structures. We define a conceptual model building a Mutiversion Fact Table from the Temporal Multidimensional Schema and we introduce the notion of temporal modes of representation corresponding to different ways to analyze data and their evolution.