Automatically Generating Structural and Dynamic Information of OLAP Applications from Object-Oriented Conceptual Models

Abstract

Graphical conceptual models for On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) applications should semi-automatically generate the database schema and the corresponding multidimensional (MD) model for a specific target commercial OLAP tool. However, this generation process is not immediate as the semantics represented by these conceptual models are different from those considered by the underlying MD models of OLAP tools. Therefore, some transformations for these differences are needed in this process. In the context of graphical conceptual models, we provide an object-oriented conceptual model that provides a Unified Modeling Language (UML) graphical notation to represent both structural and dynamics properties of MD models and initial user requirements at the conceptual level. In this paper, on one hand, we present how to semi-automatically generate the database schema and the underlying MD model for one of the most leading commercial OLAP tools from our model. In this process, some semantics represented in the model are transformed into those considered by the underlying MD model of the target OLAP tool. On the other hand, initial user requirements are translated into their corresponding definitions in the target OLAP tool. In this way, the final user is able to start the analysis process from the initial requirements specified at the conceptual level. Finally, we present the prototype of the Computer Aided Software Engineering (CASE) tool that gives support to both the model definition and this generation process.