The model manager: a multidimensional conceptual modeling tool in the CIM framework

• Main Author: Shakya, Dibesh
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2011
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/31715

Organizations of all sizes collect a vast quantity of data every year. A data warehouse facilitates strategic multidimensional analysis on these data, by providing a single integrated queryable interface for multiple heterogeneous data sources. However, this interface is at the logical level schema, which fails to take advantage of the fundamental concepts of multidimensional data analysis like facts, dimensions, hierarchies, etc. In this thesis, we discuss a conceptual modeling language from the Conceptual Integration Modeling framework that serves multidimensional data to the users at a much higher level of abstraction. We not only provide the formal semantics for the language, but we also supply conceptual models depicting real world data analysis scenarios. These models are backed up with rigorous mathematical definitions to dispel any ambiguity in their interpretation. We developed a fully functional graphical editor, called the Model manager, to enable users to draw conceptual models visually.