Do you know the difference between dimensional modeling truth and fiction? According to Merriam-Webster, fables are fictitious statements. Unfortunately, fables about dimensional modeling circulate throughout our industry. These false claims and assertions are a distraction, especially if you’re trying to align a team. In this column, we’ll describe the root misunderstandings that perpetuate these myths so […]

The Kimball bus architecture and the Corporate Information Factory: What are the fundamental differences? Based on recent inquiries, many of you are in the midst of architecting (or rearchitecting) your data warehouse. There’s no dispute that planning your data warehouse from an enterprise perspective is a good idea, but do you need an enterprise data […]

Virtually every fact table has one or more time related dimension foreign keys. Measurements are defined at specific points of time and most measurements are repeated over time. The most common and useful time dimension is the calendar date dimension with the granularity of a single day. This dimension has surprisingly many attributes. Only a few of […]

I worked at a company called Metaphor back in the early 1980s. As part of a startup software company introducing then-cutting-edge concepts (such as folders, file drawers, and workflows on a graphical electronic desktop), I appreciated the benefits of using metaphors to represent seemingly complex concepts. Effective verbal and visual metaphors are able to convert complexity into […]