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Tag Archives: #dimensional-model

  • tattoo work by Keith Killingsworth source http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tattoos.jpg

    So in the comments on a recent post on Risk Driven Architecture, Jamie Thomson asked whether the problems associated with change can be mitigated by using views. I firmly believe that views can help but unfortunately not enough to save you from clients that connect directly with Analysis Services cubes.

    So it got me thinking about a similar mitigation for cubes. Unfortunately nothing came to mind apart from an analogy:

    Dimensional models are like tattoos – you have to live with them for a long time

    Why you might ask? Well you can add to them, maybe fill in some extra colour but basically once you’ve committed to you are stuck with them because every spread sheet and report using your model will need fixing if you try to remove something. Like tattoos, you can remove them but its going to be painful and cost a lot of money.

    I don’t have any tattoos (not because I don’t like them, I just can’t decide on one that I’d have to live with for so long). However I’ve heard plenty of guidance about taking your time before committing – one of the best techniques is to simply draw your new tattoo with a Sharpie and try it on for size for a while.

    How does this help with dimensional models? Well the same techniques apply. Try a new model on for size, especially if you can arrange it for the new model to fade like the Sharpie as time passes which automatically limits client usage. Maybe process the cube manually for a while – your users will soon tell you if the data is useful. This fits with an agile approach too - only put measures and attributes in the cube if you need them and don’t add stuff in the hope that it will be used productively.

    This entry was posted in business-intelligence  and tagged #dimensional-model  on .
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  • For this week’s post I want to continue the sample solution. Even though I’m going to be as agile as possible we still need to have a rough idea of a roadmap and the best way to do that is with a dimensional model.

    Each business process we want to model is represented as a fact on columns. They are all to be stored at the transactional grain except possibly admissions. The conformed dimensions are listed on rows with the facts they are related to.

    ReferralAssessmentTreatmentDischargeComplaintIncidentAdmission
    Date
    Diagnosis
    Health Professional
    Patient
    Referrer
    Service (Tier)
    Time
    Treatment Outcome
    Clinic

    It is interesting to note that this is a very patient focused model since that dimension is related to every fact. There are some unanswered questions within the model though:

    • How do we represent treatment outcomes? Is there a standard method? Can this be represented in a single dimension?
    • What grain are admissions? Given the goal of calculating ‘bed days’ we might need to model them as events in progress.

    I think we have enough to make a start and I don’t think we will deliver faster if we stop to resolve these issues first. Initially I’m going to concentrate on referrals, assessments and discharges since the number of patients in the system is one of the most useful metrics to monitor.

    This entry was posted in sample-solution  and tagged #dimensional-model #mental-health #mental-health-project  on .
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  • Whilst researching the previous article I came across this link on Acronyms and Ubiquitous Language. It is well worth reading as everything discussed also applies to dimensional models. There is one quote that I want to reprint from the .NET Framework General Naming Conventions:

    Do not use any acronyms that are not widely accepted, and then only when necessary.

    Your business users should be able to point Excel (or whatever tool you are using) at a dimensional model and intuitively know what the measures, dimensions and attributes are because they describe the business your users work in. Since acronyms obfuscate meaning they don’t belong in dimensional models.

    The only time I generally relax this rule is when both the following are true:

    • All business users know the meaning of the acronym
    • The expanded version is so long that it becomes unwieldy
    This entry was posted in business-intelligence  and tagged #dimensional-model #domain-driven-design #naming-conventions #ubiquitous-language  on .
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