This glossary defines terms that are used in this book and throughout
the IBM DB2 OLAP Server library.
- accounts dimension
- A dimension type that makes
accounting intelligence available. You can tag one dimension as an accounts
dimension, but an accounts dimension is not required.
- administrator
- A person who is responsible for installing
and maintaining DB2 OLAP Server and for setting up user accounts and security.
- agent
- A process that starts and stops
applications and databases, manages connections from users, and handles user-access
security.
- alias ID table
- A table created by DB2 OLAP Server in your
relational database that contains a mapping of multidimensional alias table
names to ID numbers allocated by DB2 OLAP Server.
- alias ID view
- A view created by DB2 OLAP Server in your
relational database that contains one row for each multidimensional alias
table used with a relational cube. There is one alias ID view for each relational
cube.
- alias name
- An alternate name for a dimension or
member.
- anchor dimension
- A dense dimension that
is specified as the dimension that DB2 OLAP Server uses to help define the structure
of the fact table it creates in the relational cube for a multidimensional
database.
- API
- Application programming interface. The DB2 OLAP Server API
is a library of functions that you can use in a custom C or Visual Basic program
to access DB2 OLAP Server.
- Application Manager
- A tool that you can use to
create and maintain OLAP applications.
- block
- A string of data elements recorded or transmitted
as a unit.
- cache
- A component of memory. Each multidimensional
database contains a data cache and an index cache.
- calculation
- An equation within a database outline,
a calculation script, or a report script that calculates a value for a particular
member or point in a report.
- calculation script
- A text file that contains instructions
to perform calculations within a multidimensional database. Also called a
calc script.
- Commit Block parameter
- A parameter on the Transaction
page of the Database Settings notebook in the Application Manager that you
use to set the number of blocks that can be changed before DB2 OLAP Server commits
the blocks.
- cube catalog table
- A table that DB2 OLAP Server creates
in your relational database that contains a list of all the multidimensional
databases that are stored in your relational database. The cube catalog table
also shows the application with which each cube is associated. Each time that
you create a multidimensional database, DB2 OLAP Server creates a new row in this table.
- cube catalog view
- A view that DB2 OLAP Server creates in
your relational database that allows an SQL user to access a list of OLAP
applications and relational cubes.
- cube table
- A table that DB2 OLAP Server creates in your
relational database that contains a list of dimensions in a relational cube
and information about each dimension.
- cube view
- A view that DB2 OLAP Server creates in your relational
database that allows an SQL user to access the names of all dimensions in
a relational cube and associated information for each dimension. There is
one cube view for each relational cube in your relational database.
- data load
- The process of populating a
multidimensional database with data. Loading data establishes actual values
for the values of the cells defined in the database outline for the database.
- data load rules
- A set of operations that DB2 OLAP Server performs
on data as it is loaded from an external source file.
- database administrator
- A person responsible for
administering a relational database.
- database log file
- A set of primary and
secondary log files consisting of log records that record all changes to a
database. The database log file is used to roll back changes for units of
work that are not committed and to recover a database to a consistent state.
- database managed space (DMS)
- Space in a table that
is managed by the database.
- database name
- The name of the relational database
where you want DB2 OLAP Server to store your multidimensional data.
- database outline
- The structure that defines all
elements of a database within DB2 OLAP Server. It contains definitions of dimensions
and members, dense or sparse dimension tags and attributes, the anchor dimension
attribute, calculations, shared members, and alternations to the basic roll-up
structure of the database.
- database password
- The password for the user ID
that you want DB2 OLAP Server to use to log on to your relational database.
- database section
- A section in the Relational Storage
Manager configuration file that contains values for parameters that override
the values for the same parameters for the current application.
- database settings
- Settings that you can
modify to improve performance and space utilization for your relational database.
You can change database settings by using utilities or commands supplied with
your relational database management system.
- database user ID
- The user ID that you
want DB2 OLAP Server to use to log on to your relational database. The default is the
supervisor ID that you specify when you start DB2 OLAP Server for the first time.
- dense dimension
- A dimension with a high probability
for occupying one or more data points in every combination of dimensions that
occurs.
- dimension
- A data category, such as time, accounts,
products, or markets. In a multidimensional database outline, the dimensions
represent the highest consolidation level.
- dimension table
- A table that DB2 OLAP Server creates in
your relational database that contains detailed information about the members
in a dimension. There is one dimension table for each dimension in an outline.
- dimension view
- A view that DB2 OLAP Server creates in your
relational database that allows an SQL user to access information about members
contained in a dimension.
- ESSCMD
- A command-line interface used to perform
server operations interactively or through a batch file.
- generation name
- A unique name that describes a
generation in a database outline.
- generation table
- A table that DB2 OLAP Server creates in
your relational database that contains generation numbers and names for each
named generation specified when you created the outline. There is one generation
table for each dimension in an outline.
- level name
- A unique name that describes
a level in a database outline.
- member
- A discrete component within a dimension.
For example, January 1997 or 1Qtr97 are typical members of a Time dimension.
- metaoutline
- A template containing the
structure and rules for creating a database outline from an OLAP model. Using
the metaoutline, you can create a database outline and load data into it.
The DB2 OLAP Integration Server desktop includes a tool called OLAP Metaoutline that you can use
to create one or more metaoutlines from an OLAP model.
- model
- A logical model (star schema)
that you create from tables and columns in a relational database. You can
use the OLAP model to create a metaoutline that generates the structure of
a multidimensional database. The DB2 OLAP Integration Server desktop includes a tool called OLAP
Metaoutline that you can use to design and create an OLAP model based on a
relational data source.
- multidimensional data
- The data in a multidimensional
database. Data can include basic data values (loaded from an external source)
that represent combinations of the lowest level of members in the dimensions
of the database; data values that are calculated from the base data values;
and rolled up data values that are created by combining values for members
in dimension hierarchies.
- multidimensional database
- An OLAP database
that you create using the Application Manager or ESSCMD commands (in DB2 OLAP Server)
or with the DB2 OLAP Integration Server desktop, which is in the Starter Kit. An OLAP database
includes a database outline, data, associated optional calculation scripts,
optional report scripts, and data load rules. DB2 OLAP Server stores the actual data
and a shadow of the database outline in tables in a relational database.
- named pipes
- An API used for special node-to-node
applications and particularly for access to communications and database servers.
- OLAP application
- An application that
you create using the Application Manager or the ESSCMD commands (in DB2 OLAP Server)
or with the DB2 OLAP Integration Server desktop, which is in the Starter Kit. An OLAP application
can contain one or more multidimensional databases and any associated calculation
scripts, report scripts, and data load rules.
- OLAP metaoutline
- See metaoutline.
- OLAP model
- See model.
- online analytical processing (OLAP)
- A multidimensional,
multi-user, client server computing environment for users who need to analyze
consolidated enterprise data in real time. OLAP systems feature zooming, data
pivoting, complex calculations, trend analyses, and modeling.
- outline
- See database outline.
- RDBMS
- Relational database management system. A
database that can be perceived as a set of tables and manipulated in accordance
with the relational model of data.
- relational attribute
- A characteristic
of a dimension table, represented by a column. You can run SQL statements
against the data in relational attribute columns.
- relational cube
- A set of data and metadata
stored in a relational database that together define a multidimensional database.
A relational cube is similar to a multidimensional database, but refers to
the portion of a multidimensional database that is stored in a relational
database.
- relational database
- A database that is organized
and accessed according to relationships between data items. A relational database
contains a collection of relational tables, views, and indexes.
- report script
- An ASCII file that contains Report
Writer commands that generate one or more production reports. Report scripts
can be run in batch mode, using the ESSCMD command-line interface, or through
the Application Manager. The script is a text file that contains data retrieval,
formatting, and output instructions.
- restructure
- An operation to regenerate or rebuild
the tables and views that DB2 OLAP Server created in your relational database.
- shadow
- Information stored in relational tables
that shadows the information stored in a multidimensional database outline.
- shared member
- A member that explicitly shares storage
space with another member of the same name. This member has an attribute that
designates it as shared. Shared members prevent making extra calculations
on a member that appears in more than one location in a database outline.
- sibling
- A child member at the same branch level.
- sparse dimension
- A dimension with a low percentage
of available data positions filled. For example, a product that is not sold
in all of a company's available markets would be a good sparse candidate.
- Spreadsheet Add-in
- Software that merges with Microsoft
Excel and Lotus 1-2-3 to enable analysis of multidimensional databases. The
software library appears as a menu Add-In to the spreadsheet and provides
such features as connect, zoom-in, and calculate.
- SQL application
- An application that uses SQL statements.
You can use SQL applications to access data in a relational cube.
- SQL
- Structured Query Language. A standardized language
for defining and manipulating data in a relational database.
- star schema
- The type of relational database schema
used by DB2 OLAP Server. When you use the Application Manager to create a multidimensional
database, DB2 OLAP Server creates a main fact table and a set of dimension tables.
The fact table holds the actual data values for the database, and the dimension
tables hold data about members and their relationships.
- star view
- A relation view that DB2 OLAP Server creates in
your relational database that allows an SQL user to access data from the star
schema in a single view with the JOIN already done.
- table space
- An abstraction of a collection of containers
into which database objects are stored. A table space provides a level of
indirection between a database and the tables stored within the database.
A table space:
- Has space on media storage devices assigned to it.
- Has tables created within it. These tables will consume space in the containers
that belong to the table space. The data, index, long field, and LOB portions
of a table can be stored in the same table space, or can be individually broken
out into separate table spaces.
- time dimension
- A dimension type that defines how
often you collect and update data. You can tag only one dimension as Time,
although you do not need to have a Time dimension.