Object-relational representation of a conceptual model for temporal data warehouses

Abstract

Temporal Data Warehouses (TDWs) allow to manage time-varying multidimensional data by joining the research of Temporal Databases and Data Warehouses. TDWs raise different issues such as temporal aggregations, multidimensional schema versioning, etc. However, very little attention from the research community has been drawn to conceptual modeling for TDWs and its subsequent logical representation. In this paper, we present a mapping transforming our conceptual model for TDW design into the conventional ER and an object-relational models. For the latter, we show some examples using the SQL:2003 standard. We include the mapping for time-varying levels, hierarchies, and measures. We also discuss the inconveniences of a pure relational representation. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2006.