Information Retrieval from an Incomplete Data Cube
Curtis Dyreson · 1996
A data cube is a multidimensional space of aggregate values. The aggregate values in the cube are organised in a hierarchy. Values higher in the hierarchy are aggregations of values lower in the hierarchy. The hierarchical organisation supports `drill-down' and `rollup ' which are operations that jump between a low precision and a high precision view of the same aggregate. A complete data cube is a data cube in which every aggregate value in the multidimensional space is stored or can be computed. An incomplete data cube is a data cube in which points in the multidimensional space are missing and cannot be computed. Incomplete data cubes change the nature of retrieving information from a cube since a requested aggregate value might be missing. This paper describes an incomplete data cube design. An incomplete data cube is modeled as a federation of cubettes. A cubette is a complete subcube within the incomplete data cube. The incomplete cube is built piecemeal by giving a concise, high...