I've been given the task of designing and building a database system for a
DVD rental store and the spec includes the need for management reporting for
business analysis purposes.

I am unfamiliar with OLAP but know enough to understand I have to implement
some kind of OLAP solution to achieve the reporting functions required.

I plan to use Access, building a client-server system using data-access
pages so the clients are web pages, and the server can be upgraded to
SqlServer when the database is big enough to warrant the expansion.

Can someone point me to a site that gives a tutorial on how to implement the
OLAP functionality in Access?

Regards
James, UK

Why not just make a list of the questions you need answers to from the
data? Most likely, you can do most or all of it without OLAP at all.

What kind of business analysis or whatever are you trying to do?

<pietlinden (AT) hotmail (DOT) com> wrote

Hi

The specification states "In the long term, the various systems implemented
would produce a large amount of operational data. There is a requirement
for a data warehouse / data mart to aggregate this data and allow for Online
Analytical Processing (OLAP) of the information to help in the managerial
decision making. This is primarily to help with the long term planning and
should be capable of answering queries such as, In which area should a new
shop be opened? What types of media are the most profitable? Which
category of films should be increased? Are there any seasonal variations in
business performance?"

so I have to implement OLAP.

On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 17:02:57 GMT, "James" <private (AT) replyToGroup (DOT) com>
wrote:
Is this by any chance homework?

The film rental business is just about down the pooper. Video on
demand is finally here. The Blockbuster model is over. Just ask them

If this is not homework, you might want to revisit the spec and the
overall goal of the project.

Please let us know.

On Sun, 12 Feb 2006 23:25:30 GMT, Bill <Bill12345 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote:

I answered my own question. I came across this post of yours when I
was reading a question in another newsgroup.

This is certainly a good student project. We will help you with your
homework, but will not do it for you.

If you had said that your homework required OLAP, you probably would
not have gotten the response that recommended that OLAP is probably
not necessary.

While the video rental store model is dying, I just rented some
household power equipment for a few hours at a rental business
yesterday. So, all the things you mentioned would apply to a similar
business.

They tend to rent in terms of hours or just a day or two and would
not require notification of when an item was returned because they
would probably tell you when it was supposed to be returned or call
you to come and get it as soon as it came in.

Good luck.

"Bill" <Bill12345 (AT) gmail (DOT) com> wrote

I knew the readers of this NG would be sharp. Congrats on spotting the
studenty subtext of my post!

Indeed, it is help I'm after, and I certainly do not expect anyone to do it
for me. However, the cunning chaps that are the module leaders have seen it
fit to request of us bemused undergrads the ability to implement something
that is not taught on the course. This means I have to research (doh!) OLAP
and I thought this would be a good starting point after googling a seemingly
googleplex of sites that I have found unhelpful to the OLAP newbie.

Point taken and noted for next time. Apologies for any misunderstandings.

Thanks for the insights and encouragement. So, do you know of any good OLAP
tutorial sites?

Cheers,
James

James wrote:
The video rental database makes an annual showing in these groups. Don't post
anything you wouldn't want your instructor to see.


--
I don't check the Email account attached
to this message. Send instead to...
RBrandt at Hunter dot com

James
You could try this site :
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/bernard.lupin/english/index.htm
Bernard does a nice job of introducing the basic concepts.

Oracle Express btw, used by Bernard in his example, has been greatly
enhanced, embedded and superceded as the OLAP Option to the Oracle
Database. Now, inside Oracle10g release 2, the multidimensional
capabilities and performance/scalability are much much greater now than
standalone Express (which, in its day, was no slouch ofcourse). In
addition to Bernards web pages, I think you will therefore find this
whitepaper interesting and useful:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/pro...erformance.pdf

Kevin (@ Oracle).

James wrote:
<snip>