What's New in Oracle OLAP?

Oracle9i Release 2 provides multidimensional analysis within the Oracle database. Oracle OLAP is the next generation of analytical engines and related software, providing an upgrade path from Oracle Express Server release 6.3.

See Also: Appendix A, "Upgrading From Express Server" for specific differences between Express Server and Oracle OLAP. Oracle9i OLAP Developer's Guide to the OLAP DML for changes to the OLAP data manipulation language.

The following sections describe the new features in Oracle9i OLAP:

• Oracle9i Release 2 (9.2) New Features in Oracle OLAP

Oracle9i Release 2 (9.2) New Features in Oracle OLAP

The following list briefly describes the new features of Oracle OLAP.

• Oracle OLAP is integrated with the Oracle database

  The OLAP engine runs in the Oracle kernel, and analytic workspaces are stored as LOBs in relational tables.

  See Also: "The Oracle9i Integrated Relational-Multidimensional Database"

   
• Oracle OLAP management tools are integrated with Oracle

  The Oracle DBA uses one set of management tools for both the Oracle database and Oracle OLAP.

  See Also: Chapter 6, "Administering Oracle OLAP"

   
• SQL applications can access multidimensional data

  SQL applications can use the database table functions to access and manipulate data directly in the multidimensional OLAP data cache. Alternatively, relational views can be created for multidimensional data, which provides access to standard SQL.

  See Also: Chapter 3, "Developing OLAP Applications"

   
• Tools simplify creation of analytic workspaces and related views

  Tools are available to help move data from relational tables into multidimensional objects in an analytic workspace, and to generate views of these objects so that applications can access workspace data using standard SQL.

  See Also: Chapter 9, "Creating an Analytic Workspace From Relational Tables" Chapter 15, "CWM2_OLAP_AW_ACCESS"

   
• Applications can use OCI or JDBC to connect to Oracle OLAP

  OLAP applications that used SNAPI communications in Express Server 6.3 and earlier can upgrade to Oracle OLAP without substantially changing the application's Express language-based architecture.

  See Also: Chapter 1, "Overview"

• OLAP API is available for developing Java applications

  The Oracle OLAP API is an all-Java application programming interface that is designed specifically to support multidimensional analysis.

  See Also: Chapter 3, "Developing OLAP Applications"

   
• OLAP Catalog API supports third-party applications development

  PL/SQL interfaces to the OLAP catalog allow developers to query and update the logical multidimensional metadata model and map it to physical relational and analytic workspace data.

  See Also: Chapter 5, "Creating OLAP Catalog Metadata"

   
• OLAP metadata provides extended schema support

  The Oracle OLAP catalog metadata supports star, snowflake, and multidimensional schema. The metadata supports level-based, parent-child, and complex dimension hierarchies.

  See Also: Chapter 5, "Creating OLAP Catalog Metadata"

   
• Oracle Globalization Support extended to Oracle OLAP

  Oracle Globalization Support provides the Oracle standard for internationalizing and localizing Oracle products. The character set encoding supports Unicode using the UTF-8 standard, which is a format that transforms all Unicode characters into a variable-length encoding of bytes. Its use in the database and Oracle OLAP allows text data in native languages to be passed between them without data loss or performance degradation.

  See Also: Oracle9i Database Globalization Support Guide