Articles: Architecture/Modeling: Advance Dimension Topics
Tricky Time Spans (6/13/2002)
The time dimension isn't nearly as simple as it looks

What Changed? by Joe Caserta (8/12/2002)
Use a multivalued outrigger table to add expressive power
to your dimensions

Managing Helper Tables (8/10/2001)
A careful look at many-to-many relationships
between important dimensions

A Trio of Interesting Snowflakes (6/29/2001)
Beat three common modeling challenges with
extensions of the dimensional model

The Unity Dimension by Nick Galemmo (6/13/2001)
A saner solution for when differing entites share a role

The Keyword Dimension (10/20/2000)
Using Keywords in a data warehouse of historical letters

Mystery Dimensions (also known as Junk Dimensions) (3/20/2000)
Making sense of the rogue fields in your fact table

Many Alternate Realities (2/9/2000)
Describing the past accurately; Type 3 slowly changing dimensions

When a Slowly Changing Dimension Speeds Up (8/3/1999)
Give your SCDs a rest when a dimension starts changing too rapidly

Help for Hierarchies (9/1998)
Helper tables handle dimensions with complex hierarchies

Help for Dimensional Modeling (8/1998)
Helper tables let you design and manage
multivalued dimensions successfully

Surrogate Keys (5/1998)
Keep control over record identifiers by generating new keys
for the data warehouse; Type 2 SCDs

Pipelining Your Surrogates (6/1998)
High performance design of surrogate key system;
Referential integrity; Slowly changing dimensions; Type 2 SCDs

Data Warehouse Role Models (8/1997)
What to do when a single dimension appears several times
in the same fact table

It's Time for Time (7/1997)
The importance of the time dimension in data marts and data warehouses

Causal (Not Casual) Dimensions (11/1996)
Consider causal dimensions when you want your data warehouse
to be more informative

Monster Dimensions (5/1996)
Design solutions for handling changes in very large dimensions

Slowly Changing Dimensions (4/1996)
Unlike OLTP systems, data warehouses can track historical data

Drilling Down, Up, and Across (3/1996)
Understanding the vocabulary of navigating dimensions