On Making Data Warehouses Active

Data warehouses, which are the core elements of On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) systems, are passive since all tasks related to analyzing and making decisions must be carried out manually. This paper introduces a novel architecture, the active data warehouse, which applies the idea of event-condition-action rules (ECA rules) from active database systems to automize repetitive analysis and decision tasks in data warehouses. The work of an analyst is mimicked by analysis rules, which extend the capabilities of conventional ECA rules in order to support multidimensional analysis and decision making.