Multi-Link Lists As Data Cube Structure In The Molap Environment

In the area of "On Line Analytical Processing" (OLAP), the concept of multidimensional databases is growing in popularity. Several efficient algorithms for Relational OLAP (ROLAP) have been developed to compute the cube. Multidimensional OLAP (MOLAP) systems present a different challenge in computing the cube. The main difference resides in the data storage structures. ROLAP systems store data in relational tables while MOLAP systems use sparse arrays. In this paper, we aim to provide a new data cube structure whose characteristics are interesting compared to fixed arrays. Indeed, the data cube structure we propose is a set of multi-link lists that is dynamic rather than fixed-sized arrays. It avoids the sparse data problem and presents good performances in terms of space and query response time when compared to arrays.