Join Chris in Europe: 18-22 May 2015

I will be leading a week of in-depth sessions in Berlin this May. The rigorous agenda includes full courses on Performance Management, Analytics, and Dimensional Modeling.

Join me for any or all of the following sessions:

• 18 May: TDWI Performance Management: Measurement, Metrics, and Monitoring Learn about performance management and BI, including metric selection, dashboards and scorecards.
• 19 May: TDWI Business Analytics: Exploration, Experimentation and Discovery Learn about problem framing, problem models, solution models, heuristics and experimentation.
• 20 May: TDWI Predictive Analytics Fundamentals This class covers the business case for predictive modeling, statistics and data mining, the model development process, and the organizational impacts of predictive modeling.
• 21-22 May: Dimensional Modeling: Advanced Techniques for Practitioners This is the two-day companion course to my book, Star Schema: The Complete Reference.

Hope to see you there! For more details and to register, visit TDWI Europe:

• May 18-20 Info and Registration
• May 21-22 Info and Registration

Join me for the whole week, and you will have covered each of the Three Pillars of Modern BI!

Modern BI with Chris Adamson: Chicago, May 7

Join me at TDWI Chicago 2015 for my latest course, Business Information and Modern BI: Evolving Beyond the Dimensional Data Mart.

In this full-day class, I will show you how a modern BI program can help you track, analyze and improve business performance.

With a strong focus on information, we will look at how new technologies and best practices have reshaped the way BI delivers business value.

We will cover all three pillars of Modern BI, and also discuss organizational options, agile development and technology policies.

I'll also be leading classes on Predictive Analytics (5/5/15) and Data Visualization (5/6/15).

Discount Code for Registration

If you are planning to attend, use this link to register, and enter Priority Code 111 for a 10% discount.

Hope to see you there!

Book Signing in DC, Date Change for Boston Seminars

Washington DC - Book Signing

I will be signing books next week at the TDWI World Conference in Washington DC.  You will find me in the main exhibit hall on Tuesday 4/5 from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm.

I will also be teaching on Monday and Tuesday, and conducting half-hour one-on-one sessions on Wednesday.

Hope to see you there! 

Boston Seminars - Date Change

The TDWI Boston Seminar will now be taking place June 13-16.  If you have already signed up, you should have received notification from TDWI. 

I will be teaching three courses that week, including an intensive two-day course on advanced dimensional design.  This is a rare public offering for my 2 day course, which is usually only offered through TDWI Onsite Education.

Search Inside Star Schema TCR

Amazon.com now allows you to search inside my latest book. (This wasn't the case for the first couple of months the book was available.)

I've been told by students in my classes that they have used this feature to read about and solve a design problem, before they even purchased the book!

Give it a try. Plug in a design topic and see what comes up. Page around, and you will also see some of the detailed illustrations.

If you like to look at a book before you buy it, this feature is great.

(You may have to be logged into an Amazon account to use the search feature.)

For more info on the book, you can also visit this post, as well as the FAQ.

Mobile Theme Now Available

Star Schema Central is now easier to read on the go. Simply visit it from your mobile device, and content will automatically formatted for maximum readability.

If you want to see the standard display, scroll down and choose "view web version."

Star Schema: The Complete Reference

Chris Adamson's definitive guide to dimensional design is now available.

Use these links to order from Amazon in your country:

• United States at Amazon.com
• Canada at Amazon.ca
• France at Amazon.fr
  
• Germany at Amazon.de 
• Japan at Amazon.jp
• United Kingdom at Amazon.co.uk

About the Book

This handbook is organized around dimensional design topics rather than vertical industry, so you can find what you need when you need it.

Architecture-neutral, the book’s practical advice can be put to use in any type of data warehouse, including those advocated by W.H. Inmon and Ralph Kimball.

For each design topic, coverage runs deep.  You will learn best practices along with the reasons behind them.  Each concept is explained through real-world examples.  There are over 175 illustrations, including example design diagrams and data instance charts.

The book explains the impact of design choices on BI and ETL processes, and explores situations where you may wish to deviate from best practices.

It provides a comprehensive set of design tasks and deliverables that can be incorporated into any project, regardless of architecture, scope or methodology.

To learn more, see the FAQ.

Contents of the Book

Coverage beings with fundamentals, then follows a logical progression through advanced topics that address real-world complexity. Beginners can read it cover-to-cover, while experts can jump straight to topics of interest.

The book's eighteen chapters are divided into six parts:

      Part I: Fundamentals

      1.  Analytic Databases and Dimensional Design
      2.  Data Warehouse Architectures
      3.  Stars and Cubes

      Part II: Multiple Stars

      4.  A Fact Table for Each Process
      5.  Conformed Dimensions

      Part III: Dimension Design

      6.  More On Dimension Tables
      7.  Hierarchies and Snowflakes
      8.  More Slow Change Techniques
      9.  Multi-Valued Dimensions and Bridges
      10.  Recursive Hierarchies and Bridges

      Part IV: Fact Table Design

      11. Transactions, Snapshots and Accumulating Snapshots
      12. Factless Fact Tables
      13. Type-Specific Stars

      Part V: Performance

      14. Derived Schemas
      15. Aggregates

      Part VI: Tools and Documentation

      16.  Design and Business Intelligence
      17.  Design and ETL
      18.  How to Design and Document a Dimensional Model

How to Order

If you’ve enjoyed Chris's other books, classes, or this blog, please consider supporting this effort.

Use these links to order from Amazon in your country:

• United States at Amazon.com
• Canada at Amazon.ca
• France at Amazon.fr
  
• Germany at Amazon.de 
• Japan at Amazon.jp
• United Kingdom at Amazon.co.uk

 For more info, visit the FAQ on the book.


Star Schema: The Complete Reference
By Christopher Adamson
ISBN 0071744320 / 9780071744324
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
486 pages
Also available as eBook

Book Signing 8/17 at TDWI San Diego

If you are attending the TDWI summer conference in San Diego, be sure to stop by my book signing.

I'll be signing my new book in the main exhibit hall on Tuesday (8/17) from 11:30am - 12:30pm.  The book will be available at a decent discount, or you can bring your own copy.

It's also not too late to sign up for my course in intermediate and advanced dimensional design, which will be taking place the same day.

Hope to see you there!

FAQ on Star Schema: The Complete Reference

My third book, Star Schema: The Complete Reference, is now available.

I took a year off from work in order to write this book.  It has an immense amount of detail. 

If you’ve enjoyed my other books, my classes, or this blog, please consider supporting this effort.

Use this link to order a copy from Amazon.com.  Or use the links in the sidebar. 

Here are answers to some questions I have gotten about the book.

Why another book on Star Schema?

I often want to refer people to something they can read on a particular aspect of dimensional design.  Usually, this is harder than it should be.

There are some great books on star schema, but they are organized into chapters based on business cases (my own prior work included).  You can’t open up a book like that and turn to “the chapter” that covers a particular design technique.

If you want to read about snapshot designs, for example, you’ve got to flip back and forth between chapters about inventory, banking, budgeting, etc.

Also, all books target a particular data warehouse architecture—either Inmon’s "Corporate Information Factory" or Kimball’s dimensional “bus architecture.”  Since most of the principles of dimensional design are universal, this can get in the way.

My aim was to create the missing reference on star schema design, and to make it useful to anyone who works with dimensional data—stars, snowflakes or cubes.

How is this book different?

It’s structured into chapters and sections based on design topics, instead of by industries or business scenarios.  This makes it easy to find everything on a particular topic.

It’s also architecturally neutral.  It provides design techniques and best practices without advocating a specific approach to data warehousing.

It provides deep coverage.  It explains best practices and fully explores the reasoning behind them.  It looks at the impact of each technique on BI and ETL processes, and also explores situations where you may wish to deviate from best practices.

TDWI Members: Read Chris's Column in Flashpoint

If you are a member of The Data Warehousing Institute, be sure to check out the April 1, 2010 issue of Flashpoint.

My article The Hidden Value of Dimensional Design explains how you can use dimensional design to cultivate a shared understanding of project scope between business and technical personnel.

This publication is only available to TDWI members.

If you are not a member (or if you want to read more on the topic) have a look at this blog post I wrote in 2007:  Drive Warehouse Strategy With A Dimensional Model.

- Chris

Pre-order Chris's New Book

Star Schema: The Complete Reference is now available for pre-order at Amazon.com in the US and in several other countries.

[ UPDATE 8/20/10:  Now shipping!  Use the links below to order. For more information, see this post.]

Use these links to pre-order your copy from Amazon in your country:

• United States at Amazon.com
• Canada at Amazon.ca*
• France at Amazon.fr
  
• Germany at Amazon.de 
• Japan at Amazon.jp
• United Kingdom at Amazon.co.uk  

* At the time of this post, Amazon Canada was not yet taking pre-orders.  However, you can sign up to be notified when pre-ordering is possible.

Star Schema: The Complete Reference
By Christopher Adamson
ISBN 0071744320 / 9780071744324
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media

Star Schema: The Complete Reference is Chris Adamson's comprehensive guide to dimensional modeling, written for anyone who works with star schemas, snowflakes or cubes. Its breadth and depth make it the definitive reference, ideal for beginners and experts alike.

Offering clear and easy to understand explanations of complex topics, it teaches the best practices of dimensional modeling and their underlying rationales, equipping you to make informed design decisions.

This reference is organized around dimensional design topics rather than vertical industry, so you can find what you need when you need it.

Architecture-neutral, the book’s practical advice can be put to use in any type of data warehouse, including those advocated by W.H. Inmon and Ralph Kimball.

Coverage begins with fundamentals, then follows a logical progression through advanced topics that address real-world complexity. All concepts are illustrated through real-world examples.

The book also explores the impact of design decisions on the BI and ETL processes, and discusses situations where it is useful to deviate from best practices.

The final chapter provides a comprehensive set of tasks and deliverables that can be incorporated into any project, regardless of architecture, scope or methodology.

"The Star Schema Handbook" Gets New Name, Coming Soon

I am pleased to announce my next book:  Star Schema: The Complete Reference.   

It is being published by McGraw-Hill, and should be available this summer. McGraw-Hill has posted some of the publication details and availability information.

[ UPDATE 8/20/10:  Now shipping!  Use the link below to order in the US. For other countries, or for more information, see this post.]

Amazon.com is not taking pre-orders yet, but they have added a page for the book, where you can sign up to be notified when becomes available.

The book was formerly titled The Star Schema Handbook: The Complete Reference To Dimensional Data Warehouse Design.  

If you pre-ordered under the old title, you'll need to place a new order.

Many thanks to all those of you who have been sending in inquiries!
I will provide more information about the book during the weeks to come.

- Chris

Mobile Safari Glitch Corrected [Announcements]

I received a report that www.StarSchemaCentral.com was not redirecting properly for some readers using the mobile version of the Safari browser.

I believe the issue has been corrected.

If you continue to have problems, you can always use blog.oaktonsoftware.com to get here instead.

Apologies for the inconvenience.

-Chris

TDWI Members: Read Chris's "Ten Mistakes To Avoid"

If you are a member of The Data Warehousing Institute, be sure to check out your Q4 2009 benefits.

I wrote an installment of the "Ten Mistakes" series entitled Ten Mistakes to Avoid in Dimensional Design.  It covers common blunders in the use of dimensional design, both technical and non-technical.

This publication is only available to TDWI members.

- Chris

Recommended Books on the Data Warehouse Lifecycle

Recommended Reading: A new book by Laura Reeves, and a revised edition of the classic Lifecycle Toolkit.

If you've been to any of my classes, you already know that I am a fan of Laura Reeves. She has a pragmatic, get-things-done approach to data warehousing.

You may also know her as co-author of the original edition of The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit, a book she wrote with Ralph Kimball, Margy Ross and Warren Thornthwaite. (For more on that book, see below.)

Laura has a new book out, which I highly recommend: A Manager's Guide to Data Warehousing.

In this book, she provides a practical guide to planning and executing data warehouse projects. It is written for managers (I.T. and business) who do not necessarily have a technical background in data warehousing.

Laura touches on each phase of the data warehouse lifecycle, providing useful advice without over-burdensome methodology, detailed task lists or the like. This makes it easy to fit her advice into your own organization's development style.

Even if you already have a strong background in dimensional design, you will find this book to be quite useful. You can get it at Amazon.com.

Also Recommended
If you have a dimensional data warehouse, I also urge you to check out The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit, Second Edition by Ralph Kimball, Margy Ross, Warren Thornthwaite, Joy Mundy and Bob Becker.

This fully revised version of the classic book contains detailed tasks and deliverables to help you manage all phases of the data warehouse lifecycle.

It is an excellent reference for data warehousing professionals. Read more about it at Amazon.com.

The original edition has been a long time recommendation on this blog, and the new edition carries on the standard. (Apologies to Warren Thornthwaite, whose name was previously misspelled here.)

Feed Updated, Now Contains Full Posts

If you follow this blog in a newsreader, you will be happy to know that the RSS feed now contains full posts, rather than the first couple of paragraphs. That should make your reading experience a lot easier.

The change seems to have been glitch-free, but if there are any issues please let me know.

Chris

Privacy Policy

Recent changes to the Google AdSense program prompted me to define a privacy policy for this blog. Here it is:

Oakton Software does not gather any information about your visits to this blog, or the pages you view.

I wish the policy could be that simple, but you should also know the following:

Blogger:

The blog is hosted by Google's Blogger.com.

If you have a Google, Gmail or Blogger account, Google may log information about your visits to this blog. The Blogger privacy policy can be found by visiting the Google Privacy Center and clicking on the link for Blogger.

Newsletter:

If you subscribe to the newsletter, the information you provide is used to send occasional email updates. These always include an opt-out link.

The mail list is maintained and managed by an external service provider. They follow a confirmed opt-in policy to ensure compliance with anti-spam legislation.

Ads By Google:

UPDATE 12/16/2010: I have removed ads from this blog. While they helped support it, I felt they were detracting from its value. If you'd like to help support StarSchemaCentral, please use the links in the sidebars to buy books from Amazon.com.

Coming to TDWI New Orleans? Vote First!

If you'll be joining me at the TDWI conference in New Orleans during election week, make sure you vote ahead of time. Here's how.

This election day, I'll be teaching Advanced Dimensional Modeling at The Data Warehouse Institute World Conference in New Orleans. I was a bit reluctant to accept the invitation at first, out of fear that it would prevent my vote from being counted. But after doing a little bit of research, I accepted with confidence.

You can attend with confidence as well. All you need is an absentee ballot.
Absentee voting procedures vary by locality. To find out how it works where you live, you can go to GoVoteAbsentee.org.

Plug in your zip code, and they'll provide you with information on how to apply for an absentee ballot. They'll even give you a link to download the ballot application. If you prefer, you can contact your county or city government for information.

The process is simple, and you can be sure your vote will be heard. Some localities even permit residents to cast absentee ballots in person. In Fairfax county Virgina, where I live, you can personally feed your ballot into the optical scanner that tallies the votes.

And as an added bonus, you won't have to stand in line on election day!

I have already cast my absentee vote. If you will be traveling to The Data Warehouse Institute Conference in New Orleans, I urge you to do the same. Go to GoVoteAbsentee.org now, and find out how.

- Chris