A Modeling Tool for Multidimensional Data using the ADAPT Notation

Conceptual models are designed to express user requirements of information systems in a formal and self-explanatory manner from a business user´s point of view. Furthermore, they should contain enough information for IT staff to use them as a basis for technical deployment. Within the domain of OLAP information systems, multidimensional data models are used to translate the specific user requirements into multidimensional data structures. Application Design for Analytical Processing Technologies (ADAPT) is one of the appropriate notations to express these models on a conceptual level. Up to the publication of this paper, ADAPT lacks any formal foundation. We will contribute to solving this issue by proposing a metamodel for ADAPT and a software prototype that transforms conceptual data models into logical ones in order to ease the development of data warehouse systems.