Database Reference
In-Depth Information
Dear Consultant,
I need reports that will give me information about weather patterns. Currently, I have been
collecting data in the format shown in Table 2-1 . I track the dates, the maximum and minimum
temperatures, and the events of that day. Could you please create an example of what you do
for customers like me?
Sincerely,
A Typical Client
And as the letter promises, Table 2-1 shows an example of the data.
Table 2-1. The Data in the WeatherHistory.txt File
Date
Max TemperatureF
Min TemperatureF
Events
1/23/2011
48
43
Rain
1/24/2011
51
46
Rain
1/25/2011
52
38
Rain/Sun
1/26/2011
53
41
Rain/Sun
1/27/2011
50
37
Fog
The client has not provided much detail, which is consistent with what you are likely to see in a real-life
scenario. Yet once you review the data, you will find you have enough to get started. Besides, creating the
prototype solution is often better than asking for more details when you are first trying to understand a client's
needs. You are more likely to understand what questions to ask and be able to extract more information from the
client in a second interview after you have created a simple prototype.
If you want to understand what is needed in a BI solution, start by understanding its data. For example, look
at the range of values and data types noted in Table 2-1 . You can see under the date column, for example, that the
customer is using days, months, and years, but not hours or seconds. You can see whole values without decimal
points under the maximum temperature column. You can also see that the client is using text descriptions in the
Events column.
These facts give you vital clues about what your solution can accomplish. For instance, you will be able to
create reports that tell you it was raining on a particular day, but not whether it was raining at noon on that day.
Once you have evaluated the data and identified what is available, you can begin the planning phase for the
solution.
Plan the Solution
In each BI solution, you should create a document describing what you are trying to accomplish. Creating this
document is the first part of the planning phase.
You also need to decide on a place to store your documentation. This location should be readily accessible
to any team member working on the project. In this topic, we use a subfolder in a Visual Studio solution folder
as our document repository. This is convenient, because we are going to create several Visual Studio projects,
and each of these projects will be added to the same Visual Studio solution as our documentation folder. Once
complete, all of the projects and the documentation that defines those projects will be included under a single
Visual Studio solution folder on the hard drive.
 
 
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