Patent ID: 8078570

Claim:
A method for use with a data warehouse whose data records are recorded on a storage medium and wherein the data warehouse is managed by a data warehouse engine and wherein the data warehouse includes a fact table including a primary key associated with each respective data record and wherein the fact table organizes respective data records by their respective primary key, the method comprising the steps of: identifying existing data records in the fact table by their respective primary keys; assigning a first version number to respective existing data records in the fact table wherein the first version number is tied to a first occurrence of a primary key in the fact table; extracting new data records from at least one data source; evaluating each of the new data records for a respective primary key identifying each of said new data records; setting up temporary tables including a temporary fact table; loading the new data records into the temporary tables; assigning an updated version number to new data records with a primary key that matches the primary key of an existing data record; and populating the fact table in the storage medium with the new data records wherein the new data records include respective updated version numbers and wherein the fact table further includes the existing data records.