Patent ID: 8484252

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: automatically generating, by a computer, a multidimensional dataset from an associative database, wherein the multidimensional dataset includes one or more measure values and a plurality of dimensions, and wherein the associative database conforms to an associative model of data, wherein the associative model defines two types of items: (1) entities, each of the entities comprising one or more entity instances, each of the entity instances comprising a discrete item with independent existence; and (2) relation instances that each specify a link between exactly three instances: a source instance, a verb instance, and a target instance, wherein the source instance comprises a first one of the entity instances or a first one of the relation instances, and wherein the target instance comprises a second one of the entity instances or a second one of the relation instances; performing, by the computer, one or more operations on the multidimensional dataset; and outputting a result from the operations on the multidimensional dataset.