Patent ID: 8036859

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of processing a report query to a dimensional data model by processing a plurality of dimension coordinates that exist within the dimensional data model, wherein each of the plurality of dimension coordinates has a second particular grain (“finer grain”) that is finer than a first particular grain (“coarser grain”) and having a value at the finer grain (“finer grain value”) and at the coarser grain (“coarser grain value”), the report query specifying a dimension coordinate constraint to which the plurality of dimension coordinates correspond, the computer-implemented method being carried out by at least one computing device executing instructions from a computer-readable medium, the method comprising: for a temporal dimension having temporal characteristics of grain relationships including a subset of the plurality of dimension coordinates in which there is a time changing relationship of the grains over a time period of interest leading to-a potential ambiguity as to what coarser grain value to associate with a finer grain value in attributing facts at the finer grain value to the coarser grain value, wherein each of the dimension coordinates of the subset is such that there is at least one other dimension coordinate of the subset having a value at the finer grain value that is the same as the finer grain value of that dimension coordinate; and the at least one other dimension coordinate also has a value at the coarser grain value that is different from the coarser grain value of that dimension coordinate, for every unique finer grain value of the dimension coordinates of the subset, by the at least one computing device, executing computer program instructions from the computer-readable medium to determine the coarser grain value to associate with all dimension coordinates of the subset having that finer grain value, wherein the determined coarser grain value is the coarser grain value of one of the dimension coordinates, of the subset, having that finer grain value such that the relationship is disambiguated by applying a disambiguation criterion to determine the association between coarser grain values when the finer grain value is associated with at least two different coarser grain values during the time period of interest; wherein, for each of the dimension coordinates of the plurality of dimension coordinates not in the subset, the coarser grain value associated with that dimension coordinate is the coarser grain value of that dimension coordinate; the method further comprising by the at least one computing device, executing computer program instructions from the computer-readable medium to generate a report in view of the plurality of dimension coordinates and their associated coarser grain values.