Patent ID: 7698264

Claim:
A method implemented by at least one computer to remove sparse data in a response to a query to a multidimensional database, the method comprising: establishing, by at least one computer, a cross-tab with sparse data, the cross-tab comprising a first dimensional axis and a second dimensional axis, the second dimensional axis being orthogonal to the first dimensional axis; selecting, by the at least one computer, a member in the first dimensional axis for sparsity removal in the second dimensional axis; selecting, by the at least one computer, a first set expression on the second dimensional axis in a first context of the selected member; collecting, by the at least one computer, a second context of the second dimensional axis; generating, by the at least one computer, a filter set expression based on the collected second context, the filter set expression including data removal criteria to remove null or zero data; and submitting, by the at least one computer, a query with the filter set expression to the multidimensional database, wherein the second dimensional axis is a cross-join axis further comprising an inner set expression, and wherein the method further comprises: initializing, by the at least one computer, a tuple with the first set expression; collecting, by the at least one computer, a third context from the inner set expression; updating, by the at least one computer, the tuple to reflect the second context and the third context; and generating, by the at least one computer, the filter set expression based on the tuple.