Patent ID: 6941311

Claim:
A method for calculating a measure in a database having a plurality of stars, each of the stars comprising a fact table, a table for each supported dimension, and a set of dimension indicators, wherein each of the dimension indicators is associated with a particular dimension and each dimension indicator indicates a level of aggregation of at least one associated aggregated fact table comprising aggregated facts with respect to the particular dimension, the method comprising: providing a flag with at least one star of the plurality of stars, each flag indicating the availability of its associated star; selecting a stargroup associated with the measure, the stargroup comprising one or more stars; comparing one or more dimension indicators of the one or more stars of the selected stargroup to one or more requested levels of aggregation; evaluating the availability of the one or more stars of the selected stargroup by reviewing their associated flags; selecting a particular star of the one or more stars based on the comparison of the one or more dimension indicators to the one or more requested levels of aggregation and the evaluation of the availability of the one or more stars; and querying the associated aggregated fact tables comprising the aggregated facts.