). Extraction, transformation, and load (ETL)
processes cannot deal with most aspects of spatial data. Nevertheless, it is possible
to achieve good results by marrying GIS with OLAP. Several projects in Canada,
U.S., France, Portugal, and elsewhere have shown the superiority of this combination
over stand-alone GIS or OLAP for interactive spatial data exploration.
Towards.SOLAP
In most of those projects, GIS and OLAP are loosely coupled and the GIS serves
as a map viewer of OLAP operations. In more tightly coupled cases, functions are
Spatial Online Analytical Processing (SOLAP) 0
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added to support cartographic drilling in the GIS and to maintain the synchronization
between the GIS and OLAP displays. Sometimes, a common user interface is
built over the GIS-OLAP combo to make the application appear as a unique system.
Depending on the functions that are prioritized, the result is termed OLAP-centric,
GIS-centric, or hybrid (LGS Group, 2000).
More recently, SOLAP software has reached the market, allowing even tighter integration
between GIS and OLAP (data and functions). B?©dard, Proulx, and Rivest
(2005) make a clear distinction between ???SOLAP applications??? developed with
any of the previously mentioned approaches and software, and ???SOLAP software???
which relies on a hybrid approach and is specifically meant to improve the development
of SOLAP applications.
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