In comparison to the loosely coupled GIS-OLAP,
SOLAP software typically provides four major benefits: (1) important savings in
development time (no programming required), (2) richer SOLAP applications (more
advanced functions, better GIS-OLAP integration on complex issues), (3) tested user
interfaces designed especially for SOLAP operations, and (4) easier editing of the
multidimensional data structure (using a SOLAP administrator module). The first
SOLAP software commercially available (JMap?® Spatial OLAP) was developed
by B?©dard??™s team at Laval University. In spite of such advances, today??™s SOLAP
implementations still face challenges to become more efficient. In fact, coupling
GIS and OLAP is not enough, many hidden challenges must be overcome, resulting
in important development efforts before obtaining an efficient solution.
The objective of the present chapter is to introduce the reader to the main advantages
and challenges related to the use of spatial data and SOLAP. We begin with
an overview of the particularities of spatial data to help readers to better assess the
challenges that SOLAP development presents. After, we summarize the history of
SOLAP applications and technologies as well as today??™s state-of-the-art. Then, we
focus on the concepts, issues, challenges, and solutions related to SOLAP. In the last
sections, we discuss future trends and present concluding remarks.
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