<P> OLAP tools enable users to analyze multidimensional data interactively from multiple perspectives . OLAP consists of three basic analytical operations : consolidation ( roll - up ) , drill - down , and slicing and dicing . Consolidation involves the aggregation of data that can be accumulated and computed in one or more dimensions . For example , all sales offices are rolled up to the sales department or sales division to anticipate sales trends . By contrast , the drill - down is a technique that allows users to navigate through the details . For instance , users can view the sales by individual products that make up a region 's sales . Slicing and dicing is a feature whereby users can take out ( slicing ) a specific set of data of the OLAP cube and view ( dicing ) the slices from different viewpoints . These viewpoints are sometimes called dimensions ( such as looking at the same sales by salesperson or by date or by customer or by product or by region , etc . ) </P>
<P> OLAP tools enable users to analyze multidimensional data interactively from multiple perspectives . OLAP consists of three basic analytical operations : consolidation ( roll - up ) , drill - down , and slicing and dicing . Consolidation involves the aggregation of data that can be accumulated and computed in one or more dimensions . For example , all sales offices are rolled up to the sales department or sales division to anticipate sales trends . By contrast , the drill - down is a technique that allows users to navigate through the details . For instance , users can view the sales by individual products that make up a region 's sales . Slicing and dicing is a feature whereby users can take out ( slicing ) a specific set of data of the OLAP cube and view ( dicing ) the slices from different viewpoints . These viewpoints are sometimes called dimensions ( such as looking at the same sales by salesperson or by date or by customer or by product or by region , etc . ) </P>
olap ( online analytical processing ) tools enable users to
olap ( online analytical processing ) tools enable users to
analyze multidimensional data interactively from multiple perspectives
analyze multidimensional data interactively from multiple perspectives