Kimball Dimensional Modeling

Practitioner's guide for designing and auditing Kimball-style dimensional models.

Workflow Decision Tree

Determine the task, then follow the appropriate path:

"Create a dimensional model" -> Follow the Four-Step Design Process

1. Select the business process
2. Declare the grain
3. Identify the dimensions
4. Identify the facts

"What fact table pattern should I use?" -> See Fact Table Patterns

• Transaction (default) — one row per discrete event
• Periodic snapshot — one row per entity per time period
• Accumulating snapshot — one row per process lifecycle
• Factless — event occurrence or many-to-many associations