BimlFlex Best Practices For Data Vault

This document consolidates and outlines the various best practices on Data Vault implementation using BimlFlex.

Note

This document is intended to supplement other, published, Data Vault standards.

Information Modeling

Define the Business Model

Before diving into the Data Vault standards and implementation we recommend creating a high-level model of your business, or at least for the business area in scope. This is a conceptual model based on business processes, using business terminology. BimlFlex provides the Business Modeling feature to support creating this.

The intent of the business modelling feature is to maintain a holistic view on the business processes, and define a model that avoids bias that may be caused by how existing operational systems are implemented.

At this stage, the focus is recommended to be on the module and making sure it is an accurate representation of the business. Defining how the source data will fit into this model will be done in subsequent steps.

A recommended approach is the Business Ontology, as discussed in The Elephant in the Fridge by John Giles, or Ensemble Logical Model as taught by Genesee Academy.

Using **Business Modeling you can create a map, model or diagram of the Core Business Concepts, Natural Business Relationships and any supporting Context Data. These can be used by the BimlFlex Accelerator to transform the source data into a Data Vault model.

The Accelerator provides a starting point, a way to quickly configure an initial target Data Vault model. But it still must be aligned and tweaked to fit the business model.

Important

It is highly recommended to have your Business Entities in place before using the Data Vault Accelerator for optimal results.

BimlFlex implements all standard system columns using Configurations. The Configurations feature allows the definition of specific columns that only apply to certain types of objects.

For a more granular configuration, it is possible to override the global configuration using Custom Attributes so that certain configurations only for specific projects or objects.

The following is a list of default columns that specifically apply to Data Vault methodology:

RowEffectiveFromDate

The RowEffectiveFromDate aligns to the Load Date Time Stamp (LDTS) in Data Vault methodology. The LDTS conceptually represents the moment the record is loaded in the Data Warehouse, the time of arrival. It is typically used to represent the 'technical timeline' in a bi-temporal context.

In BimlFlex, this is represented using the RowEffectiveFromDate configuration.

By default, this configuration is applied to every Data Vault object by BimlFlex. But only for Satellite objects it will be part of the Primary Key definition.

Record Source

  • ConfigurationKey RowRecordSource. The CONFIGURATION VALUE can be renamed based on your naming conventions.
  • Use the Connection RECORD SOURCE value defined on the source connection.
  • The default name is FlexRowRecordSource and the recommended name is DWH_RSRC changed to conform to your naming standards.

Audit Id

  • ConfigurationKey RowAuditId. The CONFIGURATION VALUE can be renamed based on your naming conventions.