I wonder how to implement Aggregate Awareness or Transparent Aggregate Navigation in PostgreSQL?
Simply put, when Transparent (to the reporting tool) Aggregate Navigator recognizes that a query would execute faster using aggregates, it automatically rewrites the query so that the database hits the smaller aggregates rather than larger detail tables upon which the small aggregates are pre-computed. The simple theory for BI/DWH was set out by Ralph Kimball (http://www.kimballgroup.com/html/articles_search/articles1996/9608d54.html). Some tools, including Oracle, provide such functionality, and I wonder if it is possible to implement such Aggregate Awareness in PostgreSQL.
Re-write rules in PostgreSQL come to mind first. After a few attempts, I realized that they may not be sophisticated enough to provide a viable solution. But perhaps they are, or there are other features in PostgreSQL that would allow for such aggregate awareness. If you have good ideas about how to implement this functionality, please respond.
Thank you,
Olgierd Michalak
Soft Computer Consultants, Inc.
