| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/R57867/01 |
| Title: |
Constraint Database Technology as a Substrate for What-If Analysis based on Business Rules |
| Principal Investigator: |
Embury, Dr SM |
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| Department: |
Computer Science |
| Organisation: |
University of Manchester, The |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
01 January 2003 |
Ends: |
30 June 2006 |
Value (£): |
60,835
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Information & Knowledge Mgmt |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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The advent of data warehouse systems has provided organisations with the capability to analyse their past history in considerable detail and in a variety of different ways, in order to inform future decision making. In particular, the availability of a large body of data describing the history of the organisation opens up the possibility for performing what-if? type analyses. Currently, this facility is only available in applications in which an accurate mathematical model can be constructed (e.g. a forecast model). However, in many applications, no such model is available; instead, the space of alternative possibilities is defined by a collection of business rules. What is required, therefore, is the ability to perform what-if? analyses that are constrained by business rules, and what-if? analyses that explore the effects of making changes to current business rules. Such a system must be capable of performing non-deterministic search over a large body of data, in the presence of many constraints. In this project, we will investigate the suitability of constraint database technology for supporting this style of what-if? analysis, as compared to two other possible supporting technologies, as proposed in the literature: namely, hypothetical transactions and hypothetical queries. We will evaluate each of these three technologies in terms of expressiveness, efficiency and ease of use. We will also compare the profiles of each technique against the requirements for what-if? analysis in practice.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.man.ac.uk |