EDW case study: StatMaster

Ethea used EDW to build the StatMaster application for a customer. Here is a description of the application and a summary of the features of EDW that proved useful in this project.

In brief

Application name StatMaster
Customer Fiera di Milano S.p.A.
Scope Organization of fairs and exhibitions
Description

StatMaster gathers in a centralized database data flows of different kinds from ticket offices, cash machines, turnstiles in a large exhibition area. Data is then employed to produce almost-real-time reports about the people visiting an event. Reports contain aggregate information on visitors per country or province, new visitors vs re-entries in multi-day events, single visitors vs companies, and more.

Reports are generated in PDF format for paper output, HTML for Internet/Intranet publishing, and even SMS (sent to interested people). The application can also compare two ore more versions of the same report and provide trend indications.
Database Microsoft SQL Server 2000 was chosen as the centralized data store. Data flows come from different systems, mostly based on various versions of Microsoft SQL Server as well.
Data size

StatMaster acquires tens of thousands records per day, and pairs them to bio data either pre-loaded or coming from the ticket counters and the back office. Normally reports are produced every 30 minutes. The application also has ways to archive old data between events.
Strong points

StatMaster was built rather easily thanks to the following EDW features:

  • Ability to work both interactively and in batch mode.
  • Flexibility in acquiring data flows from heterogeneous systems.
  • Flexibility in output formats: PDF, HTML, SMS, XLS from the same processed data.
  • Endless possibilities of extension through scripts and plugins. The application uses a number of custom forms.

Screenshots

Here are a few screenshots that illustrate specific features.

 
The data-entry form for exhibitions: a master record with three detail tables and a few custom actions in the toolbar. Each of these actions launches an EDW ETL program in interactive mode.
 
 

   
This wizard is used to create report comparison maps. It is a custom form living in a plugin. The form itself uses some EDW features, such as the "Show data" button that opens a standard form to display a set of data and export them in various formats.
 

   
The same report, produced in PDF format (on the left) and in HTML format (on the right).
 


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