Method and system for reconciling meta-data in a data warehouse

A method for managing a data warehouse, the method comprising:

• allowing a user to select an object in the data warehouse and identify a change in the definition of the selected object;
• identifying a first set of objects impacted by the change to the definition of the selected object;
• identifying a second set of objects on which the selected object depends;
• identifying at least one task that has to be completed to propagate the impact of the change in the definition of the selected object to objects in the first and second sets of objects;
• performing the task;
• and
• dynamically computing additional tasks based on whether or not definitions of objects in the first or second sets of objects changes based upon completion of the at least one task.

A computer program product for managing a data warehouse, the computer program product being embodied in a computer readable medium and comprising instructions executable by a computer to:

• allow a user to select an object in the data warehouse and identify a change in the definition of the selected object;
• identify a first set of objects impacted by the change to the definition of the selected object;
• identify a second set of objects on which the selected object depends;
• identify at least one task that has to be completed to propagate the impact of the change in the definition of the selected object to objects in the first and second sets of objects;
• perform the task;
• and
• dynamical computing additional tasks based on whether or not definitions of objects in the first or second sets of objects changes based upon completion of the at least one task.

A data system comprising:

• a database;
• and
• a data manager communicatively coupled to the database and configured to (i) store data to and retrieve data from the database and (ii) perform metadata reconciliation to update metadata of objects in the database to reflect a change in metadata of a first object in the database by:
• identifying a first set of objects impacted by the change to the metadata of the first object;
• identifying a second set of objects on which the first object depends;
• identifying at least one task that has to be completed to propagate the impact of the change in the metadata of the first object to objects in the first and second sets of objects;
• performing the task;
• and dynamically computing additional tasks based on whether or not definitions of objects in the first or second sets of objects changes based upon completion of the at least one task.