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Vol. I · No. 251
Mon · 8 Jun
A Daily Lexicon of Trustworthy Data
The Lexicon

048·49

degenerate dimension

/dɪˈdʒɛnərət daɪˈmɛnʃən/ - n.

1 [colloq.] A dimension demoted to living in the fact table, named as though the modeling, and not the org, were at fault.Keep. Punchy.This is the problem.

Working definition

2. A dimension attribute, such as an invoice or order number, stored in the fact table itself because it has no other attributes to warrant its own dimension.

Promoted
See also
  • junk dimensionThe drawer where the model keeps every yes/no flag a stakeholder swore was critical and never queried.
  • surrogate keyA number we invented so we would stop arguing about which real-world thing it points to. The argument moved one table over.