Apparatus and method for creating new reports from a consolidated data mart

1 . A method of forming a report, comprising:

analyzing a repository of individual reports;

generating a consolidated data mart based upon data collected during said analyzing; and

producing a report based upon information within said consolidated data mart.

2 . The method of claim 1 wherein generating includes incrementally adding information to said consolidated data mart in response to the formation of new individual reports.

3 . The method of claim 1 wherein producing includes accessing a semantic layer to produce said report.

4 . The method of claim 1 further comprising creating said repository of individual reports by processing data within a database.

5 . The method of claim 4 wherein creating includes creating said repository of individual reports as time stamped instances of data within said database.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein creating includes creating said repository of individual reports by processing data from a plurality of databases with different formats.

7 . A method of forming a report, comprising:

defining a report repository with individual reports produced from database information;

loading selected data from various individual reports of said report repository to form a consolidated data mart; and

producing a report based upon information within said consolidated data mart.

8 . The method of claim 7 wherein loading includes loading selected data from a new instance of a report.

9 . The method of claim 7 wherein producing includes accessing a semantic layer to produce said report.

10 . The method of claim 7 wherein defining includes creating a report repository with individual reports produced from database information selected from a plurality of databases with different formats.

11 . A computer readable memory, comprising:

a consolidated data mart generator to generate a consolidated data mart based upon an analysis of a repository of individual reports; and

a report generation tool to produce a report via access to said consolidated data mart.

12 . The computer readable memory of claim 11 wherein said consolidated data mart generator incrementally adds information to said consolidated data mart in response to the creation of a new report instance.

13 . The computer readable memory of claim 11 wherein said report generation tool access a semantic layer to produce said report.

14 . The computer readable memory of claim 11 further comprising a query module to create said repository of individual reports by processing data within a database.

15 . The computer readable memory of claim 14 wherein said query module processes data from a plurality of databases with different formats.

16 . The computer readable memory of claim 11 wherein said report generation tool produces a report with links to source data within an individual report of said repository of reports.