Integrating data mining with SQL databases: OLE DB for data mining

The integration of data mining with traditional database systems is key to making it convenient, easy to deploy in real applications, and to growing its user base. We describe the new API for data mining proposed by Microsoft as extensions to the OLE DB standard. We illustrate the basic notions that motivated the API's design and describe the key components of an OLE DB for the data mining provider. We also include examples of the usage and treat the problems of data representation and integration with the SQL framework. We believe this new API will go a long way in enabling deployment of data mining in enterprise data warehouses. A reference implementation of a provider is available with the recent release of Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database system.