If one is to interrogate the OLTP database, then I might -- just might -- be willing to acknowledge your point. But when I speak of interrogation, I'm thinking OLAP not OLTP.

In an OLAP database, it makes abundant good sense to de-normalize, as Kimball and his company have proved many times over.

So the real issue here is, when does the data move from OLTP to OLAP. My preference is to do it once a day, but that requires a sign-off from Those On High and the attendant acknowledgment that the data included on reports will be a day old.

20 joins in a single query can be painful, no question about it. But in an OLTP app, what's the problem? It is not meant to be the foundry of answers to questions deemed important by Those On High. That's what OLAP is for.

And finally, the OLAP database should live on a different server than the OLTP database. At today's prices, even Mom 'n' Pop convenience stores can afford this technology (not that they would need it, but you catch my drift).

A.