Extracting E-R Models from Collaboration Analysis Methods, MCM, and CLM

Abstract

To make collaboration tasks work effectively, it is very important to analyze what collaborators are doing, which position they are in, and how they communicate with each other. Multi-Context Maps (MCM) and Collaborative Linkage Maps (CLM) together constitute a solution for such demands. These methods analyze each collaborator’s position precisely, so these models capture important information in the process. In this paper, we propose to extract E-R models, which are widely used to design databases in the early phases, from MCM and CLM. The process of composing E-R models still relies on the designers’ experience or their intuition, which often causes inadequate formalization of complex requirements. Our extraction provides a systematic method of designing data models. We also propose how to apply the extracted model when designing databases.