Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
SpringerLink
Log in

Formalised conceptual models as a foundation of information systems development

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Entity-Relationship Approach — ER '94 Business Modelling and Re-Engineering (ER 1994)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 881))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The more application semantics are added to a conceptual model, the greater the portion of the respective application system can be generated automatically. To allow for an automatic generation, additional type-level semantics have to be specified formally, and a large number of object-level semantics have to be derived from this formal model.

Form existential dependencies, existence implications, and derivation relationships, all abstraction relationships and non-abstracting derivation relationships between object types can be constructed. Their formalisation leads to three predicates that represent direct dependencies within the conceptual model. By applying three basic production rules to these predicates, the relational closure of all indirect dependencies throughout the model can be derived formally. Based on a formalisation of elementary insert, delete, and update operations, indirect dependencies are used to identify all objects throughout the system that are affected by a data manipulation.

Since the set of objects that are affected by a manipulation can be derived formally, it is possible to automatically generate database triggers that implement these object-level semantics. The generation process is presented, and examples from a simplified conceptual model and procedurally extended data model of a production planning system are given.

In conceptual modeling, the proposed model extensions represent important invariant properties that are consistently specified together with structural model elements. Not only tables and static integrity constraints can be automatically generated to implement structural model elements, but also data manipulation propagation triggers can be generated to implement invariant properties. Therefore, a tight integration of structural and important behavioral aspects is provided in information system design as well as implementation. Hence, formalised extended conceptual models can be regarded as a foundation of integrated information systems development.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Chen, P.P.: The Entity-Relationship Model — Towards a Unified View of Data, ACM Transactions on Database Systems, 1 (1976), 1, 9–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Scheuermann, P. / G. Schiffner / H. Weber: Abstraction Capabilities and Invariant Properties Modeling within the Entity-Relationship-Approach, in: Chen, P.P.S. (Ed.): Entity-Relationship Approach to Systems Analysis and Design, North-Holland 1980, 121–140

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tanaka, A.K. / S.B. Navathe / S. Chakravarthy / K. Karlapalem: ER-R — An Enhanced ER Model with Situation-Action Rules to Capture Application Semantics, Proc. of the 10th Int. Conference on the Entity-Relationship Approach, SanMateo 1991, 59–75

    Google Scholar 

  4. Batini, C. / S. Ceri / S.B. Navathe: Conceptual Database Design — An Entity-Relationship Approach, Benjamin/Cummings 1992

    Google Scholar 

  5. Ortner, E.: Aspekte einer Konstruktionssprache für den Datenbankentwurf, Darmstadt 1983 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ortner, E. / B. Söllner: Semantische Datenmodellierung nach der Objekttypenmethode, Informatik-Spektrum, 12 (1989), 31–42 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Sinz, E.J.: Datenmodellierung betrieblicher Probleme und ihre Unterstützung durch ein wissensbasiertes Entwicklungssystem, Universität Regensburg, 1987 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Sinz, E. J.: The Structured Entity-Relationship Model (SERM), Angewandte Informatik, 30 (1988), 5, 191–202 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Ferstl, O.K. / E.J. Sinz: Object-Oriented Modeling of Business Information Systems Using a Semantic Object Model (SOM), Wirtschaftsinformatik, 32 (1990), 6, 566–581 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Ferstl, O.K. / E.J. Sinz: A Ein Vorgehensmodell zur Objektmodellierung betrieblicher Informationssysteme im Semantischen Objektmodell (SOM), Wirtschaftsinformatik, 33 (1991), 6, 477–491 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Winter, R.: Design and Implementation of Derived Entities —Enhancing the Entity-Relationship Model to Support the Generation of Database Triggers, Proc. of the 12th Int. Conference on the Entity-Relationship Approach, Arlington 1993, 62–76

    Google Scholar 

  12. Schek, H.-J. / M. Scholl: The Relational Model with Relation-Valued Attributes, Information Systems, 11 (1986), 2, 137–147

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Boßhammer, M. / R. Winter: Formal Validation of ER Model Clustering Operations, Research Report 94-10, Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt am Main 1994

    Google Scholar 

  14. Rauh, O. / E. Stickel: Entity-Relationship Modeling of Information Systems with Deductive Capabilities, Research Report, Europa-Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder 1994

    Google Scholar 

  15. Rauh, O. / E. Stickel: Searching for Compositions in ER Schemes, in: Proc. of the 12th Int. Conference onEntity Relationship Approach, Arlington 1993, 77–86

    Google Scholar 

  16. Adiba, M.: Derived Relations — A Unified Mechanism for Views, Snapshots and Distributed Data, Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Very Large Data Bases, Cannes, September 1981, 293–305

    Google Scholar 

  17. Codd, E.F.: A Relational Model of Data for Large Shared Data Banks, Communications of the ACM, 13 (1970), 6, 377–387

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Oracle Corp.: SQL Language Reference Manual Version 7.0, Part No. 778-70-0292, 1992

    Google Scholar 

  19. Aho, A.V. / J.E. Hopcroft / J.D. Ullman: The Design and Analysis of Computer Algorithms, Addison-Wesley 1974

    Google Scholar 

  20. Merrett, T.H.: Relational Information Systems, Reston Publ. Co. 1982

    Google Scholar 

  21. Ullman, JD.: Principles of Database and Knowledge-Base Systems, vol. 1, Computer Science Press 1988

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kirschenbauer, A. / R. Winter: Data Derivation in Information Systems, in: Baets, W.R.J. (Ed.): Proc. of the 2nd European Conference on Information Systems, Breukelen: Nijenrode University Press, pp. 75–87

    Google Scholar 

  23. Winter, R.: A Database Approach to Hierarchical Materials Planning, Int. Journal of Operations & Production Management, 10 (1990), 2, 62–83

    Google Scholar 

  24. Leist, S. / R. Winter: Configuration of Insurance Contracts, Wirtschaftsinformatik, 36 (1994), 1, 45–56 (In German)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, P.O.B. 11 19 32, 60054, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Robert Winter

Authors
  1. Robert Winter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Pericles Loucopoulos

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Winter, R. (1994). Formalised conceptual models as a foundation of information systems development. In: Loucopoulos, P. (eds) Entity-Relationship Approach — ER '94 Business Modelling and Re-Engineering. ER 1994. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 881. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58786-1_95

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-58786-1_95

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-58786-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49100-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation