M. A. Casanova
Abstract
A modularization discipline for database schemas is first described. The dicipline incorporates both a strategy for enforcing integrity constraints and a tactic for organizing large sets of database structures, integrity constraints, and operations. A software tool that helps the development and maintenance of database schemas modularized according to the discipline is then presented. It offers a user-friendly interface that guides the designer through the various stages of the creation of a new module or through the process of changing objects of existing modules. The tool incorporates, in a declarative style, a description of the design and redesign rules behind the modularization discipline, hence facilitating the incremental addition of new expertise about database design.
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Index Terms
- A software tool for modular database design
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Reviews
Alfs T. Berztiss
Although the title of this paper puts emphasis on a software tool, the paper should be read by all software engineers interested in database modularization. Proper modularization is essential for the management of large databases. In the case of functional databases, it seems natural to separate a database into data types and consider each data type as a module. Under a relational data model, however, modularization criteria are more difficult to establish, and the authors of this paper do not go beyond stating that “close relation” of a collection of structures, integrity constraints, and operations is their modularization criterion. They do, however, solve the important problem of how to maintain integrity efficiently when new modules are added to a database. They do this by grouping modules into conceptual and external modules, where the latter define database views. Conceptual modules are organized into a hierarchy in such a way that lower-level modules are hidden from the user. This allows for the development of efficient mechanisms for maintaining integrity, and for the engineering of a tool that is to assist a database designer in the initial design of a database and in subsequent redesign activities. The tool has been implemented.
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