S. Castano
Abstract
The problem of analyzing and classifying conceptual schemas is becomig increasingly important due to the availability of a large number of schemas related to existing applications. The purposes of schema analysis and classification activities can be different: to extract information on intensional properties of legacy systems in order to restructure or migrate to new architectures; to build libraries of reference conceptual components to be used in building new applications in a given domain; and to identify information flows and possible replication of data in an organization. This article proposes a set of techniques for schema analysis and classification to be used separately or in combination. The techniques allow the analyst to derive significant properties from schemas, with human intervention limited as far as possible. In particular, techniques for associating descriptors with schemas, for abstracting reference conceptual schemas based on schema clustering, and for determining schema similarity are presented. A methodology for systematic schema analysis is illustrated, with the purpose of identifying and abstracting into reference components the similar and potentially reusable parts of a set of schemas. Experiences deriving from the application of the proposed techniques and methodology on a large set of Entity-Relationship conceptual schemas of information systems in the Italian Public Administration domain are described
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Index Terms
- Conceptual schema analysis: techniques and applications
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Reviews
Fazli Can
In this lengthy paper, the authors introduce semi-automatic conceptual schema analysis techniques. Their techniques include steps such as indexing (feature selection), thesaurus construction, and schema clustering. They envision that the techniques can be used in schema reuse in application development; in analysis of legacy systems; to enforce interoperability among heterogeneous distributed systems; and in analysis of semi-structured information (such as information presented on the Web). The applications in practical situations are presented without any quantitative comparison with manual methods. As the size and variety of the available information increase, the methods needed to organize and retrieve it must adapt; otherwise we start to reinvent, do not take advantage of what is available, and repeat the mistakes of the past. In this respect, the efforts of this study are worthwhile; however, they still need validation by rigorous comparison with manual methods. The paper is excessively long and repetitious: sections 2 and 3 and, similarly, sections 4 and 5 could have been combined and shortened. The paper should be useful to practitioners and researchers.
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