Abstract
This paper addresses the issue of documenting an existing legacy database by mining out its characteristics and derive the corresponding entity-relationship model. We developed algorithms to identify candidate keys of all relations in the relational schema, to locate the occurrence of a given candidate key as foreign key in any existing relation, and to decide on the appropriate links (relationships) between the given relations. Based on the mentioned analysis, we draw a graph that corresponds to the entity-relationship diagram, and predicts all possible relationships between relations in the existing relational schema. Finally, we derive the cardinality of each link in the graph.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
P. Aiken, A. Muntz, and R. Richards: DoD Legacy Systems: Reverse Engineering Data Requirements. CACM 37 (1994) 26–41
R. Alhajj and A. Elnagar: Incremental Materialization of Object-Oriented Views. DKE. 29 (1999) 121–145
R. Alhajj and F. Polat: Proper Handling of Query Results Towards Maximizing Reusability in Object-Oriented Databases. Information Sciences: An International Journal 107/1–4 (1998) 247–272
R. Alhajj and F. Polat: Closure Maintenance in an Object-Oriented Query Model. Proc. of ACM CIKM (1994) 72–79
R. Alhajj and M.E. Arkun: A Query Model for Object-Oriented Database Systems. Proc. of IEEE ICDE (1993) 163–172
M. Andersson: Extracting an Entity-Relationship Schema from a Relational Database through Reverse Engineering. Proc. of ER (1994) 403–419
M. Blaha: Dimensions of Relational Database Reverse Engineering. Proc. of WCRE (1997) 176–183
J.R. Caron, S.L. Jarvenpaa, and D.B. Stoddard: Business Reengineering at CIGNA Corporation: Experiences and Lessons Learned from the First Five Years. MIS Quarterly 18 (1994) 233–247
R.H.L. Chiang, T.M. Barron, and V.C. Storey: Reverse Engineering of Relational Databases: Extraction of an EER model from a relational database. DKE 12 (1994) 107–142
R.H.L. Chiang, T. Barron and V. Storey: A Framework for the Evaluation of Database Reverse Engineering Methods for Relational Databases. DKE 21 (1997) 57–77
C. Fahrner and G. Vossen: A Survey of Database Design Transformations Based on the Entity-Relationship Model. DKE 15 (1995) 213–250
C. Finkelstein and P. Aiken: Data Warehouse Engineering with Data Quality Reengineering. McGraw-Hill Inc. (1998)
M. Fonkam and W. Gray: An approach to Eliciting the Semantics of Relational Databases. Proc. of the International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (1992) 461–480
W.A. Gray, G.N. Wikramanayake, and N.J. Fiddian: Assisting Legacy Database Migration in Legacy Information Systems-Barriers to Business Process Re-Engineering. IEE Proc. on Software (1994)
J.L. Hainaut, et al.: Requirements for Information Systems Reverse Engineering Support. Proc. of IWCRE (1995)
P. Johannesson: A Method for Transforming Relational Schemas into Conceptual Schemas. Proc. of IEEE ICDE (1994) 190–201
J.M. Petit, et al.: Using Queries to Improve Database Reverse Engineering. Proc. of ER (1994) 369–386
W. Premarlani and M. Blaha: An approach for reverse engineering of relational databases. CACM 37 (1994) 42–49
O. Signore, et al.: Reconstruction of ER Schema from Database Applications: A cognitive Approach. Proc. of ER (1994) 387–402
Z. Tari and J. Stokes: Designing the Reengineering Service for the DOK Federated Database System. Proc. of IEEE ICDE (1997) 465–475.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Alhajj, R. (1999). Documenting Legacy Relational Databases. In: Chen, P.P., Embley, D.W., Kouloumdjian, J., Liddle, S.W., Roddick, J.F. (eds) Advances in Conceptual Modeling. ER 1999. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1727. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48054-4_14
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-48054-4_14
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-66653-0
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-48054-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive