Forms approach to requirements specification for database design

Abstract

One of the most difficult tasks in database design is the collection of relevant information needed for database design. This information can be separated into two categories: information about the processes which use, modify or produce the data, and information about the data which is used, modified, or produced by the processes. This paper describes a "forms" oriented requirements specification facility as a formal means for capturing the information crucial for database design. Both kinds of information are expressible by the proposed structured forms specification. Furthermore, not only the application usage, but also the integrity constraints that must be maintained in the database can be captured in a concise, unambiguous and machine manipulable manner. The concepts underlying the forms approach are few and simple, hence it is easy to use for the database designer and can be understood by non-computer specialists. This facilitates the cooperation from users to participate in the specification of database application requirements.