A method for transforming relational schemas into conceptual schemas

Abstract

A major problem with currently existing database systems is that there often does not exist a conceptual understanding of the data. Such an understanding can be obtained by describing the data using a semantic data model, such as the ER model. Consequently, there is a need for methods that translate a schema in a traditional data model into a conceptual schema. We present a method for translating a schema in the relational model into a schema in a conceptual model. We also show that the schema produced has the same information capacity as the original schema. The conceptual model used is a formalization of an extended ER model, which also includes the subtype concept.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>