Knowledge-Based Approach for Abstracting Hierarchical and Network Schema Semantics

Semantic meanings are lost in existing schema once the conceptual model has been mapped into logical model. To recapture the semantic meanings of the logical schema, for the purpose of schema translation, schema Integration, or a better understanding of the existing system, we need to abstract the semantic meanings from the logical schema. However, user input is needed to rebuild the domain integrity and relation integrity from the existing data. A knowledge-based system can assist the user confirm the translated extended entityrelationship(EER) model by enforcing the integrity heuristic rules such as fanset integrity, functional dependencies arid inclusion dependencies in the translation process. The resultant conceptual model meets the heuristic rules requirements of the existing hierarchical or network schema. Even though there are many possible EER models that can be constructed from a known logical schema, the translated EER model is the one close to user expection.