Towards a complete conceptual model: Petri nets and entity-relationship diagrams

Abstract The paper shows how entity-relationship (E-R) diagrams and high-level Petri nets can system-atically be synthesized into rigorous, yet graphic system models which meet the requirements of conceptual modeling. The idea is to combine the strengths of a widespread technique of modeling static system properties with an also well-known theory of systems and processes and its diagrammatic language. Although Petri nets are primarily used to capture and analyze dynamic system properties, they may also be used for modeling static properties. Based on this capability, we employ them for defining the semantics of E-R diagrams and, what is more, for complementing the E-R approach. The result is a technique for producing complete conceptual models in diagrammatic form which describe both the static and the dynamic properties of the modeled system and are amenable to simulation.

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