ER modelling – a zoom in and zoom out approach. (30th October 2009)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xiong
• Is Part Of: International journal of data mining, modelling and management. Volume 1:Number 4(2009)
• Page Start: 357
• Page End: 374
• Publication Date: 2009-10-30
• Subjects: entity-relationship modelling -- conceptual modelling -- relational database design -- data modelling -- distributed database design; Data mining -- Periodicals; Information science -- Periodicals; Databases -- Periodicals; 005.7
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1759-1163

Abstract

Entity-relationship modelling is an effective design method for relational databases. It is covered in almost every textbook on database systems. Yet, there is not a single book that gives a systematic process on building an entity-relationship model step-by-step from the requirement specifications. In this paper, a zoom in and zoom out approach for such a process is introduced. A toolkit called ERZoom has been developed to assist the designer in the zoom in and zoom out design process. ERZoom provides a unique feature that enables the designer to view a selected subset of the entities and their attributes, while hiding the rest of the entity-relationship model. This is especially useful in distributed database design where vertical fragmentation is a major issue. ERZoom is developed as an open source package using Java. The zoom in and zoom out approach has been taught to beginners for several years and was well-received by the audience.