Reverse Engineering of Relational Databases: Extraction of an EER Model from a Relational Database

A methodology for extracting an extended Entity-Relationship (EER) model from a relational database is presented. Through a combination of data schema and data instance analysis, an EER model is derived which is semantically richer and more comprehensible for maintenance and design purposes than the original database. Classification schemes for relations and attributes necessary for the EER model extraction are derived and justified. These have been demonstrated to be implementable in a knowledge-based system; a working prototype system which does so is briefly discussed. In addition, cases in which human input is required are also clearly identified. This research also illustrates that the database reverse engineering process can be implemented at a high level of automation.