Determining Schema Interdependencies in Object-Oriented Multidatabase Systems

Schema analysis is the process of determining and capturing how individual schema items in diverse databases are related to each other. During this process different types of semantic relationships between schema items in different databases are identified and meaningful cross-links are established. The work presented in this paper concentrates on the issue of determining several types of interdependencies among schema items in object-oriented multidatabase systems in terms of their semantic context. A methodology is proposed for semi-automated schema analysis whereby knowledge from schema analysts may be applied in an interactive manner to refine and fully determine potential schema item interdependencies. Iceywords: multi-database systems, object-oriented DBs, schema analysis and integration, semantic and structural discrepancies, inter-type assertions, analogical reasoning.