Database Reverse Engineering
نویسندگان
چکیده
Database reverse engineering consists of recovering the abstract descriptions of files and databases of legacy information systems. A legacy information system can be defined as a “data-intensive application, such as [a] business system based on hundreds or thousands of data files (or tables), that significantly resists modifications and changes” (Brodie & Stonebraker, 1995). The objective of database reverse engineering is to recover the logical and conceptual descriptions, or schemas, of the permanent data of a legacy information system, that is, its database, be it implemented as a set of files or through an actual database management system. The logical schema is the technology-dependent (e.g., relational) description of the database structures while the conceptual schema is the abstract, technology-independent description of their semantics. Database reverse engineering often is the first steps of broader engineering projects. Indeed, rebuilding the precise documentation of a legacy database is an absolute prerequisite before migrating, reengineering, maintaining or extending it, or merging it with other databases. The current commercial offering in CASE tools poorly supports database reverse engineering. Generally, it reduces to the straightforward derivation of a conceptual schema such as that of Figure 1 from the following DDL code. Chapter XXI Database Reverse Engineering
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