A Deductive Model for Entity-Relationship Modeling

We present a simple entity-relationship-oriented model, which essentially includes the notion of class, together with different types of relations among classes, such as is-a, part-of, and disjointness. We define the semantics of the model in terms of first order logic, and present a sound, complete, and efficient inference algorithm for such a model. We argue that our model and the associated inference capabilities provide a suitable formal . basis for designing an effective environment supporting conceptual modcling.