XML schema mappings for heterogeneous database access

Abstract

The unprecedented increase in the availability of information, due to the success of the World Wide Web, has generated an urgent need for new and robust methods that simplify the querying and integration of data. In this research, we investigate a practical framework for data access to heterogeneous data sources. The framework utilizes the extensible markup language (XML) Schema as the canonical data model for the querying and integration of data from heterogeneous data sources. We present algorithms for mapping relational and network schemas into XML schemas using the relational mapping algorithm. We also present library system of databases (libSyD), a prototype of a system for heterogeneous database access. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.