FORML 2

Abstract

A conceptual schema of an information system specifies the fact structures of interest as well as the business rules that apply to the business domain being modeled. These rules, which may be complex, are best validated with subject matter experts, since they best understand the business domain. In practice, business domain experts often lack expertise in the technical languages used by modelers to capture or query the information model. Controlled natural languages offer a potential solution to this problem, by allowing business experts to validate models and queries expressed in language they understand, while still being executable, with automated generation of implementation code. This paper describes FORML 2, a controlled natural language based on ORM 2 (second generation Object-Role Modeling), featuring rich expressive power, intelligibility, and semantic stability. Design guidelines are discussed, as well as a prototype implemented as an extension to the open source NORMA (Natural ORM Architect) tool. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.