When conceptual model meets grammar: A formal approach to semi-structured data modeling

Abstract

Currently, XML is a standard for information exchange. An important task in XML management is designing particular XML formats suitable for particular kinds of information exchange. There exist two kinds of approaches to this problem. Firstly, there exist XML schema languages and their formalization - regular tree grammars. Secondly, there are approaches based on conceptual modeling and automatic derivation of an XML schema from a conceptual schema. In this paper, we provide a unified formalism for both kind of approaches. It is based on formal specification of XML schemas, conceptual schemas, and mappings between both kinds of schemas. The formalism gives necessary conditions on the mappings. The mapping may then be applied in practice not only for unified process of designing XML schemas on both levels, i.e. conceptual and grammatical, but also for integration and evolution of XML schemas. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.