Location via proxy:   [ UP ]  
[Report a bug]   [Manage cookies]                
Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Database Reverse Engineering

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

  • 801 Accesses

Synonyms

Database redocumentation; Database design recovery

Definition

Database reverse engineering is the process through which the logical and conceptual schemas of a legacy database, or of a set of files, are reconstructed from various information sources such as DDL code, data dictionary contents, database contents or the source code of application programs that use the database.

Basically, database reverse engineering comprises three processes, namely physical schema extraction, logical schema reconstruction, and schema conceptualization. The first process consists in parsing the DDL code or the contents of an active data dictionary in order to extract the physical schema of the database. Reconstructing the logical schema implies analyzing additional sources such as the data and the source code of the application programs to discover implicit constraints and data structures, that is, constructs that have not been declared but that are managed by the information system or by its...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 2,500.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Recommended Reading

  1. Baxter I. and Mehlich M. Reverse engineering is reverse forward engineering. Sci. Comput. Programming, 36:131–147, 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Blaha M.R. and Premerlani W.J. Observed idiosyncrasies of relational database designs. In Proc. 2nd IEEE Working Conf. on Reverse Engineering, p. 116.1995,

    Google Scholar 

  3. Casanova M.A. and Amaral de Sa J.E. 1984.Mapping uninterpreted schemes into entity-relationship diagrams: two applications to conceptual schema design. IBM J. Res. Develop., 28(1):82–94,

    Google Scholar 

  4. Chikofsky E.J. and Cross J.H. II. 1990.Reverse engineering and design recovery: a taxonomy. IEEE Softw., 7(1):13–17,

    Google Scholar 

  5. Davis K.H. and Aiken P.H. Data reverse engineering: a historical view. In Proc. 7th Working Conf. on Reverse Engineering, 2000, pp. 70–78.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Davis K.H. and Arora A.K. A methodology for translating a conventional file system into an entity-relationship model. In Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Entity-Relationship Approach, p. 148–159.1985,

    Google Scholar 

  7. Edwards H.M. and Munro M. Deriving a logical model for a system using recast method. In Proc. 2nd IEEE Working Conf. on Reverse Engineering, 1995, pp. 126–135.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Hainaut J.-L. Introduction to database reverse engineering, LIBD lecture notes, Pub. University of Namur, Belgium, 2002, p. 160. Retrieved Oct. 2007 from http://www.info.fundp.ac.be/~dbm/publication/2002/DBRE-2002.pdf.

  9. Hainaut J.-L. The transformational approach to database engineering. In Generative and Transformational Techniques in Software Engineering, R. Lämmel, J. Saraiva, J. Visser (eds.), LNCS 4143. Springer-Verlag, 2006, pp. 89–138.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Hainaut J.-L., Clève A., Henrard J., and Hick J.-M. Migration of Legacy Information Systems. In Software Evolution, T. Mens, S. Demeyer (eds.). Springer-Verlag, 2007, pp. 107–138.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Hainaut J.-L., Roland D., Hick J-M., Henrard J., and Englebert V. Database reverse engineering: from requirements to CARE tools. J. Automated Softw. Eng., 3(1/2):9–45, 1996.

    MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  12. Navathe S.B. and Awong A. Abstracting relational and hierarchical data with a semantic data model. In Proc. Entity-Relationship Approach: a Bridge to the User. North-Holland, 1987, pp. 305–333.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Namur, Namur, Belgium

    Jean-Luc Hainaut, Jean Henrard, Vincent Englebert, Didier Roland & Jean-Marc Hick

Authors
  1. Jean-Luc Hainaut
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jean Henrard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vincent Englebert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Didier Roland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jean-Marc Hick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this entry

Cite this entry

Hainaut, JL., Henrard, J., Englebert, V., Roland, D., Hick, JM. (2009). Database Reverse Engineering. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_646

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation