Abstract
We present a methodology for data schema integration, able to merge a set of schemas and the top-down chains of refinement planes produced during their design. The result of this process, that we call multilevel integration, is an integrated schema plus an associated top-down chain of schemas. The integrated schema and the chain are related to the input schemas by nice properties, giving rise to a two-dimensional structure that we call grid. The methodology we define is based on the formal definition of schema refinement and on the notion of schema transformation, i.e., a replacement mechanism that maps a schema into another one. In particular we concentrate on sequences of transformations, constituting the formal counterpart of a chain of refinement. The overall generation process is summarized through the notion of abstraction tree, a useful tool for discovering and solving the conflicts arising during the multilevel integration activity.
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© 1994 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Santucci, G., Batini, C., Di Battista, G. (1994). Multilevel schema integration. In: Elmasri, R.A., Kouramajian, V., Thalheim, B. (eds) Entity-Relationship Approach — ER '93. ER 1993. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 823. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0024377
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BFb0024377
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