No abstract

Reengineering is one of the key concepts in software maintenance and evolution. It generally includes some form of reverse engineering followed by some form of forward engineering or restructuring. In the paper we focus on database reverse engineering. Model-driven software engineering promotes the idea of abstracting implementation details by focusing on: models as first class entities and automated generation of models or code from other models. In the approach meta-models are used to define the modeling languages. A database reverse engineering process can benefit of integrating meta-modeling and meta-models in the process. The plethora of models related to databases points out to the need and importance of model-to-model transformations between these models at different abstraction levels. These transformations are based on meta-models that are conformed by the source and target models of the transformations. A database reverse engineering process can be performed through a chain of model-to-model transformations based on a set of meta-models. In the paper we discuss the importance of meta-modeling in the context of database reverse engineering and present a case study illustrating an approach to database reverse engineering.

IIS*Case is an integrated CASE tool that supports the automation and intelligent support of complex and highly formalized design and programming tasks in the development of an information system. IIS*Case, as a tool from the class of domain oriented design environments, generates relational database schemas in 3rd normal form with all relevant data constraints. SQL Generator is an IIS*Case tool that generates the implementation specification of a database schema according to ANSI SQL:2003 standard. The generator may also produce a database schema specification for Microsoft SQL Server or Oracle DBMSs. The paper describes SQL Generator's traits, considers aspects of its application, and shows its use in the implementation of a complex database constraint using procedural mechanisms of a particular relational DBMS. SQL Generator is implemented in Java and Oracle JDeveloper environment.

Many software engineering activities entail dealing with legacy information systems. When these systems become too costly to maintain, or when new technologies need to be incorporated, they need to be replaced or somehow reengineered. This can be done with significantly reduced amount of effort and cost if the conceptual models of these systems are available. Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing a subject system to create representations of the system at a higher level of abstraction. Relational databases are a common source of reverse engineering. Starting from a physical database schema, that is recorded into relational database schema data repository, the conceptual database schema or logical database schema could be extracted. The extraction process may be seen as a chain of model-to-model transformations that trace model elements from a model at the lower level of abstraction to a model at the higher level of abstraction, achieved through meta-modeling. In the paper we present generic and standard database constraint meta-models, focusing on multi-relational database constraints captured in a legacy database. These meta-models are aimed at support of model transformations to create conceptual models, as a useful source for the system reengineering process. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. Grant III-44010: Intelligent Systems for Software Product Development and Business Support based on Models]

The inverse referential integrity constraints (IRICs) are specialization of non-key-based inclusion dependencies (INDs). Keybased INDs (referential integrity constraints) may be fully enforced by most current relational database management systems (RDBMSs). On the contrary, non-key-based INDs are completely disregarded by actual RDBMSs, obliging the users to manage them via custom procedures and/or triggers. In this paper we present an approach to the automated implementation of IRICs integrated in the SQL Generator tool that we developed as a part of the IIS