Appendix A

Explanation of the UML Notation

The UML (Unified Modeling Language) is a graphical language for modeling software development artifacts. The UML encompasses about a dozen notations of which one (the class model) concerns data structure. The class model sets the scope of data and level of abstraction for subsequent development. The Object Management Group (www.omg.org) has been actively working towards standardizing all of the UML notations.

The UML class model is an object-oriented notation. Nevertheless, the class model is entirely suitable for databases and actually derives from the Chen notation [Chen-1976]. The Chen notation and its derivatives have been influential in the database community, but there are many dialects and a lack ...

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