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Database Modeling
for Industrial
Data Management:
Emerging Technologies
and Applications

Zongmin Ma
Northeastern University, China

IDEA GROUP PUBLISHING

Hershey • London • Melbourne • Singapore
Acquisitions Editor: Michelle Potter
Development Editor: Kristin Roth
Senior Managing Editor: Amanda Appicello
Managing Editor: Jennifer Neidig
Copy Editor: Susanna Svidunovich
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Printed at: Integrated Book Technology

Published in the United States of America by

Idea Group Publishing (an imprint of Idea Group Inc.)
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Copyright © 2006 by Idea Group Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be repro-
duced, stored or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, without written permission from the publisher.

Product or company names used in this book are for identification purposes only. Inclusion of the
names of the products or companies does not indicate a claim of ownership by IGI of the
trademark or registered trademark.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Database modeling for industrial data management : emerging technologies

and applications / Zongmin Ma, editor.
p. cm.
Summary: "This book covers industrial databases and applications and
offers generic database modeling techniques"--Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-59140-684-6 (hardcover) -- ISBN 1-59140-685-4 (softcover)
-- ISBN 1-59140-686-2 (ebook)
1. Industrial management--Technological innovations. 2. Relational
databases. 3. Database design. I. Ma, Zongmin, 1965- .
HD45.D327 2005
005.75'6--dc22
2005023883

British Cataloguing in Publication Data

A Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.

All work contributed to this book is new, previously-unpublished material. The views expressed in
this book are those of the authors, but not necessarily of the publisher.
 Database Modeling
for Industrial
Data Management:
Emerging Technologies
and Applications

Table of Contents

Preface .................................................................................................. vi

Acknowledgments ................................................................................ xii

SECTION I: INDUSTRIAL DATABASES AND APPLICATIONS

Chapter I
Databases Modeling of Engineering Information ................................ 1
Z. M. Ma, Northeastern University, China

Chapter II
Database Design Based on B ............................................................. 35
Elvira Locuratolo, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italy

Chapter III
The Management of Evolving Engineering Design Constraints ....... 62
T. W. Carnduff, University of Glamorgan, UK
J. S. Goonetillake, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
Chapter IV
Similarity Search for Voxelized CAD Objects ................................. 115
Hans-Peter Kriegel, University of Munich, Germany
Peer Kröger, University of Munich, Germany
Martin Pfeifle, University of Munich, Germany
Stefan Brecheisen, University of Munich, Germany
Marco Pötke, software design & management AG, Germany
Matthias Schubert, University of Munich, Germany
Thomas Seidl, RWTH Aachen, Germany

Chapter V
STEP-NC to Complete Product Development Chain ....................... 148
Xun W. Xu, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Chapter VI
Semantic-Based Dynamic Enterprise Information Integration ....... 185
Jun Yuan, The Boeing Company, USA

Chapter VII
Web Service Integration and Management Strategies
for Large-Scale Datasets .................................................................. 217
Yannis Panagis, University of Patras & Research Academic
Computer Technology Institute, Greece
Evangelos Sakkopoulos, University of Patras & Research Academic
Computer Technology Institute, Greece
Spyros Sioutas, University of Patras, Greece
Athanasios Tsakalidis, University of Patras & Research Academic
Computer Technology Institute, Greece

Chapter VIII
Business Data Warehouse: The Case of Wal-Mart ........................ 244
Indranil Bose, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Lam Albert Kar Chun, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Leung Vivien Wai Yue, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Li Hoi Wan Ines, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Wong Oi Ling Helen, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Chapter IX
A Content-Based Approach to Medical Image
Database Retrieval ........................................................................... 258
Chia-Hung Wei, University of Warwick, UK
Chang-Tsun Li, University of Warwick, UK
Roland Wilson, University of Warwick, UK

SECTION II: GENERIC DATABASE MODELING

Chapter X
Conceptual Modeling for XML: A Myth or a Reality .................... 293
Sriram Mohan, Indiana University, USA
Arijit Sengupta, Wright State University, USA

Chapter XI
Constraint-Based Multi-Dimensional Databases ............................ 323
Franck Ravat, Université Toulouse I, France
Olivier Teste, Université Toulouse III, France
Gilles Zurfluh, Université Toulouse I, France

About the Authors .............................................................................. 361

Index ................................................................................................... 369

vi

Preface

Computer-based information technologies have been extensively used to help

industries manage their processes, and information systems hereby become
their nervous center. More specifically, databases are designed to support the
data storage, processing, and retrieval activities related to data management
in information systems. Database management systems provide efficient task
support, and database systems are the key to implementing industrial data
management. Industrial data management requires database technical sup-
port. Industrial applications, however, are typically data- and knowledge-in-
tensive and have some unique characteristics (e.g., large volumes of data with
complex structures) that make them difficult to manage. Some new techniques
such as the Web, artificial intelligence, and so forth have been introduced into
industrial applications. These unique characteristics and the usage of new tech-
nologies have put many potential requirements on industrial data management,
which challenges today’s database systems and promotes their evolvement.
Viewed from database technology, information modeling in databases (data-
base modeling for short) can be identified at two levels: conceptual data mod-
eling and database modeling. This results in conceptual (semantic) data model
and logical database model. Generally, a conceptual data model is designed,
then the designed conceptual data model will be transformed into a chosen
logical database schema. Database systems based on logical database mod-
els are used to build information systems for data management. Much atten-
tion has been directed at conceptual data modeling of industrial information
systems. Product data models, for example, can be viewed as a class of se-
mantic data models (i.e., conceptual data models) that take into account the
needs of engineering data. Recently, conceptual data modeling of enterprises
has received increasing attention. Generally speaking, traditional ER/EER or
 vii

UML models in database areas can be used for industrial data modeling at the
conceptual level. But, limited by their power in industrial data modeling, some
new conceptual data models such as IDEF1X and STEP/EXPRESS have
been developed. In particular, to implement share and exchange of industrial
data, the Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP) is being
developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). EX-
PRESS is the description methods of STEP and a conceptual schema lan-
guage, which can model product design, manufacturing, and production data.
EXPRESS model hereby becomes a major one of conceptual data models for
industrial data modeling. Many research works have been reported on the
database implementation of the EXPRESS model in context of STEP, and
some software packages and tools are available in the marketplace. For in-
dustrial data modeling in database systems, the generic logical database mod-
els such as relational, nested relational, and object-oriented databases have
been used. However, these generic logical database models do not always
satisfy the requirements of industrial data management. In non-transaction pro-
cessing such as CAD/CAM, knowledge-based system, multimedia and Internet
systems, for example, most of these data-intensive application systems suffer
from the same limitations of relational databases. Some non-traditional data-
base models based on special, hybrid, and/or the extended database models
above have been proposed accordingly.
Database technology is typically application-oriented. With advances and in-
depth applications of computer technologies in industry, database modeling
for industrial data management is emerging as a new discipline. The research
and development of industrial databases is receiving increasing attention. By
means of database technology, large volumes of industrial data with complex
structures can be modeled in conceptual data models and further stored in
databases. Industrial information systems based the databases can handle and
retrieve these data to support various industrial activities. Therefore, database
modeling for industrial data management is a field which must be investigated
by academic researchers, together with developers and users both from data-
base and industry areas.

Introduction

This book, which consists of 11 chapters, is organized into two major sec-
tions. The first section discusses the issues of industrial databases and appli-
viii

cations in the first nine chapters. The next two chapters covering the data
modeling issue in generic databases comprise the second section.
First of all, we take a look at the problems of the industrial databases and
applications.
Databases are designed to support data storage, processing, and retrieval
activities related to data management, and database systems are the key to
implementing engineering information modeling. But some engineering re-
quirements challenge current mainstream databases, which are mainly used
for business applications, and promote their evolvement. Ma tries to identify
the requirements for engineering information modeling and then investigates
the satisfactions of current database models to these requirements at two
levels: conceptual data models and logical database models. Also, the rela-
tionships among the conceptual data models and the logical database models
for engineering information modeling are presented as viewed from database
conceptual design.
ASSO is a database design methodology defined for achieving conceptual
schema consistency, logical schema correctness, flexibility in reflecting the real-
life changes on the schema, and efficiency in accessing and storing informa-
tion. B is an industrial formal method for specifying, designing, and coding
software systems. Locuratolo investigates the integration of the ASSO fea-
tures in B. Starting from a B specification of the data structure and of the
transactions allowed on a database, two model transformations are designed:
The resulting model Structured Database Schema integrates static and dy-
namics, exploiting the novel concepts of Class-Machines and Specialized
Class-Machines. Formal details which must be specified if the conceptual
model of ASSO is directly constructed in B are avoided; the costs of the
consistency obligations are minimized. Class-Machines supported by seman-
tic data models can be correctly linked with Class-Machines supported by
object models.
Carnduff and Goonetillake present research aimed at determining the require-
ments of a database software tool that supports integrity validation of versioned
design artifacts through effective management of evolving constraints. It re-
sults in the design and development of a constraint management model, which
allows constraint evolution through representing constraints within versioned
objects called Constraint Versions Objects (CVOs). This model operates
around a version model that uses a well-defined configuration management
strategy to manage the versions of complex artifacts. Internal and interdepen-
dency constraints are modeled in CVOs. They develop a model which has
been implemented in a prototype database tool with an intuitive user interface.
 ix

The user interface allows designers to manage design constraints without the
need to program. Also, they introduce the innovative concepts developed us-
ing an ongoing example of a simple bicycle design.
Similarity search in database systems is an important task in modern applica-
tion domains such as multimedia, molecular biology, medical imaging and many
others. Especially for CAD (Computer-Aided Design), suitable similarity
models and a clear representation of the results can help to reduce the cost
of developing and producing new parts by maximizing the reuse of existing
parts. Kriegel, Kröger, Pfeifle, Brecheisen, Pötke, Schubert, and Seidl
present different similarity models for voxelized CAD data based on space
partitioning and data partitioning. Based on these similarity models, they in-
troduce an industrial prototype, called BOSS, which helps the user to get an
overview over a set of CAD objects. BOSS allows the user to easily browse
large data collections by graphically displaying the results of a hierarchical
clustering algorithm.
STEP-NC is an emerging ISO standard, which defines a new generation of
NC programming language and is fully compliant with STEP. There is a whole
suite of implementation methods one may utilize for development purposes.
STEP-NC brings richer information to the numerically-controlled machine tools;
hence intelligent machining and control are made possible. Its Web-enabled
feature gives itself an additional dimension in that e-manufacturing can be readily
supported. Xu addresses the issue of product development chain from the
perspective of data modeling and streamlining. The focus is on STEP-NC,
and how it may close the gap between design and manufacturing for a com-
plete, integrated product development environment. A case study is given to
demonstrate a STEP compliant, Web-enabled manufacturing system.
Yuan shares his experience of enabling semantic-based dynamic information
integration across multiple heterogeneous information sources. While data is
physically stored in existing legacy data systems across the networks, the in-
formation is integrated based upon its semantic meanings. Ontology is used to
describe the semantics of global information content, and semantic enhance-
ment is achieved by mapping the local metadata onto the ontology. For better
system reliability, a unique mechanism is introduced to perform appropriate
adjustments upon detecting environmental changes.
Panagis, Sakkopoulos, Sioutas, and Tsakalidis present the Web Service ar-
chitecture and propose Web Service integration and management strategies
for large-scale datasets. They mainly present the elements of Web Service
architecture, the challenges in implementing Web Services whenever large-
scale data are involved, and the design decisions and business process re-
x

engineering steps to integrate Web Services in an enterprise information sys-

tem. Then they provide a case study involving the largest private-sector tele-
phony provider in Greece, where the provider’s billing system datasets is uti-
lized. Moreover, they present the scientific work on Web Service discovery
along with experiments on implementing an elaborate discovery strategy over
real-world, large-scale data.
Bose, Chun, Yue, Ines, and Helen describe the planning and implementation
of the Wal-Mart data warehouse and discuss its integration with the opera-
tional systems. They also highlight some of the problems encountered in the
developmental process of the data warehouse. The implications of the recent
advances in technologies such as RFID, which is likely to play an important
role in the Wal-Mart data warehouse in future, is also detailed.
Content-based image retrieval (CBIR) can be used to locate medical images
in large databases using image features, such as color and texture, to index
images with minimal human intervention. Wei, Li, and Wilson introduce a con-
tent-based approach to medical image retrieval. First, they introduce the fun-
damentals of the key components of content-based image retrieval systems
are to give an overview of this area. Then they present a case study, which
describes the methodology of a CBIR system for retrieving digital mammo-
gram database.
In the second section, we see the generic database modeling.
A strong design phase is involved in most current application development
processes (e.g., ER design for relational databases). But conceptual design
for XML has not been explored significantly in literature or in practice. Most
XML design processes start by directly marking up data in XML, and the
metadata is typically designed at the time of encoding the documents. So
Mohan and Sengupta introduce the existing methodologies for modeling XML.
A discussion is presented comparing and contrasting their capabilities and
deficiencies, and delineating the future trend in conceptual design for XML
applications.
Ravat, Teste, and Zurfluh focus on constraint-based multi-dimensional mod-
eling. The defined model integrates a constellation of facts and dimensions.
Along each dimension, various hierarchies are possibly defined and the model
supports multiple instantiations of dimensions. To facilitate data querying, they
also define a multi-dimensional query algebra, which integrates the main multi-
dimensional operators. These operators support the constraint-based multi-
dimensional modeling. Finally, they present two implementations of this alge-
bra, which are OLAP-SQL and a graphical query language. The former is a
textual language integrating multi-dimensional concepts (fact, dimension, hier-
 xi

archy), but it is based on classical SQL syntax. This language is dedicated to

specialists such as multi-dimensional database administrators. The latter con-
sists in a graphical representation of multi-dimensional databases and users
specify directly their queries over this graph. This approach is dedicated to
non-computer scientist users.
xii

Acknowledgments

The editor wishes to thank all of the authors for their insights and
excellent contributions to this book, and would like to acknowl-
edge the help of all involved in the collation and review process of
the book, without whose support the project could not have been
satisfactorily completed. Most of the authors of chapters included
in this book also served as referees for papers written by other
authors. Thanks go to all those who provided constructive and
comprehensive reviews.
A further special note of thanks goes also to all the staff at Idea
Group Inc., whose contributions throughout the whole process
from inception of the initial idea to final publication have been
invaluable. Special thanks also go to the publishing team at Idea
Group Inc. — in particular to Mehdi Khosrow-Pour, whose en-
thusiasm motivated me to initially accept his invitation for taking
on this project, and to Michele Rossi, who continuously prodded
via e-mail for keeping the project on schedule. This book would
not have been possible without the ongoing professional support
from Mehdi Khosrow-Pour and Jan Travers at Idea Group Inc.
The idea of editing this volume stems from the initial research
work that the editor did in the past several years. The assistances
and facilities of University of Saskatchewan and Université de
Sherbrooke, Canada, Oakland University and Wayne State Uni-
versity, USA, and City University of Hong Kong and North-
eastern University, China, are deemed important, and are highly
appreciated.
 xiii

Finally, the editor wishes to thank his family for their patience,
understanding, encouragement, and support when the editor
needed to devote many time in the edition of this book. This book
will not be completed without their love.

Zongmin Ma, PhD

Shenyang, China
May 2005
 SECTION I:
INDUSTRIAL DATABASES
AND APPLICATIONS
 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 1

Chapter I

Databases Modeling
of Engineering
Information
Z. M. Ma, Northeastern University, China

Abstract

Information systems have become the nerve center of current computer-

based engineering applications, which hereby put the requirements on
engineering information modeling. Databases are designed to support data
storage, processing, and retrieval activities related to data management,
and database systems are the key to implementing engineering information
modeling. It should be noted that, however, the current mainstream
databases are mainly used for business applications. Some new engineering
requirements challenge today’s database technologies and promote their
evolvement. Database modeling can be classified into two levels: conceptual
data modeling and logical database modeling. In this chapter, we try to
identify the requirements for engineering information modeling and then
investigate the satisfactions of current database models to these requirements
at two levels: conceptual data models and logical database models. In
addition, the relationships among the conceptual data models and the
logical database models for engineering information modeling are presented
in the chapter viewed from database conceptual design.

Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
2 Ma

Introduction

To increase product competitiveness, current manufacturing enterprises have

to deliver their products at reduced cost and high quality in a short time. The
change from sellers’ market to buyers’ market results in a steady decrease in
the product life cycle time and the demands for tailor-made and small-batch
products. All these changes require that manufacturing enterprises quickly
respond to market changes. Traditional production patterns and manufacturing
technologies may find it difficult to satisfy the requirements of current product
development. Many types of advanced manufacturing techniques, such as
Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), Agile Manufacturing (AM), Con-
current Engineering (CE), and Virtual Enterprise (VE) based on global manu-
facturing have been proposed to meet these requirements. One of the founda-
tional supporting strategies is the computer-based information technology.
Information systems have become the nerve center of current manufacturing
systems. So some new requirements on information modeling are introduced.
Database systems are the key to implementing information modeling. Engineer-
ing information modeling requires database support. Engineering applications,
however, are data- and knowledge- intensive applications. Some unique
characteristics and usage of new technologies have put many potential require-
ments on engineering information modeling, which challenge today’s database
systems and promote their evolvement. Database systems have gone through
the development from hierarchical and network databases to relational data-
bases. But in non-transaction processing such as CAD/CAPP/CAM (com-
puter-aided design/computer-aided process planning/computer-aided manu-
facturing), knowledge-based system, multimedia and Internet systems, most of
these data-intensive application systems suffer from the same limitations of
relational databases. Therefore, some non-traditional data models have been
proposed. These data models are fundamental tools for modeling databases or
the potential database models. Incorporation between additional semantics
and data models has been a major goal for database research and development.
Focusing on engineering applications of databases, in this chapter, we identify
the requirements for engineering information modeling and investigate the
satisfactions of current database models to these requirements. Here we
differentiate two levels of database models: conceptual data models and logical
database models. Constructions of database models for engineering informa-
tion modeling are hereby proposed.

Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 3

The remainder of the chapter is organized as follows: The next section identifies
the generic requirements of engineering information modeling. The issues that
current databases satisfy these requirements are then investigated in the third
section. The fourth section proposes the constructions of database models.
The final section concludes this chapter.

Needs for
Engineering Information Modeling

Complex Objects and Relationships

Engineering data have complex structures and are usually large in volume. But
engineering design objects and their components are not independent. In
particular, they are generally organized into taxonomical hierarchies. The
specialization association is the well-known association. Also the part-whole
association, which relates components to the compound of which they are part,
is another key association in engineering settings.
In addition, the position relationships between the components of design
objects and the configuration information are typically multi-dimensional. Also,
the information of version evolution is obviously time-related. All these kinds
of information should be stored. It is clear that spatio-temporal data modeling
is essential in engineering design (Manwaring, Jones, & Glagowski, 1996).
Typically, product modeling for product family and product variants has
resulted in product data models, which define the form and content of product
data generated through the product lifecycle from specification through design
to manufacturing. Products are generally complex (see Figure 1, which shows
a simple example of product structure) and product data models should hereby
have advanced modeling abilities for unstructured objects, relationships,
abstractions, and so on (Shaw, Bloor, & de Pennington, 1989).

Data Exchange and Share

Engineering activities are generally performed across departmental and orga-

nization boundaries. Product development based on virtual enterprises, for

Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
4 Ma

Figure 1. An example illustration of product structure

Product

Part 1 Part 2 … Part m

Bought Part Manufactured Part

Assembly Part Forged Part Turned Part

Part-whole association Specialization association

example, is generally performed by several independent member companies

that are physically located at different places. Information exchange and share
among them is necessary. It is also true in different departments or even in
different groups within a member company. Enterprise information systems
(EISs) in manufacturing industry, for example, typically consist of supply chain
management (SCM), enterprise resource planning (ERP) (Ho, Wu, & Tai,
2004), and CAD/CAPP/CAM. These individual software systems need to
share and exchange product and production information in order to effectively
organize production activities of enterprise. However, they are generally
developed independently. In such an environment of distributed and heteroge-
neous computer-based systems, exchanging and sharing data across units are
very difficult. An effective means must be provided so that the data can be
exchanged and shared among deferent applications and enterprises. Recently,
the PDM (product data management) system (CIMdata, 1997) is being
extensively used to integrate both the engineering data and the product
development process throughout the product lifecycle, although the PDM
system also has the problem of exchanging data with ERP.

Web-Based Applications

Information systems in today’s manufacturing enterprises are distributed. Data

exchange and share can be performed by computer network systems. The
Internet is a large and connected network of computers, and the World Wide
Web (WWW) is the fastest growing segment of the Internet. Enterprise
operations go increasingly global, and Web-based manufacturing enterprises

Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 5

can not only obtain online information but also organize production activities.
Web technology facilitates cross-enterprise information sharing through
interconnectivity and integration, which can connect enterprises to their strate-
gic partners as well as to their customers. So Web-based virtual enterprises
(Zhang, Zhang, & Wang, 2000), Web-based PDM (Chu & Fan, 1999; Liu &
Xu, 2001), Web-based concurrent engineering (Xue & Xu, 2003), Web-
based supply chain management, and Web-based B2B e-commerce for
manufacturing (Fensel et al., 2001; Shaw, 2000a, 2000b; Soliman & Youssef,
2003; Tan, Shaw, & Fulkerson, 2000) are emerging. A comprehensive review
was given of recent research on developing Web-based manufacturing systems
in Yang and Xue (2003).
The data resources stored on the Web are very rich. In addition to common
types of data, there are many special types of data such as multimedia data and
hypertext link, which are referred to as semi-structured data. With the recent
popularity of the WWW and informative manufacturing enterprises, how to
model and manipulate semi-structured data coming from various sources in
manufacturing databases is becoming more and more important. Web-based
applications, including Web-based supply chain management, B2B e-com-
merce, and PDM systems, have been evolved from information publication to
information share and exchange. HTML-based Web application cannot satisfy
such requirements.

Intelligence for Engineering

Artificial intelligence and expert systems have extensively been used in many
engineering activities such as product design, manufacturing, assembly, fault
diagnosis, and production management. Five artificial intelligence tools that are
most applicable to engineering problems were reviewed in Pham and Pham
(1999), which are knowledge-based systems, fuzzy logic, inductive learn-
ing, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. Each of these tools was
outlined in the paper together with examples of their use in different branches
of engineering. In Issa, Shen, and Chew (1994), an expert system that applies
analogical reasoning to mechanism design was developed. Based on fuzzy
logic, an integration of financial and strategic justification approaches was
proposed for manufacturing in Chiadamrong (1999).

Copyright © 2006, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written
permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
6 Ma

Imprecision and Uncertainty

Imprecision is most notable in the early phase of the design process and has
been defined as the choice between alternatives (Antonsoon & Otto, 1995).
Four sources of imprecision found in engineering design were classified as
relationship imprecision, data imprecision, linguistic imprecision, and
inconsistency imprecision in Giachetti et al. (1997). In addition to engineering
design, imprecise and uncertain information can be found in many engineering
activities. The imprecision and uncertainty in activity control for product
development was investigated in Grabot and Geneste (1998). To manage the
uncertainty occurring in industrial firms, the various types of buffers were
provided in Caputo (1996) according to different types of uncertainty faced
and to the characteristics of the production system. Buffers are used as
alternative and complementary factors to attain technological flexibility when a
firm is unable to achieve the desired level of flexibility and faces uncertainty.
Nine types of flexibility (machine, routing, material handling system,
product, operation, process, volume, expansion, and labor) in manufactur-
ing were summarized in Tsourveloudis and Phillis (1998).
Concerning the representation of imprecision and uncertainty, attempts have
been made to address the issue of imprecision and inconsistency in design by
way of intervals (Kim et al., 1995). Other approaches to representing impre-
cision in design include using utility theory, implicit representations using
optimization methods, matrix methods such as Quality Function Deployment,
probability methods, and necessity methods. An extensive review of these
approaches was provided in Antonsoon and Otto (1995). These methods have
all had limited success in solving design problems with imprecision. It is believed
that fuzzy reorientation of imprecision will play an increasingly important role in
design systems (Zimmermann, 1999).
Fuzzy set theory (Zadeh, 1965) is a generalization of classical set theory. In
normal set theory, an object may or may not be a member of a set. There are
only two states. Fuzzy sets contain elements to a certain degree. Thus, it is
possible to represent an object that has partial membership in a set. The
membership value of element u in a fuzzy set is represented by µ(u) and is
normalized such that µ(u) is in [0, 1]. Formally, let F be a fuzzy set in a universe
of discourse U and µF: U → [0, 1] be the membership function for the fuzzy set
F. Then the fuzzy set F is described as:

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 7

F = {µ(u1)/u 1, µ(u2)/u2, ..., µ(un)/un}, where ui ∈ U(i = 1, 2, …, n).

Fuzzy sets can represent linguistic terms and imprecise quantities and make
systems more flexible and robust. So fuzzy set theory has been used in some
engineering applications (e.g., engineering/product design and manufacturing,
production management, manufacturing flexibility, e-manufacturing, etc.), where,
either crisp information is not available or information flexible processing is
necessary.

1. Concerning engineering/product design and manufacturing, the needs for

fuzzy logic in the development of CAD systems were identified and how
fuzzy logic could be used to model aesthetic factors was discussed in
Pham (1998). The development of an expert system with production rules
and the integration of fuzzy techniques (fuzzy rules and fuzzy data calculus)
was described for the preliminary design in Francois and Bigeon (1995).
Integrating knowledge-based methods with multi-criteria decision-mak-
ing and fuzzy logic, an approach to engineering design and configuration
problems was developed in order to enrich existing design and configu-
ration support systems with more intelligent abilities in Muller and Sebastian
(1997). A methodology for making the transition from imprecise goals and
requirements to the precise specifications needed to manufacture the
product was introduced using fuzzy set theory in Giachetti et al. (1997).
In Jones and Hua (1998), an approach to engineering design in which
fuzzy sets were used to represent the range of variants on existing
mechanisms was described so that novel requirements of engineering
design could be met. A method for design candidate evaluation and
identification using neural network-based fuzzy reasoning was presented
in Sun, Kalenchuk, Xue, and Gu (2000).
2. In production management, the potential applications of fuzzy set theory
to new product development; facility location and layout; production
scheduling and control; inventory management; and quality and cost-
benefit analysis were identified in Karwowski and Evans (1986). A
comprehensive literature survey on fuzzy set applications in product
management research was given in Guiffrida and Nagi (1998). A classi-
fication scheme for fuzzy applications in product management research
was defined in their paper, including job shop scheduling; quality manage-
ment; project scheduling; facilities location and layout; aggregate plan-
ning; production and inventory planning; and forecasting.

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8 Ma

3. In manufacturing domain, flexibility is an inherently vague notion. So fuzzy

logic was introduced and a fuzzy knowledge-based approach was used
to measure manufacturing flexibility (Tsourveloudis & Phillis, 1998).
4. More recently, the research on supply chain management and electronic
commerce have also shown that fuzzy set can be used in customer
demand, supply deliveries along the supply chain, external or market
supply, targeted marketing, and product category description (Petrovic,
Roy, & Petrovic, 1998, 1999; Yager, 2000; Yager & Pasi, 2001).

It is believed that fuzzy set theory has considerable potential for intelligent
manufacturing systems and will be employed in more and more engineering
applications.

Knowledge Management

Engineering application is a knowledge-intensive application. Knowledge-based

managements have covered the whole activities of current enterprises (O’Leary,
1998; Maedche et al., 2003; Wong, 2005), including manufacturing enterprises
(Michael & Khemani, 2002). In Tan and Platts (2004), the use of the connectance
concept for managing manufacturing knowledge was proposed. A software tool
called Tool for Action Plan Selection (TAPS) has been developed based on the
connectance concept, which enables managers to sketch and visualize their
knowledge of how variables interact in a connectance network. Based on the
computer-integrated manufacturing open-system architecture reference model
(CIMOSA), a formalism was presented in de Souza, Ying, and Yang (1998) to
specify the business processes and enterprise activities at the knowledge level.
The formalism used an integration of multiple types of knowledge, including
precise, muddy, and random symbolic and numerical knowledge to systemati-
cally represent enterprise behavior and functionality. Instead of focusing on
individual human knowledge, as in Thannhuber, Tseng, and Bullinger (2001), the
ability of an enterprise to dynamically derive processes to meet the external needs
and internal stability was identified as the organizational knowledge. On the basis,
a knowledge management system has been developed.
The management of engineering knowledge entails its modeling, maintenance,
integration, and use (Ma & Mili, 2003; Mili et al., 2001). Knowledge modeling
consists of representing the knowledge in some selected language or notation.
Knowledge maintenance encompasses all activities related to the validation,

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 9

growth, and evolution of the knowledge. Knowledge integration is the synthesis

of knowledge from related sources. The use of the knowledge requires bridging
the gap between the objective expressed by the knowledge and the directives
needed to support engineering activities.
It should be noticed that Web-based engineering knowledge management has
emerged because of Web-based engineering applications (Caldwell et al.,
2000). In addition, engineering knowledge is closely related to engineering
data, although they are different. Engineering knowledge is generally embed-
ded in engineering data. So it is necessary to synthetically manage engineering
knowledge and data in bases (Xue, Yadav, & Norrie, 1999; Zhang & Xue,
2002). Finally, the field of artificial intelligence (AI) is usually concerned with
the problems caused by imprecise and uncertain information (Parsons, 1996).
Knowledge representation is one of the most basic and active research areas
of AI. The conventional approaches to knowledge representation, however,
only support exact rather than approximate reasoning, and fuzzy logic is apt for
knowledge representation (Zadeh, 1989). Fuzzy rules (Dubois & Prade, 1996)
and fuzzy constraints (Dubois, Fargier, & Prade, 1996) have been advocated
and employed as a key tool for expressing pieces of knowledge in fuzzy logic.
In particular, fuzzy constraint satisfaction problem (FCSP) has been used in
many engineering activities such as design and optimization (Dzbor, 1999;
Kapadia & Fromherz, 1997; Young, Giachetti, & Ress, 1996) as well as
planning and scheduling (Dubois, Fargier, & Prade, 1995; Fargier & Thierry,
1999; Johtela et al., 1999).

Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery

Engineering knowledge plays a crucial role in engineering activities. But

engineering knowledge is not always represented explicitly. Data mining and
knowledge discovery from databases (KDD) can extract information charac-
terized as “knowledge” from data that can be very complex and in large
quantities. So the field of data mining and knowledge discovery from databases
has emerged as a new discipline in engineering (Gertosio & Dussauchoy, 2004)
and now is extensively studied and applied in many industrial processes. In
Ben-Arieh, Chopra, and Bleyberg (1998), data mining application for real-time
distributed shop-floor control was presented. With a data mining approach, the
prediction problem encountered in engineering design was solved in Kusiak
and Tseng (2000). Furthermore, the data mining issues and requirements within
an enterprise were examined in Kleissner (1998).

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10 Ma

With the huge amount of information available online, the World Wide Web is
a fertile area for data mining research. The Web mining research is at the
crossroads of research from several research communities such as database,
information retrieval, and within AI, especially the sub-areas of machine
learning and natural language processing (Kosala & Blockeel, 2000). In
addition, soft computing methodologies (involving fuzzy sets, neural networks,
genetic algorithms, and rough sets) are most widely applied in the data mining
step of the overall KDD process (Mitra, Pal, & Mitra, 2002). Fuzzy sets
provide a natural framework for the process in dealing with uncertainty. Neural
networks and rough sets are widely used for classification and rule generation.
Genetic algorithms (GAs) are involved in various optimization and search
processes, like query optimization and template selection. Particularly, a
review of Web Mining in Soft Computing Framework was given in Pal, Talwar,
and Mitra (2002).

Current Database Models

Engineering information modeling in databases can be carried out at two

different levels: conceptual data modeling and logical database modeling.
Therefore, we have conceptual data models and logical database models for
engineering information modeling, respectively. In this chapter, database
models for engineering information modeling refer to conceptual data models
and logical database models simultaneously. Table 1 gives some conceptual
data models and logical database models that may be applied for engineering
information modeling. The following two sub-sections give the more detailed
explanations about these models.

Conceptual Data Models

Much attention has been directed at conceptual data modeling of engineering

information (Mannisto et al., 2001; McKay, Bloor, & de Pennington, 1996).
Product data models, for example, can be viewed as a class of semantic data
models (i.e., conceptual data models) that take into account the needs of
engineering data (Shaw, Bloor, & de Pennington, 1989). Recently, conceptual
information modeling of enterprises such as virtual enterprises has received
increasing attention (Zhang & Li, 1999). Generally speaking, traditional ER

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 11

Table 1. Database models for engineering information modeling

Database Models
Conceptual Data Models Logical Database Models
Generic Specific Classical Specific & Extended
Conceptual Conceptual Logical XML Hybrid Database
Data Models Data Models Database Databases Database Models
for Models Models
Engineering
• ER data • IDEF1X • Relational • Classical • Active • Fuzzy
model data model databases logical databases relational
• EER data • EXPRESS • Nested databases • Deductive databases
model data model relational • Native databases • Fuzzy
• UML data databases XML • Constraint nested
model • Object- databases databases relational
• XML data oriented • Spatio- databases
model databases temporal • Fuzzy
• Object- databases object-
relational • Object- oriented
databases oriented databases
active • Deductive
databases fuzzy
• Deductive relational
object- databases
relational …
databases
…

(entity-relationship) and EER (extended entity-relationship) can be used for

engineering information modeling at conceptual level (Chen, 1976). But limited
by their power in engineering modeling, some improved conceptual data
models have been developed.
IDEF1X is a method for designing relational databases with a syntax designed
to support the semantic constructs necessary in developing a conceptual
schema. Some research has focused on the IDEF1X methodology. A thorough
treatment of the IDEF1X method can be found in Wizdom Systems Inc.
(1985). The use of the IDEF1X methodology to build a database for multiple
applications was addressed in Kusiak, Letsche, and Zakarian (1997).
In order to share and exchange product data, the Standard for the Exchange
of Product Model Data (STEP) is being developed by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO). STEP provides a means to describe
a product model throughout its life cycle and to exchange data between
different units. STEP consists of four major categories, which are description
methods, implementation methods, conformance testing methodology
and framework, and standardized application data models/schemata,
respectively. EXPRESS (Schenck & Wilson, 1994), as the description meth-

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12 Ma

ods of STEP and a conceptual schema language, can model product design,
manufacturing, and production data. EXPRESS model hereby becomes one of
the major conceptual data models for engineering information modeling.
With regard to CAD/CAM development for product modeling, a review was
conducted in Eastman and Fereshetian (1994), and five information models
used in product modeling, namely, ER, NAIM, IDEF1X, EXPRESS and
EDM, were studied. Compared with IDEF1X, EXPRESS can model complex
semantics in engineering application, including engineering objects and their
relationships. Based on EXPRESS model, it is easy to implement share and
exchange engineering information.
It should be noted that ER/EER, IDEF1X and EXPRESS could model neither
knowledge nor fuzzy information. The first effort was done in Zvieli and Chen
(1996) to extend ER model to represent three levels of fuzziness. The first level
refers to the set of semantic objects, resulting in fuzzy entity sets, fuzzy
relationship sets and fuzzy attribute sets. The second level concerns the
occurrences of entities and relationships. The third level is related to the
fuzziness in attribute values of entities and relationships. Consequently, ER
algebra was fuzzily extended to manipulate fuzzy data. In Chen and Kerre
(1998), several major notions in EER model were extended, including fuzzy
extension to generalization/specialization, and shared subclass/category as well
as fuzzy multiple inheritance, fuzzy selective inheritance, and fuzzy inheritance
for derived attributes. More recently, using fuzzy sets and possibility distribu-
tion (Zadeh, 1978), fuzzy extensions to IDEF1X and EXPRESS were pro-
posed in Ma, Zhang, and Ma (2002) and Ma (in press), respectively.
UML (Unified Modeling Language) (Booch, Rumbaugh, & Jacobson, 1998;
OMG, 2003), being standardized by the Object Management Group (OMG), is
a set of OO modeling notations. UML provides a collection of models to capture
many aspects of a software system. From the information modeling point of view,
the most relevant model is the class model. The building blocks in this class model
are those of classes and relationships. The class model of UML encompasses the
concepts used in ER, as well as other OO concepts. In addition, it also presents
the advantage of being open and extensible, allowing its adaptation to the specific
needs of the application such as workflow modeling of e-commerce (Chang et
al., 2000) and product structure mapping (Oh, Hana, & Suhb, 2001). In
particular, the class model of UML is extended for the representation of class
constraints and the introduction of stereotype associations (Mili et al., 2001).
With the popularity of Web-based design, manufacturing, and business activi-
ties, the requirement has been put on the exchange and share of engineering

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 13

information over the Web. XML (eXtensible Markup Language), created by

the World Wide Web Consortium, lets information publishers invent their own
tags for particular applications or work with other organizations to define
shared sets of tags that promote interoperability and that clearly separate
content and presentation. XML provides a Web-friendly and well-understood
syntax for the exchange of data. Because XML impacts on data definition and
share on the Web (Seligman & Rosenthal, 2001), XML technology has been
increasingly studied, and more and more Web tools and Web servers are
capable of supporting XML. In Bourret (2004), product data markup lan-
guage, the XML for product data exchange and integration, has been devel-
oped. As to XML modeling at concept level, UML was used for designing
XML DTD (document- type definition) in Conrad, Scheffner, and Freytag
(2000). In Xiao et al. (2001), an object-oriented conceptual model was
developed to design XML schema. ER model was used for conceptual design
of semi-structured databases in Lee et al. (2001). But XML does not support
imprecise and uncertain information modeling and knowledge modeling. Intro-
ducing imprecision and uncertainty into XML has increasingly become a topic
of research (Abiteboul, Segoufin, & Vianu, 2001; Damiani, Oliboni, & Tanca,
2001; Ma, 2005).

Logical Database Models

Classical Logical Database Models

As to engineering information modeling in database systems, the generic logical

database models such relational databases, nested relational databases, and
object-oriented databases can be used. Also, some hybrid logical database
models such as object-relational databases are very useful for this purpose.
In Ahmed (2004), the KSS (Kraftwerk Kennzeichen System) identification
and classification system was used to develop database system for plant
maintenance and management. On top of a relational DBMS, an EXPRESS-
oriented information system was built in Arnalte and Scala (1997) for support-
ing information integration in a computer-integrated manufacturing environ-
ment. In this case, the conceptual model of the information was built in
EXPRESS and then parsed and translated to the corresponding relational
constructs. Relational databases for STEP/EXPRESS were also discussed in
Krebs and Lührsen (1995). In addition, an object-oriented layer was devel-

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14 Ma

oped in Barsalou and Wiederhold (1990) to model complex entities on top of

a relational database. This domain-independent architecture permits object-
oriented access to information stored in relational format-information that can
be shared among applications.
Object-oriented databases provide an approach for expressing and manipulat-
ing complex objects. A prototype object-oriented database system, called
ORION, was thus designed and implemented to support CAD (Kim et al.,
1990). Object-oriented databases for STEP/EXPRESS have been studied in
Goh et al. (1994, 1997). In addition, an object-oriented active database was
also designed for STEP/EXPRESS models in Dong, Y. et al. (1997). Accord-
ing to the characteristics of engineering design, a framework for the classifica-
tion of queries in object-oriented engineering databases was provided in
Samaras, Spooner, and Hardwick (1994), where the strategy for query
evaluation is different from traditional relational databases. Based on the
comparison with relational databases, the selections and characteristics of the
object-oriented database and database management systems (OODBMS) in
manufacturing were discussed in Zhang (2001). The current studies and
applications were also summarized.

XML Databases

It is crucial for Web-based applications to model, store, manipulate, and

manage XML data documents. XML documents can be classified into data-
centric documents and document-centric documents (Bourret, 2004). Data-
centric documents are characterized by fairly regular structure, fine-grained
data (i.e., the smallest independent unit of data is at the level of a PCDATA-
only element or an attribute), and little or no mixed content. The order in which
sibling elements and PCDATA occurs is generally not significant, except when
validating the document. Data-centric documents are documents that use XML
as a data transport. They are designed for machine consumption and the fact
that XML is used at all is usually superfluous. That is, it is not important to the
application or the database that the data is, for some length of time, stored in
an XML document. As a general rule, the data in data-centric documents is
stored in a traditional database, such as a relational, object-oriented, or
hierarchical database. The data can also be transferred from a database to a
XML document. For the transfers between XML documents and databases,
the mapping relationships between their architectures as well as their data
should be created (Lee & Chu, 2000; Surjanto, Ritter, & Loeser, 2000). Note

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 15

that it is possible to discard some information such as the document and its
physical structure when transferring data between them. It must be pointed out,
however, that the data in data-centric documents such as semi-structured data
can also be stored in a native XML database, in which a document-centric
document is usually stored. Document-centric documents are characterized by
less regular or irregular structure, larger-grained data (that is, the smallest
independent unit of data might be at the level of an element with mixed content
or the entire document itself), and lots of mixed content. The order in which
sibling elements and PCDATA occurs is almost always significant. Document-
centric documents are usually documents that are designed for human con-
sumption. As a general rule, the documents in document-centric documents are
stored in a native XML database or a content management system (an
application designed to manage documents and built on top of a native XML
database). Native XML databases are databases designed especially for
storing XML documents. The only difference of native XML databases from
other databases is that their internal model is based on XML and not something
else, such as the relational model.
In practice, however, the distinction between data-centric and document-
centric documents is not always clear. So the previously-mentioned rules are
not of a certainty. Data, especially semi-structured data, can be stored in native
XML databases, and documents can be stored in traditional databases when
few XML-specific features are needed. Furthermore, the boundaries between
traditional databases and native XML databases are beginning to blur, as
traditional databases add native XML capabilities and native XML databases
support the storage of document fragments in external databases.
In Seng, Lin, Wang, and Yu (2003), a technical review of XML and XML
database technology, including storage method, mapping technique, and
transformation paradigm, was provided and an analytic and comparative
framework was developed. By collecting and compiling the IBM, Oracle,
Sybase, and Microsoft XML database products, the framework was used and
each of these XML database techniques was analyzed.

Special, Hybrid, and Extended Logical Database Models

It should be pointed out that, however, the generic logical database models
such as relational databases, nested relational databases, and object-oriented
databases do not always satisfy the requirements of engineering modeling. As
pointed out in Liu (1999), relational databases do not describe the complex

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16 Ma

structure relationship of data naturally, and separate relations may result in data
inconsistencies when updating the data. In addition, the problem of inconsistent
data still exists in nested relational databases, and the mechanism of sharing and
reusing CAD objects is not fully effective in object-oriented databases. In
particular, these database models cannot handle engineering knowledge. Some
special databases based on relational or object-oriented models are hereby
introduced. In Dong and Goh (1998), an object-oriented active database for
engineering application was developed to support intelligent activities in
engineering applications. In Liu (1999), deductive databases were considered
as the preferable database models for CAD databases, and deductive object-
relational databases for CAD were introduced in Liu and Katragadda (2001).
Constraint databases based on the generic logical database models are used to
represent large or even infinite sets in a compact way and are suitable hereby
for modeling spatial and temporal data (Belussi, Bertino, & Catania, 1998;
Kuper, Libkin, & Paredaens, 2000). Also, it is well established that engineering
design is a constraint-based activity (Dzbor, 1999; Guiffrida, & Nagi, 1998;
Young, Giachetti, & Ress, 1996). So constraint databases are promising as a
technology for modeling engineering information that can be characterized by
large data in volume, complex relationships (structure, spatial and/or temporal
semantics), intensive knowledge and so forth. In Posselt and Hillebrand
(2002), the issue about constraint database support for evolving data in
product design was investigated.
It should be noted that fuzzy databases have been proposed to capture fuzzy
information in engineering (Sebastian & Antonsson, 1996; Zimmermann,
1999). Fuzzy databases may be based on the generic logical database models
such as relational databases (Buckles & Petry, 1982; Prade & Testemale,
1984), nested relational databases (Yazici et al., 1999), and object-oriented
databases (Bordogna, Pasi, & Lucarella, 1999; George et al., 1996; van
Gyseghem & de Caluwe, 1998). Also, some special databases are extended
for fuzzy information handling. In Medina et al. (1997), the architecture for
deductive fuzzy relational database was presented, and a fuzzy deductive
object-oriented data model was proposed in Bostan and Yazici (1998). More
recently, how to construct fuzzy event sets automatically and apply it to active
databases was investigated in Saygin and Ulusoy (2001).

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 17

Constructions of Database Models

Depending on data abstract levels and actual applications, different database

models have their advantages and disadvantages. This is the reason why there
exist a lot of database models, conceptual ones and logical ones. It is not
appropriate to state that one database model is always better than the others.
Conceptual data models are generally used for engineering information mod-
eling at a high level of abstraction. However, engineering information systems
are constructed based on logical database models. So at the level of data
manipulation, that is, a low level of abstraction, the logical database model is
used for engineering information modeling. Here, logical database models are
often created through mapping conceptual data models into logical database
models. This conversion is called conceptual design of databases. The
relationships among conceptual data models, logical database models, and
engineering information systems are shown in Figure 2.
In this figure, Logical DB Model (A) and Logical DB Model (B) are different
database systems. That means that they may have different logical database
models, say relational database and object-oriented database, or they may be
different database products, say Oracle™ and DB2, although they have the
same logical database model. It can be seen from the figure that a developed
conceptual data model can be mapped into different logical database models.
Besides, it can also be seen that a logical database model can be mapped into
a conceptual data model. This conversion is called database reverse engi-
neering. It is clear that it is possible that different logical database models can
be converted one another through database reverse engineering.

Figure 2. Relationships among conceptual data model, logical database

model, and engineering information systems

Users
Engineering Information

Logical DB Model (A)

Conceptual
Intranet
Systems

Users Data
Model
Logical DB Model (B)
Internet
Users

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18 Ma

Development of Conceptual Data Models

It has been shown that database modeling of engineering information generally

starts from conceptual data models, and then the developed conceptual data
models are mapped into logical database models. First of all, let us focus on the
choice, design, conversion, and extension of conceptual data models in
database modeling of engineering information.
Generally speaking, ER and IDEF1X data models are good candidates for
business process in engineering applications. But for design and manufacturing,
object-oriented conceptual data models such EER, UML, and EXPRESS are
powerful. Being the description methods of STEP and a conceptual schema
language, EXPRESS is extensively accepted in industrial applications. How-
ever, EXPRESS is not a graphical schema language, unlike EER and UML. In
order to construct EXPRESS data model at a higher level of abstract,
EXPRESS-G, being the graphical representation of EXPRESS, is introduced.
Note that EXPRESS-G can only express a subset of the full language of
EXPRESS. EXPESS-G provides supports for the notions of entity, type,
relationship, cardinality, and schema. The functions, procedures, and rules in
EXPRESS language are not supported by EXPRESS-G. So EER and UML
should be used to design EXPRESS data model conceptually, and then such
EER and UML data models can be translated into EXPRESS data model.
It should be pointed out that, however, for Web-based engineering applica-
tions, XML should be used for conceptual data modeling. Just like EXPRESS,
XML is not a graphical schema language, either. EER and UML can be used
to design XML data model conceptually, and then such EER and UML data
models can be translated into XML data model.
That multiple graphical data models can be employed facilitates the designers
with different background to design their conceptual models easily by using one
of the graphical data models with which they are familiar. However, a complex
conceptual data model is generally completed cooperatively by a design group,
in which each member may use a different graphical data model. All these
graphical data models, designed by different members, should be converted
into a union data model finally. Furthermore, the EXPRESS schema can be
turned into XML DTD. So far, the data model conversions among EXPRESS-
G, IDEF1X, ER/EER, and UML only receive few attentions although such
conversions are crucial in engineering information modeling. In (Cherfi, Akoka,
and Comyn-Wattiau, 2002), the conceptual modeling quality between EER
and UML was investigated. In Arnold and Podehl (1999), a mapping from

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 19

Figure 3. Relationships among conceptual data models

ER/EER UML IDEF1X EXPRESS-G

XML EXPRESS

Conversion Design

EXPRESS-G to UML was introduced in order to define a linking bridge and

bring the best of the worlds of product data technology and software engineer-
ing together. Also, the formal transformation of EER and EXPRESS-G was
developed in Ma et al. (2003). In addition, the comparison of UML and IDEF
was given in Noran (2000).
Figure 3 shows the design and conversion relationships among conceptual data
models.
In order to model fuzzy engineering information in a conceptual data model, it
is necessary to extend its modeling capability. As we know, most database
models make use of three levels of abstraction, namely, the data dictionary, the
database schema, and the database contents (Erens, McKay, & Bloor, 1994).
The fuzzy extensions of conceptual data models should be conducted at all
three levels of abstraction. Of course, the constructs of conceptual data models
should accordingly be extended to support fuzzy information modeling at these
three levels of abstraction. In Zvieli and Chen (1996), for example, three levels
of fuzziness were captured in the extended ER model. The first level is
concerned with the schema and refers to the set of semantic objects, resulting
in fuzzy entity sets, fuzzy relationship sets and fuzzy attribute sets. The second
level is concerned with the schema/instance and refers to the set of instances,
resulting in fuzzy occurrences of entities and relationships. The third level is
concerned with the content and refers to the set of values, resulting in fuzzy
attribute values of entities and relationships.
EXPRESS permits null values in array data types and role names by utilizing the
keyword Optional and used three-valued logic (False, Unknown, and True).
In addition, the select data type in EXPRESS defines one kind of imprecise and
uncertain data type which actual type is unknown at present. So EXPRESS
indeed supports imprecise information modeling but very weakly. Further fuzzy
extension to EXPRESS is needed. Just like fuzzy ER, fuzzy EXPRESS should

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20 Ma

capture three levels of fuzziness and its constructs such as the basic elements
(reserved words and literals), the data types, the entities, the expressions and
so on, should hereby be extended.

Development of Logical Database Models

It should be noticed that there might be semantic incompatibility between

conceptual data models and logical database models. So when a conceptual
data model is mapped into a logical database model, we should adopt such a
logical database model which expressive power is close to the conceptual data
model so that the original information and semantics in the conceptual data
model can be preserved and supported furthest. Table 2 shows how relational
and object-oriented databases fair against various conceptual data models.
Here, CDM and LDBM denote conceptual data model and logical database
model, respectively.
It is clear from the table that relational databases support ER and IDEF1X well.
So, when an ER or IDEF1X data model is converted, relational databases
should be used. Of course, the target relational databases should be fuzzy ones
if ER or IDEF1X data model is a fuzzy one. It is also seen that EER, UML, or
EXPRESS data model should be mapped into object-oriented databases.
EXPRESS is extensively accepted in industrial application area. EER and
UML, being graphical conceptual data models, can be used to design EX-
PRESS data model conceptually, and then EER and UML data models can be
translated into EXPRESS data model (Oh, Hana, & Suhb, 2001). In addition,
the EXPRESS schema can be turned into XML DTD (Burkett, 2001). So, in
the following, we focus on logical database implementation of EXPRESS data
model.
In order to construct a logical database around an EXPRESS data model, the
following tasks must be performed: (1) defining the database structures from
EXPRESS data model and (2) providing SDAI (STEP Standard Data Access

Table 2. Match of logical database models to conceptual data models

LDBM
Relational Databases Object-Oriented Databases
CDM
ER good bad
IDEF1X good bad
EER fair good
UML fair good
EXPRESS fair good

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 21

Interface) access to the database. Users define their databases using EX-
PRESS, manipulate the databases using SDAI, and exchange data with other
applications through the database systems.

Relational and Object-Oriented Database Support

for EXPRESS Data Model

In EXPRESS data models, entity instances are identified by their unique

identifiers. Entity instances can be represented as tuples in relational databases,
where the tuples are identified by their keys. To manipulate the data of entity
instances in relational databases, the problem that entity instances are identified
in relational databases must be resolved. As we know, in EXPRESS, there are
attributes with UNIQUE constraints. When an entity type is mapped into a
relation and each entity instance is mapped into a tuple, it is clear that such
attributes can be viewed as the key of the tuples to identify instances. So an
EXPRESS data model must contain such an attribute with UNIQUE con-
straints at least when relational databases are used to model EXPRESS data
model. In addition, inverse clause and where clause can be implemented in
relational databases as the constraints of foreign key and domain, respectively.
Complex entities and subtype/superclass in EXPRESS data models can be
implemented in relational databases via the reference relationships between
relations. Such organizations, however, do not naturally represent the structural
relationships among the objects described. When users make a query, some
join operations must be used. Therefore, object-oriented databases should be
used for the EXPRESS data model.
Unlike the relational databases, there is no widely accepted definition as to
what constitutes an object-oriented database, although object-oriented data-
base standards have been released by ODMG (2000). Not only is it true that
not all features in one object-oriented database can be found in another, but the
interpretation of similar features may also differ. But some features are in
common with object-oriented databases, including object identity, complex
objects, encapsulation, types, and inheritance. EXPRESS is object-oriented in
nature, which supports these common features in object-oriented databases.
Therefore, there should be a more direct way to mapping EXPRESS data
model into object-oriented databases. It should be noted that there is incom-
patibility between the EXPRESS data model and object-oriented databases.
No widely accepted definition of object-oriented database model results in the
fact that there is not a common set of incompatibilities between EXPRESS and

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permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
22 Ma

object-oriented databases. Some possible incompatibilities can be found in

Goh et al. (1997).
Now let us focus on fuzzy relational and object-oriented databases. As
mentioned previously, the fuzzy EXPRESS should capture three levels of
fuzziness: the schema level, the schema/instance, and the content. Depending
on the modeling capability, however, fuzzy relational databases only support
the last two levels of fuzziness, namely, the schema/instance and the content. It
is possible that object-oriented databases are extended to support all three
levels of fuzziness in fuzzy EXPRESS.

Requirements and Implementation of SDAI Functions

The goal of SDAI is to provide the users with uniform manipulation interfaces
and reduce the cost of integrated product databases. When EXPRESS data
models are mapped into databases, users will face databases. As a data access
interface, SDAI falls into the category of the application users who access and
manipulate the data. So the requirements of SDAI functions are decided by the
requirements of the application users of databases. However, SDAI itself is in
a state of evolution. Considering the enormity of the task and the difficulty for
achieving agreement as to what functions are to be included and the viability of
implementing the suggestions, only some basic requirements such as data
query, data update, structure query, and validation are catered for. Further-
more, under fuzzy information environment, the requirements of SDAI func-
tions needed for manipulating the fuzzy EXPRESS data model must consider
the fuzzy information processing such as flexible data query.
Using SDAI operations, the SDAI applications can access EXPRESS data
model. However, only the specifications of SDAI operations are given in STEP
Part 23 and Part 24. The implementation of these operations is empty, which
should be developed utilizing the special binding language according to data-
base systems. One will meet two difficulties when implementing SDAI in the
databases. First, the SDAI specifications are still in a state of evolution.
Second, the implementation of SDAI functions is product-related. In addition,
object-oriented databases are not standardized. It is extremely true for the
database implementation of the SDAI functions needed for manipulating the
fuzzy EXPRESS data model, because there are no commercial fuzzy relational
database management systems, and little research is done on fuzzy object-
oriented databases so far.

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 Databases Modeling of Engineering Information 23

It should be pointed out that, however, there exists a higher-level implementa-

tion of EXPRESS data model than database implementation, which is knowl-
edge-based. Knowledge-based implementation has the features of database
implementations, plus full support for EXPRESS constraint validation. A
knowledge-based system should read and write exchange files, make product
data available to applications in structures defined by EXPRESS, work on data
stored in a central database, and should be able to reason about the contents
of the database. Knowledge-based systems encode rules using techniques
such as frames, semantic nets, and various logic systems, and then use inference
techniques such as forward and backward chaining to reason about the
contents of a database. Although some interesting preliminary work was done,
knowledge-based implementations do not exist. Deductive databases and
constraint databases based on relational and/or object-oriented database
models are useful in knowledge-intensive engineering applications for this
purpose. In deductive databases, rules can be modeled and knowledge bases
are hereby constituted. In constraint databases, complex spatial and/or tempo-
ral data can be modeled. In particular, constraint databases can handle a wealth
of constraints in engineering design.

Conclusion

Manufacturing enterprises obtain increasing product varieties and products

with lower price, high quality and shorter lead time by using enterprise
information systems. The enterprise information systems have become the
nerve center of current computer-based manufacturing enterprises. Manufac-
turing engineering is typically a data- and knowledge-intensive application area
and engineering information modeling is hereby one of the crucial tasks to
implement engineering information systems. Databases are designed to support
data storage, processing, and retrieval activities related to data management,
and database systems are the key to implementing engineering information
modeling. But the current mainstream databases are mainly designed for
business applications. There are some unique requirements from engineering
information modeling, which impose a challenge to databases technologies and
promote their evolvement. It is especially true for contemporary engineering
applications, where some new techniques have been increasingly applied and
their operational patterns are hereby evolved (e.g., e-manufacturing, Web-

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permission of Idea Group Inc. is prohibited.
24 Ma

based PDM, etc.). One can find many researches in literature that focus on
using database techniques for engineering information modeling to support
various engineering activities. It should be noted that, however, most of these
papers only discuss some of the issues according to the different viewpoints and
application requirements. Engineering information modeling is complex be-
cause it should cover product life cycle times. On the other hand, databases
cover wide variety of topics and evolve quickly. Currently, few papers provide
comprehensive discussions about how current engineering information model-
ing can be supported by database technologies. This chapter tries to fill this gap.
In this chapter, we first identify some requirements for engineering information
modeling, which include complex objects and relationships, data exchange and
share, Web-based applications, imprecision and uncertainty, and knowledge
management. Since the current mainstream databases are mainly designed for
business applications, and the database models can be classified into conceptual
data models and logical database models, we then investigate how current
conceptual data models and logical database models satisfy the requirements of
engineering information modeling in databases. The purpose of engineering
information modeling in databases is to construct the logical database models,
which are the foundation of the engineering information systems. Generally the
constructions of logical database models start from the constructions of concep-
tual data models and then the developed conceptual data models are converted
into the logical database models. So the chapter presents not only the develop-
ment of some conceptual data models for engineering information modeling, but
also the development of the relational and object-oriented databases which are
used to implement EXPRESS/STEP. The contribution of the chapter is to identify
the direction of database study viewed from engineering applications and provide
a guidance of information modeling for engineering design, manufacturing, and
production management. It can be believed that some more powerful database
models will be developed to satisfy engineering information modeling.

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The Project Gutenberg eBook of A King's
Daughter: A Tragedy in Verse
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
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Title: A King's Daughter: A Tragedy in Verse

Author: John Masefield

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Most recently updated: October 17, 2024

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A KING'S

DAUGHTER: A TRAGEDY IN VERSE ***
A KING’S DAUGHTER

BY THE SAME AUTHOR

Uniform with this Volume

REYNARD THE FOX: A POEM

RIGHT ROYAL: A POEM
ENSLAVED, AND OTHER POEMS
KING COLE, AND OTHER POEMS
THE DAFFODIL FIELDS: A POEM
DAUBER: A POEM
GOOD FRIDAY: A PLAY IN VERSE
THE FAITHFUL: A PLAY
LOLLINGDON DOWNS, AND OTHER POEMS
MELLONEY HOLTSPUR: A PLAY
PHILIP THE KING, AND OTHER POEMS
A POEM AND TWO PLAYS

London: WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD.

A KING’S DAUGHTER
A TRAGEDY IN VERSE

BY

JOHN MASEFIELD

LONDON
WILLIAM HEINEMANN LTD.

PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY

BIDLING AND SONS, LTD., GUILDFORD AND ESHER
 TO

MY WIFE

This play was performed at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday and

Saturday, May 25 and 26, 1923, by the following cast of the Hill
Players:

Jezebel (Queen of Samaria) Penelope Wheeler.

Rose-Flower (First Chorus) Judith Masefield.
Moon-Blossom (Second Chorus) Jean Downs.
Hamutal (the Steward’s Wife) Paulise de Bush.
A Prophet Basil Maine.
Jehu (Captain of the Horse) Ronald Hay.
Micaiah (a Seer) George G. Edwards.
Ahab (King of Samaria) Leslie Davey.
Pharmas (Court Attendant) Wilfred Messenger.
Ashobal (Court Attendant) Henry Chapin.
Naboth (a Farmer) Dudley Barlow.
Ahaziah (Crown Prince of Samaria) W. E. May.
Joram (his Younger Brother) Wilfred Howe-Nurse.
Zakkur (Jehu’s Messenger) H. G. Wakeford.
Pashur (the Bringer of the News) C. E. J. Vincent.
Zikri (Spearman) F. J. Saunders.
Kallai (Spearman) Bernard Griffiths.

Scene: The Palace in Samaria.

A KING’S DAUGHTER
 FIRST ACT.
Jezebel.
I am Queen Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife.
I was princess in Sidon long ago,
But in an evil day I became Queen
Over these strangers in Samaria.
Here, for these last ten months, we fought the Syrians,
Till hope was gone; then, suddenly, all changed;
The Syrian army fell into our hands.
King Ahab had two choices: one, to kill
All of the Syrians; one, to let them go.
He made a peace with them and let them go.
Now all the people of this city rage
At Ahab, for his peace, and cry aloud
That I, the foreign queen with foreign gods,
Made Ahab make the peace to please my friends.
Four days ago, King Ahab sought to buy
A vineyard from one Naboth, who refused
To sell the vineyard, even to his King.
To-day the rebels of the town prepare
A feast to Naboth for refusing him,
And at the feast the prophets and seditious
Will urge our murder as a godly deed.
What is King Ahab doing to defeat them?
Nothing. For these three days he has been hidden,
Brooding upon his bed in bitterness;
Refusing food and drink; refusing speech
With me, his wife; neglecting court and state;
Letting rebellion grow, and seeing no man
Except our younger son, evil Prince Joram,
Who longs for war against the Syrians.
So I, the Queen, not knowing what may come
When the King sickens and the people rage,
Have sent for help, called home our eldest son,
Prince Ahaziah, from his frontier post
With all his horsemen. He should soon be here.
With Ahaziah and his horsemen here
We shall be safer from our enemies,
The Teshbon prophet and the soldier Jehu,
The captain of the horse under the King.

* * * * *
Those are the enemies whom most I dread,
Lord Jehu and the Prophet, hand and mouth
To violence and unwise ways of life,
Violent and brainless both, as lightning is.
When violence and madness are in league,
Destruction comes.
And they are coming now,
Here to the palace of the King and Queen,
To plot their evil with our followers.
I will go hence, to pray that Ahaziah
May come in time to thwart their wickedness.
[Exit

Enter the Prophet.

Prophet.
Lord Jehu!
 Enter Jehu.
Jehu.
Ha, my Prophet!

Prophet.
Is all well?

Jehu.
Yes. All goes well. This King, this imbecile,
This Ahab, still is sulking like a child,
Speaking with no one, making all things easy
For us, my Prophet, who will now succeed.
Nothing can stop us now. All works for us.
Ahab is hated; Jezebel detested;
The army sickened at their loss of plunder,
All hot against them both. Our only danger
Their son, Prince Ahaziah, far away,
Their other son, Prince Joram, working for us.
And now this feast to Naboth as a crown
To all these helps, an opportunity.

Prophet.
Truly our work is godly, since it prospers.
Since all is thriving, it is surely time
That we set forth together to this feast.

Jehu.
Wait, yet, my Prophet, while I ask you this:
What objects will be served by this our feast?

Prophet.
Why, it will honour Naboth for resisting
The tyrant whom we hate, and give our friends
A chance to come together with Prince Joram
To cry aloud for war with Syria.
 Jehu.
True, Prophet; “Honour Naboth; cry for war;”
Such were our objects when we planned the feast:
That was the plan, but, friend, it is not now.
No, Prophet, no; for I have changed my mind.
This feast to Naboth which we have prepared
Must be the prelude to a mightier deed.
Prophet, I know thy zeal for true religion,
And you know mine; now, therefore, stand by me.
I am determined to be King this day.
The chances are all for me, and the feast
Puts them within my hand for me to take.
Now, therefore, Prophet, when you see me there,
Sitting at feast among the men-of-war,
Send out some youngling of the Prophet tribe
There to anoint me King in Ahab’s stead.
Then I will rise and lead those men-at-arms
To end this Ahab and his Jezebel,
And stamp them with our horses’ feet, and bring
A true religion back: by God, we need it.
No. Doubt not the success. Anoint me King,
The men will follow. For, by God, now, Prophet,
Look at my eyes, I mean this to succeed.
This is the way, because all other ways,
The way we planned before and any way,
Must end in this; so send the stripling to me.
Make me the King.

Prophet.
Truly a spirit speaks within you, Jehu.
Truly the devilries of Jezebel
Have brimmed the cup, and Ahab’s treachery
Has spilled it over. You shall be the King.
Here with my blood I do anoint you King.
My young man shall anoint you with the oil,
But will the captains follow you as King?

Jehu.
They’ll follow; some for plunder, some for fear.
Now let us to this Naboth’s feast, to raise
Our following against this doting King.

Prophet.
Here is our friend Ashobal with some news.

Enter Ashobal.
Ashobal.
I was afraid that you had gone, Lord Jehu.
Prophet, Lord Jehu, there is danger here.
I have just heard from Jezebel’s own lips
That she has ordered Ahaziah hither
With all his horse, and that he will be here
Within two hours.

Prophet.
Gods!

Jehu.
Did Jezebel
Tell you of this?

Ashobal.
No; I was hidden, and
I overheard her as she told her women.

Prophet.
She sent for them?

Ashobal.
 She said so.

Prophet.
But for what?
To be a bodyguard?

Ashobal.
She did not say,
But that is what they will be when they come.

Prophet.
Then she suspects us.

Prophet.
Probably.

Jehu.
The hag!

Prophet.
These women of false gods shall die the death.

Jehu.
Yes, unless we die first. Thank you, Ashobal,
You bring the message in the nick of time.
Why has she sent for them? Is Ahab dying?
No; he is ill, not dying. By the gods,
The harlot may be plotting against Ahab
To crown her son?
No, by the gods, put by these pleasant dreams,
The likelier thing will be the explanation.
One of the little sheep within our fold
Has bleated to the shepherd: we have been
Betrayed, my Prophet and my sweet Ashobal,
Betrayed.... By whom?
By all the gods, this harlot is a man.
She hears of us, at once decides to strike,
Sends for the cavalry to cut our throats,
Calls Ahaziah to be King until
Her Ahab be a man again, and so
Bids for her husband’s crown. There are the facts.

Ashobal.
Even so I judged it, from the way she spoke.

Prophet.
Then we had better scatter into hiding,
For we are lost.

Jehu.
True, brother Prophet, all our heads are loose,
But yet not lost.

Prophet.
But what are we to do?

Jehu.
Stop Ahaziah in his coming here.
It can be done if he be two hours hence.
He must be coming by the desert road
Passing by Springs. Well, he shall meet his match.
Go, Prophet, to the feasting, as we planned.
Praise Naboth and be bitterer than spurge
About this peace. Pharmas must know of this.
Find Pharmas, that the Prophet speak with him.
Then tell what friends you can. Remember, Prophet,
Hold to our former plans till I return.
Now I must go.
[Exit Jehu.
Prophet.
 And we had better go
Straight into hiding, while we have the time.

Ashobal.
No, we must keep to what is planned and do
What Jehu tells us.

Prophet.
I must see Pharmas, then; find Pharmas for me.

Ashobal.
I cannot yet.
Pharmas is in attendance on the Queen.

Prophet.
Why should he be with her, to-day of all days?
He is the King’s attendant, not the Queen’s.

Ashobal.
True, but the Queen commanded him this morning
To write at her dictation; he will be
There until noon; but it is nearly noon.

Prophet.
We are discovered by this Jezebel.
And Pharmas has betrayed us.

Ashobal.
No, he is faithful to us. Five years since
This Jezebel once chided him in public
For breaking of a cup. He has remembered;
He swore to be revenged and means to be.
Now I say this: Come on the stroke of noon,
Here, to have speech with Pharmas and myself.
We may have news by then. If the worst happen,
We shall have time enough for flight at noon.

Prophet.
You may be right; pray Heaven that you be.

Ashobal.
Hark! there is someone coming through the court.
By Heaven!

Prophet.
Why, who is it? What has happened?

Ashobal.
It is the King, recovered from his brooding
And dressed as for an audience with his peers.
If Ahab be in health again, why, death——

Prophet.
What shall we do? Oh, say!

Ashobal.
Be not found here.
He’s coming hither with his man, Micaiah.
Go quickly, quickly.
[Exit Prophet.

Enter Micaiah.
Micaiah.
Way for their Majesties! It is commanded
That all avoid. Way for their Majesties!
Avoid the room, Ashobal, for the King.
[Exit Ashobal.

Enter Ahab.
 Ahab.
Micaiah, put my staff into my hands.
Go, now, desire the Queen to give me audience.
[Exit Micaiah.
Thus does the climber on a pinnacle.
He stands exhausted on the peak and feels
Nothing beneath him but the mist of cloud
Hiding the precipice. I have my foothold;
Around me, the sheer fall into the pit.

Enter Jezebel.
Jezebel.
So, my good lord, at last I look upon you
After these days of anguish. O my lord,
What has afflicted you, that you should shut
Your doors upon me, send no word to me,
No word till now, not even let me know
If you were ill or well?
But no upbraiding.
Tell me what is the trouble of your soul?

Ahab.
What do you think?

Jezebel.
I know not what to think,
Living alone, shut from you, that should tell me.
Men say that you are grieved because a farmer,
One Naboth, would not sell his vineyard to you.

Ahab.
I, grieved, at that?

Jezebel.
 I have no guide save rumour.

Ahab.
His vineyard? Why, I did not want the vineyard.

Jezebel.
Not want it, lord?

Ahab.
Why should I want it; think?

Jezebel.
I cannot think, indeed, why you should want it.

Ahab.
Jehu was wanting it, to bring it in
Within the city wall, for in the siege
The Syrian archers shot our people from it.
Jehu demanded it.

Jezebel.
Jehu? Not you?
Yet do you know that men are cursing you
For wanting Naboth’s land; and feasting Naboth
To-day, in public, for refusing you?
And that our crowns and even our lives are threatened?

Ahab.
No, Queen, I do not know and cannot care.
What is the raging of the fools to me
Who ponder day and night upon a question,
A question that goes down into the bone
And burns like fire, till I cannot sleep
Or eat or work, for it is always here.
No, do not look like that, I am not mad,
Not yet; I am not mad. But always night and day
This question is about me and within me,
Haunting and harsh: the question, “Am I wrong?
Are these, my people who oppose my will,
Right, after all, righter than I, the King?
Righter throughout my twenty years of kingship?”

Jezebel.
How can these preys to every passionate flaw
Be righter than an upright mind and conscience?

Ahab.
I cannot tell, and yet I think they are.

Jezebel.
You know they are not.

Ahab.
No, I do not know.
I wonder, if the blunt and bawdy world
Be not the worse for wisdom, not the better.

Jezebel.
It is a sin and cowardice to say so.

Ahab.
Is it, my Queen? I wonder if it be.
Here have I striven twenty years, for peace
With Syria, and for liberty of thought
Within our borders, yet with what results?
Almost continual war with Syria.
Almost a civil war within this land.
Such being the fruits, I think the seeds were wrong.

Jezebel.
The seeds were right, and if the fruit has failed,
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