“[A] data-intensive application, such as [a] business system based on hundreds or thousands of data files (or tables), that significantly resists modifications and change” (Brodie & Stonebraker, 1995)
Published in Chapter:
Database Reverse Engineering
Jean-Luc Hainaut (University of Namur, Belgium), Jean Henrard (REVER s.a., Belgium), Didier Roland (REVER s.a., Belgium), Jean-Marc Hick (REVER s.a., Belgium), and Vincent Englebert (University of Namur, Belgium)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 9
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-242-8.ch021
Abstract
Database reverse engineering consists of recovering the abstract descriptions of files and databases of legacy information systems. A legacy information system can be defined as a “data-intensive application, such as [a] business system based on hundreds or thousands of data files (or tables), that significantly resists modifications and changes” (Brodie & Stonebraker, 1995). The objective of database reverse engineering is to recover the logical and conceptual descriptions, or schemas, of the permanent data of a legacy information system, that is, its database, be it implemented as a set of files or through an actual database management system.