Coupled Transformation of Schemas, Documents, Queries, and Constraints

Abstract

Coupled transformation occurs when multiple software artifacts must be transformed in such a way that they remain consistent with each other. For instance, when a database schema is adapted in the context of system maintenance, the persistent data residing in the system's database needs to be migrated to conform to the adapted schema. Also, queries embedded in the application code and any declared referential constraints must be adapted to take the schema changes into account. As another example, in XML-to-relational data mapping, a hierarchical XML Schema is mapped to a relational SQL schema with appropriate referential constraints, and the XML documents and queries are converted into relational data and relational queries. The 2LT project is aimed at providing a formal basis for coupled transformation. This formal basis is found in data refinement theory, point-free program calculation, and strategic term rewriting. We formalize the coupled transformation of a data type by an algebra of information-preserving data refinement steps, each witnessed by appropriate data conversion functions. Refinement steps are modeled by so-called two-level rewrite rules on type expressions that synthesize conversion functions between redex and reduct while rewriting. Strategy combinators are used to composed two-level rewrite rules into complete rewrite systems. Point-free program calculation is applied to optimized synthesize conversion function, to migrate queries, and to normalize data type constraints. In this paper, we provide an overview of the challenges met by the 2LT project and we give a sketch of the solutions offered.