Model-Independent Schema and Data Translation

Abstract

We describe MIDST, an implementation of the model management operator ModelGen, which translates schemas from one model to another, for example from OO to SQL or from SQL to XSD. It extends past approaches by translating database instances, not just their schemas. The operator can be used to generate database wrappers (e.g. OO or XML to relational), default user interfaces (e.g. relational to forms), or default database schemas from other representations. The approach translates both schemas and data: given a source instance I of a schema S expressed in a source model, and a target model TM, it generates a schema S′ expressed in TM that is “equivalent” to S and an instance I′ of S′ “equivalent” to I. A wide family of models is handled by using a metamodel in which models can be succinctly and precisely described. The approach expresses the translation as Datalog rules and exposes the source and target of the translation in a generic relational dictionary. This makes the translation transparent, easy to customize and model-independent.