An Expert Database Design System Based on Analysis of Forms

A form model and an expert database design system that analyzes instances of the form model to derive a conceptual schema are proposed. The form model describes the properties of form fields such as their origin, hierarchical structure, and cardinality. The expert database design system creates a conceptual schema by incrementally integrating related collections of forms. The rules of the expert system are divided into six phases: 1) form selection, 2) entity identification, 3) attribute attachment, 4) relationship identification, 5) cardinality identification, and 6) integrity constraints. The rules of the first phase use knowledge about the form flow to determine the order in which forms are analyzed. The rules in other phases are used in conjunction with a designer dialog to identify the entities, relationships, and attributes of a schema that represents the collection of forms.